Players:
Summary: They way home from the dimension, Tegu-Haaz, is revealed.
Date: November 13, 2010
Log Title: Thorough The Silver Waters
Rating: R
Tegu-Haaz - Xavier's Insane Asylum for Adolescents (Main Lobby)
Large squares of white marble reflect the gas lit chandlers above. From the door to a large stair case runs a nice red carpet. The staircase leads to a balcony above. The railings and all the woodwork in the room are detailed and give the room a grandiose appeal. There are a wooden panels with designs on them, alcoves and even a few gargoyles along the walls of the main lobby. Heavy wooden doors lead the way into the other areas of the Asylum. Candle holders stem from the floor to hold candles several feet up in the air on their intricate brass holders. A fine layer of dust has settled over the room and there are foot prints raining from large to small, in the dust across the marble floors.
Last night Alaric just vanished. He hadn't left the Slaughtered Lamb much but for the last twenty four hours the mage was nowhere to be found. Then not to long ago, he came running into to town grabbing those he could, Star, Connor, Heather, Mike and David, and dragging them up to the Asylum. He's been going on, rambling, about doorways, silver waters, something that turns everything around and doesn't move and of course, Tegu-Haaz. He's dragged those into the dark Asylum and up the stairs to the balcony where it seems a large door has appeared. There is a sense of urgency in his movements as it seems there is something not right about tonight. An odd feeling that tonight might be the only chance they have to get to something. (re for Mike)
Heather isn't really aversive to the idea of coming with to any interesting events, especially given how keen she is on figuring out how this world works. She's taken her wax case, pickaxe and pyjamas on what seems to be an important quest. Since Alaric says nothing that seems particularly relevant, she simply follows with a blank expression on her face, thoughts perhaps ahead of this particular move.
Having had to follow along with Alaric and the others, the scowl on Connor's face is not directed at the situation, but at the man who seems to be at the center of all of this. His rambling is taken with a stony expession, but he is fit to follow, after grabbing the twin blades and bag of nails he had with his former Victorian attire. Once the door is revealed, he just continues on his series of hardly-varied and rather obvious looks at Alaric before saying, "Allright, fine… you got us here, you psychopath, so now why don't you tell us what's really happening and quick acting like you're a raving madman." His arms cross over his chest, but he begins looking around the door itself.
There are too many people who are NOT back yet, and Mike has no trust in magic. He is not willing to leave anyone behind, trapped in someone else's horror-show idea of what their reality SHOULD be, especially nothing so painfully hopeless as the ones he saw paraded around. He goes along because Alaric asked him, although he really has no reason to trust the man. Perhaps that's WHY he decided to come along, after all. His heavy metal rosary and a flask of whisky to moderate the lamp oil he fueled with earlier, all he really needs to bring with him, in the pouch hanging from his belt.
Looking more confused than ever by the raving of the apparent madman, Star has followed along with the others that were grabbed. She's still dressed in the Victorian era dress that she's been wearing since she died. For the moment, she's just willing to tag along and see exactly what's so urgent, though she keeps looking over her shoulder as though waiting for someone else to join them.
Looking at the door and running a hand over it. "One of you had a key." He says as the door does in fact have a keyhole. He looks up at Connor and growls himself. "You should know a raving madman so well." He says as he runs a hand over the door. "Do you want to go home or stay here forever. What's really happening? You're trapper here, in this dimension, Tegu-Haaz. The demon, sorry I cannot say his name or it will draw attention to him, will make us all apart of this place forever. The door way home I think is behind these doors. Look for what will show you exactly what you show it." Alaric says to Connor as his hands frantically run over the door. "I'm sorry I brought you all here, I thought you could stop my mistake but..apparently now."
Heather glances up towards Alaric and spins her pickaxe idly, "AKeyDavidHadAKeyDidHeNot? AndHosea?" She frowns slightly since she doesn't have a key. Great, just when being a packrat would come in handy, she doesn't have an item she would want to grab. She eyes the door for a moment and then says, "ButDoNotWorry. IHaveASkeletonKey." With that, she readies her pickaxe, raising it in preparation for a might swing, which she makes unless interrupted.
Connor grumbles out, "Yeah… I'm really appreciative of your apology… so's Frankenstein, the Mummy, Zombies, the Werewolf, and Count CHOCULA!" Yelling the last word as he pushes up and last Alaric to examine the door more closely, and then around the edges, before looking back towards Heather, "Put that away, and start thinking for a moment, Heather, Please. Silvered Waters and a Key. You're the one who gathers facts like pennies… what's he on about and what can we do with it?" Back to his work, he actually begins touching over the edges of the door, "Here's the rub… yeah, this might be the way out, but this is also the critical trap-point. This is where we're either caught or we're out. Problem is… we're not going to know what the trap looks like until we've snapped it."
Mike also says, «Please do not attack the door with a pick-axe, remember it nearly broke the door that was holding Alaric» at Heather-speed, squeak-squeakity. He looks around for David. "Didn't David have a key? He said something about finding a key."
Star remains quiet for the time being, looking worried and confused by the whole situation, but remaining quiet for the moment. She shuffles forward a few steps, though not close enough to be in the way, her expression blank as she looks from person to person. Finally, she breaks her silence when keys are mentioned, "A key? What kind of key?" Not that she's found any keys herself. She looks again at Alric and Connor over near the door, once more falling silent.
Looking at Heather and David, Alaric nods. "Well then, you might want to find David and get the key from him, time is not on our side." Is all he says as he doesn't try to stop anyone from hitting the door with a pickaxe, hey, it's on them if anything happens. "You going to over look everything boy or you going to try to get out of here before you become Mr. Crazier Than I Am Already and it's permanent?"
"IKindOfJustWantedToSeeIfHeWouldStopMe," replies Heather to Connor, though her ploy doesn't really work since Connor did instead. She just spins her weapon in her hands when stopped, considering. "TheKeyIsPerhapsAKeyThatHoseaOrDavidHasAsISaidYes. TheSilverWaterSeemsLikeMercuryWhichMakesSenseToMeSinceItCanBeANeurotoxin." She rubs her forehead lightly and says, "ConnorHowFarCanYouSpaceslipHere? CanYouGetTheKeyAndBeBack?"
Connor shoots Alaric a 'shut up' level look and then turns back to Heather a moment, "I can still do the line of sight, and not the big stuff… wait…" Looking back at the door, and then at Alaric, "It couldn't be that simple… could it?" He motions for the others, "Okay… everyone get back. If this doesn't work, Heather go find David and get the key. Mike… thanks for the math clash a few nights back." And the first thing he does is opens up his dimensional sight, and looks at the door. If this is a crack or anything connected to another dimension, he should be able to 'see' the difference in energy.
"It was fun. Not sure how useful it was though," the robot boy answers. He steps back and asks Star, "So, is there anything you're particularly afraid of now that you weren't before you died and became a zombie?" He's unsure whether anyone tried feeding her salt, for instance, though that really is a long shot.
Afraid? Star's afraid of lots of things… When she responds to Mike, her voice is small and meek sounding, her eyes lowered to the ground, "That I'll lose my brother." Which she seems to have done at the moment, since he isn't here right now. She frowns faintly and looks up through her lashes, "Mr Alleyne said he thought that there might be something with salt that would… fix me… but…" She shrugs and trails off. Apparently nothing was ever done.
Not even looking at Star, Alaric comments off handedly. "Kill her and you get her back." he says as he watches the thee others he grabbed." He then smiles at Connor's look ant puts his hands up, letting those who want to try to open the doors, do their work.
"IReallyHateThatApproach," says Heather, frowning slightly at Alaric's comment. That's not to say that she necessarily disagrees. She looks at her pickaxe and then up at Star back and forth a few times before instead turning her attention on Connor instead of doing that horrible thing that she's pretty sure she's going to be doing in a minute anyways.
Connor closes his eyes and the glow vanishes, "No luck… there's no kind of access between dimensions there. If there was, I could probably have wedged a portal open through it." Shaking his head, he runs his hand through his hair before looking to the others, "You know what… remind me to thank Doctor McCoy sometime. Heather… head out, find David or Hosea… I don't care if they don't understand, but get that key and get back here. Mike? If Mister Blackmoore moves wrong… hell… if he breathes wrong? Kick him. Some place impolite."
"You were always afraid of losing Rush though," Mike says to Star. He doesn't have salt in his pouch, because he thought David would have gone ahead and tried that trick. "I'd really hate to have the answer be the one from the newer zombie movies, that's just repellent and lazy on the part of our captor."
The robot looks over at Alaric. "So sorry to have disappointed you, and really, is that her true cure? You know it for sure? And how do you know it?" He's considering punching the man into a wall rather than just kicking him, but that wouldn't help either. While he was foolish to summon the demon, he does seem to be interested in getting them out. So Mike just pulls out the metal rosary and counts through it rapidly, each click a prayer for patience, guidance, clear thought, safety for his friends, and deliverance to safety. Clickclickclickclick…
Star's eyes widen at the callous words from Alaric about how to 'cure' her of being a zombie and backs away, putting her hands up defensively, "K-kill me?" Her voice is a high pitched squeek as she looks from one to the other, "But I don't want to die. I mean, not for real, anyway." She's already dead, after all. Mention of that name- Rush -gets no responce from the zombie. Instead, it's just a blank look as though Mike had mentioned someone named 'Bob' or 'Leroy' instead of twin brother.
"IWillGetTheKeyThen. EvenIfIHaveToTakeIt," says Heather, pretty glad to be out of here for a little bit. If Star is still a zombie when she gets back, well, we'll have to see how that goes. She sheds the wax case and pickaxe, and only takes the knife she uses to carve into the wax as she runs off on her own quest.
Alaric just glares at Connor before switching his expression and giving a mock bow towards him. "I'll let the big man in charge say what he needs to." He says before looking to Mike and shrugging him. "You know what her true cure is, you've cured the others, haven't you?" He says as he leands against the wall. He watches Heather head off and taps his foot on the ground in a slow beat. "Tick tock, time is counting down. Will the heroes go home or be part of this evil world forever?"
Connor locks eyes for a moment with Alaric, and then his jaw grits before he says, "Dude… if you've got brain one in that thick skull of yours, you'd realize you're around exactly the wrong people to get… mouthy with." And then he takes a couple steps towards Star, and vanishes, a ripple in the air of his passing… only a few seconds passing before he reappears with a small jar in his hands, stepping out of nothingness once more, "Okay… so some salt to cure Star while Heather is off dealing with the key. If you're right, and we're on a timetable… we don't have the luxury of letting the fact that we want to collectively break you jaw and fingers get in the way. So instead of spouting off, help. If I put this on her, what will happen?"
Mike takes the salt from Connor and pours out a small handful. "If the tales are correct," he says to Star, "Tasting this will remind you of your death, and that will send away the zombie. Since you have to die to this world to be alive in our own world, just as you died to our world to be alive, such as it is, in this one."
He offers the salt to Star. If she doesn't accept it, he'll wait until she's objecting and toss it into her mouth. That's all that the legend required, after all.
Star's filmy eyes are wide as she looks between Alaric, Connor, and Mike as her fate is discused. There's an almost desperate look after Heather as she speeds off in search of this key that they apparently need and she looks back at Connor just in time to see him step towards her and vanish. She can't help but cringe slightly when he reappears, her breath coming in quick little half panicked gasps as she looks back to the mage when he's questioned about what will happen if she's dosed with salt. She looks back at Mike when he takes the salt, still obviously scared, and licks her lips, "I don't understand…" Then the salt is being tosses at her and she makes a face, coming up coughing and trying to get the way to salty flavor out of her mouth.
She coughs and grimaces and backs away, but nothing else seems to happen.
After she is fed the salt, Alaric answers. "She'll be well seasoned?" He says to Connor in regards to him asking what will happen to Star. He just shakes his head and rolls his eyes at Connor's threats. "And you'd realize that you're threatening the only person who knows anything about this world. I'm telling you what I can and how I can, now, once Heather comes back and opens these doors I'm sure that we'll be able find what I was referring to."
Connor rolls his eyes and mutters to himself, "And I can't wait for us to get out of here…" And so he approaches Star, and says to her, "Look… we're sorry… but can you turn out your pockets, and let us see what you have with you? Anything that might be sutpid or pointless could be a clue. We just want to help." Speaking softly to Star before looking at Mike with a shrug and saying, "Sorry… I studied Lovecraftian horror, not contemporary… I wouldn't know a voodoo zombie from a magic or disease one."
Mike glares over at Alaric, although there's no obvious malice on a face that doesn't change and a body that (even under the Barnes uniform) is not as flexible as a human's. "Mr. Blackmoore. You might remember that we have very little reason to trust you, or even to know that you are who you say you are. Connor especially has reason to be angry with the results of your foolish actions. So take your sarcasm and stuff it away somewhere, and be very forthcoming with us, because we are also YOUR only way out of this mess, unless you lied about that. And I'm unwilling for you to be trapped here as well, so do stop trying to alienate your allies."
The lack of change for Star, sadly, means he has to explain the problem to her again.
"Every one of us who changed, remembered dying, and remembered a different life. The ones who changed back, and I presume Robyn was also one of these, had to 'die' in their own fashion. If you can trust that man, then yours is unfortunately physical, like mine was."
The zombie girl coughs once more, her nose crinkled slightly as she feels at her skirt for pockets and shakes her head, "I, uh… I don't have pockets." Star shakes her head, somewhat at a loss for the naming of different kinds of horror. She takes a deep breath, "Please, I don't want to die…" There's very real terror in her voice at that and it's probably a good thing that she hasn't been able to give off pheromones like she did before she died. The mention of physical death has her looking back and forth between the other two teenagers, wrapping her arms around herself and looking back over her shoulder as though looking for rescue from a source that is probably not going to be forthcoming.
"You're not going to die but the zombie is." Alaric says as he looks around. "Where is that girl with the keys." He says with a sigh. He pushes himself off of a wall and starts to move towards the top of the stairs when something walks through the front door of the Asylum. The large black winged form of the creature Mike saw the night that things went to hell. There's an aura about him that seems to incite people to be afraid of him. A large scythe sits in his hand and a laugh erupts from the belly off the demon. "Oh Alaric, it's already too late. Trying to escape my little world, don't you realize, you're all apart of it? You and those you were hoping would save you? My foolish little Mortal."
As Heather returns in a blur right on cue, she stops suddenly and starts pacing back and forth while speaking, "IGotTheKeysButIAmALittleOutOfBreath." She offers her keys to Connor and adds, "MyHandsAreALittleBitTrembly." She stops and looks up though when the creature appears, furrowing her brow and picking her pickaxe back up. "IAmNotAPartOfThisWorldOfFear."
Connor catches the keys from Heather, and then pulls out one of his knives and passes it to Mike, gritting his teeth as that aura of malevolence passes through him, sending a shiver that makes his spine go taut. He whispers to the mechman, "Help her… we'll buy you as much time as he can." And with that he musters himself. Someone who has to suffer from fear of himself all day, the voices in his head, the impulses of the obssessive disorder. And with that he just starts walking towards the demon saying softly, "Funny thing about fear, big guy… fear is something that you can feel, but you can live with. That you can push through and accept if you have to. You're like the Goblin King, buckwheat… you have no power over us. No power that we don't give you first."
Fear? Not part of Mike's current emotional mix. Self-preservation is, and love, and other things, but fear and its ugly stepchild self-doubt? Not scheduled to run at this time, as the creepy robotic brain trick that so bothers his friends sometimes, means that he isn't afraid of anything at the moment. If Star has to die, then, he'll do what is necessary, but if it fails then he'll also kill Alaric. This is simply what has to be. Catching the knife from Connor, Mike spins and slices it through the place where Star stands, praying for guidance for his strike and that what he is doing is the right thing. He knows with appalling confidence that if it is, it will work, and if not, something will prevent it.
If one isn't immune to attacks of emotion, an overwhelming sense of fear would hit them just by being near the demon. There's a second laugh at the words of the teenagers. "You think just because you say you're not part of this world and because you don't fear me, it means you won't?" Unfortunately this is a demon and all the kids are on his realm. "You don't know how much power you've already given me." Says the dark winged figure. Trembling, Alaric starts to cast something but the demon puts his handout and sends some kind of attack at the mage, causing a ripple in the air, and Alaric is doubled over in pain, coughing up blood from the force of the attack. "Sorry, that binding spell didn't work on your realm, it won't work on mine. Now…you." He says to Star. "You are the closetest to me, I think I'll start with you."
To Heather, the emotion is foreign. She experiences all of the physical reactions, and her trembling from her run doesn't set in. Instead, for a few moments, she clutches her head and experiences flashbacks to other times that she's experienced fear. She grinds her teeth and, at hearing the demon's intentions for Star, she throws her pickaxe at the zombie's head to sever that closeness. It's worked with others under the influence of the spell, and Heather already had it in her mind as something she needed to do. But after that, the flashbacks are too much, and she just crouches down with her hands on her head, trying to get a hold of herself.
Star is a part of the 'world of fear', unfortunately. She blinks a couple of times at the appearance of the demon and actually cowers a little, turning and backing away from the creature and into the danger that her own allies pose to her undead health. She swallows hard, shaking her head and trembling slightly at the feel of the melevolance that rolls off of him. Then comes the bite of steel into her decaying flesh and there's a strangled cry from the zombie-girl, her eyes widening at the feel of the blade passing through her. Her hands come up to where the weapon passed through her throat as though she's trying to hold something in.
A change overcomes her, her skin flushing with life once more and her eyes clearing, though they're black as coal with fear. Fear that fades into wonder as she slowly realizes that the weight of death that has ridden her shoulders for so long is gone. She takes a deep breath, the air filling with joy as she lowers one hand to her chest to feel the comforting beat of her heart, something that has been missing for weeks. Amber eyes find Mike and she grins at the metal mutant before she throws herself at him in an attempt to wrap her arms around him in a grateful hug, "Mike!" Her voice holds a different note than it had before, one of real memory, "Thank you." And so she lives again.
Connor reaches out with his hand, and a grav-catch on the pickaxe before it can get to it's intended target. He increases the force, but also has full control, and it passes over Mike and Star before making it's orbit around the room, and is then shot at the demon with as much gravitic force as the young man can muster. Images of fear flash through his head, but his fears were what he ended up facing here… and proved blameless when two people standing with him proved to him he had friends he made on his own, that he wasn't just what they wanted him to be. Working past all of that, he growls out, "HERE! I THINK THIS BELONGS TO YOU!" Despite his surface bravado, he's sweating, pale, barely balanced between this combative state and collapsing as Heather has.
The pickaxe flies at the demon and it seems to nick him but other wise not to much. If the demon bleeds, it's hard to see against his dark skin. With Alaric down and recovering from getting hit, the demon rises to a hover and flies towards Connor, bringing his scythe behind him as he charges. When he gets close enough he goes to swipe the youngster with the sharp blade. "I will not let you escape my lands. It's a shame, you were so close to finding your way home." He says with a chuckle.
Having stayed out of the ruckus for now, David, dressed in the tattered remnants of his Prodigy costume and carrying a new wooden spear that he made, had remained out of the way following the happenings of the battle from a distance in another area of the asylum. Also, similar to the last time he was here, he was driven to the brink of insanity when his powers reacted with the transformed Connor, sensing a borrowed version of something or someone. Coming into direct conflict with that being, the evil demon, David was once again fighting an internal battle away from the others. Realizing that he must move past the mental pain, anguish, and fear, David senses the demon but cannot and will not adapt its skills. Making his way into the room, he spots the scythe coming down, hehurls his spear towards the creatures back.
"You're welcome," Mike says to Star, then moves. He has the knife in one hand and the rosary in the other, and while Alaric cannot bind the thing, Mike doesn't want it bound, not in that way. He wants it to let go of his friends, return them home whence it stole them, and leave Alaric alone. That's where he's directing his belief, in any case; moving forward into the line of its attack on Connor to merge with the motion of the scythe, oddly something he's practiced for months now, he lashes out with the rosary intending to wrap the wrist of the thing where it holds that weapon, while the knife in the other hand, flat-edged to guard against it attacking with the other, and somehow finding a spare processor cycle to say in a very flat robotic voice, "Even though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I shall fear no evil for Thou art with me…" that wasn't intended to come out verbally, but it manages to.
Heather rises to her feet and clutches her forehead for a little longer before blinking her eyes tight and opening them again a few times. She starts speaking in her own speed, already speaking familiar comforts to herself from a time when she was afraid, "You're scared. That's okay. But forget your fear. Let's put it aside. It's there, but it's not with you anymore." She opens her eyes wide once more and then dashes towards the door while Mike battles the beast, still speaking her quick nonsense to herself, "You have to find your goal, pursue it. Be confident." Once she arrives at the door, she raises her hand in the air, adding an unfamiliar part to a nearly forgotten ritualistic speech, "Trust in yourself. Trust in your friends. You will be okay." She looks towards Connor with tears in her eyes still from the flashback, but eyes still as wide as she can make them.
Fear has never been something that Star has been able to deal with for very long. Certain teammates would probably be well aware that when she reaches a certain point of being afraid, she starts getting mad. This time is no different than anyother. She straightens her shoulders and glares at the demon, her hands balled up in fists that tremble faintly where they're pressed against her legs, hidden in the folds of her skirt, "Leave us the hell alone!" Violet and black war for dominace in her eyes, the black slowly winning, "I just got back to normal, you aren't gonna suck me back into this nightmare again." Maybe her newly reawakened pheromones will help her friends? Then again, she might just be making them reckless…
Connor dives to the side when the scythe-swipe comes, those combat-trained reflexes working faster than his brain can, but then he sees Heather, and so he fires off another 'shot' between the demon's legs as it remains close and hovering there. But the brightness of the blue-green bolt should be enough to eclipse the sight of the keys themselves, as he rockets them like a baseball right to Heather's hands and mouths the words, 'Trust You'.
The spear hits the demon in the back and it barely pierces the skin before bouncing off. Just like the with pixake it seems the demon's skin pretty tough. "You are not escaping this place!" The demon screams as he goes to fly towards the double doors to block the path. "And you are still part of this place." He says to Star as he aims a blast of kinetic force at Star trying to knock her off her feet and suffer a similar pain as Alaric. He's trying to keep the busy so they can't get the door opened.
The spear does not but just as quickly, David drops it and rushes past the others and seeing Star is back to herself, he smiles as he charges towards her, "Welcome back and this might hurt!" He attempts to push her down and away from the blast, if he gets hit, then so be it.
At the very sensation of the keys in her hands, Heather reaches down to get the locks, moving as fast as she possibly can, faster than the demon's speed. Star's pheromones boosting her confidence further in her friends, she returns to that focus and calm. The demon's approach doesn't matter, she doesn't even look back. All that matters is opening this door now. She pulls at them after using the keys, hoping yet confident that things will be okay.
The move toward the demon is aborted when the spear attack causes it to move in a way that Mike simply doesn't have time or inertia to mesh with. Instead he moves over to Alaric, to interpose between the mage and the hell-beast. "Blackmoore. Focus yourself. Don't try to bind it to your will, try something better."
He's hoping the man will be able to think of something effective.
Star gets pushed out of the way of the blast, about to answer David's words of welcome, but thrown to the floor instead and crying out mostly in surprise. Being dead for a month and only just returned to the living has toughened her up a little, though she's still grimaces in pain at contacting with the floor so hard. She looks up at David with wide eyes gone slate gray with worry as she holds her breath for a moment. Her eyes quickly find the demon, darkening to black again, "I'm no part of this place. Not anymore and not ever again!" She pushes herself back up off of the floor, presuming she's not pinned by David, "We ARE going home, and there's nothing you can do to stop us." She glares at the demon, "Do you hear me? You can't keep us here." She might not be able to fight, but she can at least try to lend her companions confidence.
To cover Heather and buy her a few more critical moments he points both fingers like he was getting into a kid's popgun fight, but in his case, it comes in the form of one of what physics call an elemental energy of the universe, twin blue-green bolts launching out at full speed to slam into the demon, "You heard the lady…" Panting and a slight tremble in his voice while sweat has his body drenched, "… and we'd hate to dissappoint!"
On the other side of the door the room is empty except for a single solitary mirror. Looking through it one would notice the reflection doesn't seem quite right and it has a depth more than it should. As for Alaric, at Mike's words he staggers up. "Keep it busy, I'm going to try to hold it." He says as he begins the words to a spell. David gets hit by the blast that the demon fires and at Star's words keeps talking. "Oh, but there is everything I can..no…no….that door can't be opened!"
Hit by the blast David falls over, smoke emanating from his body as he falls over, he looks up to Star, "Well, you are lucky, you get to live! " He lets out a small moan and then is unconscious.
Heather doesn't much care what a demon says to her, running towards the mirror and putting her hand on it. She looks back towards the demon and makes a small chirping sound. This demon is afraid of a mirror? Then the mirror must be essential. Important.
Now Star is really worried about David. She kneels down beside the fallen man, checking for a pulse to make sure he's still alive, "Shit! David…" For a moment, she just kneels there at his side, anger building around her until the air practically crackles with it. One hand rests lightly on one of his shoulders and the other reaches up to brush across his forehead, her voice soft as she murmers thanks for his taking the blast intended for her. Then her gaze is focused on the demon, her eyes pitch black with hate and rage as she stands, "How DARE you?!" Her hands are clenched tightly enough that her knuckles are white and her voice full of cold rage, though she doesn't yet move towards the demon or the open door.
Keep it busy he says. How does one keep such a thing busy? Mike pulls the bottle of whiskey from his pouch, and says, "This isn't wine, but I ask in the blessed name of the Trinity by the rood of Patrick that it should be the Water of Life for the protection and salvation of all that Thou lovest, Lord," and it's clear he isn't talking to the demon here when he uses that word. He sips at the bottle, and pours a tiny bit into his hand, then flings it around the room.
"The Lord bless thee and keep thee and make His face to shine upon thee." Will it distract the demon? Maybe, maybe not. The thing might turn and try to blast him, but that's keeping it distracted. And it's about as much as he can safely pray in the time he has. He's still guarding Alaric, but he may be forced to move to defend David and Star as well, if it comes down to it.
Connor just attempts to pour on the juice on the demonic entity, pitting what energy he can into attempting to hold energy within energy using his gravity field, gritting his teeth before he says, "Star! Do whatever you're doing, but do it for Alaric! Confidence and calm… seriously… whatever you can…" All half-yelled to her as he moves so that if he's attacked it draws it off the line of assault on the rest, then begins saying softly, "…Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil…"
As Heather puts her hand on the mirror she'd find it isn't solid and her hand goes right through the surface. David is fine and breathing just momentarily knocked out. As for Alaric, he continues to chant his spell ending it with "I will hold you Aamekrthuau!" He yells and bands of blueish energy come fourth and wrap itself around. The whiskey doesn't do much to stop the demon but it seems he's held back for the moment. The struggle on Alaric's face is clear as he fights to hold the demon, lucky with the help of Connor, it's a bit easier. "Gather your friends, get them here and go."
"ItIsAPortal!" shouts Heather, dashing back to the edge of the doorway, "WeHaveToGatherEveryoneAndLeaveNowQuickly! StarGiveBlackmooreStrengthOfWill. YouWillBeConfidentInUsAndForUsRight? ConnorComeWithMeWeCanGatherQuicklyFindEmmaFast. WaitCanYouContactHerWithYourMind? MikeTakeDavidThroughThePortalWhereWeWillBeSafe." It doesn't take long for Heather to get all these words out, and she nods quickly, glancing at the others for their acknowledgement or responses.
Rage fogged eyes flick over at Connor and Star takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself somewhat and raising her chin slightly, doing her very best to project confidence and calm, though it's still tainted by anger, "What's with the mirror, though?!" She looks at both Connor and Alaric for a moment before she looks back at the exit, her expression torn between running off to find everyone else and bring them back to return home and staying to do what she can to help the battle. Heather's squeaked instructions get a frown and a moment to translate before she nods and straightens her shoulders, moving over to stand by Aleric and offer what support she can to the mage as he tries to subdue the creature.
Connor looks towards Alaric to see his status, but he doesn't relent on his own attack on the demon, and then he says aloud, "Hey Blackmoore… what happens if we shove this bucket of ugly through the looking glass?" Squezing his hands, he tries to keep the gravitic force omnipresent.
Alaric struggles with his words as he speaks. "He goes back to our world with is. That's the gate way home, the silver waters." He says trying to hold the demon in place. "Now go! Get your friends! I don't know how long I can hold him!" The mage says as he focuses on keeping the demon, Aamekrthuau at bay, giving those that are her the chance to escape.
Mike does not wait at all when the portal-ness of the mirror is confirmed. He simply moves, lifting David and carrying him through the portal. He would take Star but she's chosen to move into an assist position. He'll return, if he can, to assist in bringing the others through, but he's not simply going to toss an unconscious someone into a mirror. Who knows where they'll end up?
Heather does not wait for Connor to respond to her before dashing off in search of the others, figuring either he will catch up or he won't and figure out something more productive to do, focusing on finding Emma. With her mind powers, everyone can be contacted and drawn through the silver waters.
Star glances back at the exit, her lips moving in a silent prayer for her brother and the others to suddenly just run through those doors so that they can all go home at once. She looks back at the demon, a low murmer just barely audible from her, "Come on, Cloud…" She glances at Heather as she leaves, but keeps focusing on calm confidence as best she can and trying to help Blackmoore keep the demon at bay.
Mike doesn't return. That is, not through the portal. He finds himself swimming, and sensing a GPS sattelite, and he knows where it comes out. Keeping an unconscious David awake while not drowning while not turning into an anchor is quite enough for the robot teen. When he gets to the shore or the boat dock, he merges with the first motorized boat he can find, and changes it to something much larger, moving it to the drop point, where he will, hopefully, be in time to keep people from falling too far and getting too cold and wet. A two foot drop to something solid-ish is much better than a five foot drop into icy water.
Once Heather makes her way out, she ends up quickly locating one Emma Frost, already on her way up the trail once she had lost contact with Mike Drakos and David Alleyne. From there she steps in, her eyes practically white as her power comes coursing out, only visible to those sensitive to it. That exact mind begins to coordinate through others, rousing Hosea and Chloe to begin transporting the still unconscious forms in. Connor and Heather are directed with mental imagery so that those furthest out can be found. Even Star feels her touch, bolstering the girl's will some more. As the telepath and Co-Headmistress stands there in the middle of the hall, staring up at the demon, her only comment in this regard is, "I expected something… taller."
Smiling as the students and adults ferry everyone through, those that walk carrying those that can carry. With two teleporters, two speedsters, and herself in tandem, almost all are found and brought through… Emma leaving momentarily and escorting two final figures, cloaked and covered, and walking with the stiff-leggedness of those under direct mental control, to which she just gives a jaunty wave to the demon before those last three head through… Leaving Alaric, Star, Heather, And Connor for the last, "Hurry along, children. Attendence WILL be taken."
The mage struggles to hold the demon but the bonds are breaking as he looks to Star, Heather and Connor, the last three. "Go….Hurry!" He yells at them visibly shaking as he tries to encourage them to go through he portal home.
The feel of Emma's presence has Star faultering for a moment, but she steels herself to the powerful telepath, taking a deep breath and letting it back out slowly as she feels the bolstering touch of the woman's mind. She looks to the mage as both he and the White Queen urge the last of them to go through, a small frown forming as she looks back at the portal, "Come with us. You don't belong here, either." She doesn't wait for a responce, though, before she's racing forward to enter the portal herself and return home.
Heather gives Star a single nod of thanks before she passes through the mirror, and then says to Connor, "PortBlackmooreToMeWhenIAmByTheMirrorAndIWillPullUsAllThrough. WeShouldNotEvenLeaveEvenATotalJerkBehind." She zips towards the mirror and turn on her heel to face the other two, holding out her hand, ready to get out of here the moment she feels Connor appear.
Connor vanishes and reappears behind Alaric, putting his hands on the older man's shoulders, "Sorry, friend… but you have a date with an asskicking… so… to your big, black, and fugly friend up there… say your goodbyes, and no kissing on the first date." And with that he attempts to port right to where he can push and follow Alaric through as Heather will drag him inside.
Right before Alaric can get through the portal the demon breaks free and flies over to grab the mage. "You cost me mortal, and for that I shall make you pay." The demon growls as he does something to Alaric that makes the mage scream but the scream is cut off as the two seem to vanish from the area leaving Heather, Connor and a mirror that seems to slowly start to break apart.
Heather does exactly as she had planned, and reaches to pull Connor back through with her. The mage's fate is now out of their hands now, and it's time to step back into reality.
Connor pushes through with Heather and the breaking mirror, and ends up locking the girl into a hug as the last pair vanish through, leaving the mage and the demon to their collapsing reality and their eternal fates.
