Forieri di Tarocchi - Harbingers of Tarot

[Tsu]

The voices of individuals were a single element which remained unisolated from the inhabitants of the forest. Yet by the time Iphie spoke, her words were no longer unique to the environment as cries of panic began to howl from the other students trapped in a similar situation. Nonetheless, such cries for assistance were next to useless given the distortion from which sounds were received. What might have originated from one direction could have sounded as if it came from all directions. In extreme conditions, the words of others might have been received as if their source were standing right next to their receiver.

Specifically in the case of Iphie and Jackson, the unknown figure gave no reaction to Iphie's warnings and only continued its approach forward. It was after Jackson embraced its body that it lovingly nuzzled its head against his chest. The tears running down its face began to slowly soak the youth's shirt in addition to the stains of blood that were soaked off its bruised skin. Shielded by the veil of hair, Jackson was unable to see the cunning smile which was solely directed towards Iphie. From her perspective, Ethan was cuddled against Jackson's body while the knife in his right hand was positioned just above the neckline of the clueless youth. Subtly, Ethan's left finger produced a silent gesture against his lips before beckoning Iphie in the direction that they lay. Immediately after, the figure began speaking with its words spoken exclusively for Jackson's perspective.

"J-Jackson...I-Its okay...
I-I'm okay...
I re-remember this area of the f-forest from when I-I w-was b-brought in.
T-The e-exit is t-this way."

Using its left hand, the figure began tugging on Jackson shirt in an attempt to direct him towards an arbitrary direction of the forest. From Iphie's perspective, Ethan was gently tugging while his right hand continued to hold the knife over Jackson's nearest vital. Once again, the figure subtly beckoned for Iphie to follow as he continued his attempts of beckoning Jackson forward.

~~~

In the case of Kent and Kaede, nothing much had changed. No matter the number of attempts, walking forward would continue to roughly loop their position into the opposite direction from whence they came. Furthermore, Kaede's utilization of the torch, was bound to detect nothing but a subtly anomaly which involved a curious bending of her light. Rather than a simple distortion by the mist, the light was seemingly refracted into widely curved arcs which seemed all but physically possible given any knowledge of electromagnetism. Nonetheless, her trip was doomed to be cut short by the same voice which followed an exasperated sigh for all to hear.

"Cheiré, ya' cute n' all, but brains were not ya' gift.
Ya' got the tools to masta the smoke and mirrors, yet ya' cannot even look past a trick such as this.
And ya friend; laughable Medium. Dulla' than the rocks of ya' brain."

Immediately, the marbles in Kaede's hand generated a painful sensation that would have left a searing pain against her palm. Etched into her skin was the shape of a medallion centered by the design of a white lily which was circled by a rainbow of wisp-shaped swirls.

"There is a job to be done, Cheiré,
The curtain shall rise, and our masterpiece shall fall.
Tout est fumée et des miroirs.
The marbles, Cheiré. No illusions are greater than mine."

 

[TerraBooma]

Jackson's mind was racing, confusion enough etched on his brain. Who the hell would do this to his sister? His mind kept coming back to that, but he needed to focus. Saving Lana was all that was on Jackson's mind. He glances up for but a moment, confused on what Iphie was talking about. He glanced down at his sister, it couldn't be some kind of other person...there was no way, and even if it was...Jackson wasn't sure he was willing to make that risk, if there was even a small chance he was actually holding his sister just then, he would more than willingly take whatever risks he had to make sure she truly was safe. He stood up, and despite what his own belief, grabbed onto Lana's right arm. For him it was clutching his shirt anyway, so it was more of a reasurrance then anything to the girl. "C'mon Lana...it'll be okay, just stay with me."


When it turned out that Iphie couldn't get a signal, Jackson almost swore up a storm if not again for the presence of his supposed little sister. When she pointed however, Jackson didn't even stop to ask questions, his mind was focused on a single goal: Get Lana out of the forest, and fast. So without many words, Jackson did his best to break into a sprint, doing more of a careful jog. "Iphie! C'mon! And keep trying that d-....Keep trying that phone!"

 

[Doughguy]

The light from her torch didn't reveal anything that Kaede had been looking for, but it did reveal something else. The beam was refracted at angles that were simply not possible if they weren't in a lab. She thought it through in her head. If her torch was going like that then was everything they saw coming from a different angle? If they wanted to travel straight did they have to walk at an angle? She sighed, her mind hadn't been made for deciphering physics. For this walk at least she was ending up right back where she had begun with Kent.

There was another sigh and she turned to Kent thinking it was him. Then the voice came again, this time sounding louder. She watched Kent's face to see if he reacted and heard it. The voice started off by insulting the both of them then by burning her hand. She winced but didn't let go of the marbles. When the pain was gone she rolled them up in between her fingers so she could examine her palm. A weird symbol had been branded there, a lily surrounded by swirling shapes all contained in a circle.

Her gaze shifted up and her hand rose as well to match it, until the marbles were at eye level. She wasn't sure where else to look when she attempted to address the voice. Many questions rose to her lips but most were irrelevant for now. She could find out who and what she was talking to later, she needed to know how to do what the voice was saying. She took a few steps forward aimed the torch outwards, seeing the way the light bent. "How do I use the marbles?" she asked the voice, "How do I see past this illusion?"

She turned back towards Kent, "I'm going to try something, you might want to follow, just in case." She started walking forwards. Whichever way the light from her torch bent she would force herself to turn away from it, avoiding walking in a curve. She could feel her body tensing up. This feeling of being tricked, her perception ruined, it was exactly like the world from last night where she had failed to see the truth of the world and she hated it. "How do I break this." she asked the voice, her own quieter.

 

[Voltin]

Kent watched Kaede as she flicked on her flashlight and began to survey the area with her bent ray of light. It was obvious that she had noticed his impossible return and was now trying to see what had caused it, but Kent saw it as a futile endeavor. This was probably something supernatural -- like last night -- so solving it through conventional means seemed meaningless. If only either of his current cards worked like they had in the simulation.

Then, the strange event began to devolve even more into chaos. Voices from every angle. This wasn't affecting just the four of them as it had last night, Kent realized. Shifting screams and yells for assistance as something presumably came after those now trapped students. He didn't like it. It was making him sick. He hadn't expected his prediction to come to pass so quickly. It was one thing to be redirected from your course, but for sound to be altered in such a way... Kent covered his ears, clenched his eyes, a panic taking him over.

Though, despite that, a voice still rang through his head. Not paying mind to the insults, Kent's head was still trying to process what it was saying when Kaede spoke. When she stated her intent on action, Kent sprang forward, grabbing the hand now inscribed and looking at it. "Ah." Things were beginning to make sense. What was happening was involved with the Tarocchi, and Kaede had become a Medium just like him. Without word, Kent released Kaede's hand and reached at the bandage around his hand. Revealing his own sigil to the Medium, he spoke. "You too. You're a Tarocchi Medium."

Kent gestured for her to lead the way if she -- unlikely -- didn't have questions for the man, before taking out his wallet and then Temperance. He put his finger at the beginning of the card's inscription, but he found himself faltering. Was this going to work? If it did, what was going to happen? Not sure if there was anything else that he could do, he finally traced the outline of his card with a finger.

 

[Astoria]

Iphigenia raised her eyebrows as sounds of fear and unease rang out from around her. It seemed that she and Jackson were not the only ones to be subjected to some sort of trial. Were they also seeing Ethans or somebody else? Regardless, as she watched the male figure embrace her partner with his knife, she frowned in distaste at the boy's smug smile. It was almost as if he was threatening her to not yell while at the same time gesturing for her to move in a certain direction. She clicked her tongue in irritation; she didn't take well to threats.

In fact, she had half a mind to pounce on the figure and wrestle away its weapon, ignoring Jackson, but she thought better of it. After all, she recalled, there were no winners in a knife fight. It would be better to convince Jackson that whoever was clinging to him was not 'Lana.' Iphie decided against brandishing her meagre blade in self-defense as well; showing it would merely put Jackson even more on the defensive if he wasn't already confused. It would seem likely that he would jump to the defense of his 'sister' if she tried anything funny. With the phone continually dialing and wasting her time and free hand, she hung up against Jackson's wishes. Replacing it in her skirt pocket, she found the cloth card from the other day, taking that into her hand instead.

"It won't be of use. We're walking further away from the town." Again, she tried to persuade Jackson out of his obliviousness. Stalling for time, she allowed herself to move slowly in the direction that Ethan had gestured to. Idly tracing the lines of the card with her right hand, she continued. "Do you hear those voices? It's not just us. Jackson, I only see a boy with a knife. He is holding a knife to your neck. If you believe that is Lana, you better make bloody sure it is her."

Growing exasperated, she shot an icy glare at Ethan's continuing smile. "Ask her questions. Something personal."

 

[Tsu]

Immediately following the card that Kent traced, a sleepy moan was simultaneously whispered into both of his ears while a sudden weight began pulling against either end of his body. A delicate softness caressed the youth's skin from the silky waves of snow-white hair which suddenly thrust itself into his immediate point of view. For a split second, an even softer sensation was placed against both of cheeks before the twin figures plopped onto the ground where they began lazily rubbing their eyes awake. In the area around Yin, a sudden growth of flora began sprouting from the ground while the life around Yang began slowly withering. Regardless, the pair remained as they were for some time after until they eventually began to speak with their usual riddle approach.

"It seems that we were not forgotten.
Yet why the stench must be so rotten?
Corruption in this forest lay.
A filthy lily, an extra prey?"

The words that they spoke began in a cheerful tone; however, they quickly devolved into a sour nature as the twin figures began glaring in the direction of Kaede. Summoned by their action and words, a flourish of white petals enveloped an area surrounding Kaede's body before forming into the slender shape of a tall, flamboyant figure. Although appearances were without a doubt feminine, the figure's identity was nonetheless ambiguous given the slight masculine tone which layered the words that he subsequently spoke.

"There are greater issues at hand, no?
As the embodiment of balance, your priorities are questionable, Temperance.
No matter, Cheiré and I are more than enough for the likes of a simple hollow."

With their declaration, the figure turned their attention back towards Kaede to whom they flourished a grandiose bow in her direction.

"Lillian Blanchett.
Enchanté de faire votre conaissance, Madamoiselle.
A bit of combat shouldn't be against your tastes, I assume?
But first, a lesson on fumée et miroirs."

With a quick motion, the individual known as Lillian tapped their staff against the hand of Kaede which held the three marbles. The reaction was immediate as dense puffs of colored smoke began to profusely rise from out of her hand. Immediately, the smoke began to spread in and around a decent radius which in turn caused the particles of black mist to shatter into dust. With the mist dissipating from the atmosphere, familiar sounds of the forest environment slowly began to return in immediate area of the smoke's range.

"Lesson one.
Only a single illusion can influence the mind.
Naturally, mine are stronger; thus, the original trick is broken."

With the conclusion of their first lesson, Lillian proceeded to the tap their staff against Kaede's arms; precisely directing them into the position that they desired. This set of actions left her arms extended forward with her palms facing towards the sky. As a result of this form, the smoke in the area began to roughly gather and swirl above her hands; however, the demonstration was obviously novice given the disorganized structure under which the smoke obeyed her control. Regardless, Lillian performed a satisfied nod before continuing with their set of lessons.

"Sloppy, but what more to expect from a brain of rocks.
Lesson two.
Functions of the color are beyond your capable grasp.
La pratique rend parfait.
For now, imagine the smoke as an extension of ya' body.
You see, you feel, you experience that which the smoke does.
Spread your limbs and break the illusion of our friend.
Remember, an illusion is not your enemy. Locate the source and take us there.
Have at it, Cheiré."

With Kaede instructed on her power, Lillian direction his attention back to the twin figures who remained glaring their way for the entirety of their speech. With a cheeky smile, the french individual gave their staff a quick twirl before tipping their hat in the direction of the girls. In response, the twin figures gave a quick "humph" before redirecting their gaze back onto Kent and speaking in a puffy tone that had abandoned all rhymes.

"We could find the source just as easily.
You wait, Kenty-Ken. Our time to shine will come."

~~~

From Iphie's point of view, Ethan's expression was visibly annoyed with the statements that she had brought to discussion; however, given Jackson's ignorance, he passively continued to lead them further into forest. Overall, the entire journey was fairly short-lived, and from Jackson's perspective, whatever answers that Iphie desired were negligible given the appearance of safety which welcomed his arrival. In his eyes, the open clearing of the forest was filled with emergency vehicles and personal; as such, Lana was leading them in the direction of a sheriff who was seemingly interviewing another student. Of course, nothing in this description was scene through Iphie's eyes. Instead a scene of horror was left for her to experience. Splatters of blood covered the clearing from numerous bodies of animals and students who were tempted by the visions that they saw. What Jackson perceived as the sheriff was another instance of Ethan; however, unlike the one which led Jackson forward, the second manifestation was heavily soaked in blood, especially around his left hand and lower arm.

 

[TerraBooma]

"Ask her something personal?" Jackson called out as he crashed through the forest, face whipped by leaves and branches as he stormed through the forest, desperate for help in some way. His face was starting to hurt as he pushed through another thicket, but he had to shield Lana from any more pain while getting to the exit as fast as possible...that was his goal. Still, Iphie had a point...and asking a personal question while on the run wasn't going to be hard, even if Lana was in danger. "Question...a question...okay. Uh...Lana, what did I get you for your birthday last year?" The girl went to speak, but before she could give an answer, she broke into a fresh coughing fit, sinking deeper into him. He bit his lip. "Not good...not good." he called back. "Iphie! C'mon! We gotta hurry! I don't...I don't know what I'd do without her..."

Turning back, Jackson broke into a run again, heart pleading for help, not realizing that his question had been sidestepped. Jackson's mind was too busy saving what had sometimes felt like the only family he had left.


When he broke into the clearing, tears of joy fell down his face, Lana was going to be okay...she would be okay. That was all that mattered. "Here! Hey!... Over here!" he called out, panting somewhat at the strain of carrying his sister. "Please...please help us!" Jackson's cries for help continued as he ran, bee lining not for the Sheriff, but for the paramedics a decent distance away. His tormented mind only stopped for one second to wonder why these medical assistance vehicles were here when he had no idea where he was, or the fact that Iphie hadn't called. But there were other students here, Jackson didn't need to know the why. His gait took a stronger stride as he approached the paramedics, face drenched with tears at this point. "Please! Please! She's all I have left...save her please!"

 

[Doughguy]

"Tarocchi medium?" Kaede asked Kent, though it wasn't hard to figure out what it meant. So whatever this thing talking to her was it was called a Tarrochi. "What happened last night?" she asked him, "Is that how you got your mark, or did you have it before then?" But before he could answer her there was a pair of soft thuds as the twins from the 'dream' suddenly appeared nearby. The ground around them changed, one growing, one dying, and Kaede was reminded that they had been balance, yin and yang. She took an involuntary step backwards, not eager to be too close to the one who was killing the life around her.

White petals covered her vision and another being appeared, a flamboyantly dressed … human whose voice revealed them as the person who had been speaking moments before. "Uh, hello." she managed as they bowed. She wasn't exactly sure of half of what the person said with the French intertwined in every sentence but the gist of it came across. She'd found herself a sensei. Smoke rose from the marbles at Lillian's tap and destroyed the mist around them, overpowering the previous magic. Smoke that she could control. "Is this smoke an illusion then?" she asked Lillian, unsure of how the marbles were influencing her mind to break the first's grip if it wasn't.

The insults were a bit annoying, but also gave her a drive to prove the tarrochi wrong. She took one of the marbles from her left hand at random and placed it in her right, the blue one by chance, and dropped another, the green, in her pocket. If the colours didn't matter then hopefully only using two would work and this way made it easier for her to give the smoke form as part of herself. She held her arms out to the side and imagined she was preparing a ribbon dance, one of the many gymnastic activities she had tried. She spun her hands around, twirling the smoke into spirals.

Taking a few steps forward she began her 'dance'. She swept her arms out in turn, sending out her ribbons of smoke to carve swathes through the black mist. When one ribbon was not in use she kept it twirled above her head, ready to be swept out when needed. She moved around the clearing in a circle as she danced, breaking the illusion on every side and scanning the revealed environment for anything out of place. What the mist did after she passed by did not concern her. Lillian had said the illusion as not her enemy, she needed to merely brush it aside to find the real foe.

Halfway through her circle, with a few directing words from Kent, she spotted a gap in the trees revealing a large clearing beyond. Within it she could see multiple figures standing with one running, as well as a multitude of lying down. She let out a deep breath, a little annoyed by the sounds of laughter from the Tarocchi. "Found them." she called out, though it would be obvious anyway, and started running in their direction, letting the ribbons shrink to a shorter length.

 

[Astoria]

Failing to stall for time, Iphie found herself following Jackson and the illusion that he carried in his arms. On her suggestion, he tried to ask the image of his sister a personal question. Looking at the irritated Ethan, she was confident that she was about to unravel the ruse for Jackson. But to her surprise, the question was smoothly and effortlessly avoided by the apparition in the form of a coughing fit. It even spurred her partner into a sprinting streak that Iphigenia struggled to keep up with, much to her chagrin.

Further effort to stop Jackson seemed to be unsuccessful, and not too long after, the pair came upon what appeared to be a clearing in the forest. Pushing through the thicket, she nearly immediately put her jacket sleeve up to her nose. The heavy smell of iron hit her before she saw the killing grounds before her; ahead of her, bodies of animals and people lay butchered on the grass. Blood ran like a river from their hacked, disemboweled bodies. Through the blood and the gore, Iphie was able to distinguish some of the corpses as some of the classmates that had been at Ravenwood with them the other day.

The scene of gore and blood did not phase Iphigenia as much as one might expect. Even the knowledge that some of the bodies were her former classmates did not provoke a reaction beyond a visceral reaction to the smell. Even that was overridden as Jackson began to rush forward, her survival instinct cutting in. She wasn't sure what he was seeing, but she knew he was about to get them both killed.
"Jackson! IT'S A TRAP!" Hesitating for a moment as she ran in after him to grab him, she racked her brain for something that he might react to. "They're going to harm Lana!"

As he seemed to falter at this statement, Iphigenia was about to catch up with him. Managing to grasp his back collar, she pulled back with all her might. Her action came not a moment too soon. As she pulled, sending them both backwards, a massive blade came down in the air just where Jackson had been. "Jackson! Sword! Get back!" The glint of the enormous knife wielded by what appeared to be another manifestation of Ethan was enough to have Iphigenia immediately scrambling back onto her feet, pulling at Jackson to get back up. Scrambling to open the distance between the danger, she finally unsheathed her knife. As tiny as it was in comparison, it was the only source of defense she had.

Looking back at Jackson momentarily, she yelled back. "Bloody run!"

 

[Voltin]

"Ah." The card had disappeared from Kent's hand, now its image hung from each of his shoulders; the two girls, Yin and Yang. It had been a surprise, since the card hadn't worked earlier that day, but perhaps it was only working now because of their peculiar situation. Glad that the girls were seemingly distracted, ?He simply looked at the ground as a red have came across his cheeks.

That was when Kaede's new partner made their appearance. Human, yet having the appearance which made the word 'gender' just slide off them. Kent had grabbed one of the white petals which had seemingly bloomed from Kaede. As the figure known as Lillian Blanchette spoke, Kent realized that the thing between his fingers was an illusion. They were being trapped by an illusion. Another word he had caught was that of 'hollow'. So it wasn't the work of of another 'Fallen' like Kent had begun to presume, though the existence of these beings was... worrying to say the least.

The man had been deep in thought, before the twins had broken him out of it, and his partner had begun to dance, her short lesson on illusions over. The smoke from her palms wrapping around the area in a spiral. It was pretty, and Kent found himself momentarily entranced before he began to move along with the tarocchi hanging off him. "Kenty-Kent... huh?" He didn't mind the nickname, and in fact only deepened the light scarlet across his face. With only a few guiding words from him, she continued through her movements, and Kent found it practical to ask the pair some questions.

"Lillian... they mentioned a 'hollow'. What is that? And... they gave Kaede powers... can I do something like that?" Kent waited for an answer before tentatively proceeding with one final question. "You both are Temperance, but what is Lillian?"

With the talk out of the way, they continued to walk, as Kaede continued to twirl. The girls were both laughing at his partner and her spectacle, yet Kent couldn't exactly understand why. Eventually, they came across a clearing, and the two people they had lost. With a minor exclamation from his partner, she ran off, but Kent's reaction wasn't definite until the exact nature of Temperance's power was clear to him.

 

[Tsu]

The quick actions of Iphie forced a narrow dodge of the sudden knife whose intention was gutting Jackson's front. Nonetheless, the tip of the blade coursed through the side of Jackson's lower left leg. The subsequent wound was deep enough to draw moderate blood and pain; however, it wasn't anywhere near enough to incapacitate its prey. A guttural screech followed the narrow miss as the true nature of the second Ethan was revealed for everyone's eyes. Soon after the impact of the knife, a wave of colored smoke rolled into the clearing and effectively dispelled the illusions which lay in trap. From Jackson's perspective, the area became a sudden transition from a crime scene to that of the horror which lay in wait. Any sign of the original Ethan or Lana faded from view; instead replaced with a single figure who hovered in the center of the clearing. A black coat and horned helmet covered the entirety of the shade-like figure who held a chain lantern of black mist in one hand and a lengthy machete in its other.

Another screech echoed across the clearing in response to the timely arrival of the Tarocchi and their Mediums. The sudden noise forced the spirits into a quick halt; Lillian choosing to curse in French while the twins wolf whistled at the threat which stood before them. As Lillian proceeded to mutter under their breath, the twins began excitably patting Kent's back while responding to the questions he had asked prior.

"Kenty-Ken sees a hollow.
Pain and suffering bound to follow.
Easy to kill, most tend to be.
Lots to fear, this time we see."

Although their tone was somewhat cheerful, the expressions on their faces were obviously concerned; a fact that was further supported by their subsequent planning with Lillian to whom they showed none of the usual bitter banter. In their conversation, the Tarocchi began quickly discussing a plan of action, and although most of the discussion was beyond the comprehension of the students in the area, some keywords were noticeable such as "inexperienced", "too strong", and "dead weight." Regardless, the threat was not in a mood for patience as it suddenly began to twirl its lantern; an action which caused an explosion of misty chains which attached themselves onto the bodies of the dead. The reaction was immediate as corpses began to slowly rise until they burst into an agile hobble in the direction of the various students. With little time to act, it was Lillian who burst into a series of commands that everyone but Jackson would have heard.

"Temperance, take this moment and teach your Medium how to utilize his power.
Cheiré, try your best to control the smoke and act as a distraction for the undead.
Girl with the purple hair, it seems you can see and hear my words.
The other boy seems strong as well. You keep watch, instruct them. He fights.
Keep the dead off the Mediums.
We will try to handle the hollow."

Even before Lillian gave the order, the twins were busy informing Kent with instructions for their power. Given the situation, they once again abandoned any attempts for riddles and rhymes and spoke with clear confidence despite the somewhat anxious expression that they held on their faces.

"We have no time to teach you the works.
The Magician's power is not meant for combat. Lillian's Medium is far too inexperienced to fight.
A balance of life and death you must understand.
To make you must take. Death births new life.
Use our Arcana. Feel the life around you...Every blade of grass..Every withering leaf.
Form the energy into something greater.
Our thorns can pierce even the strongest of armor.
Our vines can bind even the bulkiest of foes."


Up until this point, the hollow had been carefully analyzing the threats which appeared before him; however, given their lack of immediate action, the enemy choose to act first. From his perspective, Kaede was the sole threat who stood before him. Her magic had broken his illusions and unchained his prey; thus, it was in a swift motion that his body charged forward. The machete in his hand was held low to the ground with his intentions focused on an upward swing that would cleave Kaede in half were the blade to connect.

 

[Voltin]

The dead were around them, and they were rising. Bodies of student and animal alike suddenly had a false life about them. He saw the face of his former partner, Daniel, among those risen, to which he only offered a small grimace. While the scene before him was tragic, and obviously no illusion given Kaede's magic, there was no remorse, or even care for those who lay dead. In fact, Daniel's corpse gave him a self-righteous sense of self-satisfaction; he really did not like picking Temperance for the project, even if the Temperance hanging off his shoulders were more than alright.

The thing in front of the small group began to shriek, and his Tarocchi began to speak. First it was riddles -- no fear of which they spoke managed to grip him, despite what what it was he was seeing -- and then there were whispers as they and Lillian grouped to discuss, despite obvious differences. When they returned, the Magician had started to bark their orders, and Temperance began to answer his questions.

The short of it, he surmised, was that he had to take the essence of creation in order to create. Well, this seemed to be an appropriate power given his future profession, so he nodded at them. Trying it out, he began trying to feel the grass, and the trees of the forest around him -- a fact that made him wonder of this power's uses indoors -- and drawing it towards him. When the hollow began its lunge at Kaede, he had a clear instance to try to this power out; lifting his marked hand, he tried to will twin thorns from the ground, large enough to pierce, and potentially bisect his partner's attacker.

 

[TerraBooma]

Jackson was running forth, elated. Lana would be safe...everything was going to be okay. All he had to do was get her to the other side of the clearing! His short breaths were elated ones, glad that he'd been able to save he-

"Jackson! IT'S A TRAP!"

Jackson's pace halted with wide eyes and jagged stares at the Paramedics who seemed to be coming closer. What was she talking about? Was there some sort of hidden danger he had missed? Were they in on it? It was possible, had he been taking right to her doom again? That wouldn't do, Jackson stepped back to run in a new direction, but in his moment of shifting balance Ipheie struck, causing him to fly backwards and Lana to fall onto the ground before him. Confusing slammed into Jackson, hard. He had no idea who had pulled him back, but in the coming moments he felt another strange feeling: Pain. His leg was bleeding, but how? It wasn't making any sense. He started to his feet, looking around in confusion, he saw Lana on the ground, and started to run towards her again when the illusion faded, Lana vanished in a puff of smoke and the police cars and ambulances were replaced by death and decay, even Jackson had to fight back the urge to gag, but as the reality of what had happened set in, Jackson looked down at his bleeding leg, and anger and rage slowly took over. These bastards had messed with him, made him think the only thing in the world was in danger, that Lana was on the edge of death, but now... Jackson grinned, fury driving his veins. That thing was going to pay for what it did. He calmly reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, sliding them between his fingers with the ring solidly held in his fist. "Iphie. Toss me your keys. If you'd please." Jackson nodded to her, and smiled as another set came into his left hand, adjusted as the other was.

The zombies did disturb Jackson, the faces of his dead classmates-some longer than others- and creatures approaching him and the others...Jackon blinked in surprised, hoping Kaede and Kent were as real as he wanted, he had no way of knowing what was an illusion at this point, but the monster seemed more than content enough to attack them...which gave him hope that they were on his side. That meant he had to deal with all the zombies, fair enough...Jackson had more than enough rage at this point to make him very happy to put an end to his ex-classmates. "HEY! OVER HERE! YOU BRAIN DEAD FUCKS. LET'S DANCE!"

Letting out a roar Jackson ran forward, doing his best to ignore his injured leg, Adrenaline let him move, and he felt some of the rush he had felt back when he was a common thug in a fight. He charged into the closest group of enemies, fists flying and delivering swift punches to whatever happened to be closest, Jackson was whirl of rage and...keys, and he knew how to fight too. He played all the dirty tricks in the book, going for eyes and limbs, knocking out knees with his legs and even throwing them into each other when he got the chance. Jackson had no qualms causing whatever damage he needed to in order to take down the undead animals, and even fellow students. Jack's fighting style was quick and lethal, he never stayed still for long, and was constantly on the move. If he started to get surrounded Jackson would fall back a bit, but some way or another, something was constantly getting attacked.

 

[Doughguy]

From a distance Kaede hadn't known the truth of the scene in the clearing. But as she approached mortality of the fallen bodies became obvious from both the smell and sight. She blanched and felt bile rise in her throat. She spat out a goblet of foul liquid but managed to keep the rest of her stomach's contents down. Then the corpses began to rise as chains reached from the hollow's lantern to them. "Dear lord." she said, fighting the urge to run away and vomit again at the same time.

Lillian was speaking quickly, trying to give orders to everyone. She was meant to distract the corpses, though she wasn't sure how. It wasn't like the bodies were illusions she could destroy and she didn't know how to make any of her own yet. "Any chance you could quickly explain how to use one of the colours?" she asked, taking a few steps towards the battle. She stopped as the Hollow turned its attention to her and charged, a massive blade held in one hand in a grip ready to strike.

"Fuck." she spat out. She tucked in her arms and leapt to the side, turning her movement into a roll which she sprang out of and into a run, making off at a perpendicular angle to the attack. The ribbons grew out of either hand once again as she ran. The black, misty orb the thing was holding seemed to be the source of its power. On the other side of her she could hear Jackson screaming as he charged the bodies on his own.

She flicked one of her ribbons out, aiming for the lantern the hollow held. It moved like a physical ribbon would, the tip trailing the hand and would be easily dodged. But when it got close to the target she'd give the end of it a sharp flick and cause the tip to strike much faster than before, hopefully taking it off guard.

Then she kept running, throwing out the other ribbon to pass through the eyes of the zombies that were running towards Jackson and Iphie trying to distract them without hindering Jackson by blocking his sight.

 

[Astoria]

Recovering from her dodge with a beating heart, Iphigenia stood defensively in the clearing. Dropping into a defensive stance, she watched as a wave of lightly colored smoke permeated throughout the clearing. For her, little changed, but as the multiple Ethans faded from view, she was finally able to get a clear sense of the abomination that had lured Jackson, and by effect, herself in. The knife-wielding girl visible cringed, covering an ear, as the floating figure issued a bone-rattling screech. To her alarm, the corpses of the students and fauna slowly hobbled to life once again, seemingly a product of what ungodly machinations the horned spirit had in store for them.

Working on keeping a safe distance away from the approaching zombies, she was quick to oblige to Jackson's request, producing keys that were swiftly and wordlessly sent his way. The decision to fight or flee was divisive in her head, but the timely arrival of Kaede, Kent, and their unusual retinue hastened her decision to defend herself.

Only one figure was unfamiliar to her, but they began to speak above that of anybody else. She was quick to take notice, and at the words addressed to her, Iphie made a swift hand gesture in the air as her acknowledgement.

Narrowly dodging the form of an undead student, she swiped with her penknife before drawing safely back, trying to assess the situation as best she could. Using the intuition she'd gained from her four years of fencing practice, she was able to gauge some sense of the overall field. "Jackson, keep the undead off Kaede and Kent. I'll do what I can to help you with what I have."

With Jackson pulling the attention of much of the zombie horde, Iphigenia was able to observe their movement and reactions. Realizing that blunt force seemed to prevail over meagre cutting edge of small blades, she folded her knife away. Instead, she produced her laptop, expeditiously removing it from her bag and brandishing it like an oversized cricket bat. Built to be tossed around, she knew it could do a lot of damage.

With the majority of the horde focused on Jackson, Iphie fought a harassing action. Using the lateral edge of her notebook, she aimed for the backs of heads, driving in the sharp sides into the skulls. When she could, she kicked at legs, and withdrawing before more concentrated attention was dedicated to her. Still, one of the zombies broke away to face her.

Iphigenia recognized the androgynous features of the staggering corpse. Catching its long blue hair and soft facial features, her only reaction was a moment of fleeting recognition before driving the corner of her laptop into his pretty face. Still, she spared no compassion for the deceased; she cut back and forth around his body as best she could before closing in again, recalling the techniques she'd learned in after school classes. Dancing in and out, and repeatedly aiming for his head, the face of Daniel was soon no longer recognizable, but Iphigenia was gradually beginning to tire out.

 

[Tsu]

The sudden burst of thorns forced a defensive maneuver from the shade; however, given the inexperience which forged the oncoming attack, rather than pierce, the thorns simple broke at the point of contact with the enemy. Sounds of intermittent laughter wheezed from the shade who paused his onslaught to observe the change of the battlefield. A cruel smile formed on his face upon locating Kaede's new position; however, rather than continue with his attack, his figure began to seemingly shrink. By this point in time, darkness had fallen upon the forest, and in the distance, small beams of rapidly swinging light were becoming mildly apparent. Regardless, the presence of the shade was no more; instead replaced with a mutated appearance of what was once Ethan. Overall, the new figure was humanoid; however, on his head, similar horns sprouted from both sides of his head while an aura of black mist surrounded his body. As a result of his transformation, the black chains connected to the corpses faded to dust, and one by one, the remaining undead fell back to the ground unmoving.

"You joined the wrong side.
All of you are weak. I am strong.
Next time, I'll consume you all."

Immediately following his short declaration, the Ethan-like figure began sprinting in the direction opposite the beams of light. Were anyone to give chase, he would have quickly morphed back into his previous form and burst into distance away from the scene. At first, it might have seem like a fleeing surrender; however, the purpose of his escape soon became crystal clear. In a matter of seconds, blinding lights lit up the forest clearing followed by forceful shouts from dozens of figures armed with pistols and rifles.

"EVERYONE STANDING DROP TO THE GROUND.
ANY ACTIONS WILL BE MET WITH LETHAL FORCE.
DROP TO THE GROUND."

In the far distance, sounds of sirens began to echo throughout the forest while locally, officers rapidly announced their confirmation of the suspects detainment. Assuming none of the students attempted any action which would have sparked open fire, the group would have been gagged, blindfolded, forcefully cuffed, and soon escorted into the nearest police van. During this time, a solemn expression would have encompassed the expressions of the Tarocchi; however, given their inability to directly influence the outcomes of humanity, all they could do was quietly follow and observe what was to come.

 

[IAmEnzo]

The transition was by no means gentle. Given the nature of the scene and the various motionless bodies scattered across the forest grounds, the Yurich Police Department had no choice but to swiftly detain the group as efficiently as humanly possible and transfer them to the nearest station.

---

For nearly twenty minutes, the group sat tied down in a single room that felt 'cut off' from the rest of the station. With the magnitude of the scene, it was only logical to assume the entire department was on their feet and running about. In that closed off room, there was only the sounds of the two guardsmen who occasionally whispered to one another. At that twenty minute mark, the exit door swung open and the sounds of multiple people entered the room.

"-We can't simply conform to your bureau without a notice beforehand!" stressed out a male voice, presumingly the department's chief.

"Given the ranking of the crime scene, there won't be any paperwork this soon." replied a female voice.

"This isn't your case anymore, Reynolds. It scales way beyond your department's jurisdiction. If you don't like that, talk to the big cheeses."

The chief of police was clearly in disagreement, but by order of rank, he had no choice but to hand the situation over for the time being.

"Give us the room, please."

The room filled with sounds of movement, ending with a rather violent door slam. It was then that the group was freed of their blindfolds and gags and granted a better understanding of their situation. In their interrogation room stood three people; two suited, red-tied males and a single suited female in the middle. While the males looked typical for a police investigation, the woman was obviously unique and out of place. Short blue hair shaped in a bob cut and an impressive hourglass figure to boot, she carried a glare that hinted that she was much more than meets the eye.

Could these kids be hosts?

The female's cold stare focused in on the blurry but visible figures floating about the group. Three ethereal bodies accompanied the teens through the transition.

"My name is Agent Len, and this is my partner Agent Reno and Agent Takada. We're from the Federate Bureau of Investigation if you didn't figure that out already."

Len peered across the four teenagers, taking note of the blood and damage apparent on their bodies.

"Jackson Rolando, Mori Kaede, Iphi-..Iphigeina Leigh, Kent Corsmir. You do know the situation you're in, correct? From what I could tell walking into this case, many of the brass here are desperate for suspects. If possible, they'll pin all four of you on accounts of murder, regardless of what they actually find on the bodies."

The woman sighed and grabbed one of the available chairs so she could take a seat directly in front of the four. The other two agents took that as their cue to disable the cameras monitoring the room.

"I've seen many strange happenings in my lifetime, much akin to this. I want to hear about what really happened in that forest, because from where I see it, I'm the only one capable of understanding what would otherwise be.. difficult to explain."

 

[TerraBooma]

Jackson had been in an angry flurry of punches and kicks, steadily falling back before the hoards of undead that he had been forced to fight, Iphie had had to deal with one, which was fine, but Jackson was more than content to fight these bastards as long as was necessary...defending his friends and getting revenge was a fine enough motivator for him. When the dead fell and the monster...thing, had fallen back, he was confused, they would win so easily? How? Jackson was being steadily forced back, and the others were having trouble too...

Yet the truth became apperant soon after, as a voice called out with commands. Jackson's mood shifted in a heartbeat, understanding what had happened. He knew what was going on, and dropped his impromptu keys to the side before falling to the ground, adrenaline pumping but mind defeated. He was going back...back to a place he'd sworn he'd never go again. He was trying to turn everything around dammit! Trying to do good...and what about Lana? How had it known...how had it known about her? Jackson's mind raced with concern, he had to know she was safe...Jackson grimaced in pain, the wound in his leg finally forcing it's way into his mind. It wasn't a bad wound...but it still hurt like hell.


On the way to the precinct, Jackson was bandaged up by one of the many people who handled the four. That said, he wasn't exactly treated gently, and Jackson almost cried out in pain with how much his leg was being shoved around. The gag stopped that much at least. When the group got to the polcie station, Jackson was running out of ideas. He knew they couldn't get away from this, even if they managed to somehow get out of the police station a crime like this would cause a nationwide manhunt, and Jackson's own criminal past meant he didn't have any sort of leverage the others might. He was running out of options, and started feeling trapped. He felt angry at the people who had brought them here, they had been defending themselves from monsters! Nobody would believe them...but it was the truth dammit.

When Len introduced herself and the other suits turned the camera's off, Jackson wasn't sure what to think. She claimed to have seen some weird stuff, but how could she have? What he and the others had gone through in the past few days...who the hell would believe that? Jackson still didn't understand everything himself. All he knew was one night he and his friends were trapped in a nightmare and the next day they had to fight for their lives in the forest. The idea that someone thought they could understand, combined with his worry and concern had Jackson visibly frustrated. "Just let me find her please!" He called out, not quite realizing those words probably weren't' the best to start out with. "I need to know she's safe! My sister...I don't know what that fucking monster did, but I knew about Lana! I have to know she's safe. Please." Jackson's voice was desperate, but firm. He had already dealt with his mind being messed with once today, he needed something real, some confirmation. "I'll tell you whatever the hell you want, the monster, the undead...all of it, even the damn dream that started it all. You won't believe me, who the hell could? I wouldn't believe myself if i hadn't seen it firsthand... but I need to know if she's safe."

 

[Voltin]

There was a click from Kent's tongue. The sight of his only weapon against the creature being snapped like a tooth pick. He needed more, Kent thought. More power so that he could bring down the hollow. In this fragile state, he felt useless, when he should be helping protect those around. So he needed more, but from where?

When the creature had began to retreat, Kent noticed the sway of light. Approaching figures. Human. Police officers, if only recognizable by their hollering. Something snapped. What stood before Kent were not human beings, but fodder to feed Temperance. Enough life to finally be able to pierce the hollow, even as it ran away. He could take it all. Though, as he glanced back to the fleeing opponent, he realized there would be no use.

Then, his mind came back, and he felt terrified. There were tears streaming down his face before he knew what they were; his conscious thought now trying to process the lingering subconscious. What had he been ready to do? Was he really about to kill? He broke down, not recognizing himself in that moment, offering no resistance as the officers bound and gagged him to haul them off.

~

The ride to the station had not been pleasant for any of them, though it had given Kent the chance to settle his nerves if only a little. Due to the gags (a curious measurement for arrest) none of them had a chance to speak. This situation... it had escalated more than the young man had been ready for. He was about to be in trouble, the very thought of which accelerating his heart rate, increasing the rate at which he took breath. No doubt did this panicked state bring upon more suspicion than was true.

With the arrival of Len and her entourage, the bindings came off, and Kent was able to breath a little easier. The man remained silent, at first, as everybody else in the group said their due, but Kent had been observing. What started as a slight fidget became something more; a tremble, as he tried to find his voice.

"You see them. You were staring." While his tone was the usual blandness that was to be expected, it carried a slight edge that had caught even him off guard. Despite this, and Iphie's recommendation he continued. "They call themselves 'Tarocchi'. Kaede and I are their 'mediums'. Jackson and Iphie were attacked. We were trapped," his speech was becoming faster. "Kaede got us out. I tried to stop the hollow, but he broke my thorns. It used the bodies to to attack those two. It said it would consume us, next time..." Kent took a breath, attempting to steady himself. "We-we didn't kill them, I swear!" He was holding himself now, and what was said next was barely audible to even those sitting next to him. "Please don't tell my parents..."

 

[Doughguy]

Kaede's attempts at sabotage and distraction turned out to be fruitless as the scene of battle rapidly changed. Lights had appeared from one direction in the forest and the hollow shrunk down until it looked like one of their classmates. The undead dropped to the ground, unmoving. With a few taunting words in parting it ran off, disappearing into the forest. Her ribbons dissipated as the need for them was gone and she gathered all three marbles in one hand once more.

Before she could even take a breath and begin assessing what had just happened there were aggressive shouting from the direction of the lights. She slipped the marbles into her pocket, not willing to risk losing them, and followed their instructions, taken captive without a fight. She wanted to tell them that the killer was fleeing but a gag went over her mouth before she could. When the blindfold went on she wondered if she'd made a massive mistake. This wasn't how police operated. This was more like a kidnapping.

~***~

Kaede spent the time thinking about what had just occurred. Had it all been a trap so the hollow could escape, its murders blamed on those who discovered it? Trapping them behind bars where they couldn't track it down. If so it wasn't one that would work. There was nothing connecting she and Kent to the crime scene apart from their presence which was explainable, and they were the ones with the power to fight it. Well, they were the ones with power at least.

The sound of the door opening snapped her out of her thoughts and she started listening. The case was being taken over by the bureau, that was something to be expected, but so fast? That was odd. And she was staring at the roof, right where the Tarrochi were. At least she seemed to be reasonable, acknowledging the faults of the police and public pressure.

Then the cameras went off.

Jackson reacted emotionally. And Kent spilled the whole story. Implicating her deeply alongside himself which she didn't like. Len seemed to be hinting at something as if she knew part of the truth. It was possible, but circumstantial. Kaede wasn't sure if she could trust her yet. It would have been better to let her make the first move, say something obvious, undeniable. Regardless there wasn't much that could be added to Kent's rendition. "The killer, 'Ethan'," she put some emphasis on the name to say it wasn't the killer's real name, "left the scene just as the police arrived. He hasn't had that long to get away." It was an answer that worked no matter what knowledge Len actually had.