In Search of the Source of the Creeping Darkness Main Story

Mentions | @Mathias Pride | @Selim Faust | @Percival Rainwood | @Henry Knight | @Starlee Kennedy |@ Koko Riddle | @Flash Holmwood | @Alexander Varellion | @Evelynn Decipio | @Jack Burnett

Ileen's hands shook as she struggled to help her classmates. But apparently she was too nervous or at the end of her own rope. She was desperate to help everyone and then only did harm. She made sure Selim was not in worse shape because of her spell, before she moved on. If she noticed that it harmed him, she would remove it.

When more of her classmates entered the room, she tried to keep the gas out, and instead the gush of hot air hit her classmates and showered them with blisters. Startled, Ileen lowered her wand. What had she done? She was a great healer - piling on the injuries her classmates already had. But now was not the time for self-pity.
With even more trembling hands, she put her wand away and closed the door to prevent more gas from entering. “I- I am sorry. I just wanted to keep the gas out!” She was shaking and looking wide eyed at the people who were still standing. The shock was clearly written all over her face. “Was anyone behind you?”

Still, even though she had made everything worse, she pulled herself together. They all had to try to help the unconscious. “I read some about poison gas. Wash your eyes out, it should help. And then, we should make sure to do the same with them.” She pointed at the water and gave them a sign to help themselves. Then she started to take care of those who were unconscious. His fingers trembled, as she tried to stabilize them and made sure they were not laying on top of each other or in any danger. Hopefully, some of the others would help her to do so.
The guilt settled crushingly on her chest when she saw all the balsen she had caused. It took all her willpower not to succumb to self-doubt and give up. This would not help them.

As soon as everyone was stable and safe, she looked at who she had hurt the most. Her eyes fell on Starlee who looked more dead than alive. After a moment's hesitation, she drew her wand. She had to try. At least these wounds were magical. "Reparifors." Hopefully she could at least make up for something.

Action: casting Reparifors at Starlee
Ability: Sixth Sense, Prodigal Charms Learner
Stats: Sta:6 | Ev:8 | Str:3 | Wis:9 | Arc:6 | Acc:9
Location: Common Room

Interactions: @Santario Martin
Mentions: Henry Knight and Starlee Kennedy

Relief. That was what the spell was, thin separation from the world around her making everything look slightly tinted and blurry, and more importantly, removing the sense of death being inhaled with each breath. Damage had already been done, her lungs still pained and coughs rising intermittently, but this was so much better. She shut her stinging eyes and took a deep breath, in and out, to settle from the peaked stress of knowing it was only her and her wand between her half-dead companions and death.

But this was not over yet. Looking again, the stairs to safety no longer seemed so impossibly far away. And there was another change, first noticed in the disappearance of sound: no one was in sight. No one running, no slumped figures on the ground. That was a good thing; it meant that her housemates had escaped, that she hadn't made a huge mistake in sending Henry without a bubble of his own. It also meant she was alone, just her and Santario remaining, and that left the responsibility on her shoulders to save the both of them. She hoped no traps along the path remained unsprung and the shifting shadows stayed passive. The courage to face much more than carrying Santario on her own was not something she was sure she had left.

Standing, she moved from Santario's side to her head. Henry had carried Starlee fireman-style, but she'd never attempted that before, much less really seen what it was supposed to look like. It was not worth risking messing up here; she would rather Santario remained close to the ground, for what would happen if she lost her balance with her across her shoulders? Like earlier, she used her armpits as holds, this time wrapping her fingers around the fabric of Santario's sleeves for a better grip. Carefully easing her torso up, attempting to keep her head resting on her forearms, she started the trek. It maybe wasn't the most efficient way of doing this, and required her to keep her head turned to see where each step backward was going to land; at least this wasn't so hard as pulling Santario through that passageway, everything cramped.

There were a million things she could be thinking about--the state of her duelling partner, how everyone else was doing, trying to piece together what this place even was, stressing over the what-ifs--though for once her thoughts were relatively quiet. Right now, she just needed to worry about getting the two of them out, to the door the Common Room she'd seen swing close. That was the goal, and anything beyond considerations strictly necessary to get there had to wait. Her face blank, she matched the silence of the dungeons save for each protected breath. It was just one step, then another, to escape this eerie, gas-filled hellscape.

Action: Carrying Santario to Room 2
Location: Room 3 → Room 2
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 9 | STR: 7 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 8
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Prodigal DADA Learner

Making the way up the stairs and to the common room was a short but excruciating distance. As far as he could tell, the rest of the wounded were being ferried to the relative safety by those able. Evelynn and Opeila managed to carry Koko for the final stretch, as well as Henry just ahead of them carrying a very unwell Starlee. Her visage was practically as gruesome as Varellion's. Flash would spare no word of thanks for the head of house who made the boy on his back stable again, nor would he spare a moment to converse with the close friends on either side of them. They were headed in a direction, and they had a destination they needed to arrive at. He would be thinking of little else.

Unfortunately for him and everyone else in the conga line of death, Henry's entrance into the room heralded some unknown commotion, something that Flash wouldn't discover until he himself face planted, surrounded by what felt like scalding winds. Was there another trap? Had this been designed to finish them off? The thoughts would brush by, mostly drowned out by the great sensation of pain and discomfort. He barely felt cognisant of his surroundings, feeling around on the floor to make sure it was still where he thought it was.

The truth would steadily become more apparent as a few of his non-pain-receptor senses remained online. He had sent Varellion plummeting to the floor along with his own fall, and it seemed Opeila and Henry had lost consciousness. Otherwise, the fearful blaze had been short lived, and an accident. Miss Ileen stood apologizing, shame clear of her features. Flash could still feel the intense sting of burns, yet could not muster anger for a mis-cast spell. He himself had only just recently targeted Koko instead of the creature attacking her. If he hadn't, she would likely still be upright.

Wordlessly, Flash took the water that was offered to him, trying to wash out his eyes as suggested. From there, he would pour some onto the eyes of the fallen Opeila. He would try to do a good job of it, though his vision was blurred. Hoping it was enough, he would then pass it to either Evelynn or Burnett, whichever of the two would take it first. He would stay with Opeila a moment, brushing the hair from her face and fretting idly.

It was only after the panic had a moment to breathe that his brain began to process again properly from its overheated state. Ileen had asked a question, and given that Flash had taken care to memorize the faces of the people gathered from the start, he looked around at those in the common room now.

"Bridget. Did Bridget already return?" Flash's voice would crack, he was not doing very well in general. He at first spoke directly to Ileen, but would look around at the sparse few others who were left still conscious. "Did you see her?"

Interacting: @Ileen Knight | Starlee Kennedy
Mentioning: @Bridget Collins| Koko Riddle
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit

That was it! Hjørdis was quitting this hell of a job and moving to Norway. Perhaps she would get a few dogs and live happily ever after in the blanket of snow that she was looking forward to seeing. She was done with children and their need to give her a minor panic attack every single second. There was nothing that could stop her. Not at all. Except maybe her ridiculously cute, kind and incredible partner.

As her wrist finally finished moving, successfully casting a quick healing spell on one Slytherin, they would rush into the common room... only to get hit by a burning sensation that touched her skin. It felt like a fire surging through her veins, Hjørdis inhaled sharply through the pain that threatened her entire body. What exactly had happened to cause this was beyond her. The common room had been safe when she left not too long earlier. But every inch of her skin felt like it was being boiled and the blisters appearing would only have her seething with rage. If there was one thing you did not mess with, it was the woman's appearance. How was she meant to go to her ridiculously cute partner with blisters all over her?!

But healing herself, worrying about the blisters forming on her skin or observing the burn marks were not a thing she had time for. The head of house found herself literally tripping over something. She was not clumsy enough to trip on nothing...

It was there she saw the next reason to rage quit the school. Multiple other students lay unconscious. Her eyes widened as she quickly scanned them, trying to look for any prominent signs of injury. Blisters could be healed. But they needed to be healed if they were bleeding out or broken. Henry was there. One of the students she had trusted to carry out the well girls . Opeila was also there - trouble maker extraordinaire, in her eyes anyway. And Starlee, one of the well girls. Starlee caught her attention the most.

She was one of the people already unconscious beforehand, likely still broken from the fall despite having been healed temporarily. Her skin now blistered. But the girl was in a bad shape... far worse than when she had seen her. "Move aside. Now," She snapped, pushing aside anyone who was in the way with a hand to their shoulder and gentle shove. Not enough to hurt them but just enough to get them away so she could examine her. This was not the time to be polite or wait for others to make matters worse.

There was a period of her life that she partially wished to forget about. A period where she was surrounded by death. It was not scary but she had had quite enough of it by now, leaving the death chamber and trying to move on with life. What she did not expect was that an admin job in a school would consistently threaten to show what it was showing right now.

Her wand was moving before she had a chance to even react. The flick of her wrist, the incantation being muttered as she focused on Starlee. This... had to work. There was no other option. Hjørdis did not have the time to find a professional healer, she did not have the time to even begin to scream his name. All she could do was try and shock Starlee's heart, bring her back. Maybe after this, she could rage quit and go heal herself, relaxing for the next few months to recover from the mess of tonight.

ACTION: Shock Spell at Starlee Kennedy (Maintaining Lumos)

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Ileen Knight | MENTIONING @Koko Riddle[/font]

Not even the gathering of her robes about her mouth would save her from the flames that had consumed her core. That wasn't even right. Not fire. Not quite. More like a choking, squeezing barrage of hornets, their stingers piercing and tearing at her throat in a blistering, eye-watering barrage. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't cough. She couldn't see. And yet she still tried to do all of these—in vain. Somehow, someway, the body had lightened, the cloth floating almost whimsically in a non-existent breeze as magic embodied the fibres of the textiles and bore the body bound within aloft. Fingers scrambling and clutching desperately at the tunic, she tugged it in a direction she could only hope was freedom.

How much time passed, she couldn't possibly begin to guess. Every step was an enormous effort. Every beat of her heart sounded more like the heavy echo of a grain of sand in an evermore depleted hourglass. Time was running out. Her time was running out. Before her, vision swam, colours blurring and blending, peers merging and melding into each other. She could hardly make it out. Them out. Dizzied and aching for air, it was a wonder how she had managed to climb the steps to the corridor beyond. How she had somehow held on to the unconscious upperclassman. How she hadn't collapsed or lost her balance, succumbing to the ocean of fumes that had consumed so many already. But somehow, against all odds, she persevered. Pride defiant of logic.

Moments ran into each other, and the next thing she knew, she was corralled into a doorway, feet catching on an uncomfortably lumpy mass just as a blast of scalding air struck her. On the one hand, it was fortunate that she had bundled herself as much as she had; there was scant skin exposed to the unforgiving temperature. On the other hand, facial burns didn't tend to care how much or little skin was impacted. Any amount felt devastating, and as impacted as the lioness already was by environmental conditions, she wasn't prepared to take another straw on the stack. As soon at the billow of metaphorical-bordering-on-literal fire hit her, she crumbled.

Grip releasing from its hold on the body, she snapped her hands inward to clutch feverishly at her face. Knees buckled. Her spell failed. As she crumbled to crouch on the spot in something of a vertical fetal position, so, too, did Koko's body fall upon the stack of unconscious victims. A silent screech caught half-cocked in her throat to escape like something of a strained, high frequency whine. Cheeks already overflowing with tears, the flood gates couldn't open any more than they already had as she groped to press hands against her skin as though that would somehow quell the rise of blisters.

Would it ever end, this nightmare? Through blurred vision, she scrabbled forward once the shock of renewed pain had subsided enough for her to move again. Not entirely aware of her surroundings, she stumbled and scrambled over the fleshy mound in a doorway to seek entrance where the air came more easily. Though only slightly. The damage had been done. She wouldn't even register the leather of the furniture, nor the elegance of the frames. The novelty of finding entrance into a foreign house's common room would temporarily be lost on her as survival instincts kicked in and she accepted the water being offered to by the blurry shadow of an indistinguishable someone (@Ileen Knight).

In moments, Evelynn would be doubled over, kneeling on the ground, coughing and spluttering in an entirely undignified fashion, with her head to one side with water running over her face and a herculean battle to stop herself from rubbing her eyes and making everything worse.

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Levitation charm on Koko breaks, Evelynn enters Slytherin common room, proceeds to flush her face with water[/font]

[font=century gothic]STA | 8‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ STR | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ EVA | 10 WIS | 10‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ARC | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ACC | 10 KEEN EYE — There is a 25% chance of automatically finding something. FEARLESS — Immunity to fear effects.[/font]

[font=century gothic] ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ INVENTORY ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ — Broom Compass — Sketched Map of Underground — Locksmith's Knife — Wizard's Tight — Magical Candles / Lighter — Flash's Invisibility Cloak — Bottle with blonde hair[/font]

Selim Text Color: #4d0f25
Aku Text Color: #614f6d

"My death has not yet quite arrived, but it is near and inevitable, as the night follows the day." - George Washington

Selim had been on the brink of death only once before this instance in his life. In the future though, he'd be able to say in full confidence that both were the absolute worst experiences in his short lifespan.

As the lack of oxygen and high-toxicity levels of his body finally got to him and made everything fade to black the last thought that was in his chloramine-hazed brain was, "Damnit... not again."

To be fair, in the situation he was in, it was a surprise he even had any thoughts left in his skull.

Still even as his consciousness went offline, his body didn't and was still reacting to the environment around it. The lack of air had effectively made his lips turn blue, and there was a foamy, pink-tinted substance gathering around his lips as his body failed to cough now that he no longer dwelt in the waking world. A bad thing, it meant any of the chemicals that were being held at bay once before had now fully been inhaled into his lungs. Fluid had begun to build up from the long exposure to chloramine gas, only made worse by being laid on his back.

As he was bound like a mummy with a mis-cast Ferula, the lack of available air just compounded the horrible effects that had begun to take over his body. It'd likely be a while before his peer's panic-ridden spell-casting would be fixed seeing as how he was somehow not dead yet but another student in the room very much was. He'd likely hold on longer somehow, perhaps, even unconscious, his drive for survival was getting through even though his state was saying that he was basically salsa dancing in front of the grim reaper.

His body no longer had the ability to get rid of the toxin festering inside it, fresh air in the common room was neigh-unaccessible to him thanks to the bandages now entrapping his form, and fluid had built up in his lungs.

At least he hadn't been in the crossfire of the blistering winds that had assaulted many of the peers stumbling into the common room in search of safety. The medical staff that would inevitably end up on the scene after emergency response to the crisis was summoned would definitely have their hands full.

After this Selim would agree with anyone that their Head of House deserved tea, a fuzzy blanket, and a well-deserved rest after this was all over.

On the bright side, now all of his unconscious and basically dead peers had shared the experience of dancing in a conga-line in front of death's doors. Perhaps they could bond over that.

Hah, doubtful, this was Slytherin they were talking about.

Was this a happy ending? Well, one could suppose yes it was. Nobody died even if a few came incredibly close. The want to run off ahead and explore, to earn glory or experience. Pride would eventually recover; his inflamed and water-filled lungs would still require the nurse's intervention. His fragility in comparison to his peers more apparent than he would have ever desired it to be as he remained flaccidly sprawled out in the common room.

Perhaps the boy was not 'all bad' after all he had risked himself for the sake of one of his dormmates when he could have left Selim to die. Future would reveal that he had no issue with murder, his own cousin a rival for a prestigious seat he would one day steal. He was willing to rip away the memories of a stranger and create his own. He was willing to inflict terrible cruelty if given the opportunity against someone that had trespassed against him. He took hellish glee in those terrible moments.

Perhaps it would have been better to leave him back there to die. Others would have lived. Others would have lived the life intended. Rather he would rip from them their intended story and give them another.

Mathias will eventually regain consciousness and eventually get medical treatment and be fine.

There was a time when someone should shout CLEAR and this was the moment as Nora tried to restart Starlee's heart. A burst of electrical energy would arc and cause the girl's body to arch as the current ran through her, the ardent hope that the dyssynchronous jolt would bring order to an aberrant heart and life to the lifeless and still body. She was not breathing, her color reflective of death. A hue that none would soon forget.

THUMP!

The sound of violent impact with the floor. A current to bring life and order to a ragged heart, Starlee's state would remain precarious, but she would remain just barely alive.

There would be other attempts to stabilize the ailing teen. Ileen Knight, flustered, frustrated and perhaps embarrassed by the unfortunate nature of her "assistance." She was trying, she really was to help rather than destroy, but her ambition got ahead of her and Starlee suffered for it.

Reparifors.

Reparifors was the incantation of a healing charm that reverted minor magically induced ailments, such as paralysis and poisoning. She could do something; she could help at least a little...

Ileen cast Reparifors on Starlee.
Roll: 16 Success

Starlee's life would be saved and she would also endure the unfortunate burden of consciousness, now partially healed but gravely injured still. Sometimes unconsciousness was a blessing, a sort of anesthetic. Now she would feel the gravity of her injuries, both of the blistering winds, of her falls and of the poison that had attempted to invade her lungs.

Starlee is conscious.

Flash Holmwood would help Opeila find a sink. His eyes burned, tears leaving his vision bleary. A splash of cool water would ameliorate his suffering if only briefly. The pain would ebb only briefly and then return with a vengeance. Splash splash. Let the cool water do its' good work.

Flash's eyes hurt less.

He would still feel a rumble in his lungs. experience this fatigue and air hunger, this burn that came with a cough or a desperate breath. It was the poison, the damage it had already done. He was luckier than most, he still had his wits about them at the very least. So many of his peers were not so lucky. Opeila was not so lucky. Idle anxiety, did he feel something for her or was this just his humanity seeping through, an inability to see another suffer, fear that they might die.

A bit of water for Opeila, she would not feel the difference in her state, but he might feel better for doing it. When feeling anxious, experiencing survivor's guilt, contending with one's own fragility and weakness, sometimes it was these little things that made a life bearable. Perhaps it was something more. If it was, Rainwood might never forgive him. Would Flash actually care if that was the case? A problem for another day. He would realize that someone was still missing -- Bridget Collins. Did Bridget return?

A terrible feeling in the pit of one's stomach. was she even still alive? The rest of them had barely escaped and they had been here for some time already. Santario was also missing. The only answer he would get would be Bridget... gas... She was still out there, back in the dungeons that nearly took all of their lives. Back in the dungeons that threatened to encroach upon their living space or take them still if they ventured back into the dungeons from whence they had escaped.

Henry Knight would lay next to Starlee, his unconscious form being among the first things Starlee would see when she regained consciousness. That and the concerned, potentially tearful expressions of her peers. She had nearly died and had it not been for the conceited effort of not one but several of her fellow wizards. Henry had carried her, Nora brought her back from death, Bridget had cast the bubble head charm on her, and Ileen had ripped her from the darkness back to consciousness. Yah, there were a few potential murder attempts strewn about the experience, getting Timmy from the well was not among her peer's fortes and perhaps some were a bit overly ambitious attempting to keep the poison at bay.

Evelynn would do the unexpected and unusual, traverse the Slytherin dorms as a non-Slytherin. She would join Flash by the water and start to flush out her eyes. How they burned! Her lungs screamed for air and her itching throat would try to clear her airway, an ever-congested cough. Surviving was hard but better than death.

Selim Faust and Mathias Pride laid among the fallen.

What Happened

Common Room
@Percival Rainwood Unconscious. 0/500 [Common Room]
@Mathias Pride hovering by a Leviosa cast; unconscious. *Failed death saving throw 1/3* Unconscious. -175/200 health remaining.[Common Room]
@Ileen Knight casts Reparifors on Starlee successfully, she regains consciousness. [25/600 health remaining] [Common Room]
@ Selim Faust Wrapped in bandages, bound (Critically failed Ferula); unconscious.[/color] -250/500 [Common Room]
@Henry Knight Unconscious, warned Flash about Bridget. Covered in blisters. -60/500 health remaining [Common Room]
@Hjørdis Jensen Shocked Starlee back to life (dear god woman they need to pay you better). Covered in blisters. 915/1500 [Common Room]
@Starlee Kennedy Being carried by Henry Knight. Starlee is unconscious. Shocked back to life. Reparifors back to consciousness; bubble head charm; covered in blisters. [1/400 health remaining] [Common Room]
@Opeila Winters moved to the common room passively; covered by blisters; unconscious. Flash helping her flush out her eyes, hopefully he does not drown you. -135 health remaining] [Common Room][/b]
@Koko Riddle Unconscious; covered in blisters; dropped from Leviosa by Eve; covered in blisters. *Failed death saving throw 2/3 (from the gas and the hot air charm) *Cursed* -335/1500 health [Common Room]
@Flash Holmwood Covered in blisters; flushing out his eyes with water. 140/700 health remaining [Common Room]
@Alexander Varellion Mouth has been sewn closed, he cannot speak (or incant). The doll sewn his eye closed and cover with a button. Episky cast by Nora reset his death counter. Unconscious, covered in blisters. *Failed Death Saving throw 2/3* -510/700 health remaining. [Common Room]
@Evelynn Decipio Dropped Leviosa on Koko; covered in blisters. 165/800 health remaining [Common Room]
@Jack Burnett 365/600 health remaining [Common Room]

Room 1
Starting to fill with chloramine gas

Room 2
Starting to fill with chloramine gas
@Bridget Collins Maintains Bubble Head Charm on herself; passively maintains Bubble Head Charm Starlee & Santario successfully. 395/700 health remaining. Moved to room 2. [Room 2]
@Santario Martin Unstable, unconscious. Bandaged. Bubble head charm has been successfully cast, she is no longer taking damage. Failed death saving throw 1 of 3. Santario is unconscious. -75/600 health remaining. Moved to room 2. [Room 2]

Room 3
Starting to fill with chloramine gas
@Bridget Collins Maintains Bubble Head Charm on herself; passively maintains Bubble Head Charm Starlee & Santario successfully. 395/700 health remaining. Moved to room 2. [Room 2]
@Santario Martin Unstable, unconscious. Bandaged. Bubble head charm has been successfully cast, she is no longer taking damage. Failed death saving throw 1 of 3. Santario is unconscious. -75/600 health remaining. Moved to room 2. [Room 2]

Feel free to free walk through Room 1 into the common room, you are the last one left. Have your triumphant reunion with your classmates.

Interactions: @Santario Martin and @Henry Knight
Mentions: Koko Riddle, Alexander Varellion, Starlee Kennedy

Her first time passing through it, the larger, forking second chamber had mostly been idly noted as a little creepy, part of a long string of observations. There really was something about being around others that bolstered comfort and courage, because this time, alone, the creepy was getting to her. The chalk drawings, especially, were disturbing. She didn't have her wand lit, so it was dark. And all the while, her ears were strained for any evidence someone else was still down here: a shout, a whimper. She couldn't, hopefully a good thing and not the result of someone too far in, too damaged. Carrying another person, she probably wouldn't have been able to help anyway.

She tried to strike a balance between slow and steady and getting out of this place as quickly as possible. Steady and quick. Ignore her skipping heart, and pray she wasn't dragging Santario over a floor littered with anything sharp. The Common Room drew closer and closer, and by the time she could see the door, she didn't think there was any further risk of traps; these corridors were walked all the time.

And finally, the door itself. Black wood and silver serpentine knocker. It looked like home, and she was ready to go in right away... but the gas. It was here, too, would get inside when she opened the door. The same had probably already happened when they went in, though, and Santario needed the eyes of an experienced adult, she couldn't carry her all the way to the Hospital Wing, and the Bubble-Head Charm wouldn't last forever. After a moment, trying to fight past the blockade that was not knowing what was best, she settled on knocking. That way they knew she was coming, hopefully clearing the entrance so she could get in quickly.

The sharp rap of knuckles on wood and a breath later, she muttered the password and darted in the best she could, careful to avoid running Santario into anything. It didn't seem nearly fast enough, but when they were both inside and the door was shut against the horrors outside, it finally felt like she was done with holding her breath.

There were sprawled figures on the ground, she'd had to avoid stepping on them coming in. Their identities didn't come into focus just yet; first, she dropped her mental hold on the bubbles encasing Starlee's, Santario's, and her own head. Then she moved her duelling partner toward one of the couches, and not feeling up to lifting her onto it, just tucked a pillow under her head. Jensen's cast of Ferula earlier had since been dragged and dirtied, and Santario could no doubt use more healing. But first, her curiosity and concern had her turning to the people on the floor. There were... a lot of them. Koko's veins were black; the darkness must have been aggressive--wrong. It took a long moment to figure out Alexander even was Alexander, whatever happened there unclear but horrid-looking. Starlee, thankfully, was alive and breathing, awake even, but otherwise not looking great.

And Henry... Air sucked in, she crossed quietly to where he lay, pressing two fingers to his wrist. A pulse was there, thank god. But it was her fault he was unconscious at all. She shouldn't have told him to go, should have cast the spell on him too. She could have waited a little longer before doing her own. Worse still, had he fallen while still carrying Starlee? He'd been begging for her not to leave him, and she'd told him to go, and somewhere along the way had he had the realization he wasn't going to make it? I'm sorry.

She pushed back to her feet, away from the pile of passed-out housemates. Everything was catching up to her. The unaware, uneasy venture into the depths, that scream, Santario and Starlee broken at the bottom of the well, the gas, trying to figure out how to get them all out of there alive. This was the scene of a disaster's aftermath, and yet practically a best-case scenario. They could have lost someone tonight. She should have tried to stop everyone, she'd known going down there was a bad idea. When her shoulders started shaking and gas-stung eyes prickled, she didn't even try to stop the tears from coming. She should be helping now, not crying uselessly. The least she could do was not distract everyone else, so she turned away, walked to one of the windows. Come on, get it together.

Action: Arriving in the Common Room with Santario
Location: Common Room
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 9 | STR: 7 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 8
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Prodigal DADA Learner