(Receiving a distressed call from Mollianne via her Comm-Link Radio, Lorastine leaves from the Fountain of Truce, intent on locating Kyrk...)

Truce - Inn
Canned piano tunes drift through the inn, mostly adagio, unoffensive
muzak. Cheap-looking drapes have been strewn over the windows, which are
surrounded by floral wallpaper. A lot of dust has settled on the front
counter, but it looks like whoever works here doesn't really care. The
scent of alcohol strengthens to the east.

Lorastine slows her pace as she reaches the Inn. A small sense of nostalgia at being in this place again, was a bit saddening, but she got over it as there was more important matters at hand. "Kyrk?! Are you here?" she called not really doing a ful investigation to check for him.

A patron at the counter turns to look at Lorastine as she calls out, but doesn't say anything. The new manager, however, looks up. "Kyrk? You mean that dark-haired guy with the cold, creepy look on his face all the bloody time? He left here a day or so ago. Said he had some business in Wutai." He grumbles, going back to the glass he's cleaning. "I think he's one o' them Wish-whatchamacallits. Probably off to go get himself killed or something', I hear that's what they do."

Lorastine suddenly looked as if she saw a ghost. Crossroads had told her to avoid letting people in Wutai know about the Wishborn. She never found out why, but if Kyrk went missing and was headed for there something was really bad. "Thank you." she says quickly before heading out of the Inn.

With Kyrk missing, there doesn't seem to be much option on where to look other than the obvious. But did she want to go alone? Lorastine's soul Gem seemed to think otherwise. It began to glow softly, trying to entice her to go in the direction of Crossroads' House, instead.

Lorastine looked down at her necklace, the soft glow gave her the desire to goto Crossroad's place. She followed her soul's instructions and head there instead, she didn't know what was going to happen so maybe getting someone's help was her best bet.



[----A SHORT TIME EARLIER...----]



Crossroads' Room - Crossroads' Home
This room is dominated by a huge white circular bed, heavily pillowed and
blanketed for several various layers of comfort. This rests on top of a
pure white shag carpet. The walls are lined with stocked bookshelves, their
topics ranging wildly. A white egg chair sits next to the majority of the
bookshelves, and the entire room is lighted by dimmable lights, when the
large window has its curtains closed.

Crossroads steps out of the bathroom followed by a puff of steam. A
nice hot bath after work was just what she needed after being on her
feet all day. Feeling exhausted, she draped her towel over her head
and made her way to her room, thinking that a quick nap might be just
what she needed as well.

Tyrranis hums lightly as he looks around Crossroads' bookshelf,
weighing the book in his hand and looking for a good place to put it.
He had no idea if Crossroads had a specific order she liked her books,
but it might fit perfectly right... there! He smiles at his placement
of the book as the door opens, and he turns to see Crossroads come in.
"Hello Crossroads."

Crossroads couldn't help but smile a little when she entered her room
to find Tyrranis was there. She hadn't even been aware he had been in
the house. Had he just come in while she was in the bath, or had he
been here this whole time? "Hello, Tyr." She said, noticing his
attention on the bookshelf. It still didn't give her much of a hint as
to how long he had been here. Was he selecting a book or putting it
away? "Find an interesting book?"

Tyrranis scratches the back of his head, noting Crossroads' attire. He
seems like he might be a bit uncomfortable. "I came back from being in
the woods a little while ago, and gave a man some of the deer meat I
collected in exchange for this book. It seemed like it might be
interesting." He pulls the book from the shelf again, and hands it to
her. The title reads "Outdoor survival and you."

Crossroads notices Tyr's discomfort and where his gaze is directed and
blushes a bright crimson, realizing that she had left her robe open.
The young woman quickly wraps it closed around her body and ties it
before taking a look at the book he was offering to her, eyes bright
with interest. "I bet this will come in handy." She said, flipping
lightly through its pages.

Tyrranis nods, the source of his need to avert his eyes taken care of.

"Especially if, at some point, you wanted to accompany me into the
woods for an extended stay out there. It could be an interesting
experience."

With this, suddenly Crossroads seemed more awake. An extended stay in
the woods with Tyr? She rather liked that idea and it was all too
apparent in her expression. She looked between Tyrranis and the book,
"You're right! it WOULD come in handy for that. I should get to
reading this immediately then!" She said, cracking it open.

Tyrranis smiles at Crossroads' excitement, and nods. "This is a good
thing. If you want, I could read along with you, and point out things
that I know as well."

Liking this idea, Crossroads nods, but doesn't lift her head up from
the book as she turns the page. She makes her way towards the bed and
sits down, motioning for Tyrranis to come join her in her reading.

Tyrranis sits on the bed as well, and after a moment, wraps an arm
around Crossroads and leans against her, giving himself a better look
at the book. He does however, read somewhat slowly.

Crossroad shifts herself so she was leaning against him comfortably as
well. Despite being a fast reader and one to go through books very
quickly, she is patient in letting Tyrranis go at his own pace; calmly
waiting when she was done to let him finish the page before turning
it.

Tyrranis points to a section in the book mentioning tents. "This is an
important part, especially during the rain. Luckily, there is a cave
system in the woods near us, so we can take shelter in there."

"There are a lot of different types here. If you don't have a cave,
which one of these do you use?" Crossroads asked, eyes scanning over
all the examples presented on the page accompanied by all their
descriptions. She almost was about to say she didn't know of any caves
in the woods, but then you suddenly remembered, "Do you mean the cave
where we fought our first yoma?"

Tyrranis rubs his chin. "I suppose it might be. I do not remember that
fight very well. But, if there are no caves;" He taps his finger
against a picture of a lean-to type shelter. "These are simple to
create, and provide nice cover."

Crossroads studies the picture carefully, thinking that it would be a
good idea to practice making one of these the next time she was able
to go out into the woods to with her bow. With everything involving
the cafe, she really hadn't had the opportunity to do that much lately
though much to her disappointment.

Lorastine runs into the house almost out of breath from the urgency she was in. Giving herself a second to catch her breath, she spots Tyrranis and Crossroads here. "G-guys, Kyrk is missing, someone said he went to Wutai. I was going to go by myself, but I just don't know what to do when I get there." she explained with a sense of worry evident on her face.

Tyrranis stands as Lora enters, book forgotten. The worry on her face confused him, since he had no idea why she would need to do something. "Just go to there? Why would you need to do anything special?"

Crossroads was a bit surprised with Lora suddenly entering her room and looks up from the book she and Tyr were reading, a small shiver creeping up her spine. Had something happened to Kyrk in Wutai? He had mentioned he was going to check the situation there.

A crackly burst of static issues forth from Lora's com-radio, as Mollianne's voice issues forth from it once more. "Lora, are you still there? Did you find anything out?" 'Worried' is an understatement for this girl's tone, radio or not.

Lorastine took out the comm and responds to Mollianne on the other end. "Kyrk went to Wutai. Cross and Tyrranis are hopefully coming with me to find him. I.. I just hope nothing bad has happened." she said looking towards the other two, feeling a little sorry for dragging them into it.

Tyrranis shrugs. "I can help you find Kyrk, though I am still not entirely sure why you appear so worried. Are we going to be expecting a good bit of trouble?"

Crossroads stares silently, saying nothing. They guy would be alright, wouldn't he? He would teleport out of there if things got bad, right? He wasn't that stupid was he? ... Well, considering his past history Crossroads couldn't put much faith into him looking after himself. She closes the book and sets it onto the bed. "They...Ran me out." She had to practically spit the words out, and she squeezed her eyes closed as she did.

Lorastine looks at Cross a bit confused at the words she had blurted out. "huh?"

Tyrranis turns his head to Crossroads, and examines her. He feels a bit of anger passing by, but that didn't matter. People didn't matter, that is. He pulls his soul gem out of his bat, and activates it.

Tyrranis uses a grey Soul Gem.

Tyrranis holds his soul gem up in one hand, and in a moment it melts. Running through his fingers, it hits the ground and then pools around his feet. The giganto closes his eyes, and looks to the sky as dark grey tendrils rise from the ground, grasping at Tyrranis' legs like the souls of the dead, attempting to drag him to their world. Slowly, more and more tendrils rise from the pool, and pull at more and more of his body until they almost encompass him.

Suddenly Tyrranis' eyes open and he lets out a harsh shout, and the darkness is shattered, leaving behind a dark blue hakama in the place of his towel, and his gem now fills in a long thin scar over the top of his heart. The giganto settles back down into a combat stance, holding his weapon at the ready.

Tyrranis says ' We will go then. If they attempt to fight us over anything, then they will see exactly why they should not fight us.'

Lora's radio crackles with static for a moment, then goes out. Mollianne seems to have closed it off from her end. Either Lora's words were all she needed to hear to know everything was okay, or...

Crossroads frowned at Tyrranis's words. She understood why the people of Wutai didn't like wishborn. They all didn't just sell their souls to the devil, they all sold their souls to become the devil and terrorize them. And now Tyrranis was looking to fight them? Then again, if they had done something to Kyrk... Crossroads stood up, shaking fingers lightly running down the chain holding her soul gem.

Lorastine frowns for the moment and then remains silent before nodding at Tyrranis words. They needed to get moving now, Kyrk's life could be in danger. She turned towards the door holding onto her soul gem and transformed, her body becoming wrapped in yellowish robes and two wing burst from her back. "Lets go get Kyrk."

Tyrranis spins his bad around in his hand before nodding "We will not leave him behind." He turns to Crossroads, and offers a hand out to her. "Come. I will protect you if the villagers try anything." There is no room for give in Tyrranis' voice. He's already in combat mode.

Crossroads clutches her gem and transforms. She never wanted to go back to Wutai, and she didn't want to face the people there again. But Tyrranis was offering her his hand. She swallowed and looked up at him nodding slowly as she took it.



Wutai - Crossroads
Two roads in Wutai cross here; the main cobblestone road running
northward into the mountains, and a smaller road made of the same sort of
stone running from east to west. Nearby to the east, it stops in front of a
building bearing a small sign that says 'Supplies'. The streetlamps visible
elsewhere in the city are not visible here, or in any direction except back
south. To the west, it runs underneath a large cherry tree, towards the
outskirts of the city.

Immediately noticeable upon the entrance and general vicinity of Wutai is the distinct lack of people of any kind, Kyrk included. Houses are quiet, citizens are missing, even the guards seem to be absent. The sound of a single pair of footsteps can be heard somewhat nearby, but they sound... off-balance. Almost dragging.

Upon entering Wutai, Lorastine gracefully landed and stood up straight allowing her wings to rest. The quiet emptiness of the town was bothering her as she looked around for any sign of life. "What is that sound?" she asks, honestly a little spooked.

Tyrranis scans the town, his face showing nothing as he listens to the sound. "Not sure. It almost sounds like someone, though I cannot see anyone." He frowns, and glances at Crossroads. "Can you see anything? Or, can you See anything?"

Crossroads had yet to let go of his hand, and at this point with the emptiness of the streets she was squeezing it tightly. It was as though she was once again stepping into her nightmares and reliving that day she had fought a yoma here. She tries to assure herself that this was silly though. It was late, and most people were likely in bed. Besides she had defeated it. Crossroads glanced up at Tyrranis and nodded. The quickest way to find Kyrk would be a vision, just like she had done with the missing wishbor

Crossroads tilted her head forward and closed her eyes, the vision hitting her instantly. Though it is very long before she lets go of Tyrranis's hand, eyes flying open wide in fear as she takes a step back shaking her head. What she saw didn't make any sense. Any of it. Not Molly, not the bodies, not Kyrk's stumbling. That stumble she had seen before with herself, that movement like a puppet on strings. But it was impossible! "N-no..." The words tumbled from her lips in the form of a small whimper.

Lorastine looks back at Crossroads while she has her vision. She occasionally glances around a little, trying to see if she could see anyone. When Cross finally says something again, Lorastine looks back at her confused. "What is it?"

Tyrranis looks Crossroad's reaction over, and scowls. That did not inspire confidence. "Lorastine. You will protect Crossroads." he sets his bat down, and holds out his hand. The air around his outstretched arm slowly loses color, as if it was being drained away.

Crossroads takes a few deep breaths and closes her eyes again. She had to be sure. As impossible as it was she had to be sure. After a brief moment her eyes fly open again. "No. No. No. No. No. I killed it." She said shaking her head. Her breath quickening and her fingers running through her hair, "I KILLED IT!"

Lorastine gets her confused look again, still not at all sure what is going on. Following Tyrranis' instruction, she nodded and went to Crossroads' side with her bow drawn. "It is my duty to protect." she says as a way of agreeing. The way Cross was panicking worried her quite a bit though. "Cross, please calm down. You need to remain calm."

Tyrranis' body is racked with scores of cuts and wounds, as the color that was draining from the air suddenly returns, but differently. Now attached to his arm is a long gauntlet that stretches to his elbow, and formed out of metal. Every inch that isn't there to allow freedom of movement is covered with a hook, barb, and section of raised razor sharp metal. "I will find you."

How could she stay calm. The thing was alive! After assuring herself over and over that it was at least over, it wasn't! Crossroads looked between Lora and Tyr, and shook her head. The realization hitting her that the two of them weren't so lucky as her to have bodies to spare. She ignored Lorastines words and ran to Tyrranis, stepping infront of him and wrapping his arms around him, "Tyr... No. I need to protect you this time. Please let me protect you." She begged.

Tyrranis looks down at Crossroads, and sets his hand on top of her head. "If you want to protect me, then you will have to do it standing by my side. Point out our enemies and let us crush them together Crossroads."

Lorastine steps alongside Tyrranis and Crossroads and smiles slightly. "Don't you go and forget about me now." she says with a small giggle aside from the obvious tension in the air. "We are a team and besides, if I let you do all the work, I can't get even for Kyrk saving my life." she adds.

Suddenly, a brief but gale-force gust of wind cuts through the air, issuing such force than an audible 'whoosh!' can be heard from its effect. Riding this wind, enormous wings oustretched and gliding along like she'd been doing it all her life, Mollianne comes sailing in from the west, taloned feet clutching the ground roughly as she lands. She provides only a cough or two from the dust she's likely kicked up, putting a hand in front of her mouth in misplaced politeness.

This suddenly effect seems to change the tone of those footsteps still heard from a short distance away; they now sound like they are approaching, if at an ungodly slow pace.

Crossroads continues holding on to Tyr, shaking. "I killed it but its still here. It has Kyrk. It enters the body and controls it." Hot tears run down her cheeks and she buries her face into Tyr, never minding the blood smearing across her skin. She didn't even notice Mollianne's arrival. "There is only one Tyr and one Lora. But there is plenty of myself to spare." She said, voice quiet and strained.

Crossroads says ' I can't let it have either of you.'

Crossroads opens her hands and the soul gem drifts out of it, its chain flattening out and changing color, taking the form of a ribbon and shortening in length till it is resting around her neck in the form of a choker with the gem dangling from it.

Tyrranis looks down at the crying Crossroads, and then grabs the back of her robes, forcefully pulling her back from him. "Crossroads. This is to time to become emotional. Harden yourself if this enemy is really so terrible. There will be time for weakness later."

Lorastine feels the breeze of Mollianne's sudden appearance. "Molly? What are you doing here!? Its dangerous." she said a bit shocked that the siren even showed up to begin with. Crossroads' speech made her a bit worried now more then ever considering Mollianne wasn't wishborn so this fight would be 10x more dangerous for her.

Mollianne regains her composure after clearing her lungs, and takes a deep breath. "Well hi to you guys, too. You did not sound too sure of yourself over the radio, so I had to come and make sure Kyrk was okay. Finding you guys was kind of a challenge, I would have been here sooner if I knew this part of the world better." The siren seems a bit quiet, her tone of voice slightly less vibrant and echo-y than it normally is. Her wings fold in gingerly against her back, and she isn't wearing anything combat-oriented; just the same leather band across her ample chest, and a weathered teal long skirt. Looking for Kyrk or anything else, she doesn't seem properly suited (PUN!) for it.

Crossroads squeezed her eyes shut and wiped away her tears with her sleeve. He was right. If she wanted to protect Lora and Tyr from this thing, she shouldn't be crying or emotional. Still, she couldn't stop shaking in fear remembering her last fight with this thing. She turned to Molly only now noticing her arrival, "Stay to the air." She said.

Tyrranis says ' If there is one thing that they have done it's pissed him off.'

Tyrranis nods, seeing Crossroads scale her emotions back. "If you know a way to destroy the enemy, Crossroads, tell us. If the enemy is strong enough to cause you this much fear, then there is no chance but to take it seriously."

Lorastine frowns a little and sighs. She doesn't like this at all with a really bad foreboding feeling about all of this. She just wants Kyrk to be ok and go back to the nice and peaceful life. Drawing her bow once more amassing an arrow composed of light in it ready to be fired. "I'll scout ahead." she says as she flaps her wings and becomes airborne.

Mollianne remains where she is for the moment, taking assessment of the situation. She looks somewhat pensive, but with an obvious air of determination, for whatever reason. As Lora goes airborne to look for Kyrk, the sound of dragging feet nearby catch her attention, sound like it were just on the other side of a house in front of them.

Mollianne looked at Crossroads for a moment, wondering what kind of scenario was going on in her head. Tyrranis just creeped her out with that gauntlet-thing, but she wasn't going to say anything. "I am here to help Kyrk, too. I will not get in your way, I promise." The siren backs up a few paces, her expression unwavering. She remains on the ground as such, being that Lorastine had gotten in the air first.

Crossroads held out her hand, summoning forth her bow to have it ready as well. A quiver shimmered into existance at her back. She drew an arrow from it. "Last time I fought it, I defeated it by killing myself." She answered Tyr, staring off towards the direction of the sound.

Tyrranis curls his gauntleted hand into a fist, and moves into a readied position. "If that is how we will fell our foes, then that is what will happen." There is no real emotion in Tyrranis' voice, just grim determination.

Lorastine scanned the surrounding area looking for anything. "Kyrk! Are you here?!" she calls out suddenly with a look on her face of worry. She completely destroyed her attempt at being discrete if her glowing wings in the dark sky weren't giving her away enough.

From Lorastine's perspective in the air, Kyrk is indeed easily visible. In fact, he appears to be trying to get around a tree that has presented itself between himself and the house in front of him, with ill luck. His moves are strange and erratic, notwithstanding the fact that he's walking into a goddamn tree. His breaker blade is out and held in one hand, but dragging in the dirt behind him, a bit limply.

At the sound of Lora's voice, however, Kyrk stops trying to walk through the tree, and looks up at her, pointedly and blankly. The best way to explain his expression would be "Bluh, I'm down here and she's up there. Wat do?"

Mollianne, of course, can't see any of this going on between Lora and Kyrk. She just waits, not willing to advance any further without a reason.

Crossroads wasn't going to let Tyrranis or Lora fall to the same fate of her clone if she could help it. Though there was also a feeling that she was forgetting to tell Tyr some important information about dealing with this thing, but she couldn't quite remember what it was. She closed her eyes, making a quick check on things, feeling a bit of pain as she looked into the future again bringing forth the visions she was looking for. When she opened her eyes she rubbed her forehead and blinked. What could she do

What could she do about what she had seen? Crossroads glanced at Mollianne, an idea suddenly hitting her, "Molly, you have contact with Lora right? Tell her to stay in the air and do not approach Kyrk." She then looked at her with mild confusion, She really didn't know what to say about the other thing she saw "Also this is a dangerous place to be if you are not transformed."

Kyrk almost trips as he walks into the tree he seems to be stuck on, but catches his footing through whatever possession has apparently taken him. He sidesteps, and though still dragging his sword alongside him, he trudges toward the main group, gradually becoming visible from around the side of the house. His pink irises focus on the group momentarily, though he does not halt his advance upon doing so. He looks... strained?

Lorastine flaps her wings in long powerful beats, to keep herself in a hovering without expending too much energy. From her vantage point she managed to spot a familiar form, although he seemed injured. "Kyrk!" she calls out, worried about his well being. She couldn't see him clearly, but his motion clearly stated that he was injured or something was wrong. She starts to descend towards him ready to come to his aid.

Tyrranis locks eyes with Kyrk before stepping next to Crossroads and flexing his gauntlet. "Is Kyrk an enemy of ours, Crossroads?" He was relying a bit heavily on her precognition, it was true, but this was a time of battle. He knew he didn't have the luxury of worrying about corruption levels at this point.

Mollianne looks extremely conflicted when Cross brings up a certain topic, seemingly from out of nowhere. It hits her then, however, that she'd forgotten what Crossroads could do. She can't help but feel a little violated at the premise behind it, but nods an affirmation. "O-okay..." She slides slightly to one side and taps one side of her temple, lightly.

Mollianne looks tense for several moments, before finally lowering her hand from her head, and glancing back at Crossroads and Tyrranis. She frowns softly, but sighs. "I guess it was inevitable, eventually..." She sounds resigned, before reaching into the recess of her cleavage and producing... a small, transparent Soul Gem, just barely marred with the taint of corruption. It begins to shine brightly as she lifts it up, and then...!

Mollianne abruptly adapts a ballerina-like stance, poising on her tip-talons and spinning a quick circle. As she begins to twirl a second time, much slower than the first, she suddenly reaches up and removes her leather band, fluidly tossing it into the air high above her head! The band floats into the air, before it is overtaken by a magical influence and begins to radiate with a white light, becoming a halo of power that shimmers in the air over her half-naked form!

Suddenly, the white halo descends, having grown somewhat in width since its initial ascent, and slowly encompasses her body; as it flows down around her, Mollianne's appearance changes. The ring of light bequeathes upon her a black-and-white partial gown as it passes, fringed in dark ribbons and shortened right at the knees of her avian legs, giving off a subtle lolita-style display. Her short auburn hair is pulled up, by itself seemingly, into two tiny ponytails on either side of her head, and she continues in this second spin during the progress of this transformation. Finally, her transparent Soul Gem hovers in close, making contact with her chest... and adheres to the dress, fitting into a slot just below her throat, providing a fancy jewelled clasp to the neckline of her dress. She completes her pirhouette, standing on her own two feet as she does, and Mollianne opens her eyes... only to display nothing there but solid white orbs of light, lacking pupil or iris or any hue.

"Kyrk is possessed by the yoma. And it is controlling his body against his will right now." Crossroads closed her eyes, pulling another version of herself from an alternate timeline forward as a safety precaution. She looks back to Mollianne, feeling a tightening knot in her stomach as she realizes Lora couldn't be contacted. "He's going to attack Lora first!"

Kyrk seems to look up as Lorastine calls his name, which actually DOES stop him in his tracks. He only stares at her for a moment, as if attempting to discern either who she is, what to do, or perhaps a combination of both. Given a moment to think about it, however, he opts to rear back, swinging his oversized weapon forcefully and whipping it towards Lorastine's airborne form, a bit clumsily, but lethally nontheless!

Lorastine pauses in her flight suddenly while she was hearing Mollianne's voice trying to make sense of the warning she was getting. "He wouldn't hurt me... He saved me, why would he?" she was saying to pretty much no one as she looks down at Kyrk as he looks up at her. For a moment a smile crept on her face that she had his attention, urged to wave until his sword was thrown in her direction. With a surprised expression of disbelief she dipped below the sword and swooped back up to avoid it.

Lorastine looks still surprised and a frown grew on her lips. "What are you doing?! Its me, Lora!" she shouts over at Kyrk.

Tyrranis grits his teeth, looking from Kyrk to Crossroads and then to Lorastine. He roars out a command, attempting to seize control of the battlefield. "Lorastine! Retreat from your current position and fall back to Crossroads. Molly, the same! Both of you form a barrier between Crossroads and the enemy!" The giganto begins moving towards Kyrk's location, his face pulled back in a heavy scowl.

Mollianne gasps softly as Kyrk's sword is thrown, and only watches (can she even see?) as it goes sailing high over head, landing in the side of some house a short distance away. She frowns softly, turning back again to the rest of them. "Lora..." She looks fairly unhappy, but begins to walk toward Kyrk, her steps hesitant and tentative as she spares only a glance toward Crossroads and Tyrranis, almost... fearfully? She's seemed rather afraid of the whole self-Wishborn thing since Crossroads brought it up. Mollianne stops her advance, however, at Tyrranis' command, the bark of it almost making her jump in surprise. She seems even less pleased at this notion, and looks back toard Kyrk; she doesn't advance any further, but she doesn't move any further away, either.

One Crossroads reaches out to grab Mollianne's arm as she starts to approach Kyrk, and she is about to say something to her when she hears Tyrranis's orders. The two Crossroads cast surprised glance at him. Why did they need to protect her? Both of their shoulders sank a little but if that was what Tyrranis wanted she couldn't exactly argue with him. He knew how to handle battle situations better than she could, "It can jump from body to body Tyr." She said, horrified as she watched him approach man. She closed her eyes tightly, forcefully--As it was difficult to take her eyes away. Crossroads tried to bring up another vision of the future. Anything she could that might help out.

Kyrk watches his own weapon miss its target, before looking up in a new attention at Tyrranis' bark, even if it wasn't meant for him. Noting the group of people, including two Crossroads, a short distance away, he seems to calm himself, looking from Crossroads to Tyrranis, and goes to retrieve something on his person, something that seems easy to acquire and hold in front of him, which he does: a handgun is now held in his grip, pointing adamantly at Tyrranis in front of him. His face again looks strained, though... is Kyrk fighting from the inside, somehow..?

Lorastine hovers in the sky just staring at Kyrk with sad eyes when Tyrranis' orders reached her ears. She remains silent for the most part, never unlocking her gaze from Kyrk, however she did allow her wings to retreat and eventually land on the ground. She didn't know what else to do, she couldn't bear drawing her weapon against Kyrk.

Tyrranis coldly looks at Kyrk, and the weapon he pulls. "Really?" Tyrranis pulls the gauntlet up, light shinging off the numerous serrated edges that rest on it. "You remember the last time we fought, correct?" Grey light begins forming over Tyrranis' body, shielding him. "That. Was training."

Crossroads eyes open. Since when did Kyrk wear bracelets like that? Were they Mollianne's doing? Looking at Kyrk right now, there didn't seem to be any present at the moment, so they would be something that appears in the future. "Bracelets! On his wrists!"

Mollianne looks like she was about to do something, pulling one hand back and curling her lip slightly... but then she stops, flabbergasted at Crossroads' outburst. THAT soon? She could see THAT soon into the future? The sheer amazement of it all seems to fizzle out her intended action, and instead she tries to pull away from Cross, assumedly still grabbed from earlier.

Kyrk looks upon Tyrranis silently, no words coming to him at all as he peers at the group in front of him. Noting the light that goes up around Tyrranis at his drawn firearm, his lip twitches somewhat, and he calmly but quickly diverts his aim, looking past Tyrranis and acknowledging the source of the outburst... and fires a single shot at Crossroads, shattering the empty town with a piercing -bang-!

Lorastine flinches when she spots Kyrk's slight shift in aim and quickly spread out her arms in an attempt to form a barrier around Crossroads and herself, not sure if she would be able to make it in time on such short notice.

Tyrranis doesn't bother tracking the bullet, or who it was aimed at. Instead, he rushes Kyrk shoulder first, and with a roar on his lips. He lets the gauntleted arm trail behind him, not in use just yet, but with the anger apparent in Tyrranis' face, there will be some blood spilled.

Crossroads sees the gun's barrel turn in her direction and she realizes what is about to happen. She closes her eyes and braces herself for the bullet, flinching as the sound of it firing rings out into the air. But she didn't feel any pain afterwards, Infact, there was a sharp zinging sound. Crossroads opened her eyes realizing that Lora was standing infront of her, protecting her with a barrier which had succeeded in deflecting the shot. She let out a heavy breath of air, relieved.

Mollianne pulls away, looking up with a horrified expression as Tyrranis plows right into Kyrk! She was going to... she... "No! You do not have to fight!" She spastically waves both her hands around in front of herself, before direction them, and the charge of black-outlined light that follows, toward the two of them! However, in her frantic state, her aim goes too high, and the magic strikes something else unseen, only a few feet in front of them..!

With a sizzling crack of magic against magic, Mollianne's 'attack' strikes at an invisible spot in the air behind Tyrranis and Kyrk, and a crackling purple gateway suddenly opens up in the air at this very spot, radiating putrid green electricity all about its surface; a Witch is apparently nearby, her gateway now open and visible!

Kyrk doesn't even have time to lower his gun before he is bowled clean over from Tyrranis' assault; his body seems fairly limp by normal comparison, as if he wasn't even attempting to stand against the charge; as a result, he is knocked clean onto his back, the firearm flying from his hand as he hits the ground with a loud thud!

Lorastine sighes with relief when her barrier seemed to work as the bullet reflected off the wall of light she managed to make. Through the transparent screen she witnessed Tyrranis slam into Kyrk. The hylian let out a quick gasp and broke her concetration allowing the barrier to fade. "Kyrk!" she shouts.

Tyrranis raises his gauntlet, curling it across his other shoulder before lashing out with it, intending to slam the back of the armored fist into the side of Kyrk's head with a thunderous shout.

Crossroads shook a little, nerves shot from nearly being shot. She would have to thank Lorastine later later for protecting her. Right now though, her attention was directed at the gate that had opened infront of the three women. Thats Right! Crossroads had seen a witch in the midst of all of this too. She had completely overlooked that when she realized they were facing the same yoma she had before. Two threats then?

Mollianne furrows her brow, before seeming at once sad. "This is why, then... I thought it felt too strong to be just one." She looks at Tyrranis brawling with Kyrk a short distance away, and almost looks like she was going to start crying. Shaking it off, she bolts for the portal, intent on finding an end to whatever was going on, regardless of whether it was initially her fight or not! She had to help save Kyrk!

Kyrk seems to struggle considerably under Tyrranis weight; in the gigantos' state, he was a force to be reckoned with, but even beyond this, something seems to be wrong with Kyrk in general. He didn't hesitate to cruelly calculate and pick off targets from a distance, but up close, he doesn't seem to be able to match up. He lifts his head slightly, before it is sent slamming back to the ground with the force of Tyrranis' gauntleted hand against his face, a nasty wound opening from the force of the blow! Blood dribbles down the side of his face, but his expression doesn't change; despite the injury, he tries to push Tyrranis off of himself halfheartedly, but with half the strength Kyrk normally would engage with. He seems to just want to get away.

Lorastine finally notices the portal's appearance mainly due to the fact she couldn't bear to watch Kyrk being hit like that. "A witch?" she seems almost surprised even though she was the last to notice her. Could the witch have been simply controlling Kyrk through some sort of control?

Tyrranis is already raising his fist to strike again as he hears Lorastine speak the word 'Witch'. He pauses, turning to look at the portal behind him before looking back to Kyrk. "Lorastine, Crossroads! Get into the portal! I will hold intruders back from it!"

Crossroads looks between Kyrk and Tyrranis and the open gateway where Mollianne dissapeared momentarily torn between not letting the siren take on the witch alone and Tyrranis's fight with Kyrk. She looks at her clone again, then goes steps inside.

Kyrk tries to take advantage of the distraction Tyrranis is taken by, and actually tries to bite savagely on his raised arm, at whatever exposed portion he can get his teeth on; his actions seem to paint the picture of something more beastial than human, but as the blood flows down the side of his face, the desperation becomes apparent; he wants Tyrranis to get off of him, but doesn't seem to possess the raw strength to do it himself.

Lorastine takes one last look at the two brawling males and quickly flaps her wings to speed herself into the portal behind Crossroads and Mollianne. She was pretty useless out here, but against a witch she could fight with less distraction. Lorastine closes her eyes for a moment to refocus herself as she passes through the portal and appears behind her two female companions.

The portal continues to crackle ominously even as the three disappear into it, green arcs of lightning streaking across and around its edges.



Nightmare Labyrinth - Corridor of the Condemned
Walls of iron close in to form a wide, far-reaching walkway leading
north and south from here, fortress-like in their design and structure.
Only darkness is visible in the distance at either end, and the only
lighting seems to come from what appear to be ghostly apparitions lining
each wall of the hallway, extending as far as the eye can see. Shadows
twist and converge overhead, offering only the view of their inky-black
composition, and the floor is seemingly crafted from the same metal that
comprises the corridor's boundaries.

The portal opens briefly enough to set the three of them down into the labyrinth's interior, but quickly crackles closed with a low roar, leaving them standing in this dark corridor. A low whimpering sound can be heard in the air in almost every direction, even beyond the walls.

Mollianne frowns softly as she looks down one of the hallways, the glow from her eyes illuminating her face somewhat. It's kind of a creepy effect, to be honest. "Can you feel that..?"

Crossroads looks around, not sure what Mollianne was referring to, but the place was creeping her out. "What do you mean." She asked the woman with a small frown, Continuing to hold her bow at the ready should any danger arise.

Lorastine looks around at the spirits that surrounds them with a sad expression. "All of these people..." she says quietly. She nods in response to Mollianne's question, she had a slight tingling feeling running down her spine being in a place like this. It was almost the same fear as when she first set foot in her first labyrinth.

Mollianne extends her hand somewhat, raising it towards one of the nearby spirits.. but jumps when one of them expresses movement, coming from further down the line.

The spirit of a little boy lets out a dismal sigh from somewhere in the lineup, shuffling his bare feet.

The ghostly boy says 'Mommy, I'm tired... can I go lay down yet?'

The ghost of a thin woman standing next to him seems to try her best to smile at the child, but it comes off as a sad and hopeless gesture, resonant with the fates of herself and those all around her.

The ghostly woman says 'Stand tall, honey... be strong. You can sleep in a little while, I promise.'

The ghostly boy says 'How long is a li'l while?'

The ghostly woman averts her pupilless eyes, unable to look at her child. She knows she cannot give him an answer, for one does not exist. Not here. Not ever.

Mollianne tilts her head, letting it register for a moment. "They..."

Crossroads frowns. Who were all these people? She shudders a little as she watches the scene unfold between what she assumed was a mother and her child. Were they spirits trapped here by the witch, or were they memories of this fallen persons past?

Lorastine gazes upon the mother and her child with sad eyes as she attempt to approach them. She wonders if they even were aware of the trio's presence.

Mollianne looks between the spirits. They all seemed... familiar. Alike, even if they were different individuals. It took her a few moments to realize why, when she spotted a familiar object embedded on one of their phantasmal clothing articles... an egg-shaped object. "Crossroads, Lora... they are us. Look... contracts. It is... them. And their families... victims of our fights." Her voice cracks as she mentions the latter portion of her statement.

Mollianne looks up, horrified despite her lack of expression through eyes. "Why are they here, and not gone?"

Crossroads looks considerably paler as she notices the objects that Mollianne was indicating. "So these were wishborn?" She studies them for a while. Defeated ones? Certainly they wouldn't be taking on the appearance of ghostly sprits if they had fallen to corruption. Suddenly this place was making her really nervous though. She didn't want to add too the number here.

"Other wishborn?" she asks listening in to the other two. Now that its been mentioned, Lorastine noticed the familiar eggshaped things on some of the ghosts. It was all so terrible to see that they could be suffering here locked away from a sweet death and robbed of their life. "Do you think there is any way to help them?"

"I do not know... not for sure. But it would stand to reason that this is what they are." Mollianne looks between a number of them, then attempts to poke one, by which her finger passes right through. "Hey, what happened? Can you tell us what happened to you? Or where the Witch is, so we can stop this? We want to help!"

One of the other ghosts down the line turns, his words echoing with a raspy undertone, the sound of a voice no longer part of the physical world. "You can't help us... nobody can. We are prisoners of the darkness, forever. It's only a matter of time before you join us, as well. Her highness wishes it, and so it must be. This is our fate, and yours too." His tone sounds annoyed, as if the offer to help them was one he'd heard a million uneventful times over.

That... That didn't sound too promising. And Crossroads took a nervous step back towards the portal. "What do you mean by no one can help you? Who is this 'Highness' and why weren't the other contracted here able to stop her?" She asks the population of spirits loudly.

Lorastine looks around at the spirits, as they started to pay more attention to the trio of girls even if they didn't say anything to them. She could feel their eyes on them and it was making her a bit uncomfortable. She lands next to Crossroads and whispers. "Maybe they mean the witch?"

Mollianne looks down one of the hallway again, her wings drooping slightly to betray the onset of depression. "There must be hundreds of you here. Can you tell us how to find the one in charge here? We have to try. We have someone outside who needs our help!"

"You can't save us. Were you not listening? This is our fate. We are part of this labyrinth now. Regardless of what happens, we will remain here. Everything the princess takes, she keeps, even if she goes down with it. We are resigned to this fate, because we have no choice. We cannot tell you where she is, or the consequences will be dire. Just accept your place, as we have."

One ghost in particular seems a little shifty, as if he didn't quite agree with what was said. He appears to be a young man, possibly mid twenties or so, and is rocking lightly from foot to foot in uncertainty.

Well, that didn't answer their questions at all. And Crossroads was about to respond with an argument when she noticed the young man. She looked at his face almost expecting him to say something more, he seemed to want to. But when he doesn't, she approaches him, "What about you?"

Lorastine didn't believe the fact that they were trapped forever here. If the witch was defeated then theortically they would all be free with no one to contain them anymore. "Where is your princess?" the hylian requests taking a step towards the negative ghost.


[-----MEANWHILE, OUTSIDE THE LABYRINTH...-----]


Tyrranis looks down at Kyrk with a scowl on his face. "Look at you. These are not the scars I wanted from you." Tyrranis rears back his head, and brings it slamming down onto Kyrk's own, ignoring the blood spilling out of his arm from the man's teeth, and the further damage that this action will cause to himself.

Kyrk bites down roughly as best he can, and doesn't even seem to brace for the incoming headbutt; however, in the midst of such force and general brutality, one person's head can only take so much. This blow to his own cranium, long with the nasty gauntlet-slap he received earlier, knocks him for a loop, and he can only lay there in a daze, temporarily unaware of the world as a whole. Possessed or otherwise, it is still Kyrk's body!

Obviously, Kyrk is not in a state to retaliate from that blow; you could almost see the birds flying around his head.

Crossroads takes a few steps closer, getting a better look of Kyrk's conditions. "Tyr, Don't kill him." She said quietly to herself, "For Lora's sake." She didn't want to think about how Lora felt watching all this. It was hard enough just watching Tyrranis. But surely there had to be a solution.

Tyrranis snarls, and stands up from Kyrk. He doesn't make any moves that suggest he's going to stop fighting him though. Instead, he looks around and catches sight of the clone. He walks over to Kyrk's fallen buster blade and yanks it out of the house it was embedded in. "Crossroads, go into the portal. I will handle the situation out here."

Crossroads looks down rubbing her arm, "I'm already in." She said, glancing back at the portal. "I guess I should have faith in you handling things on your own though. Just... please keep an eye on him. Don't let your guard down. Make sure that thing doesn't possess you too." She looked up at him, pressing her lips together, "I don't think I could do anything to stop you if you ended up possessed."

Tyrranis hefts the breaker blade, and examines it for a long moment, listening to Tera. "I and Kyrk will not die, today. Not without something going wrong." He looks back to her, the gauntlet covering his fist disappearing. "Cease worrying." He walks over to Kyrk, still holding the massive blade in his hands, and examines the fallen warrior. "I am going to beat you unconcious. After that, we will see if we can cure you."

Kyrk strains his vision, the blood from the wound on his face having spattered across the rest of his face during the headbutt. He glares coldly at Tyrranis, and utters a hiss, one word coming out in broken spits. "Cyn..thi..a.."

Tera nods slowly, especially after hearing Tyrranis's plan. "Alright." She said, and she is about to leave when she hears Kyrk utter something. Who was Cynthia?

Tyrranis slams the Breaker Blade into the ground tip first, and steps over Kyrk, straddling him. The giganto cracks his knuckles, and then reaches down to Kyrk's neck, wrapping his hands around it. "Fall." With that, he begins choking Kyrk, trying to push the damaged man over the edge and into unconciousness.

Kyrk coughs, fighting weakly against the urge to slip away, but his expression forms into a vengeful sort of grin, looking up at Tyrranis as sight gradually begins to fade from his eyes. His expression is a haunting one, as if trying to let Tyrranis know that this action is a futile one in whatever he may be trying to do. However, he isn't kept long before what little energy he has left leaves him, and he passes out completely, slightly asphyxiated into doing so.


[-----BACK IN THE LABYRINTH...-----]


Nightmare Labyrinth - Corridor of the Condemned
Walls of iron close in to form a wide, far-reaching walkway leading
north and south from here, fortress-like in their design and structure.
Only darkness is visible in the distance at either end, and the only
lighting seems to come from what appear to be ghostly apparitions lining
each wall of the hallway, extending as far as the eye can see. Shadows
twist and converge overhead, offering only the view of their inky-black
composition, and the floor is seemingly crafted from the same metal that
comprises the corridor's boundaries.

The nervous-looking spirit fidgets further, but stands bolt-straight when approached by Crossroads and Lorastine. The peculiar thing here is why a ghost would be nervous? What more does it actually have to lose? But then again... "I-I can't say... she'll get angry! Really angry. She doesn't like to be disturbed. She said that we're not to disturb her, or we would regret it in the worst way possible. Th-that's all.."

Mollianne frowns softly, looking between all the immediate spirits in the vicinity. "What could be worse than this? You still have memories of your soul gem, here in the afterlife... did you try to defeat her and lose, too? Or.." She stops, looking toward Crossroads and Lorastine. "What if she is connected somehow to the Yoma outside? Is that possible?"

Crossroads shrugs at Mollianne's suggestion, unsure if there was any connection between the two or not. It seemed possible, though right now the girls mind was on other things thanks to the spirits words. Really uncomfortable things, in fact. "What do you think would happen to all these people if this witch was defeated?" She asked in a rather quiet tone hoping that the other spirits didn't over hear her.

"I actually was wondering that myself if she was connected to Kyrk's odd behavior." Lorastine replies to you before listening to Crossroads' question. "I'm not sure. Maybe they'll have a chance to finally rest in peace." she suggested trying to remain the least bit optimistic for the spirits around them.

The spirit in question looks grim, his face more gaunt than it already was. "Where the labyrinth goes, we go. At her behest, we are a part of it, and must remain so. Under her power, she fused our souls into the heart of this labyrinth, such that our fates are tied not only to hers, but this entire dimension. It is her failsafe against potential threats, though you can see what has become of our attempts. Look around you." The spirit's voice grows cold and tired at the end of his statement, giving the impression that he (and possibly some others) have been here for a long, long time.

Mollianne looks down for a moment, then at the spirit line in front of them again. If they wouldn't talk... there had to be a reason. But... was it safe, with Cross and Lora there? She didn't know if it was worth the risk, but then again, she didn't have a lot of options at the moment. She closes her eyes, turning away from Lora and Cross as she clasps her hands together, a soft glow emanating therefrom.

Crossroads folded her arms and looked about the area frowning, completely unaware of what Mollianne was up to at the moment. Was it better to continue their existance of misery, or was it better to snuff out that existance so they could find peace? It didnt matter. The witch needed to be defeated before more lives--including their own where added to the collection. There was no argument about that. Surviving this place didn't seem that good though considering the number of people here. Thanks to that spirit, a

Thanks to that spirit, a little idea was nibbling at her brain and she was curious as to what would happen if their "Princess" was disturbed. Crossroads didn't know if it would work, or even do anything at all for that matter, but she places the arrow she had been holding back into her quiver, reached into her robes, and pulled out her gun, aiming it up towards the ceiling area.

Lorastine frowns at the response they were given. It seemed like once the witch was defeated, then these spirits would be destroyed. There was no win/lose situation for them, but they couldn't just let the witch gather more people to doom for eternity. As she looks about at the spirits around them she spots another hylian woman, for a split second she felt as if it was her there and it sent chills down her spine.

Lorastine hears the clicking of a gun behind her and notices Crossroads pointing a gun at the ceiling. "What are you doing?" she asks quickly, a bit confused, not sure what her friend had planned.

The spirits all seem to retain their resolution in whatever form they currently exist within, not paying heed to any of them unless directly interacted with. The majority of them seem bored beyond words.

Mollianne opens her hands, allowing a dim aura to shine from her palms; it takes on the form of an eerie sort of light, an extremely-dark purple outline with accents of white, and she turns to face them, holding out both palms together in front of her. "Guys, stay calm for a second, okay? I do not know what this feels like, but it should not hurt at all..."

A stream of this colored light issues forth from Mollianne's hands, gradually growing in size until it filters throughout the area like a strange mist, hugging the walls as well as Crossroads and Lorastine's forms like a translucent curtain. The wall behind the line of spirits pulses softly in response to this, rippling in some strange effect.

Crossroads pauses in what she is doing and lowers the gun to the floor realizing that she was about to become Mollianne's guinea pig for what sounded like an untested ability. As the mist created by the woman surrounds her, something feels... off. Like her powers were being disconnected. An odd feeling, as well as a very uncomfortable one. Ignoring Lorastine's question, Crossroads turned towards the Siren. "Mollianne, what did you just do?"

Lorastine watches as her light bow disappear from her hand and her powers became supressed by Mollianne's light. "My powers.." was all she really could think of saying as she wasn't able to conjure up her bow again.

The riplling effect on the wall remains where it is as Mollianne's wave of magic (or to be specific, anti-magic) covers it, though the spirits lining up against it seem to pay it no heed, nor the living Wishborn still nearby. They really are resigned to their fates, so much that not even the living give them any hope for optimism.

"My power... this is why I hid it from everyone. I am not supposed to hunt Witches or Yoma with other people, because of the danger it poses." Mollianne frowns softly at Lorastine's response to her action She didn't want to upset anyone, but... She notices suddenly the spot on the wall that this effect created. As she lowers her hands, the cloud of anti-magic begins to gradually fade away, and she abruptly makes a break for the rippling wall, her taloned feet echoing loudly on the metal floor. Mollianne calls to Crossroads and Lorastine, hurriedly. "There is our chance! We can talk about it later, come on! Before it closes!"

Crossroads clenches both the bow and the gun in her hands, suddenly irritated with the woman. How hard was it to give them some sort of warning before doing something like that? She didn't get time to react though seeing the break in the wall it caused and Molli running for it. She followed after Mollianne, not wanting to get split up or trapped in here. She'd yell at her later if the three of them made it out of this.

Lorastine hesitated not expecting Mollianne to suddenly take off in a direction of the opening. She quickly sprinted after the others not wanting to be left behind in this labryith. "Was this all a trap for us?!" she asks as she catchs up behind Mollianne and Crossroads.

As the three of them approach the wall, the rippling portion suddenly elongates and stretches to a gross, freaky proportions! A black hole opens up in its center and expands outward, engulfing them all!



Nightmare Labyrinth - Throne of the Blackheart Princess
A set of massive iron double-doors are tightly closed at the entrance
of this smallish room, set within the walls of equally-metallic design.
Two brass pedestals stand on either side of a small, twisted black
throne, placed against the far wall opposite the doors. A large bulb of
light rests upon the flat surface of each pedestal, giving off enough
luminence to brighten the room suitably enough, though there is little else
in the way of decoration. The faint sound of whimpering can be heard in
the air, composing multiple voices into a thin, desperate tone that floats
subtly within the dark atmosphere.


The well of darkness suddenly opens up elsewhere a second or two later, dropping them off roughly onto a hard floor in the middle of a large room, beheld under the harsh gaze of a well-dressed woman at the far end, perched neatly upon a throne of black.

Cynthia, Princess of Corrupted Ends looks up from her throne, one visible red eye glinting dangerously. "Well. You just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? That's SO like you all to just rush in headfirst to everything. It brings me pleasure to know I've risen above such rash behaviours."

Mollianne loses her footing upon being dropped into the room, issuing a short grunt as she lands on her bottom. The tone of the voice catches her ears, and she looks up warily at its owner, climbing clumsily to her feet.

"Ooph!" Crossroads lands awkwardly, her stomach making contact with the cold floor and her bow clattering at her side just a few inches away. She reaches out and takes hold of it again immediately, not wanting to give any inch of chance of losing it. She looks up at the witch addressing them as she did, and slowly got to her feet.

Lorastine's first reaction to being out in open air was to fly, but it happened so suddenly she couldn't get herself prepared for flight before she landed on her butt. "Owwww..." she says rubbing her now sore rear. She looks up at the witch now before them, she seemed to be expecting them.

The woman remains on her throne, not even bothering to get up and address them properly. She waves one hand idly, her demeanor that of someone who were talking to a bag of trash that had been forgotten and left out. Three bags of trash, in fact. "Since you're here, though, I might as well humor you. So listen up, because I'm only going to say this once."

Cynthia, Princess of Corrupted Ends says 'You're going to get up. You're going to turn around. And you're going to march your fannies right back to where you came from, and not bother me again. Is there any part of this that is not understood?'

At that moment, the air against the large doors begins to shimmer, the presence of a portal coming into view!

Mollianne scowls, feeling the portal opening up behind them, but casting only a glare at the Witch. "Who are you to talk to us like that? Do you think you are any better just because you failed in one life? That makes you no better than any of us, only worse! Most people do not get second chances!" Her tone is suddenly fierce, no longer the quiet and reserved little siren she's been since entering the labyrinth.

Crossroads glanced back towards the portal, shook her head and turned her attention back towards the witch. "We are not going to run away. We have to put a stop to what you are doing here." She said, tucking away her gun and pulling an arrow from her quiver.

Lorastine stands up straight and glares at the witch, a little ticked at the way she addressed them. She was the one trapping all these poor souls in that prison. "You will pay for your crimes, trapping those souls." she says drawing her light bow and her wings expanding in an almost grand display as the feather shimmered with light. "As a protector, I shall protect those souls from suffering anymore."

Cynthia, Princess of Corrupted Ends sighs boredly, placing her head in one hand as she leans lazily against the side of her throne, tapping the fingers of her other hand against the other armrest. "Really? Seriously? I'm giving you a full-blown invitation to freedom, before you do something you will be guaranteed to regret, and you're just going to blow me off? Do you realize what you are doing, by refusing my most gracious offer? You won't stop me. You don't have what it takes. Nobody ever has!"

Mollianne clenches her fist, the interior of which can be seen to glow in a soft light, from within the cracks generated between her small fingers. "All of those people, you keep them as your prisoners here... they have done nothing wrong! They followed the same path you did! The only difference is that they never came back to hurt people! How can you even THINK of lording over them? Your hypocrisy is unacceptable!"

Crossroads knocked her arrow. The more the witch talked, the more she had a chance to effect them. "Lora, take to the air, you have a better advantage that way. Mollianne, stay behind me for safety. If her powers become too much we might have a use for your abilities." Cross was perfectly capable of fighting with her weapons without her magic. The only dangerous aspect to Mollianne using it would be that she couldn't predict attacks.

Lorastine nods at Cross's orders and flaps her wings once to get airbourne. She rises high into the air and aims her bow with an arrow of pure white light readied in the bow.

Cynthia, Princess of Corrupted Ends looks up from her throne, lifting her head from her hand and looking between the three of them. "I highly advise against doing what you're about to do. I don't believe that you will like the consequences that result. Do you know anything about me? Do you not know the connections I possess? I -dare- you to let loose your arrows, and see if you don't regret your decisions. Blood will be on your hands, not mine." She sits upright, folding her hands across her chest and preparing no defensive maneuvers. She seems awfully sure of herself.

Mollianne's anger seems to stunt itself at Crossroads' command, but only because she seemed genuinely concerned. Add to that the fact that she already surprised her (and not too happily, she figured) once, and she didn't seem inclined to act spontaneously again, so soon. But would she be able to handle herself if things got violent? She'd never seen Cross fight before, but trusting her veteran status, she culls her spell, taking up a readied position nearby. Something else bothered her slightly, though; what did the Witch mean, 'What it takes' And whose blood..? Mollianne could only wonder.

Crossroads pulls another close from another timeline and steps to the side. She wanted not only for the reassurance of having more numbers on their side, but to also draw up another vision of the future which required a moment of vulnerability. Something that she was weary of doing infront of a threat. The clone self closes her eyes a moment, concentrating hard. "It will cause her to dissolve and break up the labyrinth..." She says, eyes snapping open. Then closing again to see what happened a few minutes after.

Lorastine listens to Cross's reading of the future; it sounded like if the labyrith was destroyed then they would have succeeded in something towards the fight. The Angel hylian pulls her bow back far to increase the speed of the shot and closed one eye for accuracy. "Let my arrow be your judgement" she says as she releases the tension in her bow and the arrow streaks towards the witch.

The witch princess eyes the incoming arrow as it streaks blindingly toward her, giving Crossroads a knowing smile (did she know..?) just before it strikes her in the chest! The force of it knocks her back in her throned seat, along with a grunt from the force of it. She looks down at the created wound and the light arrow sticking out of her, and gives a short, evil sounding laugh as her body begins to vibrate violently! "To each... their... own..!" Her form begins to dissolve gradually, breaking up into tiny little specks of color that just fall to the ground and into her throne, until that is all that remain! The surrounding room is silent thereupon; even the low whimpering can no longer be heard. All sound appears to have stopped, both ambient and issued.

Mollianne averts her eyes briefly, blinking in disbelief as she looks up at Lorastine above. "Lora... did you.. in one shot? Wow!" her amazement seems to temporarily disavow her earlier apprehension. These girls were good at what they did, to be sure!

The other Crossroads opens her eyes, but only finds then that it is too late. She pales considerably as she sees the witch dissolve with the arrow still in her. "Kyrk..."

Crossroads dismisses her clone and concentrates hard, sending her mind out to the other one that was left outside of the labyrinth and pushing her her own mind into its place, switching them.

Suddenly, a rumbling begins to take over the entire area! Cracks of light filter in through the darkness as the labyrinth begins to break up! Pieces of the wall fall apart, and quickly give way to the light beyond, which swallows up all senses..!


[----MOMENTS EARLIER, OUTSIDE...----]


All of a sudden, and without any rhyme, reason, or outside influence indicating a responsible party, Kyrk stops breathing. Utterly and literally.

Tyrranis frowns from where he was over by the portal, dropping Kyrk's Breaker Blade and walking quickly over to him. "Crossroads, something is wrong here." His voice is tense, but no more than it normally is during a battle. While he does this, he opens Kyrk's mouth and looks down inside of it, trying to see if the man's throat swelled from the choking.

Tera rushes over to Kyrk and kneels down beside him, "Damn it!" She screams as she starts hurriedly checking the man's vitals. Was there a chance now? Any? At all? No breathing! Pulse? She took hold of Kyrk's wrists. Aemilia's books had come in handy for something. But her mind raced Should she attempt CPR?

Kyrk's mouth and general interior seems fine. His face is pretty bloodied from the beating he received earlier, but none of it really seems to have gotten into his mouth (or at least not enough to provide a hazard). Choking doesn't seem to be a cause.

Tyrranis examines Kyrk hastily, and growls. "His throat is not broken, so it would not be from the choking, do you have any idea how to make him keep breathing?" The giganto looks to Crossroads, vaguely worried it seems.

A crackle of energy erupts from the air nearby as Mollianne, Lorastine, and another Crossroads are deposited on the ground; with a roar, the portal leaving them behind snaps closed, shutting itself off from the world and leaving only a gleaming Grief Seed in the dirt to mark its dispersal.

The threat of corruption seems to have disappeared as they return; no Soul Gems react any longer to the threat of Yoma or Witch. Dormancy reigns surpreme.

Crossroads looked frantically over Kyrk. Teeth clenched. She pulls up his shirt, finds his ribs and begins to walk her hands into a spot over his chest. How many times shough she press down? Her thoughts where so frantic she could hardly keep her thoughts straight. She presses down repeatedly; one, two, three, four, five... Ten times and checks his vitals again.

Kyrk remains lifeless. The abruptness at which he stopped breathing seems to have be something not physical in terms of relation, but only Tyrranis and the Cross-Clone would have seen it as such. One moment he was fine (if unconscious) and the next minute nothing. Complete cessation.

Lorastine sighes and smiles happily that they were finally free of that relam and the witch signature seemed to stop. She looks around and her smile quickly vanishes as she spots Crossroads giving chest compressions to Kyrk lying on the ground. "K-Kyrk?" she says as her voice wavers slightly at the sight. She couldn't move, her legs wouldn't obey her, but they just wanted to give out as she could feel her body start to shake. She had a gut feeling something was wrong when she was able to stop that witch in a single shot.

Mollianne allows herself a moment to call off her transformation, not seeming comfortable in her Wishborn state any longer than she needed to. As her normal appearance is regained, she takes a moment to assess the situation... and her eyes fall upon the group, or specifically, what they are doing. Her face pales severely, her attention noting the blood on Kyrk's face. "Tyrranis... did you..?"

A chilled breeze rustles by, rustling some of the trees that yet hang on to their leaves before the winter months set in. Kyrk remains dormant, unable to hear those above and around him.

Tyrranis stands up, looking down at Kyrk with a sigh. This was something he had dealt with before. The giganto walks over to Kyrk's blade, and lifts it, looking to Molly. "Yes." He twists the blade in his hands, offering Molly the hilt. "Can you wield this?"

"HE DIDN'T DO IT!" Crossroads snaps loudly at Mollianne, quickly wiping the tears she felt running down from her face. She reaches down, pinching the young man's nose, ignoring everything else that was going on around her. She takes in a breath and leans down over him, pressing her lips against his and breathing hair into him. After doing this twice her hands return to his chest; One, two, three...

Lorastine feels her vision blur with tears as Kyrk remains motionless. All she managed to be able to make her legs do was take a few steps towards the body before they gave out from under her. "Was this what the witch meant before as she... This is all my fault." she muttered through her sobbing voice as she dropped to her knees. Her blonde hair draped over her face hiding it as she cried. She was no help right now to anyone even the one she cared about.

Mollianne blinks in disbelief, but it isn't certain toward what, either the admission of guilt or the fact that he was offering her something that was not only not his to give away, but that also likely weighed double what she did. She just stares up at him, her eyes trembling with the threat of tears. "You.. you killed him? Why?! You did not have to go all-out!" Her fists clench at her sides, shaking in the little girl's fury, but her expression falters when Crossroads suddenly snaps at her. She didn't like being yelled at, but... if Tyrranis didn't do it, then..? Confusion settles in, as she regards first Lora, then Cross, then Tyrranis again, still offering her the sword. How was she supposed to feel about this..? What was she supposed to do..?

Kyrk still does not respond to Crossroads' attempts. His body jumps slightly with each pump of her hands, but the movements are not made willingly. Something falls out of the folds of his attire during one of the attempts to revive him... something glittery. A Soul Gem rolls down out of his clothes, coming to rest nearby... empty, devoid of color, light or dark.

Tyrranis growls as the others were speaking up. They were ruining the situation, he jabs the hilt of the sword at Mollianne. "Take the damned sword! I killed him, now retaliate!" He seems to really want Molly to attack him with the sword, for some reason.

Crossroads checked his vitals. Still nothing. She leaned back, both hands covering her face. She couldn't give up now. She had to keep trying but... the situation was starting to feel hopeless. Nothing she was doing was making any difference. She drew in a few uneasy breaths to try to calm herself, then continued the process again.

Lorastine pauses slightly when she notices the empty gem roll away from Kyrk's body. She reaches out towards it and holds it in her hand. "It... its empty..." she mutters as she stares at the gem. She closes her hand around it and holds it tight against her chest close to her own soul gem attached to a necklace around her neck.

Mollianne stares blankly at the sword being offered to her. She drew in a sharp breath, trying to get her emotions under control. She clenches her fists again, then relaxes them. Then she does it again. And one more time, before speaking. "Tyrranis. I cannot even carry that thing, let alone use it effectively. Furthermore, I do not like to use weapons, as a personal preference. Swords and the like have scared me since I was little, because of how my mother was killed." She responded as calmly as she could muster, but it came off as strained nontheless. Mollianne's tone wasn't intending to be aggravated, but given the situation, it was understandable, right? Right?

Kyrk's Soul Gem makes an audible -clink- as it connects to Lorastine's own, and shimmers vaguely, briefly. But then it becomes blank right after, the last bit of magic left in it now gone. Needless to say, Crossroads' ministrations continue to have no effect on Kyrk's body, either.

Tyrranis looks at Molly with a twisted face as she speaks, and the giant moves forwards, looming over her. "Use. The gods-be-damned sword on me. I need to remember this, so you need to use the SWORD" He roars the last word in her face, and all but shoves the hilt in her hand again.

Crossroads shakes her head as Lorastine speaks. She didn't want to hear it! She continues trying even though she can barely keep her hands steady anymore, small choking sobs escaping her throat despite her efforts to hold them back.

Lorastine blinks as the empty shell shimmers and stares at it before it goes lifeless again. The tears welled back up in her eyes as the tears hit the gem and run off it like a glass orb. Her heart was broken and Tyrranis' demands to Mollianne and Crossroads' persistance was only upsetting her more for some reason.

Mollianne actually stumbles back from the force of not only his shout, but the hilt of the huge weapon being shoved into her hands. In fact, she falls on her butt, looking up at him in total bewilderment. "Tyrranis..? What is going on with you? How else can I explain that I cannot lift that thing? Do you see me? Do you see how big I am? Do you see how big that weapon is?" She looks like she's tearing up, eyes shimmering slightly. "What do you want me to do?! I am not as strong as the rest of you! I have not been doing this as long! I did what I could, I am sorry it was not enough! Jeez!" She didn't even think about what she was going to do from here. Tyrranis' masochistic obsession should've been the least of her worries. Where was she going to go? How was she going to tell Rae and May? A million questions assaulted her mind, but at this point in time, the fearsome form of Tyrranis seemed to blot all of that out. For a moment, Mollianne wondered if he might lash out at her where she sat.

Mollianne's raised voice echoes through the silent town, even as another breeze cuts coldly through the area. Kyrk's spikey hair sways lightly as it is caught on this breeze, but no amount of Crossroads' attempts seem to have any effect.

Tyrranis growls, and points the weapon's generally safe end at the sitting Mollianne. "I expect you to take hold of the sword so I can recieve a wound from it! How am I supposed to remember a fight without the weapon of the warrior wounding me! I cannot, that is the answer." Blood from Kyrk biting Tyrranis begins dripping down the blade. "Take hold of the hilt and do your best to strike me!"

"Damn it, Kyrk! You..." Still nothing. No heart beat nor breath. Part of her mind was screaming for her to stop. That it was over and he was gone and there was nothing she could do. The other half was telling her not to give up yet and keep going. Crossroads tried to force away those doubting thoughts. Even if they were true.

Lorastine moves over to sit nex to Kyrk and pulls him up to her and hugs him close, interupting Crossroads futile attempts to revive him. She never thought that she would ever see him like this. "Why..." she says quietly as she held him against her.

"No! You are insane! Someone who was as close to me as any brother could get to a normal family just died, and you want to be cut by a weapon I cannot even pick up? Do you HEAR yourself? Everyone... everyone..." her voice cracks, the tears starting to really come now. "Everything grieves... in their own way. But this is insane! I will not attack you, with this or any other weapon. You are insane!" Mollianne scrambles to her feet, half-despairing in the situation at hand and half-fearing for her life at Tyrranis' insistence on her act of needless retribution, and Mollianne attempts to take off, spreading her enormous wings wide as she prepares to take to the sky!

Kyrk is pulled away from Crossroads and hugged by Lorastine, one arm falling limply to the ground on one side of him.

Tyrranis scowls even harder as Molly turns away from him, and looks around, instead locking his eyes on Crossroads. He steps over to her, ignoring Lorastine completely. "Crossroads. I need you to help me with this."

Mollianne beats her wings roughly before taking to the air, heading westward without so much as a glance backward. What did she have left, at this point..? She gradually disappears into the sky, out of sight.

When Lora pulls Kyrks body away, both of Crossroads' hands fall to the ground and she begins sobbing. When she hears you address her she slowly turns her head to him, eyes swollen with tears. She was too focused on trying to revive Kyrk to hear anything Tyr and Mollianne were arguing about.

Lorastine just remains silent apart from the occasional sobs coming from her. She wanted to wake up from a bad dream, she didn't want any of this to be real. Her blonde hair draped over Kyrk's face as she nuzzled against it, not wanting to let him go.

Tyrranis moves the hilt of the sword a little closer to Crossroads. "I need to remember this some day. That means I need a scar from this weapon. I need your help with that. You can, right?"

Crossroads nods and silently gets up on wobbly legs, looking towards her other self who had spent this whole time crying curled up with her back to everyone. She places her hand on the other Cross's shoulder, though she didn't seem to need the encouragement as she was already pulling herself to her feet. Both of them move over to where the sword lay and fought to lift it. Neither wanted to hurt him, but both understood why he needed this. It wobbles and swayed in both their grasps, eventually falling to cut into the gigantos' skin.

Tyrranis actually looks a good bit calmer when Crossroads cuts him with the giant sword, and nods at Crossroads, all but ignoring the wound he just recieved. "Lorastine. Let go of his body. I will need to bury it somewhere."

Crossroads let the sword drop to the ground with a clatter and she dismisses the clone, letting it dissapate where it stood. She stands numbly for a moment, watching the blood run down Tyrranis's skin from the wound she had inflicted on him with Kyrks sword. Watches as he tells Lorastine to let go of the body. She tited her head down, looking at the ground where a few small tears had fallen had fallen and splashed. She swallowed hard, turned away from the scene, and ran.

Lorastine shakes her head and hugs the body tighter. "No..." she says quietly, but loud enough to be heard.

Tyrranis sighs deeply, and kneels down infront of Lorastine. "Lora, I need you to let go so I can bury him. Either that, or he is going to sit out here and rot. People would probably frown on that though, so let me take him."

Lorastine only hugs the body tighter and doesn't even look up at Tyrranis. "I don't care... I don't want him to go..." she mutters as her wings were pressed tight against her back right before they started to fade away as her power finally started to dissipate.

Tyrranis sighs, and sets his hand on Lorastine's shoulder. The blood there might end up staining. "Lora, he is not going. He is gone. The body is empty. His soul is some place else. We need to put him somewhere so that the carrion beasts do not eat him."

Lorastine looks up Tyrranis, her tears still running down her wet cheeks. She shruged off Tyrranis' hand and looks away before letting the corpse go. She stood up and drew her wings once more using the power of her soul gem before flapping and going airbourne. In her hand she held Kyrk's soul gem shell as she flew away to go be alone. She couldn't bear to see him be buried, but Tyrranis had a point and leaving him to rot would help no one.

Tyrranis sighs, and picks up Kyrk's body and Buster Sword. He begins trudging back towards Truce, carrying the body wordlessly and emotionlessly. He had a feeling the next few days at the house were going to be rather difficult, regardless.