When Worlds Collide

[Fox of Spades]

When Worlds Collide
A 1x1 between @Xyvian and @Fox of Spades​

Tartarus:

Bzzt, bzzt, bzzt. The pager on his belt was going crazy, but the grim reaper ignored it all, choosing instead to narrow his eyes at the man before him. Hades was... to be frank, an idiot. The Greek God might have had power and status in the underworld, but Grim couldn't bring himself to respect the man, his idealistic views, or his horrendous decision making skills. Balance was dying and the holidays and those Greek party animals were lost in the realm of the living. The situation was bad enough on its own and Hades had made it even worse with his "bright" idea. Sending Ash and Ember to find the holidays, what on earth was he thinking? "Balance is sick enough already. Are you trying to kill the old man?" He snarled.

Persephone placed a hand on Hades' shoulder before her red eyes flitted towards the grim reaper. "Ember and Ash can handle themselves, Coffyn. They're not children, just let them help you." She eyed the pager the reaper kept by his waist, every second or so it would let out another beep and she noticed how Grim would wince with each new notification. "You're overworked enough as it is. Balance is sick and Chaos might be on the loose, but you have a job to do and if you let things pile up," Persephone frowned. "Things will only get worse."

Grim leaned back into his chair before slamming his fists on the table. The stoic mask he often wore had shattered and he sat there with a thousand thoughts on his mind. A woman had jumped off a bridge in Russia, a man had gotten into a car accident in Vietnam, a child had died Puerto Rico and he was horribly behind schedule. He let out a defeated sigh and made a mental note to ask Laura for her help when he got back to the underworld. "Fine, do whatever you think is best. Hades, what exactly did you tell Ash and Ember to do?"


The Human Realm: Outside Roland's House:

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"I think it's them!" Deceit chirped as she pressed the binoculars to her face. She was hidden outside of Roland's house, crouching behind some bushes with Greed and Pride. "Yup! It's the holidays! There's April Fools and Friday the 13th... Birthday is there too!" The girl continued naming them one by one, the sly smile never leaving her face. "Oooh, there's so many of them! Chaos is going to be so happy."

"The more the merrier," Greed groaned. Lying in the bushes and spying on a bunch of pansies was grunt work and it was the last thing he wanted to do. Why couldn't Choas just take them with him? Greed's head snapped up and he looked to Pride with a slight smile. "How about we hit that night club in Germany instead? Chaos won't know we're gone and we can come back and mess with those holidays later."

Deceit was too busy looking through her binoculars to pay the two men any attention.

"Come on, what do you say, Pride? Booze, babes, the works. After such a boring day, we deserve a drink—the hell was that for?" Greed glared at Deceit and at the binoculars she'd used to whack him in the head.

"One of them is looking out the window," she chided.


The Human Realm: Inside Roland's House:
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"I swear," Independence Day hissed. "I saw something moving in the bushes. Ferris, you saw it too, right?"

"Um, that squirrel?" April fools asked.

"Not that squirrel." Tyree looked dumbfounded. "I think I saw someone there."

"I don't know, Tyree." Ferris rubbed the back of his head somewhat awkwardly before peering out the window once more. Independence day had been insisting the same thing over and over again for almost an hour, but none of them had seen anything and Roland had specifically told them not to go outside for any reason. "I mean, I see bushes and grass... and there's a large rock over there. It kind of looks like a tortoise."

Tyree rolled his eyes. "You saw it, right, Alice?"
​

Halloween was sitting on Roland's couch with her feet propped up on the table. She'd found a bag of potato chips in the pantry and was scarfing them down nonchalantly.

"It might be a giant spider. Maybe a monster with five heads." A devilish grin crept up her face as she turned to focus on Nina and Ferris. Both of them were always fun to spook.

"Haha, very funny, guys." Tyree returned his attention to the window and hoped Roland would return soon. He had a bad feeling about this. Actually, he had a bad feeling about everything. Then again, he was probably still a little hung-over from New Years' party.​

 

[Xyvian]

Tartarus:

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"Oh please. Of course I did!" The lanky god brought his hand to his chin and delivered a confident smirk. "For one thing, Persephone is completely correct - Ash and Ember are not children. Now they don't know much about the realm above but they know the basics. Don't interact with the living, don't use magic in plain sight of the living and if you must interact with those who live above us, for heaven's sake, act like you are a human," Hades gave a slight shrug as he scratched the back of his head, following his wife's gaze to the pager that kept buzzing.

"I grant you that they are not as well versed in the ways of humans like you or me but they can only learn. Desperate times call for desperate measures anyway. Those souls won't see themselves home and seeing as you refuse to let anyone help with that, we need to send who we can. Perhaps even Disruption and Joker could be of help?" He made a gesture to the two assistants stood near to Death, should they take need of him.
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"Well, we wouldn't be opposed to the idea," The first, a blue haired male with scaly patches of skin hesitated, looking to his companion. "It's more to do with the fact he won't let us," A soft sigh escaped the assistant's pale blue lips, bringing his gaze away from Hades to the reaper. "Besides that, we are much too busy. We already have to take care of everything that Death cannot due to the ever increasing amount of lives that are lost," The scaled creature gave a somewhat satisfied smirk, as his companion - A pasty skinned blonde chimed in, his one blue eye gazing towards the Lord of Tartarus.

"If only we got more free time," The short servant added, with a wry chuckle. "Less time spent babysitting the new 'assistant' would also be very much appreciated," He muttered, but quickly regretted it at Hades hardened gaze. "E-Either way, I'm sure Joker and I could find some time in our schedule to help with the situation. But maintaining the balance of souls that enter this place is imperative - And we wouldn't want dear old Balance to get worse,"

"Yes, yes, the workload is getting even harder..." Hades muttered, taking a glance towards the two assistants and back towards the Reaper. With trepidation, the Lord of Tartarus spoke again, almost regretting his words as they came out. "Am I right in presuming that asking Laura to help with Balance's situation is off limits, correct?"​

The Human Realm: Alleyway:

Meanwhile, both the servants of Hades had arrived in the human world, alongside a third, unexpected person. Ash blinked a few times to recover from the glow of their teleportation ward as it faded into obscurity. The black haired male was silent for a moment, switching his gaze between his fellow servant, Ember, and the third person - A small blonde with light red eyes.

"L-Laura... Are you sure this is going to be okay?" Ash's line of sight fell onto the short woman. The fear in his expression was unmistakable. "I mean, the Grim Reaper... You two are awfully close and if he were to find out that you went with us... Well, my concern is that we will be the next target of his fury,"

"I've made it clear to not tell Disruption and Joker of my leaving. We're going to be okay. In this case, this was my decision and..." Laura trailed off somewhat. "I'm sure Hades can calm him down, and to be honest, I'm an adult. I can make my own choices in life," She added before turning onto the nearby street. "First thing is first - Find the holidays and the Greek Gods. Where to start is the real question..."

"I don't even know where we are," Ash whined, taking a step closer towards the girl. He glanced towards Ember. "But we got put here for a reason... Hades wouldn't teleport us to the wrong place,"

The Human Realm: Outside Roland's House:

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"As much as I would love to take you up on that, Greed, I'm afraid I must decline. We've business to deal with," The long haired spirit of Pride dusted himself off, sneering as he brushed away the mud from the finest purple silk he was dressed in. "The sooner I'm not forced to squat in this squalor called the Human Realm, the sooner we can party, without stopping," However, he quickly held his tongue, lowering his head as Deceit spoke up, saying that one of them was looking over. His pink eyes peered between the leaves, trying to spot which of the many spirits was looking back at them.

"I believe the one whose watching us is the ever reckless Independence Day. The other behind him is the foolish April's Fools Day," Pride took a moment to be silent, waiting for the holidays to move away from the window before he continued speaking. "So, I know Aria and Chaos said we could do whatever, but what is the best plan for us to take? We need to disrupt the balance and quickly before the cavalry from the Underworld gets here,"

The Human Realm: Inside Roland's House:
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"Tyree, Ferris, you guys should get away from the window," Grumbled the spirit of unluckiness, who moved over towards them. Without waiting, Francis stepped between the two, pulling the curtains over and obscuring the view of the three in the bushes. "I'm not one to rely on my gut in most situations for obvious reasons, but since we all ended up in the human world, it's been nothing but bad feeling after bad feeling. And this one feels the worst - Anything could be out there," Friday the Thirteenth then took a seat on the floor, shutting his eyes with a sigh.
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"Francis is correct. This isn't fun and games - Whatever happened, it's no accident, and if there's something out there, it's better we don't provoke it, at the very least," Birthday was always rational, and if someone was out there, then they clearly didn't have anything good in mind given all that had happen. That much was clear, and even more so with Francis' bad premonition of what could be lurking nearby. Meanwhile, the timid brunette cave a soft whimper, closing her honey coloured eyes and clenching her fists till her knuckles went white.

"I-I hope that...Roland returns soon..." Nina whispered. She knew full well the human couldn't defend them, but surely, who ever was out there would not attack and risk upsetting the Balance of the World just to get to them. Right?
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What might have felt like an eternity to the mythical personifications was only a few short minutes, and as they heard the door lock click, a blonde human walked in, looking at the tense faces all around them.

"What happened?" Roland asked, holding takeaway boxes in one hand, keys in the other, as he locked the door behind him.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Tartarus

Yes, Ash and Ember weren't children, but they acted like they were. Hades and Persephone coddled them far too much, but then again, it wasn't like Disruption or Joker were much better. They liked to act tough, but they were irritating children at heart. "Fine," the grim reaper exhaled. "Joker and Disruption can help if they promise to be on their best behavior. I will not tolerate any screw ups." The threat was followed by a pointed glare. "Remember what happened last time you two were on earth?"

"There's no need to bring up past mistakes, Grim," Persephone interrupted. "I'm sure they've learned their lesson."

The reaper ran a hand through his hair, he felt another migraine starting. He wanted to emphasize on how he'd toss them into the box if they did anything stupid or took things lightly, but he dropped the topic and focused on Hades instead. "Yes, you are correct. Laura will help me with the souls. And you two," his eyes flitted to Joker and Disruption. "You will do what you can to help the holidays... those Greek party animals too." Sighing, Grim reached for his pager and tried to contact Laura.

The stupid thing rang once then twice then thrice. No answer.

"Joker, Disruption," his voice was ice-cold. "You two were with her last, yes? Where is she?"

"Maybe you boys should run along," Persephone interrupted once more. "Hades and I will talk to him."

"Talk to me about what?"

The woman kept a calm expression on her face, but she paused to share a look with her husband before finally telling Grim the news. "Laura asked if she could help Ash and Ember. She knows the way, it's her hometown after all."

The reaper buried his face in his hands. "They're going to be stuck there for God knows how long..."

"Balance is sick, and we need all the help we can get," came the woman's curt response. Grim was a friend and someone she held in high regard, but he also had a tendency to micromanage everything and now just wasn't the time.


The Human Realm: Alleyway

Ember remained quiet as she listened to the exchange between Ash and Laura. She didn't know where they were either, but Laura... she used to be from here? She remembered hearing something about that. Slowly, the quiet girl made her way towards the death's assistant and gave her arm a light tug. "You used to live here," she deadpanned.

Not waiting for Ash or Laura to say anything, Ember spoke up. "What about your brother's house? They were there last time."


The Human Realm: Outside Roland's House

"Aw, fine. But when this is all over, you're buying, Pride."

As Pride and Greed conversed, Deceit kept her eyes peeled. She listened to their conversation, only snapping to attention when Pride mentioned something about a plan. Plan shman, if they were looking to wreck chaos it would easy as pie! "We can always give them a good scare... oh, hey look! It's a human." From her place behind the bushes, she nodded at the blond who'd walked in the front door. When she noticed Greed and Pride weren't paying attention, she pressed her binoculars into Pride's face, nearly knocking him to the ground. "Look! Right there!" Deceit insisted.

"He's not blind," Greed hissed. They were just a few feet away, they didn't need binoculars to see the human.

"I say we scare them," came Deceit's suggestion. "Freak out the human with our magic and wreck havoc on those holidays!"

"If we aren't careful," Greed interrupted. "Balance or one of his friends will notice the disturbance."


The Human Realm: Inside Roland's House

"Hey," Tyree backed away from the window, but he couldn't help but narrow his eyes at Francis. "If someone is out there we have to know. What if they're planning something bad. We can't just turn a blind eye and let them ambush us. Who knows when that human will be coming back." Unlike the other four, Independence Day and Birthday didn't exactly know Roland.

"Seriously guys," Tyree continued. "We have to check things out."

"I'm all for fighting off demons," Alice chimed in. "But you guys are starting to scare Nina." She loved scaring Ferris and Nina as much as she loved sharp knives and hairy spiders, but she wasn't cruel and she knew her friend was horribly frightened. "If it's anything dangerous, Francis and I will fight it off. Tyree can help too. Actually, none of you should worry because Layla is with us." Alice hopped off the couch and spent a moment stretching like a lazy cat before she padded towards birthday and swung an arm around her fellow holiday's shoulder. It was around that time when Roland arrived with his take out.

"She kicked Thanatos' butt—oh, hey there, Jack O'Lantern. What's that?"

Ferris had already inched his way towards Nina when Roland entered the house. "Oh... Tyree said he saw something weird by the bushes, but we stayed inside just like you asked us too." Normally, April Fools wasn't the most obedient Holiday around, he liked pranks and he liked pushing people's buttons, but the severity of the situation weighed down on his shoulders and he was much more quiet and reserved than usual. If Balance died... there was no telling what would happen to them all.

"Nina's really worried and we were wondering if we could check it out."

"We have to check it out," Tyree corrected. "If it's a threat to us, we have to know. The sooner the better."

 

[Xyvian]

Tartarus:

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Both the scaled servant and one eyed servant took several steps back as the pager rang, the empty sound bouncing off the stone walls and creating an echo. Shivers were sent down their spine as Laura didn't answer, or at least, was unable to do so and the two continued to back away until the reaper's voice cut through the tension, forcing them to freeze in place as he spoke their names.

"W-Well..." The red-eyed man hesitated, looking to Disruption for help.

"Uh, we last saw her... Oh well, w-when was it we last saw her..." The other muttered, fear laced into his tone of voice as he stared at his boss in terror. "I... saw her... come here..." He trailed off as Persephone interrupted, breathing a sigh of relief as Coffyn's attention was brought to both Hades' and his wife. The reaper was, at the very least, a little bit less harsh when it came to his friends as opposed to his servants.
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The ice cold voice of the reaper even sent a slight chill down the Lord of Hell's body, but he kept his composure, giving a slight nod to his wife when she met his gaze. A tinge of guilt hit him as he watched his friend bury his face in his hands, and he left his wife's side to place his hand on Death's shoulder. He agreed with his wife - They did need help and Laura was certainly capable. But he knew himself that the reaper was incredibly protective of the girl.

"Coffyn, you listen to me. I promise that Laura will be safe. She's an adult woman who can take care of herself. She knows the area, she knows the rules and she's smart. Ash and Ember won't let her come to harm either," He answered, patting him on the back. "Just... Trust her, would you?"

The Human Realm: Alleyway:
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"My brother's house is out of this town," Laura murmured, as she took a few cautious steps out of the alleyway to see where they were. They were on a street that she remembered, which at least made it easier. The soft golden glow of the sun setting hit the group of three as they left the alleyway, and Laura couldn't help but let out a groan, quickly taking out her phone. 19:05. There was wasn't another bus out there till tomorrow, and walking on foot was out of the question. "We're stuck till tomorrow if our plan is to head to my brother's. The bus route is only every hour and they stop going out there after the seven o'clock bus," The blonde kicked the air in front of her in frustration. "And I'm really not familiar with the directions if we were to walk,"
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"Bus? What's a bus?" Ash didn't understand what exactly Laura was talking about, but he understood the basics. They needed one to travel to her brother. Walking around in an area that their guide didn't know much about also was incredibly unappealing - Ash knew what human were capable of after years of working for the Lord of Hell. Anything could strike them after dark and using magic would only worsen Balance's condition. "Okay... So what you're telling me is we need a place to stay...?"

"Exactly... Do you have money on you?" Laura asked, turning out her pockets. Just some loose change - enough for a bus fare, but that wouldn't help them right now. They needed to be able to stay somewhere. Ash did the same, pulling out a few of the golden coins from his left pocket, and bits of fluff from the other. The blonde sighed. "That's not the kind of money I meant Ash,"

"What? It was money once, why can't it be money now?"

The Human Realm: Outside Roland's House:
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"So, nothing new there then. Honestly, Greed, I may look like it, but I'm not made of money-- Okay, I lie, I am but still, would it kill you to pay once in a while?" Pride grumbled, looking down on his fellow deadly sin. "I'm rather tired of your--" His sentence was cut short as Deceit pushed the binoculars into his face, almost knocking him down into the muddied ground. Regaining his balance for fear of being dirtied, he snarled slightly, swatting away the binoculars and throwing a glare in her direction.

"Binoculars work better if the party using them is not having their eyes pressed against the glass, Deceit," He sneered, before continuing on. "Greed is right. If we draw too much attention, we're going to get caught. We need to start small. Then go bigger," Pride straightened out his cravat, with an annoyed frown plastered on his lips.

The Human Realm: Inside Roland's House:
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"It's food. Dinner. But I see you've already found your way into the snacks," Roland muttered, noticing the empty packet of potato chips in Halloween's hand. Before he could even put the boxes down, Ferris spoke up, unusually quiet and serious, talking about the idea that someone might be in the bushes outside. Slowly, he put the takeaway down, and moved towards the curtain, peering out from the slight opening to the bushes. There was some rustling, so definitely a sign of movement. He went to reach for the window, before he felt a hand grabbing his and pulling it away. Roland's eyes turned to look who was holding him back, and his gaze was met with the gloomy gaze of Francis who shook his head.
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"Don't. It's better that they don't know we're onto them," He muttered, letting go of the human's hand and walking near to the door, pressing his ear against it. Nina on the other hand was more frightened than ever, staring at the door where Francis was, her eyes wide with fear.

"D-Do you hear anything? Are they still out there?" She whispered, her voice barely loud enough to hear.

"Shush," Francis muttered, letting silence fill the room. He could hear some whispers.

Pride... Greed... Deceit...

Names? Sins? Well whoever was out there, they definitely weren't human. Friday eventually took a step back and looked to everyone with a dark gaze.

"They are planning something. I heard their names. They haven't decided on the plan though..." He took a moment, and glanced to the pink haired woman that Alice still had her arm draped around. "They mentioned Birthday. They saw us, for sure,"​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Tartarus

Of course he trusted her, it was just... Grim's mind began drawing blanks. Why was he so upset? Was it possible he didn't trust Laura? That he was being too protective? He tossed the thought away. Of course not, it was because of Chaos. He was simply concerned. "Perhaps you're right, Hades," he let out a defeated sigh and slumped over in his seat. Whatever rage he had towards Joker and Disruption had faded away and the Grim Reaper realized he was horribly, horribly tired.

His pager began beeping once more and he tossed the dreadful thing to the ground.

He couldn't afford to waste anymore time. "I should head out. See to it that Disruption and Joker are of use," there was a hint of venom in the Reaper's voice, but the intensity of it paled in comparison to his anger merely moments ago. He gave both his assistants the evil eye before his scythe materialized from thin air.

He reached for it and tore open a portal to Russia. "Unfortunately, duty calls."

"Don't overwork yourself, Grim," Persephone called out as he disappeared through the portal. She doubted the reaper had heard her, and if he did, she doubted he would listen. Sighing, she focused her attention on Joker and Disruption. The reaper's assistants looked a little frazzled so she offered them a reassuring smile. "Are you two alright?"

After waiting for an answer, she looked to her husband. "Any ideas?"


Human Realm: Alleyway

"Humans use paper money," Ember chimed in with a nod. She'd been brushing up on human culture and had learned a thing or two from one of the books Persephone had lent her. She made a face at the gold coins Ash had in his hands then proceeded to search her pockets for anything of use.

Three pebbles and a candy wrapper... Ember doubted this would help improve their situation.

"I don't have money either. Where should we stay?" She asked as her red eyes flitted from Ash to ever the knowledgeable Laura. If anyone would be able to get them out of this mess, it would be her.


The Human Realm: Outside Roland's House

Deceit paid no mind to Pride's protests and held the binoculars firmly in place. Thankfully, Greed came to the rescue and swatted it away. He gave Pride his most disarming smile. "I guess this means you're paying for the drinks now, eh?"

There was no time for a response because soon enough Deceit was grinning like a kid on Christmas morning.

"What? Why are you smiling like that?" Greed hissed. "Pride why is she looking at us like that?" Deceit often came up with convoluted schemes and while some of them were genuinely amusing, most got them into trouble with Chaos and Greed was not in the mood for a scolding, especially not today. "Whatever you're thinking of, let it go—you're an asshole."

Deceit giggled as she stepped away from both men. Her skin turned a dark brown as she began morphing into a werewolf. Deceit had the power to shape shift and often used it to her advantage or for trouble making, mostly it was the latter.

"You idiot. You're going to get us in trouble!" Greed yelled.

But before he could do anything, Deceit was already making her way towards the house and the holidays.


The Human Realm: Inside Roland's House

Alice's expression darkened and she took a step away from Birthday to peer at the door. Francis insisted on them staying hidden, but if whoever was out there had already seen them, then she didn't quite see the point. They could definitely hold their own in a fight... well, maybe not Ferris or Nina, but the rest of them could.

"Hey, don't sweat it Nina. If they so much as come in here," Alice waved a hand in the air, summoning an arsenal of knives. She plucked the largest one out of the air. "We'll gut them like the Jack O'Lanterns they are—no offense, Roland."

"But yeah, we'll be fine. Now, grab a knife!" Alice begun nudging Ferris and Birthday towards the floating knives. "Jack O'Lantern," she called out. "You should grab one too."

"Alice," Tyree looked absolutely baffled by the turn of events. "We're not stabbing anyone."

"It's called self defense, Ty."

"It's called making Balance die thrice as fast." Independence day scoffed. "Put the knives away."

"Guys," Ferris called out.

"Ty, we need these Knives? How do you expect Ferris or Layla to fight without any weapons?"

"GUYS!"

Everyone spun around just in time to see a werewolf collide with Roland's window. Instead of smashing through it like Ferris thought it would it began slobbering all over the window and growling.

 

[Xyvian]

Tartarus

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"None whatsoever. But we will find something," Hades muttered, leaning down so that his lips hovered by his wife's ear. There was one of the many problems of being freakishly tall - The Lord of Hell always had to lean down or slouch just to be at other people's level. "There's always something to do," He added, before straightening himself out, looking to the two servants of the Reaper. "Perhaps you could assist Harmony in tending to Balance? I'm sure the strain must be great on her," An off-the-top of his head suggestion was all he had, and seeing how both underworld dwellers gave a disgusted look between themselves, Hades sensed that was not an option.

"Something I'm missing here?"
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"Yes. We went to visit Harmony per Grim's orders once upon a time to see how Balance was doing. Something about a check up to see if all was right in the world. Harmony chased us away before we could even see him," The scaled man scratched the back of his head with a sigh before glancing to Persephone. "Needless to say, Coff-- I mean, the Reaper was not exactly thrilled and we're lucky we weren't sentenced to time in the box. I suppose we have Laura to thank for that though. He's gotten softer ever since she decided to become his assistant," Joker paused, silence filling the void between the two groups, with the occasional sound of sizzling lava from beneath them.

"Yes... I've seen that," The blonde god nodded, before closing his eyes to think of another job. "For now, it's probably for the best you two don't go down to the human world. Even if you could, there's the holidays for one. And then there's two dead soul's walking around in human form as well as a condemned soul of Tartarus with them... It's almost a recipe for disaster given the potential worst case scenario," Hades took a breath. All the negativity was getting to him - He was a positive thinker through the bad and the good. Someone had to be. But he couldn't deny that sending his two servants - One who used to be condemned to the eternity of Hell, and one who was a lost soul waiting to be reaped that he had perhaps taken before Grim could do just that. And alongside that, he had also sent Laura with them, a girl who had recently died and her brother lived in the same town! But after letting out the longest sigh, his eyes flickered open as he met the gaze of Joker.

"For now, you should help around in the Underworld. You two, despite any flaws the reaper points out, are trusted by Coffyn to do your jobs. Do anything you can to lighten his load - Focus all that spare time into that. If we should have need of you in the human realm, I will call on you. If Coffyn Graves wasn't the stubborn bag of bones that he is, I'd call Thanatos in to help, but he would despise me for it," He took a minute to shake his head. "Speaking of which, he's also stuck in the human world... Persephone, could you check on their whereabouts? The greek gods, I mean," He glanced to his wife, nodding before waving his hand to the Reaper's servants. "Off you go now,"

Joker hesitated before dragging his fellow servant away, and once they were gone, Hades slumped down onto a stone chair, losing his smile and the light in his eyes. "This job never gets any easier..."

Human Realm: Alleyway
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As both the curious, childish Ash and the stoic Ember looked over to her, Laura couldn't help but gaze helplessly back. The warm rays of twilight were beginning to fade into a cold night, and being lost in the dark wouldn't help any of them.

"I don't know, I don't know any place that takes ancient golden coins as payment," She grumbled, closing her eyes to think. The winter sun was quickly gone, leaving the path they were on shrouded in darkness. Fumbling around in the dark for her phone, the former human still had yet to think of a plan. At worst, they would end up in trouble, at best, they had to just find somewhere outside to sleep.
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Meanwhile, Ash was beginning to panic. Apart from the odd car that drove past on the road and the flickering street lamp, this place was dimly lit, endlessly switching between faint light and pure, unending darkness. And it was an uneasy feeling - Chaos and Aria could be anywhere, and who knows who else they had recruited to their cause. He clutched to Ember slightly, hugging her more for his own comfort than himself.

"We're...We're gonna be okay right?" He whispered, before the sound of the light bulb snapped, locking them permanently in the shadows. "R-Right?!"

"J-Just calm down, Ash!" Laura shouted, trying to get him to snap out of it. He mumbled something about his uneasiness but fell quiet, his trembling hands still clinging to Ember.

Human Realm: Roland's House
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"Oh sure, none taken," Came the sarcastic response from the blonde, who sighed somewhat at Alice's offhanded comment. It was one thing to use his pet name in comparing how they would gut their enemies. It was another to point it out. Either way, Roland knew she meant well. However, as Ty and Alice began to bicker, and Ferris grew more increasingly worried, he too, went to look, finding himself being stopped by Francis.
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"Stop... trying... to get involved," Came the response, a pair of angry red eyes now staring back up at him. "They want you to get involved, they will try their hardest to get the human to react to their presence. The more you try, the more harm it will do to Balance..." He explained, the red colour draining to the bland colourless hue they normally were. However, Roland gave a sharp glare at the unlucky spirit.

"If you didn't want my help, why did you come to me in the first place--" Before he could rant, Ferris gave a yell to grab everyone's attention. Roland could hear whatever it was that was outside his window, slobbering and snarling hungrily. This definitely wasn't the time to argue about his role in helping or not helping. "We need to get out of here. We aren't fighting...What is it exactly...?" The blonde muttered, looking to Alice, Ty and Layla.
​

"Werewolf. A Shapeshifter. It isn't actually one, but it can still harm us," Birthday gave a sharp, curt answer, tugging both Tyree and Alice away from the window. "Your human friend is correct. We need to get out of here. This place is compromised and we don't know how many more of them their could be. We are holidays, not fighters," She explained before the more reckless two spirits could retort back. "Besides, a knife won't cut it," Layla added, empty pale pink eyes gazing towards the human. "Where else can we go?"

"My brother's house. It's big, it's further out, and away from other humans if we should need to fight," Came his response.

"Perfect. Then we need to make a run for the...What did you call it?"

"It's a van, Layla," Francis muttered. "You sure they won't mind having all of us there again?"

"Their house is bigger than mine, Francis, you've seen that," Roland muttered as a quick reminder. The first time the holidays had met him, they had met his family too.

"Right, so now we need a distraction," Layla was quick to bring the discussion back on topic. "Tyree, Alice, you are the most competent in fighting, so you need to whip up a distraction for whomever is out there. There could be more of them, so Francis will help with leading everyone else out to the van. I'll use my magic to shoot a firework up to the sky - That's the signal for you to run to the road and get in the van. Then Roland's got to drive us away and lose them. Does this sound like a plan?"

"I just had no idea you were such a tactician, Birthday," Came Friday's response.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Tartarus

​

"Everything will be fine," Persephone whispered as the reaper's assistants left Tartarus. The situation with Balance was troubling and with the holidays and the Greek Gods lost in the human realm, they were pretty much balancing on a tightrope. Chaos was out there and one wrong move could tip the scales irreversibly in his favor. She understood the reaper's irritation completely, but he had enough gloom and doom for all of them and she admired her husband for trying to lighten things up even by a little.

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "Ash and Ember will pull through for us. Laura is with them and that girl has a good head on her shoulders. Grim needs to give her more credit." And despite the reapers misgivings towards Joker and Disruption, she was with her husband, they were trustworthy and she believed they'd get the job done.

She allowed her hand to linger on Hades' shoulder for a second longer before she made her way towards the portals overlooking the human realm and the holiday realm. Things in the holiday realm were somber but as for the Greek Gods, she narrowed her eyes and shook her head. "They're fine," she said. However, it looked like Thanatos was causing quite the stir. As always, she thought. Not wishing to stress Hades out, Persephone turned back to smile at her husband. "Everything will be alright, dear."


Human Realm: Alleyway

​

Ember stood still as Ash clung to her. The streetlamp had gone dark and her eyes had yet to adjust. Laura sounded upset with Ash who continued to hold her tightly. "We've got magic," Ember reminded, and while she was aware they were only to use it as a last resort, she hoped the thought would calm Ash down a little. They weren't exactly going to be defenseless.

Slowly and with all the calm that Ash didn't have, Ember placed her own hand atop his trembling one and untangled herself from the frightened man's hold. She moved Ash's arms to his side but after that, reached out for his other hand so she could lead him along. "If we all stay together, we'll be fine—"

The words died in Ember's throat as a surprised yell caught the three of them off guard.

"WATCH OUT!"

Russel had been taking his usual route home when out of the blue, three silhouettes appeared in his line of vision. He'd noticed them just a little too late though and his bike crashed into Ash and Ember and sent him skidding across the road.

Before he crashed, there was a split second of anger towards the people walking smack dab in the middle of the road, but as soon as he hit the ground all he felt was genuine fear. Pain pulsed through his shoulder and arm, but the adrenaline numbed it and he was up on his feet in a flash. Had he hit a child? What if it was a senior citizen? His thoughts raced through his mind as he approached the duo lying flat on the ground. In his frazzled state, he hadn't noticed Laura at all.

"Oh my God," the boy sputtered as he rushed to help them. "Are you okay? Should I call 911? Hold on to my arm."


Human Realm: Roland's House

Running away wasn't her style and Alice nearly scoffed at Birthday's suggestion. However, she stopped herself at the last moment and gave a weary nod. Layla was right, they couldn't stay here, especially now that their whereabouts had been given away. "Fine, whatever. Get to the van while Ty and I buy you all some time."

"Roger that, we'll hold her back till then," Independence Day confirmed.

Alice looked to Roland and nodded her head as if to say it was time. "Go on ahead, Jack O'Lantern. Things are about to get messy." Halloween's eyes flitted to Ferris and she broke into one of her devilish grins. "Have a bucket of paint ready, kay?"

​

Ferris watched as Alice made her way to the window. His friends started making silly faces at the shapeshifter and Ferris felt like he knew where this was all going. Someone was about to get paint all over their fur. It made him smile a little and with a nod of his head, a bucket of hot pink pain appeared above the window sill while paint balloons fell into Tyree's hands.

"Okay!" Alice yelled. "Go, everyone, go!" She held onto the edge of the window and threw it open.

​

Deceit pushed her head through the window and began snapping her jaws, but before she could do anything, Alice leaped back and a bucket full of paint fell on her head. Stars danced across her vision as the sticky pink paint began coating her fur.

What followed was a barrage of paint balloons as Alice began yelling for people to make a run for it.

 

[Xyvian]

Tartarus

​

"I see... So long as there's some order still left within the world," Hades let out a sigh of relief, his gaze lingering more on his wife before he quickly focused back to the problem at hand. Standing and approaching the portals, he gazed down at the Greek Gods - Argumentative and Rebellious as always, but not causing any real problems. Placing his hand above the portal, and with a soft tap, the image rippled and closed in upon the two figures - Thanatos was one of the two, and the other was young Celeste. "I pray he's not planning anything too reckless," Muttered the Lord of Hell, as he swirled his index finger around the outer edges of the portal, focusing the magic so that he and his wife could eavesdrop on the youngster's conversation. If there was any monkey business with those two, Hades would be the first to put a stop to it - Letting the Greek's be responsible for a problem again meant he would never hear the end of it from Coffyn. And Tartarus would freeze over before Grim would ever forgive them for destroying his precious collection of books.

Human Realm: Alleyway

"Magic... Yes, so long as we have our magic," Ash repeated Ember's words under his breath, with a gentle smile playing on his lips, feeling comforted by her reassuring statement. He let her untangle away from him, and his cheeks tinged pink as she took his hand. He clasped it between his own freezing cold fingers, letting out a soft sigh of relief. They were going to be fine. Laura knew what to do, and they had their magic in the worst case scenario, as it should be. But as soon as he was finally feeling ready to speak once more, a sudden yell interrupted them, as well as knocking the two hell servants to the ground.

"Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh," Ash became frantic as he sat back up. One minute he was upright, next it felt as if a horse and carriage had knocked him to the ground. His eyes widened at the dark shadow of the thing that had hit him. What kind of two-wheeled carriage was this? Surely if you wanted to ride around on that monstrosity, a horse would be well better equipped for such a thing. The male groaned as he straightened out, his arm completely numbed. "I can't feel my arm, I...I can't, It's not there anymore, that two wheeled monster stole my arm, oh man, Hades, I'm going to bleed out and--"

​

"Ash!" Laura made her way over, phone finally found with the torch light shining brightly to illuminate the empty road. "You're not bleeding, dummy. You got hit by a bike. The feeling in your arm will come back, trust me," It took all the blondes' patience to not scold Ash right here, right now, for mentioning Hades and calling the bike a monster in front of the first human they had come across. Speaking of which, Laura turned to the bike rider. She looked him up and down, her red eyes softening somewhat as she met the stranger's gaze.

"I'm sorry, my friends and I, we were a little lost and ended up in this road. We should have been more careful but the street light went out as I was trying to figure out directions," The lies flowed from Laura's lips quite easily - She was used to covering up her tracks so she could go exploring in the underworld. Couldn't rely on Disruption or Joker to cover for her. With a polite bow of her head in apology, Laura then took a step closer to the male. "You aren't hurt, are you?" She asked, almost worried. If he was, then they had already two screw ups in the span of minutes - One being Ash blurting out Hades.

Meanwhile, Ash had turned to Ember, worryingly checking her over now that there was a light source. Deep down, he was too nervous and terrified of humans to talk to the one who had just run him over, and he was more worried about his fellow servant than the stranger. Besides, Laura had it handled. The black haired male moved closer to her, gazing down at Ember with a worried expression as he reached out his unhurt hand.

"You okay, Ember?" He whispered, trying to ignore the numb feeling that was pouring from his shoulder and down his forearm. Being dead, it would likely go away soon like Laura said. But for a human, it would be very different.

Human Realm: Roland's House
​

​

Nodding in agreement to the plan, Roland turned, urging the more defenceless holidays to follow after him towards the backdoor. He didn't turn back to see the snarling creature that he could hear getting splashed with the paint Ferris had summoned. Nina was quick to follow after Jack O' Lantern - She didn't have time to stay behind and drag Ferris with her as he was making it a point to stay behind and help. Valentine sneered somewhat - Pink paint, paint filled balloons would hardly keep a werewolf at bay, but before she could voice her opinion, she felt a shove come from a firm hand.
​

​

"Don't argue, Li. Just go," Francis grumbled, leading her towards the door. Whilst he himself both loved and despised her, he wasn't about to let her go leap into the fray and cause irreparable damage. She could die, for one. And whatever was happening down below with Balance could certainly do with out Lilith creating a spectacle. The fair maiden stubbornly tried to stay put, but another shove sent her reeling through the back door as Roland slung it open. And with a slight stumble, Valentine's day was face first in mud. "Yeah, oops,"

"Friday, I swear I will kill you, you miserable--" Lilith's screeches were quickly muffled as Nina helped her up and covered her mouth. one hand stopping the noise, the other petting Valentine's muddied hair.

"There there, Lil. Francis is an unlucky spirit," She whispered, almost soft and motherly. Shrove Tuesday was kind-hearted, despite what anyone had done in the past. Calmly, she lead the muddied woman into the back of the Van, shooing Francis as he went to try help. It would certainly be better for them all if they could reconcile their differences but right now wasn't the time.

​

​

Seeing his companion trying to shove her way through the window was almost embarrassing. Pride snorted in derision as he stood, taking his cane and pulling the casing off, revealing a small dagger that glittered in the moonlight. Shoving through the door like it was nothing to someone of his status, he took his first steps into the humans domain and Pride's pale rose irises fell onto the paint summoning fool. With disgust, he pushed the prankster over, hopefully to give his companion a break from the onslaught of the messy substance, when his eyes caught the wide open back door.

"Greed! The back, they are escaping!" Pride yelled as he put his foot on Ferris' chest to pin him down. "Get in here, you cretin!"​

​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Human Realm: Alleyway

"That two wheeled monster stole my arm, oh man, Hades, I'm going to bleed out..."

Bleed out? Was it seriously that bad? Russel's heart leaped into his throat and he fumbled for the phone in his pocket. "Oh God, hold on. I'm calling 911." His phone's screen illuminated the dark alleyway and he was surprised to find that there was no puddle of blood or dismembered arm, the guy he'd crashed into was panicky but in one piece.

"You're fine," he breathed out a relieved sigh. "I can call 911 to make sure though."

The words died in his throat when another phone brightened the road even more. His eyes flitted to Laura and he stood there in a daze as she began apologizing about the road. "Don't. I was the one who crashed into your friend." Being as frazzled as he was, Ash's comment about Hades and a monster flew over Russel's head and his eyes flitted to the girl on the ground.

"I'm fine," he winced. It was only then that he realized he had a gash on his elbow. The adrenaline had numbed the pain, but he was finally starting to feel the sharp sting shooting up his arm. Still, his number one concern was now the girl lying on the ground. "But your friend... do you want me to call an ambulance?"

Ember sat up and winced. Her face was scrunched up as if she'd eaten something sour, but aside from feeling sore, she was alright. Definitely doing much better than the frazzled and bleeding Russel. "I'm okay," she answered as her eyes fell on Ash's hand. She reached out to grab it and found herself being helped up to her feet.

"Thank you, Ash."

The stranger was rushing towards her now, almost like a worried hen. He rattled on and on as he circled around Ash and Ember in search of any injuries. "We're okay. You're the one who's bleeding," Ember commented.

Apparently, that was the case. And Russel was relieved that he was the only one walking away with injuries of any sort. It was the best possible outcome, really. The blond boy let out a long sigh. "I'm so, so sorry. My headlights were broken and I wasn't expecting anyone to be on the road. Truly, I apologize for everything." He stopped himself to eye Laura. "You said you were lost? I live nearby so I know the area pretty well. I could help you guys get where you need to go. Where were you headed?"

"The bus stop," Ember blurted out.

Russel smiled a little. "I can definitely get you there. It's only a twenty or so minute walk away, but really, you're all alright?"


Human Realm: Roland's House

​

"Ty! Alice!" Ferris screamed as he was knocked over. "HELP!" April Fools' pranks might have been annoying, but the fun-loving holiday was in no way a fighter. He felt the air being knocked out of him as Pride placed his foot down on his chest.

"ARGHHHHH!" Letting out a battle cry, Independence day broke into a sprint and tackled Pride as if he were a wrestler jumping in for the kill. Tyree's speed and weight combined was enough to tackle the Deadly Sin off his friend and onto the wooden floor. Tyree struggled to pin the man down and they both found themselves wrestling for control.

"Alice," Ferris wheezed as he sat up. "The door."

Making her way through the door was a muddied and very annoyed Deceit.

"Do you know how difficult it is to get mud out of clothes?" The sin shrieked. "I'm going to kill you! I hate you, I hate you all!" And with that said she turned into a wolf once more and began racing towards Alice on all fours.

Halloween gulped but she held both daggers tightly in her hands and braced herself.

When Deceit was moments away from crashing into her, Alice rolled off to the side, causing the sin to crash into a cupboard. Plates and glasses began tumbling out of cupboard. They crashed onto Deceit's head and Alice began rushing away to create some distance. "Ty, Ferris, we're leaving. Come on." Like Birthday said, they weren't trying to win, just buy everyone some time.

While the fight raged on, Greed quickly made his way towards the back out the house.

Pride had just called him a cretin and he was gritting his teeth in annoyance. His fellow sin was cool most of the time, one of the people he actually liked, but when things got heated, Pride had a tendency to be snippy... now was one of these times.

"Shut up already," Greed snarled. "I'm on it!"

With long strides, the sin made his way towards the van and gave the Holidays one of his roguish grins. "N'aw, leaving so soon? The party's just started, stay awhile, chat. C'mon, let's get to know each other, yeah?" He pulled out three playing cards from his vest and they glimmered like steel underneath the afternoon sun. Greed tossed the cards at the van's back wheel and like sharpened blades they tore through the back tire with ease. "You're not leaving till the party's over."

Greed's charming smile turned into a disturbing one as he pulled out another sharpened card. This time, he threw it at Francis.

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Alleyway

​

"Trust me, I've seen these two get hurt worse than this and walk away from it," Laura answered, shooting a glance towards the other two as they stood up straight. Her eyes then fell to the gash on the stranger's arm, bleeding but not too severe. Instinctively, she took a step closer to the stranger to 'tend' to his wound, but quickly stopped herself, keeping her hands away. In one fleeting moment, Laura had simply forgotten magic was forbidden in front of unsuspecting humans. She coughed lightly as if to try move the subject along.

"If you can lead us to the bus stop, that would be fine," She muttered, closing her eyes and sighing. The sooner they moved on from this stranger, the better.

"B-But... Laura, he's bleeding," Ash muttered, feeling weird as the male circled both him and Ember. He let go of her hand but shifted somewhat, moving to hide behind her and peering at the light-haired male.

"Ash, please," The blonde woman sighed, giving the black haired male a quick glare before regaining her composure and looking to the stranger. "He wouldn't be offering if he felt like he was too injured to do so. If you feel up to it, then please, lead us to the bus stop and we'll be okay," Laura gave a polite bow before walking over to her companions. Ash gave a soft sigh. It didn't sit right with him to leave the human hurt but if the stranger was okay with it, he could be too.

"Whats your name?" He asked, with all the curiosity of a child would, despite being quite aware that they would probably never talk to this human ever again. Probably.

Human Realm: Roland's House
​

​

One minute, Pride felt on top of the world. Next, the wind was knocked out of him as he hit the ground, sliding somewhat across the ground. A smudge of pink paint soaked into his extravagent coat, and the Deadly Sin glared up harshly at the holiday above him. Now that he was dirtied, the gloves were off. Quite literally, as he ripped the white silk gloves off and tossed them aside, grabbing at Independence Day and wrestling against him, grabbing and turning the tides as he pinned Ty with his body.

"You'll pay for that, you miserable, low life, rotten, saccharine, disgustingly cheery--"

Pop! The loud sound of a party popper echoed suddenly, knocking back the Deadly Sin with full force. He smashed against the plastered wall, with a low thud as colourful pieces of confetti rained down upon his suit. Birthday shot a glare up from where she stood, straightening up and offering one hand to Ty and the other to Ferris.

"You two alright?" She asked, keeping her eyes on Pride. Hopefully the force of her confetti popper had winded him badly, but if he were to stand again, she would be ready.
​

​

A short gasp escaped Francis' lips as the first card hit the back wheel, air escaping the slashed tire. The holiday looked up, and before he could even make a move towards Greed, he felt a second card slice past his cheek, leaving a deep cut just under his cheekbone. He shot an angered glare towards the Sin, but before he could do anything, a blur of mud and white shot past him, leaping onto the enemy.
​

​

"No one--" Valentine hissed as she pinned Greed down, clawing at his face with her sharpened nails. "--touches MY Friday!" She screeched, continuing her attack at the Deadly Sin. For a moment, Francis paused, hesitant about dragging Lilith off Greed, instead turning to Roland.

"We need to switch the tire. Fast," He muttered, getting to work on that, all the while keeping an eye on Valentine's Day.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Human Realm: Alleyway​

​

"This?" Russel winced as he raised his arm to look at his elbow. "It's just a flesh wound." The thought of Steve chiding him for being clumsy was far scarier than the thought of the wound itself. If anything, he'd be fine after a band aid or two. "Don't worry about it. I should have fixed my headlight. It hasn't been working lately... oh, the name's Russel, it's good to meet you. Though, I wish the circumstances could have been a bit better." Noticing that he was starting to ramble, Russel made his way towards his fallen bike and picked it up. He began walking ahead of the group, towards the bus stop. "Who might you people be?" Then in an attempt to lighten up the situation he joked. "I heard something about Hades. I'm guessing you're all from Tartarus then?"
​

Ember's eyes grew as large as saucers and they flitted worriedly from Ash to Laura. "No!" She instantly denied. "We're from earth!" Realizing how utterly vague that was, Ember tried harder. "From the countryside."

"I was joking," Russel laughed awkwardly before an uncomfortable silence fell over them.

"Oh," Ember whispered. "Right, a joke. I... I'm Ember, this is Ash." She gestured to the boy in the fluffy coat, but left Laura's own introduction to herself. Ember really didn't want to do any more damage.

"And you miss?" Russel asked as he looked to Laura with a smile. "Oh, and the bus stop is right over then." He paused then lifted a hand to point at the white building in the distance, save for the few streetlamps it was dark. "Are you guys sure that's your stop?" He knew the buses stopped coming when it got late, but they seemed really sure of their destination.


Human Realm: Roland's House
​

"Good job, birthday!" Alice whooped as the pink haired holiday hauled both boys off the floor. "Now we really, really gotta run." Deceit might have been dazed by the barrage of plates but Alice noticed she was shaking off the dizziness and getting back to her feet. If they delayed their exit, they would once again be stuck with a slobbering and very dangerous werewolf-like creature.

"Go! Go! Go!" Halloween yelled as if she were a drill sergeant at a boot camp.
​

​

"Huh?" Tyree was still a little dazed, but he forced himself to keep going as Birthday kept a firm grip on his arm. He noticed Ferris looked way more out of it than he did, and if not for Birthday, April Fools probably would have toppled over and fallen flat onto his face. "I'm fine," Tyree insisted. "Help Ferris, he looks like he can barely stand."

Tyree pulled away from Birthday and began running towards the door, allowing Layla and Ferris to go ahead so he could watch their backs. Once all of them made their way out the back door he slammed the door shut and began leaning against it. The Van was just within their reach but there was one teensy little problem.

They had a flat tire and Valentines day looked like she was ready to gouge Greed's eyes out.

"Alice, help me with the door! Layla, Ferris, do you think you can help with the tire—HOLY EGGS AND BACON."

The door behind Tyree nearly flung open as Deceit began tackling it. Had she succeeded, he would have landed face first on the ground, but he held on and Alice rushed over to help him. Their added weight made it just a bit easier but Deceit was persistent and the banging on the door grew louder and stronger with each new attack.

"We can't hold on for much longer," Ty hissed.

"She's a freaking madwoman," Alice added in.

As both holidays pushed against the door for dear life, Ferris ran past poor Greed to the van. "Roland!" He yelled. "Tell us what to do and we'll do it!"
​

He wasn't going to lose to a bunch of sissy holidays. He refused to lose to a bunch of good for nothing, colorful freaks. "GET OFF ME!" Greed yelled as his eyes glazed over. At first, Lilith's violent assault had scared him, but he was through being pushed around by everyone. First Deceit and Pride and now frigging Valentines day.

Hell no. He was Greed and he wasn't going to tolerate it anymore.

"I said, get the fuck off me, holiday." He shoved Layla off him and quickly staggered to his feet. "Pride get your lazy ass outta that house and lend me some help! Deceit, where the hell are you?"

Just as the words were said, the back door was flung open and Tyree and Alice were thrown to the ground.
​

Deceit walked out the door, her body and face resembled that of a human's, but her arms were that of two rock golems. "You called for me Greedykins? Better late then never." She strolled towards the dazed Halloween and Independence Day and plucked them both off the ground. "I said you'd pay for this, consider this your payment." Without saying anything else she smiled brightly, transformed into a large golem and slowly began to slowly crush the life out of them.

"Any last words, sweeties?"​

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Bus Stop

​

"N-No, of course not!" Ash chimed in, as he went back into full panic mode. He shook his head and waved his hands in front of himself in protest, a gesture which caused Laura to shake her head slightly as she walked on the other side of Russel. Those two were unbelievable, and even in his frazzled state, that human... Russel, had managed to pick up on Ash's escaped words about the Lord of Hell. Meanwhile, Ember had fallen for the joke as well, and it was all spiralling downhill, at least somewhat. The other girl introduced both herself, and Ash, who gave an embarrassed wave though his hands were trembling - Humans were sure perceptive, weren't they? The black haired male quickly looked over to Ember, fear in his eyes. She too, had fallen silent after introducing them. Thankfully, the stranger's attention was diverted.

"Hm? Oh, my name," Laura only heard his question a few minutes later than when it was said, having been more focused on looking out for the bus stop. "It's Laura," She finally answered, diverting her attention to look at Russel. It wasn't too long after giving her name, that he stopped and pointed out the bus stop. "Yes, we'll be fine from here on out," Laura gave him a faint smile and pat on the shoulder. "Thank you for your help, Russel," She added, before walking away first to the bus stop. Ash hesitated - the bus stop didn't look entirely welcoming.

"Y-Yes... Thank you. Goodbye, Hu--...I mean, Russel," The red-eyed servant of Hades bowed his head before following after Laura, moving ahead of her and quickly hiding in the dark shelter.

Human Realm: Roland's House
​

​

"Uh, I don't know, take this," Roland had no idea just what was happening around him. Pure chaos, apparently. He shoved the spare tire into Ferris hands. The blonde then grabbed his box of tools, quickly heading to the back wheel and working on it. "Francis, hold the van. I don't have a car jack,"
​

​

"Awh jeez, okay," The holiday grumbled, sliding his fingers under the bottom. The unlucky spirit let out a strained groan as Roland pulled the deflated rubber wheel out, having to use all his strength just to keep the dang van elevated. It felt like the longest minute in the world as Roland placed the spare tire in. It went on even longer as the human worked on securing it in place. "Take your time, no hurry here," Francis grunted in displeasure.
​

Meanwhile, Lilith gasped as she was shoved off the Deadly Sin. However, she ignored the sound of the back door being smashed, and quickly swept her leg under Greed's ankle. "Oh no you don't," Came her angered voice as she reached out to claw at him again. She didn't get very far, only managing to scratch one of his eyelids before she felt two hands drag her off and come in between her and the Deadly Sin.

"Valentine's Day..." Nina's voice was low. "T-That's too much now! He's a spirit just like us, you can't just injure him like that!" She whimpered, trying to stand her ground. Yes, he was their enemy. Yes, he was dangerous. But killing him? Nina couldn't let Lilith do that, and above all else - Killing one of them would deeply affect the World's Balance.
​

​

The sound of Greed's voice snapped him out of his dazed state, and he brought himself to his feet, dashing to the back door. The first thing he saw in his line of sight was the door ripped off its' hinges. The second thing was Deceit, transformed into a towering golem which was nearly crushing the life out of two of the holidays. A surge of energy filled him and he picked up the creature his companion had transformed into, holding her above the spirit of Halloween and Independance Day - And he glared at her with glowing pink irises.

"Deceit!" He growled, his voice thick with anger. "You're going too far - We're not meant to kill the holidays, you buffoon!" He hissed, shaking her somewhat. "Do you really want to bring the Reaper here?! Hell, do you want Harmony here?!"​

 

[Fox of Spades]

​

Human Realm: Bus Stop

"Well, Laura, Ember, Ash, it was nice meeting you all. Sorry we couldn't have met under different circumstances." Russel beamed at the three then gave a small wave when Laura and Ash began walking away. Ember was the last to leave, but when she did, Russel spun around and hopped back onto his bike. He looked back once only to notice they were gone.

To think things could have gone far worse, he was lucky he was only walking away with a gash instead of a hospital bill for two people. Steve wouldn't have liked the latter... and an angry Steve meant a passive-aggressive roommate a week before finals. Yeah, he couldn't deal with that now, and luckily, it looked like he wouldn't have to. He'd be back in time for their movie night.

"Do you think he knew?" Ember whispered once they'd reached the benches. She turned around every once in awhile as if to ensure the human was really gone. "What if it wasn't a joke?" Not wishing to make Ash panic though, Ember stopped after the second question and plopped herself onto the nearest bench. "Laura?" Similar to Ash, Ember also sounded like an out-of-place child. "You said the last bus leaves at seven? What are we going to do now? Are we going to walk to your brother's house?"


Human Realm: Roland's House

Roland had just shoved the tire into place when a large shadow loomed over them. Ferris spun around, and the sight before him sent his heart skyrocketing into his throat. A giant golem, and to make matters worse, it was holding Tyree and Alice in its hands. "Oh no," Ferris whispered. "Oh nonono." Without thinking twice, he sprang forward and began making a mad dash towards the captured duo. He didn't exactly have a plan but gosh darn it, he wasn't going to let them get crushed.

"Birthday!" She was the only other holiday who wasn't being attacked at the moment. "Help! We have to help them—Pride?"

"Ow, ow! LET GO, PRIDE!" At one moment, Deceit was crushing the life out of Halloween and Independence day. At the next moment, she was dangling in the air as her two victims fell limply to the ground.

"I was winning, Pride!" She shrieked and flailed, but it was useless. Pride was a weakling most of the time, but when he got upset. Oh boy was he a force to be reckoned with. "I said put me down!" Pride didn't relent and when he began to mention the grim reaper and Harmony, Deceit abandoned her golem form and stopped fighting back.

Pride was right, that was the last thing they needed. If the grim reaper or Harmony showed up, Chaos and Aria would lose it—would lose whatever faith they had in the three of them. Deceit hung her head low, but it snapped back up immediately when she noticed Ferris and Birthday rushing in to drag the dazed Alice and Tyree away.

"Pride!" The sin piratically yelled at his face. "They're getting away."

Meanwhile, Pride picked himself up for the nth time. The moment Valentine's day was off him he threw a flurry of cards at her and Nina. With them distracted, he spun around to see Ferris and Birthday making a sprint for the van. Ferris had Tyree in his arms while Layla had Alice. "Son of a..." Greed pulled out four cards, two in each hand, and threw them. He made sure to aim for April Fools' and Birthday's legs. "Pride, Deceit, stop bickering and help me!"

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Bus Stop

​

"I... Don't know the way, other than taking the bus," Laura admitted, as she peered out the condensed pane of glass that shielded them from the cold darkness of outside. She could see Russel's shadow in the distance, getting on his bike and riding off. "We don't have human money right now - We could potentially get some from the coins Ash brought, but there won't be a pawn shop open till tomorrow," She mused, pacing back and forth. Soon the figure was long gone. "I don't think he knew. I think he suspects there was something off about us, since he was a perceptive one. But we won't see him again, after tomorrow," With a sigh, the blonde gazed down to the ground. "We'll sleep here tonight. We have our magic if push comes to shove, but no bus route travels through here till tomorrow. So we should just get some rest,"
​

​

"Sleep... here?" Ash repeated Laura's words, and they left a sour taste in his mouth as he gazed at the stone ground. As a resident of Tartarus, he wasn't exactly used to the cold of the human world. Especially in Winter. He hesitated, but pulled off his fluffy winter jacket, laying it down on the floor to use as a blanket. "I don't really think this will help," His voice was barely a whisper, and Laura gave a gentle pat before sitting down on the makeshift cover.

"It's better than gravel, Ash," She muttered, laying down on the fleece with a shiver. Ash did the same. There was enough space for all three of them on his jacket, if they huddled. A icy wind breezed through the opening of the shelter, making the hell servant's teeth chatter. "I-It's freezing!" He hissed, whimpering as he wrapped his own arms around himself. "I don't like it. How do humans survive like this?"

"Here... Ash, unwrap yourself. We have to keep huddled for warmth," Laura answered, helping the tall male to uncurl himself. She then moved closer, staying pressed up to share her body heat. "Ember, you do the same on the other side. If we just stay like this... We'll be warm enough to survive the night. Tomorrow, we'll get to my brother's and have a place to stay," She murmured, before shutting her eyes. Ash shifted uncomfortably, but it was definitely working - He felt warmer than before.

"O-Okay...N-Night, Laura..." Ash mumbled, before glancing to Ember. "And... G-G'night...Ember,"

Human Realm: Roland's House
​

​

"You... Get out of my way, Nina--" Valentine's shrieked, before leaping onto her ally, her nails digging into the pacifist spirit's neck. Valentine held onto her, snarling. Nina coughed and spluttered, trying to kick Lilith off her but failed, as the other holiday was definitely tougher than the peaceful Shrove Tuesday. Blood seeped out from the deep grasp Valentine's had on her, and tears fell from Nina's eyes.

"If you're going to just stand there in my way, I'll get you first--" In the split second Greed had gone from being knocked down to being up, Valentine had completely ignored him, and thus was hit by the cards that were aimed at the two of them, slicing her and snapping her back to reality. She glared towards the Deadly Sin, climbing off the brunette and fully ready to pounce on him. She took a few stumbling steps towards Greed. "You... This is your fault--"
​

​

"Lilith!" Francis' angered voice cut her off, and he grabbed her, locking her arms behind her back and dragging her to the van. "You're going too far now, you..." The unlucky holiday stopped himself from cursing at Valentine's Day, though his anger was very real as he had witness her leap at Nina. "You're lucky I don't just leave you to them," He whispered under his breath, only loud enough for Lilith to hear before he threw her in the back of the van. Roland followed closely behind, after helping a sobbing Nina into the back and then going to the driver's seat in preparation to get away.
​

​

"I can see that," Pride dropped Deceit, rather unceremoniously as he made steps towards both Layla and Ferris, glaring daggers at them with glowing pink irises. "If you keep on running, we'll find you," Making his intentions clear, he kept walking towards both holidays who were dragging their fellow friends. "It doesn't matter where you go. And when we get the order, we will finish this off," He added, before grabbing Alice by her ankle. If Deceit hadn't crushed her enough already, the strength in Pride's grip was enough to break a bone, but he felt something knock his arm back again. And more confetti rained down as his fingers let go.

"You again," He growled, staring down at Birthday who had lifted Alice up to her shoulders to try go a little faster than just dragging her. "How many times are you going to blast me with that infernal party popper?!" His voice was like venom as he loomed towards her.
​

​

"That was enough," Came Layla's monotonous voice, turning to face him after helping Alice into the van. She then threw down her hand, fireworks erupting from her palm and drenching the area in a thick layer of smoke, making it impossible to see. Francis, meanwhile, had grabbed Tyree, helping Ferris get both Independence Day and April Fool's Day into the back of the van with everyone else. Birthday did a quick check of the surrounding area, making sure all her fellow holidays were on board before hopping into the back.

"Drive!" She shouted, slamming the back doors behind her as Roland stepped on the accelerator, speeding off into the night.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Human Realm: Bus Stop​

Ember nodded, glad that Laura had put her worst fears to rest. If the human did know. The Grim Reaper wouldn't be happy, she'd seen him every now and then, yelling at Hades as if the man weren't the king of the Underworld. She didn't like the reaper much. "Okay," Ember nodded. "That's good. We won't get in trouble."

She watched as Ash lowered himself to the ground and as Laura followed. Ember considered using her magic to light a small fire, but with Balance as sick as he was, she relented and made her way towards the huddling pair. She sat down on Ash's other side before finally lying down on the fleece jacket as well. The floor of the bus stop was much colder than Tartarus and she found herself shivering like her Ash. It was just one night, like Laura said, tomorrow they'd be at her brother's place.

She shifted closer to Ash, crushing him between herself and Laura. "Good night, Ash. Good night, Laura."


Human Realm: Roland's Van

The car zipped down the street and Ferris found himself flailing at the sudden jolt. He managed to grip the edge of his seat to stop himself from falling forward and he leaned back and braced himself for the bumpy ride ahead. All was quiet in the van and his eyes flitted from the sobbing Nina to the dazed Alice and Tyree. Halloween and Independence day looked quite out of it, so he left them be and began inching towards the crying Shrove Tuesday.

Ferris reached for Nina's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers. "We'll be fine now, Nina," he comforted.

​

Alice spent another moment gathering her wits before the pain in her ankle finally subsided. Her weary gaze turned into one filled with fury and her eyes zipped to Valentines day. "What the hell was that, Layla?!" She practically exploded. "Instead of, I don't know, helping me and Ty not get killed... you wail on Nina?"

Halloween threw her arms out for emphasis. "No wonder Francis dumped you. You're crazy, that's what you are!" To add insult, she gave Friday the 13th a thumbs up. "You really dodged a bullet there, Francis."​

​

The last thing Tyree wanted to do was get involved in all this, especially with his head pounding like it was, but he felt Alice was merely egging Valentines day on. They didn't need another fight, not after that fiasco. "Alice," he hissed. "Now's not the time."

"Now is the time, Ty! We're stuck with a crazy person. Nina was trying to help you!" Alice's eyes grew wider as she jabbed an accusatory finger at Valentines. "Aren't you supposed to represent love or something? What's your problem?"​

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Roland's Van

​

In the silence, Nina clutched to Ferris' hand, feeling somewhat comforted by his presence but her hand continued to tremble from the previous event. Shrove Tuesday knew Valentine's Day had a few screws loose, but she didn't expect the holiday of love to attack her outright. The brunette used her free hand to wipe away the tears in her eyes, having finally stopped sobbing, but the pain was still there. It was then that Alice spoke up about it, and Nina winced - It was bad enough it happened, the attention being drawn to it made it worse.
​

​

"Maybe you missed the part where she stepped in between me and Greed!" Valentine hissed from the corner she was sitting in, her red eyes glaring at the spirit of Halloween. "I had him, I had him, I had him! And little miss goody two shoes over there pulled me off him and defended one of our enemies," Lilith's voice was getting louder as she slowly got up and went to go for Alice. However, the unlucky spirit had been keeping an eye on Valentine's day, and Friday was the first to react, grabbing the silver haired female by the arm and locked it behind her back, pulling her closer to him.

"Lilith," He muttered, glaring down at her. "What you did was wrong. Awful. You lost it," Francis then let go of her, as the van came to a screeching halt.
​

​

After hitting the brakes, Roland turned the engine off, opening the door and heading to the back of the van. He opened up the back door and stared at the holidays, before gesturing for them to step out.

"Okay, you guys can get out now. Stretch your legs, get fresh air. I'll head inside, ask my brother if they're willing to take on more people than just the Greek Gods," He explained, turning away and walking towards the door. The blonde knocked politely first, before just heading on in. With Roland gone, Francis looked to his fellow holidays and sighed somewhat as his gaze fell to Valentine's Day.

"Look," Friday started to speak, his voice sounding slightly fearful. "We're in a bad place right now. And we can't go around attack each other, or even violently attacking our attackers back--"

"Fuck off, Francis," Valentine's grumbled. "Who cares if a Deadly Sin dies?"

"Uh, everyone!" He gestured around them as he hopped out the van. "If a spirit dies, it'll directly affect Balance. Now maybe you've been too busy to get the notice, but something is going on, and upsetting the World Balance will only make it worse. I forgive you, this one time but... Attack any one of us again and you'll have bad luck for the rest of your miserable life," The angered spirit of unluckiness wasn't one to make threats, and he was quick to walk away from the group, wishing to be left alone. Valentine's Day just gave a sneer, but said nothing as she left the van as well.
​

​

Birthday hopped out the van as well, her eyes glazed over somewhat. She knew Valentine's Day to be in the wrong, but the situation they were in meant that arguing between themselves was a bad idea. The pink haired spirit was more in agreement with Tyree - This wasn't the time to be bickering but the moment had passed and she had said nothing. She helped Nina out of the van when she saw the brunette move, and decided to change the topic.

"When we get indoors... How about you bake us something to help restore our strength?" She asked, glancing at Alice and Tyree before her gaze fell back onto the shorter holiday. "We are all tired out and it could do us some good if we could heal up faster," Layla added, giving a sympathetic pat on Nina's shoulder. The brunette seemed really out of it, barely lightening up at the prospect of baking to raise the morale of her allies.

"I...I can, if Jack O Lantern's family are okay with it," She murmured, giving a faint, but almost forced smile to Birthday. Layla shot the girl a concerned look before looking to Ferris. If someone could cheer her up, it would be the fool. With that, Layla sat down on the ground, waiting for Roland to get back.

Human Realm: Inside the House
​

​

"Hey, look," Celeste tapped at the window, staring out of the glass. She saw Roland exiting the same van he had used to bring them out here earlier, and the blonde male walked around to the back. He seemed to be talking to someone - The holidays possibly? Her answer was confirmed as when he walked away, Friday the Thirteenth stepped out and stormed off. "Seems like the holidays are here. Something bad must have happened," The green eyed girl sighed and flopped back onto her seat, crossing her arms before letting out a sigh of frustration.

"We never get involved," She muttered, glancing to Thanatos beside her. "If my dad was here, he'd be all like 'Well that isn't a bad thing, Celeste' but..." The girl gave another restless sigh before she started grinning. "Doesn't matter. If the holidays are here, it's likely that we can be in for a more interesting time around here," She gave a laugh, standing and offering her hand to Thanatos. "Let's go out and say hi. Might as well find out what happened!"
​

​

Before the Greeks could even make their way out, Jasper had already slipped past them, moving towards the hallway where Roland was waiting. With a smile, he listened to his brother's explanation as to what happened. He nodded and patted his brother on the back, before finally speaking.

"Of course you can stay," Jasper laughed as he hugged his younger brother with all the force of a bear. Roland nearly felt himself being lifted off the ground but sighed in relief as his brother freed him, and they both walked to the front door. The eldest opened the door and smiled. "So, Roland's friends! Feel free to come in when you're ready! Plenty of room for you guys," He called, leaving the door opened as he walked away.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Human Realm: Outside the Van

"What? Are you going for my throat? C'mon then, show me what you got!" Alice lifted her hands the moment she saw Lilith preparing for a lunge, but the fight-to-be was cut short when Francis pulled Valentines back. Alice settled down a little and shortly after, Roland hit the brakes. "Try anything and I swear I'll give you something to remember," Alice hissed as her eyes settled on the spirit of Love. She would have said more, but Francis was already lecturing the crazy spirit and they'd just arrived. It was time to go. "Let's go guys," Alice huffed as she hopped out the van.

Birthday, Nina, and Ferris followed soon after, but Alice marched on ahead, ignoring them all to blow off some steam.

Catching on Birthday's attempt to cheer lighten up the mood, Ferris bobbed his head up and down. "I can help with the baking! Remember that time we made cakes at Jack'O Lantern's house? We got flour everywhere, he was so mad." The memory made Ferris smile, two years ago they'd gotten into a similar mess... not once was weighty as this, but a serious mess nonetheless.

"We'll be okay, Nina," he whispered as he slowed down to match her stride. "We survived last time, now we've got more friends with us." Actually, having more holidays and the Greek Gods in the human realm was very bad for Balance's health, but it was the thought the counts. "Uh 10 heads are better than four, right? We'll get through this, with the power of cake, friendship, and love!"


Human Realm: Inside the House

Thanatos scowled at the prospect of going out to greet the holidays. He'd yet to forgive Independence Day for trying to start a fight with him, and his pride was still sore from having Birthday blast him to the ground with confetti. He was the frigging spirit of death, and he'd been knocked down by confetti? Yeah... not one of his greatest moments.

"I dunno," he tried to appear nonchalant as he sprawled out like a cat on the couch. "You can go ahead, Celeste. I really like this couch, y'know? It's so soft and... Dionysus needs to get a couch like this, it'd be great for crashing on, aw hell."

The door was pushed open and before anyone could do anything, Jasper was greeting Roland and the holidays were standing in the hall like lost children. He closed his eyes and pretended he was napping.

​

"Hey, Jasper," Ferris greeted. "Can Nina and I bake a cake?" He wasted no time poking around and soon enough, he was in the kitchen, looking through cupboards and drawers. "Do you have any flour? We need to bake some to re-energize. "

​

"Nice place you got here, older Jack'O Lantern." Alice still looked rather upset, but instead of going for Valentines she sat down on one of the couches and nodded at Celeste in greeting. Since Thanatos was a jerk, she ignored him.

Unlike his friends, Tyree's main concern was their safety. He stood beside Jasper and Roland with a stern look on his face. "What if those sins come after us? Shouldn't we take some precautions... barricade the doors and windows maybe?"​

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Jasper's House

"Uhm, sure, you can--" Before he could answer, Ferris had already made his way into the kitchen, checking the many cupboards for flour. "Not sure if we have everything, but if we do, help yourselves. Though I really don't think we have enough for all of you," Jasper's green irises flitted to the rest of the group, trying to count them. "I mean, there's plenty of space. Dad... He kind of overcompensates for not being here really," Jasper shrugged, leaning forward to grab his empty mug off the table. "What's a sin?" A smirk played on his lips as he gazed at Roland. "That another thing you can't explain?"

​

"I..." Roland stuttered as he gazed away, hands in pockets with a solemn look. Ever since he first met the holidays, Jasper had always asked about them - Or at least, about the 'Swedish Friends' who vanished without a trace. It had become harder and harder to lie about it, till he just had to admit defeat and tell his family he couldn't explain about it. Jasper clicked his tongue and lost his smile as he shot a glare at his younger sibling.

"Yeah, that's what I thought..." His voice was soft, before he let out a chuckle, standing up a stretching. "Whatever. I already know there's something up with you guys," The tattoo'd elder brother shrugged and gave a knowing smirk. "At the very least, I know this; You all aren't from this world, and I'm not stupid. Stay as long as needs be, and..." Jasper leaned over to where Thanatos was sitting, grabbing him by the arm and firmly dragging him till he was sat upright. "Make way for some others to sit," He chuckled before heading out the room. "I'll go try fix up some make shift beds for the large amount of people we have here,"
​

​

Celeste sat back down next to Thanatos, having listened to everything Jasper had said. She took a glance to Roland, who had yet to say anything, and she coughed awkwardly, feeling tension in the air. Silence followed, the sounds of Ferris in the kitchen looking for flour was all she could hear.

"So... Some of the Sins attacked you... I can't say the same for us," The girl finally spoke up, gazing at the other holidays who had come in. "Are we gonna be okay?" She asked out of curiosity, staring at the group.
​

​

"Don't know," Francis shut the door behind him as he made his way through the group, one hand dragging Valentine's Day by him. "But I think we need to basically come up with some rules to keep us safe. I'm gonna suggest no one stays alone. We stick together, and if we have to split up for any reason, we should stick with one person," Friday sat down next to Alice, bringing Lilith along who reluctantly sat beside him. Celeste gave an annoyed sigh, but it couldn't be helped - The holidays looked like they had just barely gotten away from a bad situation.

"I'll stick with Thanatos," She muttered. "Greek Gods gotta stick together," She added with a smirk, but she knew it was better this way. Better for him to not get stuck with a holiday, after all. Even if she knew they would be fine if they were alone. Hell, as a pair they could probably break that rule and get away with it.

"Sure. As for me... I'll be watching Valentine's Day--"
​

​

"Friday, you don't have to keep an eye on Valentine's Day," Birthday interrupted, moving over to stand by Tyree. "Speaking of which, let's talk about that now. Valentine's Day, why did you attack Shrove Tuesday?!" Birthday pointed to the door that lead to the kitchen as if to make her point. "That was a terrible thing to do to her, she's our ally, our friend. A lifelong companion," Layla sighed as she brought her hand to her face, covering it in annoyance. "In short, what you did is almost unforgivable, but in these trying times, we have to stick together as allies. It's imperative that we try our very best not to argue. Do you understand?" The spirit of love did nothing, only sit in wretched silence with a frown on her face. Francis sighed, looking to Layla with an exhausted expression

"I know I don't have to but..." He gave a downward glance at the floor before continuing. "She won't attack me. At least, not physically," He added, hoping to drop the subject. "Let's just try to figure out what we can do to help,"

"Help?" Celeste scoffed somewhat. "As if the Reaper, Hades and Chronos combined would let you help them," She felt some of the holidays glare at her. "Hey, that goes for me and Thanatos too. I mean, Hades might, but man, you guys know what the Reaper is like. And Chronos... Let's just say he would never let me, you guys or Thanatos do anything," She explained, with an almost saddened gaze before toughening up. "...We need to think of a way to take those guys on ourselves without damaging the World Balance,"

Human Realm: Jasper's Kitchen
​

​

Nina could only give a slow nod of appreciation to Ferris attempts to cheer her up as they entered the kitchen, the door swinging shut behind them. She sat on one of the nearby chairs, watching as Ferris hunted for the flour, contemplating her previous actions. In the heat of the moment, why did she save that Deadly Sin? The Deadly Sins were known for being awful, but she threw herself in between him and Valentine's Day who had already established herself as just short of a few screws loose. Maybe in someway, she just hoped to stop the bloodshed somehow. Yeah, like that worked. She stood and started looking for the flour herself, picking it up and placing it on the counter.

"Okay Ferris, watch the master do this - With less mess than last time," She added, trying to give him a genuine smile as she let her magic work. After opening the bag of flour and sieving it into a bowl, Nina hunted for the margarine, eggs and sugar, bringing them to counter and adding them to the bowl, piece by piece and mixing them into a thick cake batter. It took not too long to get it to the right consistency, and with a flick of her wrist, the baker added her secret ingredient - A dash of her very own magic to help restore her friends energy after the attack. And once in the oven, she sat back down at the small table, closing her eyes.

"Twenty minutes. Then we can take it out. It could be faster but... We should abide by human rules," She whispered quietly. In the silence, she could hear the group next door talking about Valentine's Day, and decided against joining the group. A few minutes passed, and the smell of the sweet cake baking was in the air, and Nina couldn't help but inhale the scent. It reminded her of home, in her bakery. How she missed it...
​

​

Pitter Patter, Pitter Patter. The sound of soft footsteps interrupted Nina's thoughts as a young, blonde haired girl walked in, now two years older from when they last met her. She wore a nightdress and was rubbing her sleepy eyes as she held a raggedy stuffed toy in her other hand. She glanced between the two strangers in the kitchen, trying to place where she remembered them from.

"I... Smell sweets," She whispered, almost hesitantly, bringing the toy closer to her cheek. "Do I know you two?" She mumbled between a yawn as she walked towards the table and sat in the chair closest to her. She stared at Nina for a while before looking to Ferris, seemingly confused by the familiarity of these two people.​

 

[Fox of Spades]

Human Realm: Jasper's House

Tyree flinched when he realized what he'd just said, and to make matters worse, he'd said it in front of a human. Yes, said person was Roland's older brother... but still, the situation was dire enough without him being all tactless. He shrunk back like a dog who'd been caught chewing at their owner's slippers, but the horrified look on Tyree's face grew calmer when Jasper said he already knew. He didn't talk about The Reaper or Balance, but him knowing they were from another world was enough to make him feel less guilty. Sheepishly, he pulled himself up to his full height and gave Jasper a nod. "Thank you, really, for everything."

Then Jasper went on to mention getting beds ready for all of them, and out of habbit, Tyree gave a salute. "Hey, human. If you need help, just give us a holler, okay? You and Roland have done more than we could ask for."

"Easy on the shirt, pal," Thanatos hissed as he was pulled up into a sitting position. "This stuff ain't cheap." He would have said more if it weren't for the fact that they were living in this Jasper person's house. Thanatos was rough around the edges, but he wasn't a total ingrate, despite what the reaper and some of the Holidays probably believed.

"Sins huh... least you guys weren't bored to death, right? I kid, I kid." Well, it anything, they'd be alright now that they were together. Some of the holidays might have lacked fighting skills, but Celeste could hold her own and he was pretty frigging great a kicking butt (or so he believed). "Really, holiday? You're gonna make us pair up for safety? Is this an elementary field trip?"

Thanatos would have let Francis have it, but he quieted down when Celeste volunteered to be his buddy. Leave it to her to make things like this more bearable, she was a good friend. "Fine, I'll play along."

More words were exchanged, but he mostly tuned himself out to the ongoing squabble between the holidays.

Alice, on the other hand, spoke up the same way Birthday did. "I can team up with her, Francis. You don't have to stick your neck out for her anymore." She might not attack Francis the same way she attacked Nina, but Lilith was sneaky and she wasn't about to let her friend march back down that same road with Valentine's, he'd suffered enough at her hands. "Fine, I'm going with you then since I'm assuming Ty is with Layla and Ferris is going with Nina. Let me help."

If Lilith refused, Halloween would simply ignore her. If Lilith fought, she would fight back. She wasn't scared of the spirit of Love, even if said spirit obviously had more than a few screws lose. Whatever, she wasn't causing trouble now and Celeste's plan sounded not only feasible, but quite appealing as well. "Working behind the scenes to right some wrongs, eh? I like your style." A smile crept up Alice's face as she looked to her friends. "The Reaper might not like it, but it's kind of our best bet at the moment. I say we run it with it. Don't worry Francis, we'll be careful. But it's better than sitting around doing nothing, right? I say, the next time those sins show up, we follow them. They don't seem very smart... considering what happened earlier."


Human Realm: Jasper's Kitchen

Ferris was far from his chipper self. He leaned against the counter quietly, his eyes trailing after Nina. He was worried about her—he was worried about all his friends and the fate of the Holiday Realm itself. Balance was sicker than ever and the sins were out for their blood, he wanted to fall face-first onto the floor and close his eyes, but he kept himself standing for Nina's sake.

"Okay Ferris, watch the master do this..."

He snapped out of his thoughts and mustered up a smile. He liked watching Nina bake, almost as much as he liked swiping her cookies from the tray. "Hey, no fair! If you use magic, how will I be able to help? I want to do something too... aw," he gave her a childish pout as the cake practically began baking itself. "Next time then, when we get back to the Holiday Realm. I'll help with the orders, maybe the deliveries." He tried to sound hopeful, as if he were sure this entire thing would blow over soon enough.

"Hey Nina... you're," he watched her closely. "You're okay, right?"

Ferris would have inched towards her and circled around her like a worried mother hen, but he stopped when he heard the sound of footsteps. He thought it would be one of the holidays and was relieved to see that wasn't the case.

"Hi, Jack O' Lantern's sister!" He hunched down so they were the same height then waved. "We're your brother's friends, from Sweden. Wow, you're so much taller now! We played Hopscotch once, I'm not sure if you remember us though." Ferris went quiet as he tried to think. "I'm Ferris, this is Nina. You're, Kayleigh, right? How old are you now? Oh yes! We're making sweets, you should have some when we finish, Nina is the best baker in the entire Holiday—Holiday factory in Sweden."

Ferris was starting to ramble and it didn't look like he would finish anytime soon.

 

[Xyvian]

Human Realm: Jasper's House

​

"I wasn't negotiating--" Francis began to protest, but sighed, scratching the back of his head. His first thoughts were that Alice should stick together with Ferris and Nina, since they were more vulnerable, but the more he thought about it, the more he let it go. He was exhausted ever since they had escaped home. Or what was left of it. And the ambush as well as Valentine's attack on Nina didn't contribute to his well-being, at least mentally. So he shook his head, falling silent for a moment as Alice said she would join him and Lilith. "Alright, have it your way," He muttered, leaning back into the sofa and shutting his eyes. It didn't take long for Celeste to speak up again and he popped one eye open again.

"I suggest we wait till this blows over. The Reaper, Hades, Chronos-- All three of them are strong and will have what ever caused this mess sorted soon," He gave his opinion cautiously, knowing most of the group would want to take action.
​

​

"What, are you crazy?" Celeste sneered, glaring at the white haired holiday with contempt. "Waiting is the worst we can do! Maybe you forgot but all of you just got attacked by Deadly Sins! Maybe there's more out there! What if they come back? We need to act! Yeah, sure, you got away this time, but what of the next time? We gotta get the jump on them!"​

​

"As much as I agree with you on that, there isn't much we can do," Friday sighed as he looked to Celeste with tired, grey eyes. "What do you want to do? Attack them? Then what? Kill them? Short of anything we do will upset the World Balance and--"

"Look, don't lecture me about World Balance, holiday, I frikkin' know!" She growled. "But waiting around for Grandpa Death, Uncle Hell Lord and Daddy Chronos will take too long. Tell me, what if they never find them? What if they don't find the one who ordered the Deadly Sins to mess with us? Because I can tell you they aren't going to come rescue us when those Sins come a knockin'! And then what, Friday? We just wait till we die?"
​

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"As much as I don't agree with Celeste's tone, I have to say she has a point," Birthday intervened between the two, sensing more arguing coming. "Waiting is potentially safer to Balance, and I'm sure that's exactly what the Reaper, Hades and Chronos would want from us. But they won't come when we're in trouble and we do need a plan. I'm not suggesting we actively look for the danger, but we do need do something. We need to be prepared,"

"And what would you suggest, Birthday," Francis' gaze was averted, his empty stare focused on the ground. By this point, he was out of ideas, sleep deprived, and Layla made a better point than the fired up Celeste.

"We contact the Underworld. This world, whilst not quite as magical as our realm or Olympus, is in a cycle of living and then dying. It's more closely related to Death than any other world,"

"So what, we sit around at some busy freeway, wait for a terrible accident and try contact the Reaper whilst he does his job?" Celeste snorted somewhat at the idea.

"That's not what I had in mind, but it is an option," Layla muttered gravely, her eyes downcast for a second before returning to her usual stoic demeanour. "My suggestion is that we look in a Human Library. Whilst this realm is completely normal, in a sense, there's some magical residue from our realms - The pond that Halloween, Friday, Shrove and April Fools fell out of comes to mind,"

"I see what you're getting at. But something tells me that the Underworld is a trickier target," Francis whispered, giving a soft sigh.

"You're correct. If we assume that the reason for the portals is to make a connection for us to still be able to make it into this world despite any ongoing emergencies, then it stands to reason there won't be one for the Underworld. Both Hades and Death open portals from the Underworld to here and vice versa to return the souls they have collected to the afterlife, because that's their whole job. No matter what happens, dying is so closely linked to those who are mortal, we can assume that the Reaper and Hades are able to teleport between there and here easily, without need for an emergency connection," Layla took a pause to think it over, and to catch her breath. She wasn't used to talking people through her thought process. Or talking for that matter.

"What we should take from what I just explained is that Humans are mortals, and thus some have taken a fascination with dying, the afterlife and everything that comes with it. Some believe in a higher power, some don't. And somewhere, some Human probably has written something down that we can use to connect with the Underworld, either by getting down there ourselves or sending a distress signal to them," Birthday concluded her explanation, looking to the group if they had any questions about her answer.

Human Realm: Jasper's Kitchen
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"I see," Kayleigh spoke quietly, as the stranger rambled. Truth be told, she couldn't get a word in edgewise as he talked and talked, but she giggled as he mentioned Sweden. The green eyed girl rubbed her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand before grinning and pointing to Ferris. "You're lying! Your lies are funny!" The youngster laughed some more as she looked to the two strangers before smiling. "But... Please don't lie to me, okay?"

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"Lies? W-We're not lying... We really are from Sweden, yes--" Nina stammered out her response but the human child just patted her on the shoulder. The holiday was baffled at the girl and stood, going to take out the cake from the oven. She knew Roland's family had a history with getting involved. Jack-O-Lantern himself was the sceptic in their family when it came to their Grandma's stories about the holidays, magic and everything about them. However, Kayleigh didn't back down, standing and giving a defiant glare.

"I can prove it!" She cried, before running out the room. Oh boy. Nina didn't want to be responsible for upsetting Roland's little sister, especially not after just arriving. Setting the cake out from the tin, the brunette began to make preparations to frost in silence, but was interrupted by the sounds of Kayleigh returning, holding a worn leather bound journal, which the blonde dropped on the table with a loud thunk.

"This is Grandmama's journal. Before she went away, she gave me this. She said I might be too young for it, but I should try reading it," Kayleigh crossed her arms in triumph, watching as Nina approached the book and hesitantly turned the pages of parchment, all hand written in ink. The journal was all over the place. Notes about magic, the holiday realm, stories from the author's life, the pond... So this was where Jack-O-Lantern's Grandma had written about her experiences.

"Well... I guess this really does make us liars," Nina shifted awkwardly, as she flipped through the book. She looked to Kayleigh, still quite shocked at the situation. "You believe everything in this book?"

"Of course! Grandma wouldn't lie. She would tell me and Laura so many stories. Roland never liked them and Jasper was always working. Before she d...di...die-ed, she gave me this book. She told me I was a smart little girl and if I wanted, I could even add to the book if I had my own adventures..." Kayleigh struggled to mention her Grandmother's death but continued to talk about the origins of the book. After a slight pause, she got a sheepish smile. "Uhm... So now you know I have Grandma's journal, keep it a secret. Like I can keep your secret about Holidays,"​