Back on Earth (Portland Faction)

[Aiden]

Although he realized that there wasn't much he could do if both Yuki, Teagan, and himself were spaced out across the country, it was still a hard blow to Aiden to find out that in three months, they would both be killed, and he wasn't able to stop it. Over such small things, too. A shiver ran through his body, and he was silent, gazing into the empty space of the room, his eyes resting upon the dead body of the demon. This was a future that wasn't anything close to what Aiden imagined, nor did he want this future. They were all dead, even Deacon and Jefferson by the sounds of things. He let out a silent sigh, a breath of hot air as he listened to Art go on. The more he heard, the more he felt sick.

He frowned, looking at Art. "Of course I'm getting us back on topic. Finding out about our deaths isn't going to get us anywhere but lost in our minds, imperfections, and insecurities. We need to focus on what is going on, how we got here, and how to get back," he said, with an irritated tone. He listened again to Art and his brief monologue, before he couldn't take it anymore--his integrity as a hunter was being degraded. "How do you call that winning? You said we drove them back down. I'm sorry, are you delusional?! I always pegged you for the smart kid, Art, really did, but now I beg to differ. You're letting all of that just walk around, and you're holing yourself up in here because they don't like you? Demons killed my family and have been after me since I was ten, but I didn't just give up and hide like a child," he hissed, fists clenching into balls.

His eyes darted to Yuki, thankful that one of his proteges was on the right track. "Yeah, really, I need to figure out a way to get us out of here. We don't have time to waste, sitting here and waiting for the sun to go down. Start spouting out your ideas, bucko, because I'm sure that something will be bound to show up if its as bad as you say it is."

[Casey]

“Literally,” Arthur set his chin on the back of his hand, “Gotta cast a spell that pulls from not so pleasant places. Doesn’t work with sunlight peering around the rim of the world.”

He glanced over at Teagan let out another sigh, “Humans can be the worst kind of monsters Little C. They thrive on chaos and the sometimes the good ones can’t keep the bad ones in check.” Arthur once again inhaled the cigarette.

He let Aiden finish his rant, exhaling through his nose, which combined with his dark expression mad him like something supernatural and powerful. When the hunter stopped Arthur stood up gracefully, disturbingly quiet and strong. As he approached the boy he used full height, without slouching until he was right in front of the younger hunter. A strong hand wrapped around Aiden’s neck, close to several pressure points that Arthur was more than willing to use if he so much as breathed wrong. He forced Aiden’s eyes to meet his, much like he had done with Teagan but with none of the kindness of the earlier gesture. There was something dark in his eyes, far too old and something almost animalistic.

“You listen to me boy,” He said in low voice the reverberated through his chest, “I helped stop the fucking apocalypse, I cleaned up someone else’s mess and for that I was deemed public enemy number one. No matter how many people I saved, they saw me as just as much of a thing to be killed as any other monster. I actually saved a woman from a vampire and she almost ran back into his arms away from me. And the idiot I am I’m still trying to save them, so sorry if I’m not out parading myself around town.”

Arthur took his hand out from under Aiden’s jaw and pointed at him with two fingers, “You live through that,” his voice raised for the first time during the whole ordeal on the last word, “and then you can tell me what to do. Until they you do exactly what I say, exactly the way I say it. Otherwise you’ll be trapped here. Got it bright boy?” He released Aiden and stepped back from him carefully, the darkness still in his eyes.

“We wait till sundown, then we see why you’re here,” He said solemnly picking up his beer and sitting back down.

[Aiden]

Spells? They were going to sit around and wait for Art to pull some spell out of his ass when Ariel or any other number of supernatural beings were plaguing Portland at that very moment? What would Malcolm do, he thought briefly, because Art was just going to waste their time. Mal...he would be logical, calm himself, and try to think of a way out. But the way that Art was going on...hiding because he was on the bad side of all things supernatural, letting the world go to hell and sitting there poking around, reminiscing about the glory days was preventing Aiden from being calm. In fact, it should have made the girls miffed too, in their ventures as hunters. It was insulting. Plain and simple, and Art didn't seem to take that into consideration.

Aide didn't move as Art did, towering over him. Yes, it was intimidating, but Aiden stood his ground, he didn't move an inch while in glared into Art's eyes, the animosity between the two growing so much, it was probably suffocating the girls. Where did this guy get off telling them that they won, when the world had become hell on earth? Suddenly Art's hand was wrapped around Aiden's neck, and he knew better than to struggle. He stood there, being knocked back a bit, letting Art hold onto him, and letting Art get his piece in. The apocalypse? Like...the biblical apocalypse? That thought was in the back of his mind, however, Aiden was currently blinded by anger, and he felt his adrenaline...or was it demon blood...pumping through his system.

When Art finished, Aiden's throat clinging to the cool air, Aiden took one deep breath before swinging his fist through the air, and feeling it collide with Art's jaw. He pulled it back, his face curling up in anger, and then narrowed his eyes at the man. "I don't care what the hell you did, who you are, or what you know. No one threatens me like that and gets away with it, you spineless prick. I'll do what I need to do to protect my faction members, that is my role as their leader. Nothing, not even your petty little pissing contest, will get in the way of that." He was visibly pissed, the air nearly radiating with the heat coming off of his body. He barely felt the ache in his hand.

Holding himself back, moving back a few steps and keeping a protective stance, Aiden tried to calm himself. He knew, now that it all made sense, that if he got too angry, bad things would happen...

[Casey]

Arthur casually touched the spot Aiden had hit him. Nothing loose, no blood but he’d have a bruise for a bit. He took a sip of his beer and looked over with calculation. There was no way he’d get the boy to listen to logic in this condition. Worst thing was if Aiden kept pushing his buttons he couldn’t promise it would end well. While he’d never beaten Aiden in a fair fight while training he’d been able to match him nine out of ten times. The Aiden he knew had almost a decade more experience than the one that faced off against him didn’t have that luxury. He also hadn’t been trained by Yuki yet.

He pulled a collection of pedants out of his back pocket and idly worked through them. Finally he found a small flat circle with ancient engravings. It had been years since he used it last but he remembered exactly what to do. Arthur pulled the pendent off the chain and pressed it into the palm of his right hand.

After that was done he got out of the chair and looked at Aiden. In a flash he kicked the legs out from under the younger hunter and pressed the pendent over his heart and pinned Aiden with the other. The first part of the spell rolled off his tongue with precision and speed in various ancient languages.

“Nocens cruor exuro,” he ended in Latin.

Soon as he was done he was back up just out of Aiden’s striking distance. It usually took a few minutes for the spell to kick in and negate the influence the demon blood had on him. He fully expected him to feel the blood within him burning and get more pissed and powerful before it kicked in. The spell had also only been used when Aiden himself was much more powerful so that could make things interesting as well.

Whatever happened Arthur was ready. He knew how to take Aiden in an unfair fight too.

[Teagan]

Teagan's eyes opened in surprise as Aiden threw a punch at Art. While he was certainly justified in reasoning to do so, his action was uncalled for. They were in the freakin' future, and one where the supernatural owned the streets. Not the place to make enemies out of the only Hunter who could help them.

Then again, it was uncalled for Art to return the sentiment as well. Alarms rang in her head though as she caught sight of some sort of charm in Art's hand. She had read about stuff like that after returning home from camp...and while often beneficial, many had malicious effects. And Art didn't seem to be in the mindset of helping Aiden out in any way.

"What the heck are you doing? Stop!"

Teagan rushed forward, fist clenched in preparation for a strike. Latin words and charm? Not a good combination. Before she could take two steps, a firm hand grabbed the edge of her hood and pulled her back.

[Yuki]

As the two male hunters before her exchanged distasteful pleasantries, Yuki stood by apathetically with her arms crossed. She felt detached from the argument. All their words were useless, a waste of breath. The decisions Arthur had and had not made, the actions he was taking, or lack thereof, about the present "situation" outside--none of it mattered, at least, not nearly to the degree of importance that Aiden was placing in such trivialities.

Yuki couldn't call herself an expert on the time continuum, but she knew enough to suspect that it was not concrete. She had never believed in fate or destiny. The only definition Yuki held to those words were that the future would be shaped however a person made it. It was a collective entity based upon the actions of the present. If they were here now, in this future, and they were learning about their "fates," based upon the actions that had been made in that time plane, then if they returned to the present, they would be able to rewrite this so-called ending in their time. They would be able to create a separate thread of time, one in which they did not arrive at such a gruesome conclusion. Of course, there was always the possibility of shortening their lives instead of extending them, but that was an inconsequential risk compared to the alternative.

And if somehow, they were unable to change anything that had happened, if everything played out the way Arthur said it had, then perhaps there was such a thing as destiny. And if so, why fight it?

As these thoughts ran through Yuki's mind, the words of the angry hunters before her seemed distant, but she sensed the tension between the two escalate exponentially. She also sensed that Teagan was growing rather fidgety with the situation. Why on earth were they disputing such useless matters?! Shouldn't they be more focused on how to get back to the present?! Pragmatically speaking, all they could do was return to their time, do their best to avoid their deaths from occurring, and continue living. If Arthur's spell was going to get them back, Aiden was not helping the situation by reacting violently, and Arthur was not contributing to her desires as he reciprocated Aiden's animosity, combined with an introduction to a supernatural item, one which Yuki assumed was to hinder Aiden. Like a domino effect, the hostie feeling was then projected onto Teagan as the girl, in quite the feeble manner, attempted to defend Aiden.

Mendokusai.

Yuki lunged her hand forward and grasped the hood of the Teagan's sweatshirt before she could get involved. The only thing the girl would accomplish is getting herself hurt. "Let me handle this," she said irritably, pushing Teagan aside effortlessly. Yuki stepped in between the two, Aiden on the floor, and Arthur a few steps away.

Turning her gaze towards Arthur, she generated a frigid, icy glare, colder and more livid than any she had ever given, for it mirrored her own feelings of anger and irritability. This was absolutely ridiculous. Uncivilized fools, making a mockery of themselves. Even Teagan was acting more mature then they were, and that was saying quite a bit, seeing as the girl was just about as childish as anyone could be. "This ends, now," she commanded callously in a low tone. Both were absolute brutes for reacting as they had. Minutes passed, or perhaps it was only seconds, she couldn't tell, before she turned to Aiden. Without speaking another word, Yuki held out her hand to help him up.

[Aiden]

Pained ripped through the back of his head as he collided with the floor, his legs giving out from underneath him. What was this guy playing at?! Mentally, he hoped that Teagan and Yuki would decide to jump in now, since they had stood idly by while Art assaulted Aiden, and continued to do so as Aiden hit Art. Now, though, it was becoming more serious, and he was pissing Aiden off. Tears formed at the lids of his eyes from the pain, the natural reaction that often came accompanied with a concussion, though he wasn't quite sure if that was the case yet or not. His body ached as it lied on the floor, Aiden trying to let the pain subside before he rose, but it didn't seem to want to do that. He could feel the reverberating ache travel into his back, his nerves carrying it through his system. If Art thought Aiden was unhappy before, he was about to be proven wrong.

Then, as if to add insult to injury (in fact, that was exactly it) he felt the weight on top of him as Art smashed the pendant onto his chest. It felt heavy, suddenly, and when he tried to brush it away, it didn't move, but stayed in its spot on top of his shirt. Above him, Art was muttering words in different languages, and Aiden could only guess he was using some magic techinque to subdue him. What was even more degrading was that Art wouldn't even take Aiden in a fair fight, he resorted to magic first. What the hell kind of hunter was he? You were supposed to go in for the kill, not play with your food! He scowled as the pain still blared in his skull, and now the weight of the pendant felt like it was going to crack his ribcage open.

Finally, someone intervened, and Yuki helped Aiden up. He stood, his shirt folded awkwardly due to the pendent, and eyed Yuki before swiveling around her, closing the gap between himself and Art, and decking him one more time in the face, this time higher and near his eye, though more centered on his nose. He then stumbled back, the pain in his head making him dizzy, and steadied himself. Glancing out the window, he noticed the sky had darkened, but his comment was prevented when the blood inside of his body ignited with what felt like fire, boiling inside of him. He grunted a few times, clearly cringing in pain while he swayed while standing. This guy had some nerve to go and do all of this, and Aiden knew it was time to get back.

With Yuki still standing in the way, he clenched his fists. "Get out of the way, Yuki, and keep Teagan out of this," he growled, his eyes only set on the hunter in front of him.

[Yuki]

She had expected after her command that the two hunters would stop fighitng. Normally, when she gave an order, people listened. However, in this case, after helping Aiden up, he somehow got past her and managed to advance towards Arthur. Alarmed, Yuki turned around, but by the time she did, it was too late--Aiden had already landed another blow. Just as she was about to cut in between them once again, Aiden recoiled, almost as if he had a severe headache. She could feel a certain energy swirl around the room, and it appeared to be resonanting from Aiden. It must've been his anger. It was almost as if a demon were present.

Chills ran down Yuki's spine. She knew this sensation all too well. Whenever there was danger nearby, it was as if a sixth sensed kicked in. Something wasn't right. Aiden writhed in pain. His balance was unsteady, and his movements were convulsive, not slow and concentrated as they should have been. Looking up, he looked right through her and straight at Arthur.

"Get out of the way, Yuki, and keep Teagan out of this."

What kind of pathetic request was that? In fact, it wasn't a request, it was an order. True, he was their leader. True, Arthur had clearly offended their leader. And true, the leader was angry and wanted to counter. But the means in which Aiden was accomplishing such a goal were foolish, actions taken upon rudimentary animalistic instinct. He believed Arthur had not done enough fighting the supernatural, and yet was standing there, squabbling their time over a ridiculous matter. If he was so intent on being pragmatic, then he should be more focused on the task at hand of returning to the present.

"Get out of the way, Yuki, and keep Teagan out of this."

"No," was her stern response, as she locked her eyes on him. Yuki crossed her arms, indicating she was not going to let him pass. The girl was the least of her worries right now. As a matter of fact..."And you, Arthur," she spoke, her back facing him, "make a move and I swear, I will paralyze all your limbs and render them useless for the next ten hours." Cooly, she returned her focus to Aiden, taking a few steps forward, until she was close enough to physically feel the twisted energy enveloping him. How could he be so mad over such a tiny matter? He was seething, and his countenance was wild. He was going to attack her if she didn't get out of the way. She knew that.

Yuki did not back down.

"Focus, Aiden!" she said, eyeing him with serious intent. "You criticize Arthur for doing nothing and wasting time, and yet here you are, doing the same. If you believe that he has done wrong, what makes you believe he will change by you fighting him? Instead of meandering our time over such concerns, revert our concentration into getting us back to our present time. Harming him now will not undo our deaths. Harming him now will not open his eyes to whatever you believe. Harming him now, you achieve nothing. Cast your feelings aside, they should have no place in this matter."

[Casey]

Arthur took a step back as Aiden swung at him again. His knuckles barely brushed his face but it probably looked bad from any other angle. Honestly this kid wasn’t the Aiden he knew. He easily avoided the blow and knew how to safely keep the young hunter from hurting him, those around him or himself. In fact it took more effort to stifle a bored sigh than fight this kid. It didn’t help that he was swaying like a drunk, but seriously, he had eleven years on him, over three of which with no back up. You couldn’t do that if some teenager could get the best of you.

He raised an eyebrow at Yuki’s threat, “As much as I’d love to see you try,” he drew out the last word a little, “It wasn’t my idea to start throwing punches, Kitty. I’m just trying to get your boy toned down before I do something I’d regret.”

Putting a hand on his hip he looked at Aiden, “There is something I don’t think your grasping kid. I’m not the bad guy here and I’m sure as hell not a slacker. Heck I’m barely a survivor. You’re in my fucking house. Well, it’s a large shack, think it used to be a bar. Even you have to admit you have to sleep every once in a blue moon. By the way, lovely wake up call,” his voice turned acidic at the end, “get greeted by dead people and have a mockery of the man I grew to respect and see as family tell me I’m doing a crap job at saving lives.” He gave a thumbs up and a bitter smile.

He opened his mouth to speak again but stopped. The hair on the back of his neck stood up and shiver ran down his spine. Arthur looked away from the group and toward the door.

“Whatever you do,” he said just loud enough for them to hear, “Don’t make a sound. Don’t say a word. Just sit down and keep quiet.”

He pulled the knife he had used on the demon and silently went to the box. Arthur set out a bottle and pulled out a machete. He checked his gun once again before moving to the door. While Arthur stood next to the door the whole area grew quiet for a good two minutes.

“Please,” came a weak voice, maybe a child could have been a boy or girl,
“Somebody help me,” it sobbed.

“Please,” the voice cried, “please, it’s coming. Please let me in,” another sob, “somebody help me.” The voice was desperate, weak and frightened.
Arthur glanced back at the group and put a finger back to his lips. It couldn’t know.

“Please!” the voice cried, “It’s coming! It’s going to get me! Please let me in!” I continued increasing in volume to the point of almost ear splitting.

“Plllllllleeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaasssssssssssseeeeeeee!” The boarded up windows began to shake and the door rattled in it’s frame.

Then it was quiet. A large shape moved in front of the boarded up window, blocking out what little light there was.

“I know you’re in there,” the child’s voice came, sounding light and happy, “I can smell you.” It moved to another window, “I’ll let you go if you give me the bad man. I promise you’ll have most of your limbs still. Why don’t you let me in?” It ended with a giggle.

Sometime during this Arthur had slipped out. The door hadn’t even made a sound.

“Give him to me, please?” the voice asked. It was giggling again when it suddenly broke into a shriek. Seconds later Arthur walked back in with a machete dripping in a dark liquid, to thick to be human blood. He swore to himself as he grabbed a water bottle marked with a cross and began pouring water on his skin where the dark liquid was it let off steam. Quickly he whipped it off him with a rag from his jeans. Red marks where on his skin where the liquid had been. Since his return he’d been quietly chanting, “shit” over and over to himself.

“Criers,” he said to the group, “it came out, we don’t even know when they appeared. But they breed like freakin’ rabbits. Trick people into letting them in and slay whole families. They can break in just fine, so they either need to be let in or get their rocks off by tricking people.”

“They must have raised the bounty again,” he muttered to himself, “Usually they’d never risk coming after me.”

“When I said I was public enemy number one I was just talking about humans,” he clarified to the group.

“And in case you didn’t notice it’s sun down,” he muttered, “I need Teagan or Yuki to help. Either of you want to volunteer?”

[Teagan]

If Teagan learned anything from this day, it would be this: no more wearing hoodies. Thrown backwards to the floor, she was about to protest when Yuki stepped in between the boys. She bit her tongue to stop a furious response from bursting out. No need to escalate things even further.

....and, after watching Yuki lay down the law, Teagan didn't think anything she said could've had that force. Or that anyone would've listened if she had opened her mouth. As the conversation continued, she found herself torn back and forth between the logic. Yes, they should stop fighting, because they needed to get somewhere. No, Art probably hadn't expected to wake up to the dead. And no, Teagan should not-

Wait? Aiden told Yuki to keep her out of this? Outraged, Teagan stood in protest. "You've got to be kiddi-"

Before she could get any farther, future Art's entire composure shifted and the atmosphere of the room dropped with him. Her anger dropped to a simmer, replaced by caution. She knew the look of a hunter who sensed the supernatural. From out of nowhere, a child’s voice cried for help. She shot the faction a questioning look. Were they just going to sit there and do nothing? That was a kid!

According to Art, that was the plan. Unsure of what the state of the world was outside of the door, Teagan didn’t know if something this strange was normal. Did they always ignore children crying for help? She tensed as the voice turned morbid. Note to self: ignoring cries for help was a security tactic in the future. God, she hoped they could stop this. Shivers flew down her spine, and she stared at the shaking window. Not the future she had imagined. Ever.

Movement in the side of her eye caught her attention, and she turned in relief to find it was only Art. When had he slipped out?

“Does crier blood always…steam?” Teagan stared at the dissolving liquid before Art wrapped it, muttering a silent prayer that Portland never ran into another one of those creatures. Her respect for Art upped a notch. Only habit could have killed something that swiftly. Strange. She couldn’t really imagine Art hunting, but now?

Her ears perked when Art asked who would volunteer. Aiden, clearly still out of the count thanks to whatever Art had placed on him, couldn’t do anything…so that left her and Yuki. The rage from minutes earlier resurfaced.

No contest.

“I’ll do it,” Teagan volunteered before Yuki could assert dominance again. She ignored any protest from her faction mates as she took a step toward Art. “What do I need to do?”

Keep her out of the fight? Like she hadn’t trained right alongside them? Like she hadn’t spent countless hours developing skills no eighteen year old should know? Yeah right. Never. She had earned the right to do this, and no one would tell her otherwise.

[Yuki]

Yuki looked away as Arthur spoke. Although he would not openly display it, he had been emotionally wounded over the years. And after so witnessing and experiencing the death of so many companions, Yuki knew his sentiments could be justified. Not desirable nor welcomed, but understandable, yes. If she had gone through the same thing, what would she be like? Yuki sincerely did not know the answer. Perhaps she'd be the same as Arthur. Perhaps not.

Suddenly, Arthur tensed and he turned around to look at the door. At first, Yuki didn't know why he had done so, but then she caught it--it was faint, but she heard a light, quiet noise coming from outside. Moments later, it was a little girl's voice. Arthur did not move, and he signaled for them to remain quiet. Yuki nodded, but she wanted to open the door for the child. She needed help! They couldn't just leave her outside because of the fear of supernatural creatures coming in! It wasn't right, it wasn't--

And suddenly, everything went black, accompanied by a quietness that invaded the room. The girl began giggling, making morbid threats and saying she could "smell" them. Yuki knew then that the child wasn't human at all--it was a creature. A supernatural creature. Her muscles tensed as she reached for her gun, but before she could even pull it out, a piercing shriek came from outside. Then, Arthur walked in with a bloody blade. No explanation was necessary to know what had transpired.

As he finished explaining criers, that which had been the true identity of the girl, he noted that it was sun down and that Yuki or Teagan would need to help. Aiden, Yuki assumed, would be out of the question for assistance, seeing as that pendant Arthur used against him caused an imparation. Yuki was about to declare that she would help, but Teagan spoke before she had a chance.

"Do you sincerely believe you can accomplish this task?" Yuki said bluntly, and then closed her eyes in thought. Teagan was trained by Aiden. She had fought supernatural creatures. She wasn't completely helpless. Just mostly. With a sigh, Yuki conceded. "...I will not stop you for the time being, but if the task is too difficult or you perform it questionably, then the duty shall be passed to me. Quite frankly, I do not trust my life being in your hands. If I see you perform any blunderous manuevers, I will not hesitate to immediately take over."

[Aiden]

It might have been a good thing that Yuki decided to get in the way once more, and prevent another blow from being thrown, because Aiden sure as hell would have thrown more than one punch. His blood was boiling inside of him, all of the things in his mind were swirling around and clouding his judgement: he saw Art, and how he wasn't out there slaughtering all he could, he saw Malcolm, and remembered how he wished he could be half the man Mal was, he saw Ariel, and how he now bore a scary connection with her due to the demon blood that was inside him, again that knowledge thanks to Art. Not only was his mind dizzy, but he was still physically dizzy, letting his hands open up and go flat in an attempt to support himself without having to stumble back and lean against the wall.

Then it got intense, his vision blurred white, and the blood rushed to his ears. Despite his effort to follow Art's words about respect and family, they were lost to him, he stood, he probably looked like he was zoning out. A flash of heat came over his body, mixed with the loss of vision and hearing, and then it was gone, just as Art told them to keep quiet and sneaked out, something that Aiden was aware of while Teagan and Yuki were not. It took him a few seconds after coming to to realize that he was panting, and he moved over to the chair where Art had been sitting and sat down.

Aiden was coming back to his senses and was coherent enough when Art returned. "One, what the fuck was that thing, and two, what Teagan said," Aiden shot out, looking at the steam coming off of its source. He glanced over at Teagan, giving her a warning look. Teagan had the confidence, just not the follow up. "Look, how long before we can get back to our time? I feel like crap, thanks to you," Aiden grumbled.

[Casey]

“It only steams when exposed to holy water, otherwise it just starts burning through your skin, but no steam when it does that,” Arthur explained. He pulled another table closer to the group and then two chairs on either side of it. Digging through his box he pulled out what looked like another pack of cigarettes, and it was but it also held chalk. Carefully he drew a perfect circle and then proceeded to fill it with a complex design of crossing lines and strange letters. All while he did this the serious lines on his face began to soften as he reconstructed the design.

As he worked he began to talk to the others, “She’ll be fine Yuki. Te doesn’t need to do anything but sit there. I’m sure you’d probably find it boring.” He finished the last line and began double checking his work, “If anything your lives are in my hands. May want to reconsider who you’re worried about.” Arthur erased and redrew a part of one of the symbols but it was almost impossible to see the correction he made. When it was done the design looked like it had been drawn with stencil rather than free hand.

“Shortly,” he answered Aiden as he grabbed more objects from the box. A thought crossed through his head as he did. He wondered if those observing thought the thing had not bottom. In truth he was just awesome at packing, always had been and improved over time. Being able to get everything into one box had proved to be a life saver in his experience.

Sitting on the ground he poured ingredients from small unmarked glass bottles into a large metal bowl. After covering the bottom of the bowl he swirled the contents until they were mixed. Then he pulled out a match lit it and dropped it into the bowl. He leaned back just before a purple flame irrupted from the bowl and quickly disappeared. Arthur stood and placed the bowl on the side table he had drawn on.

“Okay Teagan,” he explained calmly and motioned for her to sit, “All I need you to do is hold your arms out over the sigil, try and keep them off the table. And tell me when you are ready to go forward.”

[Teagan]

"Thanks for the encouragement guys," Teagan sarcastically remarked, sending a glare to Aiden and Yuki. She had thought that the whole prank session weeks earlier had taught them the lesson of exactly what she was capable was. Clearly though, something hadn't clicked. Looked like she'd have to reteach that lesson.

Whenever they returned back to Portland, that was. She distantly watched as Art drew a dizzying amount of lines and symbols. How did he remember all of that? She could barely do the standard pentagram, let alone Einstein's version of it that Art was coming up with.

A slight nervousness settled in the bottom of her stomach as Teagan took the chair Arthur offered. She lifted an eye at the oddly-colored flame that flickered out of sight. How...strange. What had she signed up for?

"Ready," Teagan responded a little too quickly. She raised her arms per instructions. "But I feel a little dumb like this."

[Yuki]

Watching passively from a small distance, Yuki observed as Arthur drew the complex design. She tried to engrave every detail, every minute line, but the drawing was much to capture perfectly in her mind. If she were to try and recreate it in the future...or past...whatever that plane was, it would only result in a rough sketch--a mere outline in comparison to what Arthur had created.

Arthur pointed out that he governed more of their fate than Teagan presently did. Yuki said nothing. He was probably right. But he wasn't explaining anything, he wasn't telling them what he was doing, or what side effects any part of this ritual could have. She knew that time was a constraint--if they remained for far too long in this future, they could damage the time continuum, cause an imbalance in the delicate thread that tied this plane with theirs. Even so, she felt that there questions that needed to be answered, and Arthur would know how to respond to them. She couldn't pass up the opportunity.

However, Yuki knew she would have to ask her questions wisely. Knowledge was always welcomed, but too much knowledge could alter the past in a negative manner. The three hunters from years before were anomalies in this future. Carrying back certain information would surely change the future. Indeed, it already had.

Teagan raised her arms and declared that she was ready, but before anyone else proceeded, Yuki interrupted.

"One moment," she said, looking over to Arthur. "You cannot expect us to continue this ritual without knowing what will happen, or what the markings on the ground are for. Furthermore," she said, staring directly his eyes, "you have not informed us as to why you so many want you dead. What is your crime? If it can be referred to as such, that is." Yuki paused. Should she ask the question she wanted to? Would it change anything is she did? It felt somewhat intrusive, yet the information was vital. Or could be vital, depending on the answer.

Yuki drew in her breath. It was now or never. "Arthur, after everything that has happened, would you change any of it? Are you truly satisfied with this outcome? There must have been a turning point. There must have been a spot in time where if a different decision had been made, it would have resulted in a far better future, and I'm not speaking about trivial matters such as our deaths. I am referring to the state of the world. We are here. You could tell us three, and we could change it in our time, if need be."