Fantasy The Owl House - Statice and Oak

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thom nodded, looking back at Audrey. "Yea," he said softly as she said that one day if he kept working at it, he'd get there and be a much better illusionist, knowing more than only one cool spell. But the boy raised an eyebrow as Audrea seemingly paused, asking him if he had seen something. Audrea had claimed that there was some sort of a club stand that no one had seemed to notice. Thomas looked over in the direction that Audrey was pointed and squinted, trying to get a better look at the club stand in question. But he saw nothing. He raised a confused eyebrow, turning back to Audrea and giving her a weird look. "Erm, are you sure you're feeling ok? I don't see anything over there," he told her. Truthfully, Thomas was right- he hadn't seen any club stand there in the place that Audrea had claimed there was one. He couldn't see it, due to the special illusion spell it was under, specific for Glandus High students.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey looked at Thomas and squinted, then looked back at the what she was seeing by the trees. She glared at it suspiciously for a little longer before looking around. It was out of the way, she couldn't find any reason why anyone would ever go to that specific patch of trees, so that could be a reason as to why nobody else ever found it, if it was supposed to be invisible. But why her? She grabbed her cup of waffle, only a small amount of it left, and she took off a piece. Then she threw it at the booth, the piece of waffle landing in the grass in front of the booth. Then she threw a second piece, and this time it bounced off the front of it. To Thomas, and any other witch watching, the piece of waffle would have just bounced off something mid air.
"Hm." Audrey said simply, "Did you see the waffle? If it's an illusion, do you think you can confirm it? Run some kind of interference, or see if you can alter something about its spell?" She crossed her arms, it definitely existed, that waffle piece literally bounced off it, but she was the only one who could see it in its entirety, as far as she knew. "This is weird. I don't like it." She commented.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas raised his right eyebrow. "Erm, yea, I saw the waffle," the boy replied. He looked towards the direction in which Audrey was swearing that seemingly, she had seen another club stand. All Thomas saw in this general area was emptiness- no club stand in sight for sure. But he nodded, stepping aside from Audrea and giving himself enough room in preparation of casting a spell circle. "Sure, just give me a sec- I can try and do a little spell my mom taught me when I was little to see through things that had been made invisible by illusions magic. Hopefully it works," he said as he stood in a ready stance.

The boy stood with his feet a shoulder's width apart as he closed his eyes tight, bringing his arm up to make a circular motion as he stuck out his tongue slightly, as he tended to do when focusing on making a spell. Thomas then created a pale blue spell circle, the stand in question that Audrea had previously been convinced that she and only she saw, being revealed to them both now. Thomas eyes widened as his jaw dropped. Due to the spell, Thomas could now see the old abandoned club stand that Audrea had seen. It had been under the spell of some sort of specialized illusion where only certainly people could see it without needing illusions magic to make it visible. Thomas, with wide eyes, urged Audrea to come over to him. "Woah," he whispered, "Audrea, come take a look at this," he told her softly.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey looked at Thomas expectedly once he said he knew an interference spell, even though she was mildly surprised that he knew something like that. An interference spell, no matter what kind, as she understood, required a more in depth knowledge of the fundamentals of your coven than the caster. Or at least a higher affinity or skill for it, so the interferer could knock down a part of the spell. At least, that was how she interfered with abominations casted against her. If Thomas only learned higher level spells, and had less of a focus on learning fundamentals, that could be a reason for his trouble learning newer spells. Thomas stepped closer to the strange booth and drew a large spell circle, and after a quick moment, the old club stand was revealed to the world through a slowly growing cloud of smoke. The smoke dissipated, as slowly as it grew, and other students behind the duo began to take notice.

Thomas waved for her to come closer, "Woah, Audrea, come take a look at this."
Audrey did, going up to Thomas's side, then slowly approaching the rotting booth, "I think caution is the way here, we don't know how long that's been there, why it's there, and- Oh." She said, looking down at her left hand. A green vine had sprouted out of the ground, wrapping itself around her wrist. As quick as it came up to grab Audrey, she brought her right hand over, still armored, and she pointed with her index and middle finger. A blade of abomination goo formed and she cut the vine. An instant later, a second and third vine shot out from the ground, this time grabbing at her ankle and right arm. She clenched her right fist and drew a spell circle with her left hand. A set of spikes shot out from her armored right arm, severing the vine, and from the ground, scissor blades appeared, cutting the one around her ankle. Whatever was creating these vines, clearly done with the small attempts, had ten more appear.
"Get back Tom- !" Audrey yelped as the vines shot forward and wrapped themselves around her stomach and right arm, pulling her into the air. A large plant bulb appeared out of the ground, sending dirt and grass into the sky, and it split open, revealing a cavernous maw, with a massive flower nestled inside. Audrey was thrown in, landing on the flower on her behind, and the bulb slammed shut. A purple blade stabbed through the bulb, but before anything else could happen, the bulb retreated back into the dirt with surprising speed. From the hole in the ground, more vines spread, several heading straight towards Thomas. The book on the abandoned booth glowed with a bright green glow, a telltale sign of magic. From behind Thomas, students began to shout and run away.

Inside the bulb, Audrey suddenly felt a much greater resistance on her blade, and she withdrew her arm, the abomination blade melting back into armor plating on her right arm. Dirt fell onto the flower she stood on. Was she being pulled underground? The shaking, loss of light, and the dirt seemed to imply so. She huffed in annoyance, the plant was probably bringing her to someone, the witch who made those vines. So she stood, ready for anything, and not long later the bulb opened up once again. But instead of seeing a witch like she was expecting, Audrey was spat out from the plant unceremoniously. She landed on her face against a rocky floor, but she immediately sprung back up onto one knee. It was oppressively dark, and Audrey took a moment to listen instead. She heard an echoing drip of water from behind her, and not much else. She drew a small spell circle and created a dim light spell, only just barely enough to see. The ball hovered beside her, revealing a strange, worked stone path, surrounded by cave rock. Pebbles and stones littered the path, and behind her, she saw the bulb that brought her here. It was on its side, limp. There was another book here, green, laying on the path. And not far from her, were the bones of animals. She wasn't a member of the beast coven, but she knew that if a jaw had sharp teeth, the creature the jaw belonged to was going to use it. Audrey grumbled.
"Great." She muttered, "Thought this was behind me."

​

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas didn't really think of his interference spell as much, although in actuality, for an illusions witch of his age, it was pretty impressive. It was only something that masters of illusion could pull off- so both of Thomas' parents being some of the best illusionists on the Boiling Isles, they managed to teach their son the spell over his young years. Both Bella and Andrew typically didn't start Thomas learning with the basic fundamentals- contributing to his troubles and struggles with seemingly simple illusions spells in class. But as Thomas waved for his friend to come closer and take a look into his spell circle, Audrey obliged him and took a step closer. He nodded as the girl advised that being cautious about this would be the best way to go about it. "Yea I think we should turn ba-" Thomas began to say before he was cut off by a sudden voice calling his name: "Get back Tom!" the boy heard Audrea shout as Thomas immediately leaped out of the way, his eyes wide now and his heart pounding.

Green vines began sprouting out from the abandoned stand, trying to grab both him and Audrea. Thomas felt his heart practically beating out of his chest now as he lunged to get out of the way. Luckily, the vines seemed to go after Thomas' illusion, who still was there. The vines had mistook the illusion Thomas for the real Thomas, buying the real Thom some time and quite possibly saving him from peril. The boy was nervously panting now as he watched the vines just miss him and go for the illusion. His eyes widened with fear as suddenly, he saw Audrea being grabbed by the vines and pulled in. The commotion made quite a noise, causing the students behind Thomas to run away screaming, like himself, not knowing what was going on. But Thomas just took a slow step back, watching silently and stunned with fear. The boy wanted to yelp or panic, but nothing came out of his mouth.

Suddenly, from a hole in the ground, a mass of vines spread out and quickly headed towards Thomas' direction. "Oh no!" Thomas yelped as he suddenly turned away and attempted to run. But his little legs could only take him so fr, as he was quickly grasped by the vines and pulled in. Thomas could see his illusion running away as the real Thomas was pulled in aggressively by the vines. Eventually, Thomas felt as if he were being pulled deeper and deeper into something- he didn't know what. The boy didn't know if and if so, where he was being pulled to, but the boy just squeezed his eyes shut, terrified of the whole experience. Thoughts were racing through his mind. What was happening? How the hell did he get here? Where were these vines taking him?

With a great big thud, Thomas landed right on his butt, falling onto his back. He felt a searing pain on the left side of his abdomen as he groaned, slowly getting up. The boy lifted up his shirt and felt his abdomen, a small gash on the boy's stomach from the vines gripping him tightly. There must have been a thorn that had driven itself into his side and cut his stomach a bit. As he looked around the dark cavern that he had seemed to be dropped in, he heard a familiar voice. But his eyes widened at her words. "W- what?!" the boy shouted, fear clearly in his tone of voice, "Thought what was behind you? What do you mean?" the boy began to ask quickly, the pace of his breathing picking up as his heart beat fast and nervously. Now he surely was even more frightened than before in this unfamiliar environment, Audrea's words doing nothing to soothe him. "What is all this? D- do you know what's going on?!" Thomas seemingly demanded to know.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey jumped at the noise of a thud behind her, and she turned around quickly, seeing Thomas on the ground. The vines got him too, evidently, even though she hoped that he would've been able to get away. She looked apologetic and glanced away at his accusations. It was all so complicated, and she didn't like to talk about her past, but now she had to. She was familiar with this sort of thing, and he got roped into whatever bad luck she had.

"Shhh, take a deep breath Thom." She said gently, Audrey got onto a knee beside him, bringing her light spell closer to the duo. Her eyes widened upon seeing his side, "You're hurt. Hold on." She brought her hands closer and drew a spell circle, her hands glowing with the blue glow of healing magic. Slowly, the gash began to heal. "I... at my last school this sort of thing happened to me a lot. I was pushed around, and when I started pushing back, some of them got angrier. Bullies got turned into rivals, and I ended up in traps. This feels a lot like that. I don't know exactly what's going on here, but a witch put those books there, intending for someone to get dragged here. We ended up being those someones." She said quietly, "There's always a way out though, we'll get through this." She encouraged, "So. We're in a cave. It's better to be quieter. Cave dwelling creatures hunt by everything else other than sight. So by sound, smell, or taste. Anything big enough to threaten us usually hunts by sound." She explained, whispering, "What's weird is this." She looked down to the floor they were on, "What kind of cave has a paved stone path?"

When she was done speaking, the healing spell had done it's work, and Thomas's cut was healed. Though, the clothes were still ripped, and his side was still dirty, but the wound itself had healed at least. "Any better?" She asked.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas winced in pain as he lifted his shirt once more, keeping it lifted and staring down at his wounded abdomen. The gash on the left side of his stomach seemed to sting with pain. Thomas took a deep breath in as Audrea attempted to comfort him, crouching down and performing a little simple light spell to illuminate the surrounding area so she could see what was up. As the light spell illuminated Thomas' bare stomach, his eyes widened upon seeing the gash down the left side of his abdomen. "Oh no...." the boy said softly, frowning and looking down at his stomach as Audrea had stated the obvious- he was hurt. Thomas sighed, thinking that he knew his parents were going to kill him when he got home today- if he ever got home today... Not only was his Hexside illusions coven outfit ripped, but now he had a gash on the side of his stomach, bleeding a bit.

Thom raised a confused and slightly suspicious eyebrow. "W- what? At your old school? What kind of place was your old school, Audrea...?" Thomas asked. "Where did you go before Hexside....?" Thomas asked, his voice now at a quieter whisper as Audrea advised them that they should keep it quiet since they were apparently in a cave now. His eyes widened as he gulped, thinking about the possible cave creatures that she mentioned. "I don't wanna die," Thomas thought to himself in his head, "Not here.... not now...." he thought. He then watched as Audrey drew a new spell circle, but this one shocking Thomas.

The boy widened his eyes with pure shock and awe as Audrea created a blue spell circle from her fingers, the blue color denoting the spell's healing magic. Thomas looked down at his stomach with surprise as he noticed the cut on his abs beginning to be healed, slowly fading away and getting better. The young blonde haired witchling's mouth opened slightly ajar with wonder. Thomas raised his eyebrows with wide eyes of surprise. "Audrea! Y- you know healing magic! How?" the boy asked, bewildered that some one of her age knew both abominations magic and healing magic. He also became fearful, always being taught by his parents and the emperor that practicing two or more types of magic was bad and illegal, and that the unfettered use of wild magic would bring about an end to life on the Boiling Isles as they knew it.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey stayed quiet, keeping her eyes on Thomas's stomach, she didn't want to look at him in his eyes. As he bombarded her with questions, justifiably, she thought. She pinched her pants and rubbed the fabric with her thumb as she felt something grip something in her chest. It didn't sit well with her, and she never felt that pain before. She heard the fear in his voice, and she knew that she had some part to play in that fear. She didn't feel anything when she struck fear into her enemies, but making Thomas afraid of her was different, the bad kind of different.

She held a pregnant pause, mulling over what she should say in her head. Finally, she spoke up, still as quiet as before. "Listen. You can't tell anyone, please." She pleaded, she knew the reputation of her old school. How they were all good for nothing but violence and screwing other witches over, how they were two faced, untrustworthy. Just as likely to stab you in the back as they are to stab you in the chest. She knew that reputation all to well because she experienced it first hand, for years, but she also knew that it produced some of the best duelists in the isles, a tough and hardy witch suited for exploration, adventure, and action. But most witches only saw their reputation, and how could they not? That small positive that Audrey was at least a little proud of was something others could only see if they were there or knew someone from there for weeks, and most interactions spanned only days. She took a deep breath and sighed, "I... I grew up in Latissa. Attended Glandus my whole life until a few weeks ago. When I was a kid I was in the Healing track, but Glandus isn't exactly the best place for that sort of person. I ended up in Abominations, but I never forgot the stuff I learned in the Healing track. It's useful to be able to heal your own cuts and bruises." She explained, frowning.

She hated this, Bonesborough was supposed to be her shot at a new life, but Latissa was rearing its head. Even though she disappeared from Glandus without a word, inexplicably moved away, having told nobody where she was going, when or where. It caught up with her anyways, and not only that, someone else was caught and pulled into it as well.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas looked at Audrea, his mouth open with shock and a terrified look in his eyes. So many thoughts were running through the young boy's head. As someone who had grown up in a law abiding house hold completely loyal to the emperor and taught to fear wild witches and wild magic, it was a complete shock to see Audrea, a girl who was in the abominations coven, performing healing magic on him. Sure, it had healed his stomach wound, but it was still a scary surprise to see Audrey essentially using "wild magic." "Never trust a wild witch, Tom," his father would always tell him. He just stood there as she revealed to him about his past, his mouth open ajar and his eyes wide with fear and surprise. Thomas had heard about Latissa and Glandus in general- it was a dangerous kind of run down area meant for really only the "rough and tough." Surely you had to be strong to survive and grow up attending Glandus.

When she had finished speaking, Thomas closed his eyes shut and began shaking his head quickly, not wanting to believe what he had just seen and heard. "B- but you're an abominations coven student! Y- you, you healed me!" he said with disbelief. "You practiced healing magic on me- magic outside of your coven!" he said a bit loudly now as he opened his eyes and looked directly at Audrea with fear. The boy began breathing heavily now, backing away from Audrea. "W- what is this place?" he asked frantically, "Where are we? What is this? How do we get out? You must know!" he shouted, fear in his shaky voice. The boy took a few steps back, shaking his head again. He couldn't believe the girl was from Latissa and more specifically, had attended Glandus.

No wonder why she was so tough, so seemingly strong and iron willed. She was a product of the rough lifestyle at Glandus! Was she bad news to be hanging out around? Thomas' parents were never too fond of anyone coming out of Latissa or Glandus. He had been warned not only of witches who used more than one type of magic, but also of people coming from "the bad area," which was Latissa and the Glandus school associated with the area. Was it all Audrea's fault now that the two of them were trapped in this place with seemingly no way out? "Y- you have to do something! Get us out of here!" Thomas shouted frantically and nervously, panting heavily now. He was scared, alone with her in an unfamiliar environment with no escape.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey didn't know what to do, Thomas seemed to be suffering a full blown panic attack. Calming him down slowly didn't seem like it would work, and they didn't have the time for it anyways, if there were any hungry creatures nearby they would have started moving towards their noise by now. It was entirely foreign to her, having to deal with this. Every time she was in a situation like this, it was either her alone, and she could handle herself, or with Liberi, who could handle himself. And Thomas panicking was entirely justifiable, he never asked for anything like this, he was just caught in the crossfire. After racking her brain for a moment, she had to channel what Liberi would do. There was no time for being gentle and coddling, considering the potential danger.

"Thomas!" She shouted with a commanding tone to catch his attention, she stood up, "There's always a way through, but we make our way through. It won't just appear before us like a portal, we work at it, one problem at a time, one step at a time. Now. I need you to do something only you can do." Her tone became more gentle, "Take a deep breath and focus, center yourself, then tell me, what are five things you can hear?"
Audrey took off her messenger bag and set it down on the ground, turning around. She held up both of her hands, closed her eyes and focused. She pointed at the floor and drew a large spell circle onto the ground, the bright pink glow of Abominations magic brighter than her light spell. A pool of clay began to form on the ground. After a moment, she spoke up again, quieter. "Then five things you can see."

She stepped into the pool of clay, holding a smaller spell circle in one hand, and the abominations goo crept up her shoes, then up her legs, up her body and up to her head, covering her entirely. Then the clay began to segment, harden, and shift into the shape of armor, just like the armored gauntlet over her right arm. The armor was form fitting, comprised of many overlapping plates, over her right shoulder was a larger pauldron, and over her head was a fully encompassing helmet, with a single thin visor for sight, and her long hair tied up in a long ponytail sticking out the back of the helmet. She hadn't put on her battle dress in months, and it was a strange, conflicting, feeling. She was glad she didn't have to put it on, but now, she was glad to have it back on. It was comforting, in a way.
"Okay, now, grab that green book behind us. It'll probably have a clue as to who put this trap here and why. Protect it, we can investigate it when we get out." She instructed, "Then we'll follow this paved path when we're ready. It was made for a reason, knowing that reason will help us out." She turned around, looking not unlike a knight of the middle Deadwardian Era. She put her hands on her hips, "Listen..." The armored Audrey began, speaking sympathetically, "I know you're scared, and you didn't ask for this, but I didn't either. Not now or back then. Sometimes adventure finds us, whether we want it or not, and we just have to deal with whatever it throws at us, just like Edmund Rosebane. I need you to trust me, we'll get out of this, but only if we work together. Look," She took off her helmet, her hair still done up in a ponytail, and she cradled her helmet in the crook of her arm. She got on a knee near Thomas, "Thom, I'm still Audrey. Me doing healing magic, or me coming from Glandus, doesn't mean I'm going to suddenly turn into a mustache twirling villain. You were with me before, and you are with me now, I'm still Audrey. I need you to work with me here, then we'll be able to get out."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas closed his eyes tight and shook his head, taking a deep breath and looking at Audrea now, his eyes open. "Fine!" he shouted, figuring being a bit calmer in this situation would benefit them both. The boy tilted his head and raised a confused eyebrow as the girl told him to name five things he could hear. "Well for starters- I hear dripping! Ominous dripping of water!" the boy shouted, clearly a bit nervous of the unfamiliar environment in the dark cave. The boy watched on as the girl seemed to make abomination armor for herself, making a helmet and putting it on. Thomas' mouth opened slightly with awe as he watched her create her own armor from abomination goo.

The young boy's eyes widened as Audrea had created some purple abomination armor for herself, tying her hair up in a long ponytail as he stared there in shock and stunned silence. In the back of his mind, he thought of how good she looked like that- how heroic, how pretty... But he tried to shove those thoughts out of his mind as he focused on Audrea's words and getting the hell out of that cave they were stuck in. The boy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself as Audrea took off her helmet and put her hands on her hips. He closed his eyes temporarily breathing deeply. As the girl got on a knee near the boy, Thomas looked at her, his mouth open a bit as he stared back at her. His eyebrows raised- she was right, she was still Audrea. The same Audrea that had befriended him, the same Audrea that seemed to continuously choose to hang out with the weak link of Hexside for the first few weeks of school. The same Audrea that had given him hope, and all of her wise words of encouragement and advice. The boy took one more deep breath and nodded, much calmer now. He looked Audrea straight back in the eyes, his chocolate brown eyes locking with her. "You're right, Audrea," the boy replied softly, much more collected now, "I'm sorry... I trust you..." he added softly.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey looked away when he met her eyes, putting on her helmet. Thankfully her words seemed to get through to Thomas, working together would make this far easier. Coupled with the apparent fact that this wasn't a trap specifically for her, she might not have even needed to armor up. Nothing came at them when they first arrived, and then they were plenty loud, and still nothing came for them. Was this even a trap? It seemed like it, but the bulb that delivered them was comfortable enough, and it didn't rock her around at all. The cut on Thomas's stomach seemed to be an accident, if the vines were supposed to be barbed, he would have suffered several more cuts, and she would have have a few as well. She looked back to Thomas.

"Listen... after we get out you can yell at me all you want or ask as many questions you want." She conceded, "Right now, we work on this cave problem." She stood up and walked over to the green book that was on the floor behind them, towards the dripping noise. The light spell followed her, illuminating the floor as she crouched to pick up the book. Then she noticed something strange on the floor. The paved stone floor around the book was covered with dirt and dust, but where they stood before, it was much cleaner. She turned around, facing Thomas, noticing that the path was cleaner towards the other end. Why? She pointed at the floor at Thomas's feet, and then at the floor at her feet.
"It's cleaner over there." She stated, pointing down the path. She got up and walked next to Thomas, offering the strange green book to him. Then she bent over to grab her messenger bag, she slung the strap over her shoulder and tightened it as much as she could, pressing the bag against her back. "Take care of that book, we'll be examining it when we get out, figure out why it was here." She said, "And I think we've found our way forward." Audrey paused before setting off, and she turned to Thomas, "Before we go... do you want some armor? I can make some for you."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas still had his creeping suspicions, admittedly, but decided for the sake of working together and getting the hell out of that cave, to push them deep down and hide them away for now. The young boy lifted his shirt again and rubbed the place where the wound was previously on his abdomen. He looked down at his stomach, still surprised that Audrey's healing magic had worked and the gash in his side was completely gone. Maybe the fact that she had healed him did a little bit to gain some of his trust back in her, but then again, she was an abominations witch using healing magic- something that Thomas was undeniably wary of.

Thom nodded twice slowly as Audrea told him he could ask her as many questions as he wanted and yell at her as much as he wanted once they got out of there. "Ok... fine..." the boy said softly, still with slight apprehension, but opting to cooperate rather than give Audrey a problem. The boy noticed her standing up and walking over to a green book on the floor. Thomas got up and tagged along, following her along close behind, but nervously and defensively, frantically looking around, in front, and behind him, hoping nothing unexpected would creep up on the pair and ambush them.

The boy raised his right eyebrow in confusion as the girl offered him the strange green book, which he took a bit unwillingly and clutched in his hands as they walked through the cave, hearing ominous dripping sounds in the dark cavern. "Alright, I will I guess," the boy said softly, a hint of hesitation in his voice as he held onto the book. "Let's just get the hell out of here," said the blonde haired boy nervously. As they walked, Audrea turned to Thomas, asking him if he wanted armor. The boy nodded three times quickly. "Erm, sure, if it's not too much of a hassle," the young boy said respectfully. He stopped as well in front of her, waiting for her to make him his own set of armor. He thought it would be pretty cool to have his own set of armor, just like the heroes in the stories he would read back at home from the comfort of his own bedroom.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey sighed quietly to herself when she heard Thomas, of course he wouldn't just suddenly be okay with the situation once he's accepted it. It just highlighted how unusual her life actually was. The amount of people who regularly found themselves in situations like this were probably incredibly low, even among the Emperor's Coven. They at least went in with plans and had teams, here, it was just her. And now him. Maybe being a loner like she was at Glandus was the way to live, at least then nobody else would be pulled into danger meant for her. If he wanted nothing to do with her after this, she understood.

"No it's- it's not a hassle. It's protection, you should have some. Here, stand in the goo." She said, pointing at the center of the pool that she stood in. "It might feel weird since it has to crawl up your legs but it won't hurt or anything. Feels like a weighted blanket, that moves. Not as warm though." Audrey explained. She held up a hand and drew a spell circle, readying the pool for Thomas. She wasn't going to go all out and make him a full suit of abomination armor, maintaining her own armor, as well as casting abomination spells while in the armor was actually pretty difficult, and required a lot of focus. Adding a whole second set of armor that was supposed to move seamlessly alongside the wearers movements would reduce her ability to cast spells. Even a helmet would be difficult, not for Audrey, but for Thomas.

Abomination goo didn't have the same properties as metal armor, and because of that, it had to be in full pieces, to disperse the impact of a hit. The rigidity was different, there was much more give with abomination armor, but it still protected, and the user was able to thin or thicken a spot on demand, as well as convert armor to weapons, or weapons to armor. The versatility of abomination armor offered a lot to an abomination witch, but to everyone else, it was more troublesome. But in a situation like this, some was better than nothing, she thought. But a full helmet made of abomination goo, just like hers, would actually be detrimental to Thomas. Because the helmet covered the face and entire head, Thomas could very easily suffer from helmet horror. A phenomenon that she specifically had to train for. As the wearer breathed, and performed movements, the breath would be trapped in the helmet. Not enough oxygen and too much exhale leading to panic. So she would make him a cuirass, a solid, single pieced armor that covered the torso, domed slightly to promote deflection, and also to make room for her own feminine features. She admittedly didn't know how to form it any other way.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thom nodded as Audrea had informed him it wouldn't be much of a hassle to create him his own set of abomination armor. He was still mad at her and highly suspicious of her, but for the sake of cooperation and getting out of that cave, he decided to shove them aside for now. He raised a confused eyebrow, a look of almost disgust on his face as she described the armor goo would creep up his leg and form into armor. Thomas nodded his head slowly and once, "Alright," he acknowledged softly. He watched as she formed him armor made from abomination goo, looking on feeling all weird inside as the armor crawled up his leg. Eventually, she had made the set of armor for him. He looked down at his body and his torso, analyzing his new set of armor. He raised a confused eyebrow as he put his hands on his hips, feeling the armor. It seemed that the armor had been designed for a female wearer rather than a male, judging by the feel and shape of the armor. "Err, it's a bit girly, but thanks..." Thomas told the girl.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

"Girly?" Audrey repeated, there was a slight confusion, until she looked down and inspected her own armor. "I've always made it like that." She said to herself, then she looked down at her own cuirass and his. They were both made in the raised dome fashion. "Oh." She plainly said, "W-Well there's no difference in protection levels, and nobody else is gonna see you wearing it. It should be fine?" She weakly protested. "Come on, we should start moving." She said afterwords, in an effort to change the subject, and everything seemed to be ready now too. She began to walk down the path, looking back to make sure Thomas was following. Was her armor actually girly? The only other people who saw it was her mentor, and the witches who pulled her into fights, and all of them had other things to talk about. She held up a hand and examined it. Most Deadwardian Knights used mittens for their gauntlets, wide plates of metal that covered four of their fingers all at once. Audrey followed a more intricate style, each finger had plates, allowing her full usage of each individual digit. It was certainly fussier. She let out a noncommittal huff before thinking about what they should do if they got separated. For Liberi and her, their system was to leave marks of abomination goo on the walls, so if they stumbled on each others trail, they could find each other in complete silence. But Thomas didn't know Abominations magic, he knew Illusions, so-

"Oh!" Audrey suddenly said, she thought about history class, about how their professor managed to make a whole theater in the classroom. It reminded her of their scrolls, and how you could stream shows on them. She stopped and loosened her messenger bag, rummaging through it and taking out her scroll. She took it out and opened Penstagram. "You don't happen to have a Penstagram do you?" The witch asked, she set her account off hidden and let it try to connect. Letting out a thoughtful 'hm' when it failed to connect to the wider network, and then she set it to search for nearby scrolls, and a single one appeared. That one was Thomas's. "If we set our Scrolls to witch-to-witch, we should be able to message each other if we get separated." Audrey explained, it was a much more modern, and a much faster way to reconnect if they were lost.

Audrey's penstagram account was bare, to say the least. Her account name was AUD.1.OUT, and the comments and friends list was set to friends only view. While some penstagram accounts had pages upon pages of pictures of any which sort of thing, Audrey's only had images of animals and nature. She had pictures of forests, views from The Knee, various creatures and demons from the Isles, including one of a sleeping Hand Dragon. The gallery was absent of any and all images of her, witches from her past, or even of her mentor. Even her profile picture was absent of people, instead it was an image of tea in a glass cup.

...

Ahead of them, not far, but still in the dark, was something truly odd. A massive building, easily three stories tall, with multiple wings and windows, it's front door laid untouched by witches for decades. The building was unkept, the windows shuttered and blocked with rock. Strangely, the building seemed to be built into the rock wall and ceiling itself, as if it was teleported down here, or if the cave formed around the building. Suspiciously, the stairs and columns at the front of the abandoned compound looked a lot like the entrance to Hexside.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas nodded, "Yes, girly," he replied, confirming that she had heard him right. The armor was built with a small feminine body build in mind. Thomas blushed as he noticed it looked a bit silly on him, or at least he had thought it did. But nevertheless, it was still armor and it would do the same job as it would even if it were designed for a male. But he closed his eyes and shook his head, trying not to think about it. Hopefully, Audrey would not think anything of it and that no one would see him like this. They were trapped in some seemingly abandoned cave, so Thomas highly doubted that anyone outside of Audrea would see him like this. Thomas quickly shook his head and rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine, it'll work, let's just get the hell out of here," the boy said, a mixture of nervousness and irritation in his voice. The last place he wanted to be right now was this forsaken creepy cave.

The young blonde haired witch boy continued following Audrea, letting her lead the way as he stuck close behind her. She then stopped, pulling out her scroll and suggesting that they exchange Penstagram information. Thom's eyes widened a bit at the offer, not expecting it. It seemed like a pretty smart idea, but it was just odd to Thomas the timing and circumstances of the offer to exchange their social medias like that. For knowing Audrey for a few weeks now, he would have never thought they'd exchange that type of personal information out of desperation being stuck in a dark cave with seemingly no way out. The boy blushed ever so slightly, the slight bright pink tint to his cheeks barely noticeable due to the darkness of the cave. Thomas nodded, going to pull out his own scroll to exchange Penstagram information with the girl.

Thomas didn't use Penstagram all too often, or for that matter, his scroll too much. Unlike other teens his age, rather than sitting on his scroll all day, Thom preferred to sit alone in his room and read a good book. But nonetheless, on the Boiling Isles, Penstragam was really the only reliable way that other witches could communicate with each other and keep in contact reliably. Thomas pulled out his scroll, a dim light emitting from the screen as he tapped on the Penstagram app. Thomas' username was short and simple: tvlasic16. The boy appeared to only have two posts on his profile and it was apparent that he didn't have too many followers nor did he use the application too often. With simply only 10 followers, being a shy and unpopular boy, Thomas' only two posts were simple enough. The latest post was one from about a year ago it seemed, and in it was Thomas posing for a picture in front of a fountain with his family on what looked to be a vacation. In the middle stood a youthful looking Thomas, although only 14 in the picture, he seemed to look significantly younger than he did now at 15. But still, even as a 15 year old, the boy seemed to keep a bit of his young "baby face." To the boy's left was a taller man dawning the same colored hair as Thomas, Andrew Vlasic, the boy's father. On the right was a happy looking brown haired witch, Bella Vlasic, the boy's mother.

The first post ever posted on the boy's profile was an interesting one. It showed a clearly much younger Thomas with his arm around a young witch boy who looked to be about Thomas' age in the image. The boy being wrapped in a one armed hug smiling softly had a youthful face with fair brown hair and pretty sea blue eyes. The post, unlike the vacation post which had zero likes, had a single like from one other profile. Both young boys looked happy in the picture and it would seem that the two were good friends. As Thomas pulled up his profile, he took a look at his pathetic profile with so little followers, the boy not having many friends. His eyes widened a bit upon seeing the first post, the one of him and the boy. It had clearly been a while since Thomas had been on Penstagram. Thom felt his heart jump a bit as he made a mental note to delete the post of him and that brown haired blue eyed boy at some point. He frowned, looking down at his scroll and seeing the small image on his profile over view. He shook his head, closing his eyes, opening them back up as he looked at Audrea. "Err, good idea. Here it is. I'm tvlasic16 on here. I don't use the app too much, but it's a good idea to keep in touch this way like you said," said Thomas.

--

The two had exchanged Penstagram information and were soon off on their way in the cave. Eventually, after walking for a while, the two stumbled upon something peculiar. It seemed to be the ruins of an abandoned school. Thomas' eyes widened as he slowed his pace upon reaching the three storied building, whispering something under his breath softly in awe as he took a step back and stopped. As Thomas looked up, he tugged on Audrea's shoulder to keep her from going on too far with out him, temporarily staying back and stopping in front of the building. "Wh- what is this?" asked Thomas nervously, his voice shaky. "Wh- what happened to Hexside? A- are we back?" Thomas asked, speculating hesitantly out loud, apprehensive to approach the building further. It appeared that they had came across some type of school building similar to Hexside that had been untouched for years.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey didn't look at Thomas's penstagram profile, there would be plenty of time after if she wanted to. Instead she opened a direct message chat with TVLASIC16 and closed her scroll, pocketing it back into her bag. It wasn't long later that they stumbled onto what the path was leading to, must have been leading to, there was no other explanation. She craned her neck up, so she could see the height of it more easily through the thin visor of her helmet as she walked on. Thomas however grabbed her pauldron and tugged on it, and she stopped, turning to look at him.
"Wh- what is this...? Wh- what happened to Hexside? A- are we back?" He asked fearfully.

When Audrey noticed the building, she honestly didn't think if it was Hexside or not. The trap put them into the path, and the path lead them to this strange building, which somehow was built into the cave walls itself. Her only thought that they were being lead there, and if it was a trap, to spring the trap. She looked around the building, they couldn't see much, since her light spell was only dim enough for them to see just barely ahead. She drew another small spell circle next to the sphere of light, and it grew in brightness, illuminating more of the building. The cavern they were in was large and empty, and the entire way forward was stopped by this building. It seemed like the entire chamber was for the Hexside looking building, it stretched from wall to wall, and from floor to ceiling. If it was more, and had an interior, it could be as small as this chamber or even larger. But from the outside, it looked like it could be just a carving of the front of a school. Audrey squinted at the place, it wasn't quite like Hexside. She had plenty of time to look at the front of Hexside just earlier today after all.

"No..." She said back, "Look," the armored witch pointed at the start of the stairs, "There's no trophies, Hexside has four trophies at the entrance stairs. And the pillars aren't right, Hexside's are smooth, these ones have those etched lines." She explained. She didn't now the words for them, but a historian would have called Hexside's columns as the Rowitch Tusca style, and these columns they were in front of in the style of Rowitch Doric. Audrey looked up, seeing torn and dirtied banners, in the same place as Hexsides, but where Hexsides banners were white and blue, she made out shades of red, and grey, if the grey wasn't just part of the muck dirtying the cloth. She pointed up, "Red banners? Hexside has blue and white." She asked, wondering if Thomas could see red too beneath the dust and dirt. There were dozens more slight inconsistencies, the pattern of the stone walking path, the width of it, the walls of the building in front of them being different color and colored differently, the shapes of windows being square instead of arched, but the basic layout was nearly identical to Hexside. Same window placement, four banners and four pillars, just like Hexside, a staircase leading to a large set of arched double doors. She looked to Thomas, "The path lead us here," then she looked forward up the stairs to the doors, "Only one way forward, are you ready?"

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thomas raised his right eyebrow with confusion as the two analyzed the ruins of what looked to be a school building, one that could easily pass for Hexside at a very quick glance. But as they slowly approached closer, Audrea seemed to speak and and notice some distinct differences between their school and this building before them. She was right- this building was a bit odd... it couldn't have been Hexside.... The two approached the stairs up to the school and stopped, both of them looking up at the stairs. Audrea looked back at Thomas, suggesting they go the only direction that really made sense to find out more about this place- up and in! Thomas wore a anxious look on his face now as he nodded slowly, taking a nervous step forward and onto the steps up to the building. "Y- yea, I suppose you're right," said Thomas, his voice now a bit shaky.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey tried to give a reassuring smile to Thomas, behind her faceplate, she knew he wouldn't be able to see it, and she didn't know if it was entirely convincing anyways. She gave him a light touch on the arm, lingering for a second. "I'll go first. If opening the door springs a trap, I'll get hit instead of you." She said. It was the first time she had to protect someone else while out, and it brought to mind a lot of things that she normally wouldn't have thought of, even opening a door was something she had to put thought into. "I'll open the right door, so hug the wall to the right of the doors. If anything shoots out, you'll be in the clear that way." She instructed as they went up the staircase. When they reached the door, she got into a lower stance, quietening her steps by taking them slower. She put her right shoulder near the door, and put her right hand on the door itself. She looked back to Thomas, ensuring he was in the right spot. Then something occurred to her, and she whispered, "Don't worry. I can take a hit." She held up her left hand in view of Thomas and held up a few fingers. Three. Two. One.

She pushed on the door, using her right shoulder and hand to shove the massive wooden door aside. In a cacophony of noise, Audrey was through the doorway in a split second. She darted forward instinctually then once she moved past the door, her legs moved and took her a step to the right, so she would be clear of the doorway. Then she paused in confusion. Her boots were wet. When she opened the door, the door creaked, that was expected, but she heard the sound of splashing and rushing water. Looking forward down the hall, there was no danger. It didn't even look scary. The floor of the hall was caked in a layer of dirt, grass, rocks, and channels of water like small rivers. The water fountains that students would drink from were all on, pouring water from their sink onto the ground like waterfalls. The ceiling and walls were covered with moss and vines with bright luminescent flowers and bulbs. She blinked in disbelief. Looking up, large roots like those from a tree zig zagged the ceiling, vines and flowers hanging off the roots like a curtain of vegetation. Illusion Butterflies floated through the hall in front of her, and looking down, she spotted a trail of levitating ants going from one wall to the other. Looking behind her, the main entrance was a pond. She had been ankle deep in water, though now the water was all gone from the pond, the rivers from up the hall feeding into a draining terrain feature. Looking behind her, the water from the tiny rivers were exiting out the door and flowing down the stairs. It had been a few seconds since she entered, and Thomas no doubt noticed the water and glow of luminescent light from inside. She cleared her throat, "Clear." She stated, very business like, "You can uh, enter." Audrey clarified. "I really wasn't expecting an underground jungle."

The interior of the place was vast, just like Hexside, and strangely, at least from the entrance seemed to mirror Hexside. The walls, covered in moss and vines, hid the remains of locker demons. Their bones filled with soil, flowers, and grass. In one, Audrey spotted a bird nest, complete with twigs, eggs, and grass. The vines with glowing flowers and bulbs that lined the walls and weaved throughout the tree roots on the ceiling were so numerous and so bright that the entire school was lit with a gentle light blue glow. She cancelled her light spell, there would be no need for it here.
"Look. Illusion Butterfly, rare creature. Only found in the West Forearm Forest, they have an illusion spell in their wings, they use it when they land." She pointed out, as if on cue, the Illusion Butterfly she pointed at landed on a nearby flower, and the many circles on its wings began to glow. A large predatory bird formed next to it, sitting on a branch, but it was incomplete. The bird had a pattern of transparency woven through it, and it was static, but it's eyes were complete, and to a creature that would eat a butterfly, it was convincing enough. "And Levitating Ants. They can cast levitation spells by running around objects in specific ways, and the spell gets stronger when more ants are drawing the spell." She walked forward and squatted near the ant trail, hugging her knees., "They pick up anything from food to predators and just carry them around. I got picked up by them once, when I was camping outside on a trip. I woke up mid air." She said with a smile, "They don't bite. But it is a surprise to suddenly get picked up by a swarm of ants. Though, they only appear by the ribs. And these vines," Audrey looked up to look at some by the wall, "I've only seen them at the hips near The Knee. They take heat from the sea and convert it to light, attracting pollinators... why are all of these rare things in one place?" She wondered out loud.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

Thom couldn't really make out Audrea's facial expression, but a nervous one or a smile of reassurance, it most likely would have done nothing to ease his premonitions and worries and to sooth his stomach, bubbling with nervousness. His eyebrows raised as the girl mentioned a trap and even going as far to risk herself getting hit instead of it nailing Thomas. Was she really willing to go that far to protect him, to defend him? Maybe just maybe she was what she seemed and that she could be trusted. But this was one instance and hell, the girl hadn't even acted on that promise yet. After a quick count down, Audrea went in first, pushing the door open. Luckily for the both of them, there was no trap, and it led to a dark and wet hallway. But, the loud noise of the door opening certainly did give young Thomas a bit of a startle and a scare. Thomas heard sloshing and splashing beneath his and Audrea's feet as they trekked through the wet hallway. It seemed all clear, with no traps or anything of interest in sight.

But soon, Thomas began to notice that the ankle deep water that they were in was glowing a bit, providing some slight illumination to the dark hallway. Little butterflies fluttered around them as they made their way through the narrow hall. The girl interrupted the silence which was previous occupied by only the sloshing of water beneath their feet. "Clear," she had stated before guiding them through. The boy nodded silently and followed her through, not knowing at all what to expect. "Expect the unexpected, Thom," his father would always tell him. The boy sure as hell was going to follow his father's vague advice here- he was prepared for the unexpected, although probably not mentally prepared should anything too bone rattling occur.

On the way, Audrea pointed out one of the illusions butterflies, stating that they were a rare creature. He wondered how she knew so much about stuff like this, especially something regarding illusions because even he, the illusions coven witch of the duo, didn't have a clue about that fact. Thomas figured that who ever this mentor of Audrea's was must have been some crazy wild witch corrupting her mind with facts and knowledge of the other covens' magic types. He couldn't help but marvel at Audrea's vast knowledge, but also fear her for it. He didn't want to believe his suspicions were true, that Audrea was some sort of a wild witch. Wild witches were not to be trusted, as Thomas' parents would constantly harp on him for and state the "emperor's rules and wills," and how "wild witches had killed the emperor's family" so that the emperor "vowed to protect the Boiling Isles by keeping all wild magic under control with the coven system." Of course from a young age, Thomas was indoctrinated with the emperor's ideals and taught to both fear and look upon with disdain and disgust, wild witches.

Audrea went on and on, stating some facts about some of the creatures down there they had encountered and even speculating out loud. Thomas just nodded, staring blankly ahead with his mouth slightly open. In all honestly, the boy admittedly hadn't been paying much attention to what she had to say. He was more focused on getting the hell out of that creepy cave and the scary dark and wet hallways. "D- dang, Audrea. Might I ask, h- how do you know about all of these creatures. I mean- I'm an illusions coven witch- err- or at least I hope to be- and I didn't even know about those illusion butterflies!" Thomas said to her as they walked along.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey carefully stepped over another trail of ants, no need to alert the levitation ants, and then get carried around the building. Especially when they didn't know what was behind certain doors. Thomas asked how she knew about all these creatures, and it seemed forced. Maybe talking would get his mind off the situation, and he was asking for some more chatter.
"Well, I went outside a lot. Almost every weekend I went on a long trip, we would hike for hours in the morning, then train for hours in the evening, in a big loop through forests, hills, in caves, on The Knee. It was training, conditioning, and travel all rolled up. I camped at the Hips, and we went into the caves there for harsh terrain training, and thats where we found the vines. And I was actually in the Forearm Forest when I spotted those weird half complete hawk illusions, it took me a whole day to figure out it was coming from the butterflies." She explained, "That's how I know about beast demons and plants, I was actually out there walking and sleeping through their territory."

Not long later, they ended up at the circular central hall of the building. It was just like Hexside, with three levels, and they were on the second level. The normally empty space between floors was filled with vines and waterfalls, all reaching down to the first floor, the lowest level. Audrey poked her head over the edge, through the leafy vines, water splashing on the back of her helmet and getting her hair wet. She spotted a massive pool of water at the bottom. She stepped back and looked forward, through the vines. If this was just like Hexside, the corridor exactly opposite of them would be the way to the school grounds, where the Grudgby Field and Beast Keeper pens were. Hexside also had some plots of land for Plant Coven students, but she doubted those were here, since they were in a rocky cave. But... with this abandoned school being a veritable jungle, who knew what the school grounds held. She moved her head slightly to get a better look through the vines, seeing large rocks and boulders in the way in the opposite hall.

Audrey made a displeased huff. "The hall to the School Grounds is blocked with rocks. First floor is flooded. Any ideas where to go first? If it were up to me we would be combing this place top to bottom going through every room, so we could find out as much as we could about this place and who put it here, but..." The now wet, armored Audrey said, crossing her arms, "You're here too. So it's not just me."

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

As Audrea went on, answering his question, their chatter doing quite a lot to keep Thomas' mind off of his nervous feelings about the whole situation, the boy raised his eyebrows with surprise as she revealed some more things about herself to him. "What? Plants, beast keeping, illusions? I'll be damned, Audrea, you know a whole lot outside of your coven of abominations..." the boy pointed out. Her words only seemed to confirm the creeping suspicion that Thomas had been developing in his brain, and hoping that it wasn't true- that Audrea was some kind of wild witch that practiced wild magic. But for now, the boy decided to keep his mouth shut on the matter. They had to focus on trekking onward.

Soon, the pair of young students ended up in a circular hall area, similar to that of the very one in Hexside, made up of three levels. As they went on, Audrea seemed to make a displeased huff, beginning to speak of the first floor being flooded and asking him of where he wanted to go. The boy turned to Audrea, the facial expression on his face as if he had just seen her sprout three extra heads on her body right then and there. "Huh? You're asking ME where I wanna go? Audrea, respectfully, I don't know where the hell we are!" Thomas expressed to her. "I just wanna get the hell outta here! Take us the way that's quickest back to Hexside so we can go back home, I'm not quite in the mood to go sight seeing..." the boy added, some slight attitude in his tone.

 

[Skyrte]

Etheldreda Sano​

Audrey kept silent at his comment, it sounded accusatory, familiar, and it annoyed her to hear it again. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that Thomas was just stressed out of his mind. The boy was new to stuff like this, and never sought it out. Even if this situation was one of the more pleasant traps she's been in. Certainly much better when she was thrown into the Ratworm pen during heat season, where all of the Ratworms got territorial and easily agitated. That was a half hour of the most exhausting, painful, and desperate dodging she had ever experienced before one of the Ratworms broke the doors off the pen, letting all of them escape out of the barn. Here it was just nice little rivers, pretty plants, and nice scenery, coupled with a mystery or two, and a familiar humidity that she didn't enjoy.

After Audrey asked Thomas for input, he snapped at her. He's just stressed out, Audrey reminded herself again. She sighed.
"Okay. I'll get to work then, stay close." She said, displeasure evident in her voice. She walked around the circular hall to the other end, getting a closer look at the rock wall that blocked them from getting to the school grounds. After a few seconds of appraising the boulders, some of which were just as large as she was, piled high up to the ceiling, she realized something. The rocks were piled? She tilted her head as she carefully approached the rocks, taking a closer look. There were smaller rocks placed in the gaps between the larger ones, forming a complete wall. She looked at it up and down. Someone was here, and purposely placed these rocks here to make a wall to keep something out, or something in. But this wall couldn't have taken a small amount of time, the rocks filled the entire hallway up and down, left to right. Anything larger than an insect would find this impassable. If it was made to keep something in, that implied larger beast demons in this abandoned school, and if it was made to keep something out, then... she didn't know. She could beat it up or something. She didn't want to keep the other side of the school a mystery, the exit could be there.

So Audrey stepped closer to a boulder, put her hands on it, and pulled. She took a deep breath and tried again, but it didn't budge. She held out a finger and the abomination goo around her left arm morphed into a rope, wrapping itself around the rock, and Audrey planted her feet against the sloped wall and tried pulling the rope, but nothing budged. She let out a sigh as the rope morphed back into goo and went back to armor her arm, she needed some tools or something to break this wall apart. The Gym might have something... the sport storage room may have sticks she could use as levers. The Construction Covens classroom could also have tools, hammers, chisels, she didn't know what Construction Witches did, but they could have tools, maybe they had Power Glyphs? The Potions Coven class might still have ingredients, she knew that potions could be explosive, from experience, but she had no idea how to brew. Given that it was a class, there might be textbooks? Today would be a quite a day to start learning potions. Depending on how long they would have to be here, visiting the Cafeteria would also be a good idea, if the water pipes still worked, the cafeteria could still have drinkable water that wasn't converted into rivers, or it could even have canned food still in stock in its pantry if they were lucky. If there really were creatures larger than bugs here, and they were territorial enough to start swinging, maybe visiting the Healing Coven classrooms would be a good idea too. If they had Healing Glyphs, sterile bandages, having a make shift medical kit would be smart.

 

[Edric Blight]

Thomas Vlasic:​

"Mhm, yea- y- you do that," replied Thomas quickly as he nodded his head three times. He was a bit surprised at how calm, cool, collected, and composed she seemed to be- given the circumstances they were in and the fact that Thomas had kind of snapped on her due to the nervousness and stress. But she did seem a bit irritated and displeased behind her tone, but who could blame her? Thomas hadn't necessarily been so perfect or calm and was freaking out quite a bit under the pressure and stress. As Audrea went forward and led the two of them, Thomas made sure to heed her advice and stay close. If he got attacked, they both did- he did not want to do this mission solo. The boy walked slowly right up behind Audrea, at times practically on her heels or his armor touching her back. The boy almost clung to her like a scared child to their mother.

Eventually, the two of them came across some rocks that had been piled up high, seemingly by a person- their positioning didn't seem like it was due to natural causes. Thomas watched from a slight distance as Audrey tried pulling on the boulder with her hands, the large rock not moving at all. It was far too heavy, it seemed. Then Audrey made a rope out of abomination goo to wrap around the large boulder and pull it out of the way, which also didn't work. Thomas bit his nails nervously as he watched her attempt to move the boulder, but to no avail. "Erm, that's a problem..." the boy commented softly, biting his lip anxiously, "it won't budge..." he added, stating the complete obvious.