The Sacred Circle

by Koritsune

Welcome to the town of Sleepy Hollow, a town where witches practice largely out in the open. But herein lies a terrible secret surfacing form the origins of the Salem Witch Trials which threaten to expose secrets, destroy relations and possibly the world as an old enemy arises form the past hellbent on finishing its plot from centuries ago. Read After Season 3 Chapter 6

Author's Note: Hey everyone, hope you enjoy the first chapter of The Sacred Circle! Please let us know what you think so we can keep motivated to do our good work, or even improve on it!

Also, for now our tumblr page and our twitter page won't be used for updates, just our facebook page under the name TheSecretCircleProject.

Enjoy!

Plot: Koritsune

Writers: Koritsune

Editors: Saffroth

Facebook: (slash)TheSecretCircleProject

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The year was 1692, and life was hard in Salem -— particularly for the magical. It was all up to perspective technically, some might argue life was worse if people merely thought you were magical. Not that it made much of a difference whether you were or weren't. Witches, or 'witches' were put up to a series of impossible tests, where passing entailed dying and surviving meant proving you were a witch, and thus being put up for public execution.

For this reason one circle rose in the chaos, one circle taking charge to stop this insanity of reckless hunting and multitudes fleeing from those in the town who would desperately see them destroyed. This Circle consisted of six families: Bellerose, Meyers, Kingston, Victor, Maxwell and McDowell. Thanks to a combination of all their strengths, they managed to make a tangible plan of action which was now being executed.

Geoffrey McDowell stood in the middle of a great crowd, each helping one another in the construction of what they hoped would one day be a sanctuary to witches and savants, mortals who knew of magic. Most of the surrounding crowd were growing tired, their energy drained from them as they lifted up yet another piece of the main structure, hoping that it would one day be the town hall. Given that they were all civilians with next to no training in construction, the workmanship was shoddy at best.

Not that it mattered -— Geoffrey's sole duty was to ensure the basic layout of the shelter was completed. Leonard Kingston, with his great skill of Alchemy magic, could easily refine and sew the seams of any inconsistencies and flaws. Nor was Geoffrey was not the sole member of the Circle at the construction site; assisting him was Mindy Victor. Mindy assisted the crowd by healing the many injuries which surfaced during the tireless work. Unlike Mindy, Geoffrey's purpose was not to use magic to help, but instead was to use his usual wit and charm to keep people motivated, focused and on point.

He stepped back mentally for a moment, truly admiring the scene before him and truly astounded that such a small group was working together valiantly -— ahead of schedule no less. With any luck, they might actually reach their stretch goalvision of having a functional shelter for their newfound denizens by nightfall.

During his short reprieve, Fiona Monroe approached him. "It's truly astounding, isn't it?" she spoke in awe, "I really wasn't sure what to expect when you approached my husband with this idea – thought it was little more than a fantasy."

Fiona Monroe was one of the higher-—ups in their group of volunteers, using the influence of her brother in the Council to find those suspicious of witchcraft, making them an offer to join their little scheme. Some accepted while many others refused, for the dangers were quite elevated; after all, if discovered they would likely all be killed.

"Fiona, you should really have more faith in us, or in me at the very least." he spoke sardonicallysmugly, boasting an exaggerated confidence which he did not truly possess.

Fiona rolled her eyes in response, it was this type of persona which annoyed her the most, in men who took what power and position they had for granted. Fiona lived in a world where women could not assert themselves in powerful positions, and even her brother was more of a relay for her own ideals than actually being of use in the position himself – granted, Geoffrey was a bit of an exception since he did also possess a grand amount of humility.

Geoffrey squealed, flicked in the arm by Mindy Victor. "Really, Geoff? What kind of image are you trying to project on our future denizens? If you continue acting overconfidently like that, I'm worried people will think you're, well, kind of an ass." She spoke, her tone denoting irritation.

Fiona pondered for a moment before speaking. "You mean he isn't always like this?" She moved her hand in order to conceal a mischievous grin. Despite Fiona's apparently innocent and to-—the-—rules outward persona, she quite enjoyed toying with others and obtained great amusement when they were put in their place.

"Alright, fine," Geoffrey spoke, now approaching Fiona until they were at arms' length and giving her an ill-—conceived puppy-—dog look. "I'll act like the good little boy mom always wanted to be," he said in a statement laden with sarcasm.

"That's good." Mindy spoke, now mixed between apprehension and hopefulness at his last statement. "Now, please go greet the next round of people; you should know the drill by now."

Geoffrey approached the newfound group in the demeanor which very much denoted a man of influence. Now in front of his newfound group of followers, he began the speech he'd given several times in the past few hours, "Greetings everyone. My name is Geoffrey McDowell, but you may call me Geoff. I know times have been tough and while you thought the worst was over, the moment you arrived here, you must have realized that isn't the case." This last statement perplexed some of the villagers, who tilted their heads in confusion. "We have the rare opportunity to start a village from scratch. A place where everyone will be treated equally, where we're free from prosecution. A place where witches can practice out in the open. Starting from scratch isn't easy, but rest assured everyone here knows the sacrifices you made to come. But fear not and look around you, together we will be united under a new name, and we will have our freedom!"

Despite the speech which had worked numerous times, he did not feel the as if it went the same way as it had in the past, a certain presence lingered, a foreign and hostile one. He surely wasn't the only one to think this. Many others continued to feel unsafe, as if their very presence was being threatened. In the span of an instant, a familiar figure – LeslieSylvester! – appeared in the crowd's midst, seemingly out of thin air.

"I'm honestly surprised, does a speech that corny actually have any effect on your efforts? It was quite pathetic if you ask me," he intoned, indicating true confidence as if one were speaking down to lesser beings, every syllable emphasizing his illusioned right to be in their presence.

Geoffrey stared at him in disbelief, if LeslieSylvester found them the council must know where they were, and that would spell certain doom. "What do you want, LeslieSylvester? If you're here to destroy us, we far outnumber you and can take you down easily," Geoffrey spoke, now assuming his position of authority.

"tsk, tsk, tsk," LeslieSylvester responded, resuming his self-—righteous attitude, "Is that really any way to treat your beloved mayor?" he continued encircling the would-—be denizens and their new town. "I came here… to come to an understanding as to why you would leave our precious town."

Geoffrey laughed aloud, trying to markedly enlarge his presence, "Ha! You know why; you got that group of delusional witch hunters killing innocent people left and right!" He spoke while taking a stance for the people and pointed aggressively at LeslieSylvester.

LeslieSylvester scoffed at the crowd's feeble defence Geoffrey offered up, "Don't be ridiculous, I'm a reasonable person, and the witch hunters are simply doing their job, protecting our town from those who would undo God's work. Besides, this place has such a terr-—i-—ble reputation for health I simply HAD to come and warn you." He spoke in an obvious tone of fake sincerity.

This response only had many villagers turn to each other in hushed whispers, it wasn't long however, before a middle aged man began to cough, turning pale as he did so. To further accentuate his condition, a blue vein appeared on his neck before he passed out.

"As you can see, I speak the truth." He spoke now approaching the unconscious man, and pushing worried onlookers aside. Cupping his face in his left hand and tilting his neck to expose the foreign substance, he almost seemed to be admiring it. "And it looks so terribly painful." Abruptly, he let the man slide to the stony ground. LeslieSylvester flourished his robe while turning around to begin his venture back to Salem, leaving behind a panicked crowd. While he was still within earshot he turned, speaking once more. "I hear it kills within the day and spreads like wildfire, or at least, that's what my witch hunter friends say."

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Sleepy Hollow, is a very special town, a town where witches could be themselves. Founded in 1698 by The Sacred Circle families: Bellerose, Kingston, Maxwell, McDowell, Meyers and Victor. Each family possessed their roles and influential power and while many would argue that the Bellerose family was the most influential Lucy Bellerose did not believe it to be the case. Her family was indeed the the most admired and respected -— but not the one with the most influence.

At this time, Lucy sauntered in the mansion, her black hair tied up in a bun at the top of her head, without this particular style her hair dropped to just below her shoulders. She donned a black dress decorated with a white stripe which began at the top left side of her body and elegantly swirled downwards, making the occasional appearance again in the front as it traveled. This stripe she wore contrasted with her bronzelike skin, which contained a natural gleam that complemented her facial features in every correct way. Any person walking by would immediately recognize her as a woman of power and confidence -— a mistake few villagers have ever made.

The effort in her attire was all to cater the formality of the party, further accentuated by the mansion it was held in. The mansion in question belonged to none other than the Kingston family, the truest family of wealth and power. Not only had they nearly single handedly financed the construction of the town, they are the architect of the Magic and Magus Crest -— both of which played a pivotal role in the town to date.

The mansion was far more lavish than one could even hope to imagine, a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, a central staircase leading up to the second floor, spiraling near the end purely for aesthetics. Looking around she spotted many astounding pieces of artwork -— many of which had been stolen at one point or another -— some of these included: two Fabergé Eggs positioned on pedestals at the center of the room and paintings framed in oak frames and bordered with a gold binding which decorated the circular room's white wall. One painting Lucy admired in particular: "The Concert" By Johannes Vermeer; it this painting was indeed authentic the Kingston had likely stolen it from the original robbers as a form of poetic justice shortly after 1990.

"Apple ring madame," spoke a man in a white and black uniform as he walked by her. The meal of the evening had now passed to the dessert menu, Lucy smiled and gracefully picked one up from the silver tray. She silently nodded to the man and he did so, continuing his rounds.

With the dessert finished, Lucy approached her target, the man known as Alexis Kingston. Alexis, much like Lucy herself was the Archon of his family and now by extension the host of the party. He bore a custom made Italian suit tailoring to the classical black and white design, Alexis was a fan of the classics and tradition, this propagated further into his hairstyle short and spiky featuring a natural light brown color against his white skin. Despite the fact that Kingston family focused on the long term goal with their endeavours, they did not take the same approach with their bodies, he was an averaged sized man lacking any significant definition.

"Hello Lucy," Alexis spoke in the familiar welcoming tone heard when reacquainting with old friends. While he may have played the part convincingly, the truth of the matter was he was quite nervous, if paid close enough attention one could notice the slight tremor in his legs.

She responded with a curtsy, before ushering her intentions of the approach. "I must say, you've simply outdone yourself, I believe this will the lauded inauguration party for centuries to come." She spoke admirably. "And this is a surprising effort, considering you aren't the new Grand Archon."

Alexis cringed slightly in response, then stretched his hand outward asking for a dance, delighted by the invitation Lucy reciprocated. Much to Lucy's surprise Alexis knew how to dance the waltz and did it well, his feet never once crossed her own and were in perfect symmetry. Perhaps he only knew the dance due to its level of sophistication.

"Just imagine the level of that grandness for when it happens, this celebration will be nothing but a distant memory." Alexis spoke in grandeur excusing himself for his shortcomings, to some degree he had wanted the position, truth is if he had tried for it more he would've had it -— however the decision made in the end was best for the long term survival of their Circle. "Besides, the new appointment truly is for the best, right now we need a charismatic leader and that's what the new Grand Archon will provide..." He finished breaking eye contact with her briefly to look around the room.

"Don't worry Alexis, I'm sure he will show up soon enough. Besides everyone knows how eccentric he is. Everyone will understand his tardiness." Lucy spoke now attempting to excuse the man's absence.

Alexis sighed, knowing this was a battle of words he could not win. "That still doesn't excuse this, he said he needed two weeks and as a precaution we gave him a month. Apparently still not enough." taking a moment to pause, extending his partner outward with a roll off his arm. "Perhaps, we should consider sticking with Mrs. Meyers." Finishing the sentence Lucy re-—entered his kind embrace, playing out the steps.

Their dance continued, the pair swaying back and forth as the air from their movements brushed lightly along their skin, she could see several guests now staring at their dance, likely surprised by the elegance being presented.

Wishing to be discreet Lucy spoke softly in Alexis' ear, "I agree with you, Kira is acting as an excellent Grand Archon, but she wants to resume her duties as an Archmage, its far too difficult to enact all three roles, as duty driven as she is I fear for her own well being."

"True her brother has far too many shortcomings to properly act as a figure of authority." Alexis inadvertently gave Jason a gaze as he referenced him. He was a well built man, and well featured, his blond hair was well groomed he had a symmetrical shaven like cut on both sides of his head, and a bed of medium-—short hair on the top. If looks alone were all a woman wanted from a man, they needn't look further than Jason; his personality however, left something to be desired. He didn't go out of his way to make others disrespect him, and all knew it was not through mal intentions; he simply had a habit of getting what he wanted more diligently with higher costs than most are comfortable with. It not only showed in his magical and professional life but in his personality as well.

To Alexis surprise the crowd was not paying much attention to Jason and instead the attention of nearly all of the Hollow Circles were on them -— observing their dance. "Let's give them a show shall we?" he spoke confidently. Next with a small motion of his head given to the small orchestra which had been playing, the tone switched from a waltz to a tango, with not even a moment to register the change of tone Alexis dipped Lucy passionately -— undoing her bun in the process. Her hair came out disheveled nearly touching the floor.

Lucy smiled, letting out a small surprised noise in the process, "You always did like going out with a bang didn't you?"

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The storm raged on off the southeastern coast of Australia, lightning strikes appearing in short intervals and waves assailing the boat, tipping it with great force. These conditions were contrary to the reported weather forecast -— indicating clear weather and low chances of rain and showers.

Henry McDowell looked around observing the nautical equipment, many lights flashed vigorously, making obtuse noises, attempting to earn the attention of their navigator, Will Sertori. Will's hair was a dirty blonde and medium short, little could be said about his taste in clothes, perhaps if he was out on a night in the town his clothes would've been more stylish but for the sake of his job he simply a wore a blue sweater and toquuke and cargo pants which judging from the exterior were waterproof, a sensible and advisable choice.

To the contrary, and pressed for time Henry was dressed in formal attire, black dress pants, white collared shirt with tie and a black vest which cut off at his shoulders, a very dapper man. His figure itself was good as well, having been on many excursions to unfamiliar areas he naturally trained his body for adaptability in various environments. He was a well traveled man, made new friends easily, the only ones he met on a regular basis were those he found particularly interesting, excellent partners in bed, or provided valuable transportation services; as was the case for this occasion regarding Will Sertori.

Few would willingly venture out to the middle of uncharted territory known for numerous disappearances, no matter how much money one offered, Will was different. His grandfather was a friend of Harry McDowell, Joseph Sertori helped him to obtain a pact with the spirit Vyrkul and as a favor Harry convinced Joshua Kingston to pay off the mortgage on his house. Over time various other gifts were given, not quite as grand -— but it continued to sustain the relationship between them.

"Think this means we hit the spot?" Asked the captain, looking intently at his equipment -— making small adjustments here and there. "I don't think I can safely bring you in much further." Marking his question as more of a statement than anything else.

Henry smiled, opening the creaking door which led outside the bridge. "Time to find out." Walking outside, the pair were immediately hit by strong winds, made even more evident by the presence of white caps. In the middle of the sea emerged the enemy, with its trademarked being huge and unnaturally long tentacles and its massive one eye in the middle ofcentred in ahis gigantic head, an eye that glowed in the darkness of the depths with a glare of dreadful yellow. This creature was known as a Kraken, most should have been extinguished long ago -— this one included. This Kraken was known as the sea spirit Ursula, somewhere along the line a Kraken had obtained magical energy, likely done by destroying a ship containing a Magical Artifact. This spirit reappeared every 80 or so years and ever since it was the McDowells duty to defeat it, it was part of a pact with the summon spirit Undine that they would return it to the spirit realm every time it emerged.

"Is the ship going to be okay Henry?" Will spoke nervously, frantic to maintain his job. The ship belonged to the company he worked for Maritime Express, and the trip was unofficial -— so any damage done to the ship he would have to answer for directly.

"Don't worry about it so much." Henry spoke, now in a firm stance drawing magical energy. His Magic Crest started to glow, the McDowell family crest design was comprised of one central circle, often associated with channelling energy with lines that swerved outwards connected to various other circles, each associated to a particular type of magic. The lines were comprised of writing in an ancient language, the circles referred to the spirits frequently used by the family over generations. Some circles spoke of fierce elements such as fire, while others whispered kindness and comfort.

"Conqueror of gods,

Seeker of Justice,

With purity of lightning,

And sound of thunder,"

A spot of magical energy now gathered in the center circle, causing it to glow purple, as he chanted the energy traversed along a line headed to his upper left chest, covering the writing at the same speed of the spell, eventually settling on a circle with a rune for lightning.

"I command thy force within me,

and with eternal light, extinguish my foe.

Come forth, Lei Shen!"

The glow now intensified along the traversed path and runes, and quickly engulfed his body finally exploding into a bright purple light, blinding all present. With the light subsided Will noticed Henry's elongated figure, his hair once auburn now an inch or two longer and turned a shade of black with a purple streak appearing on the left side. Extending his arm, a lance materialized, its handle long and red with a short curved blade at the tip.

Will stood dumbfounded at the sight before him, he had heard of the powers of the McDowell family but seeing it in person for the first time was another thing altogether. His power had increased tenfold from a one verse spell.

Spirit Summoning had two versions: one known as Spirit Materialization where a witch supplies enough magic for a spirit to fully materialize, another is Spirit Polymerization as the name implies this magic fuses the witch with their spirit counterpart. Spirit Materialization allows said spirit to operate independently and at full strength, Spirit Polymerization dramatically increases the witch's strength beyond that of the spirit on its own; this is dangerous though as the power can easily overwhelm the witch causing irreparable harm.

"I'll need you to provide me some platforms," Henry spoke now already suspended a few meter in the air over ocean waters, the voice startled Will as the voice he'd grown accustomed to hearing was now a good octave lower.

Will extended his hand, emitting an opal colored light, this formed an ice platform, in time for the armed man to land. He grabbed the lance with both hands positioning it at a downwards angle, assuming a defensive position. The Kraken didn't even hesitate, it lashed one of its tentacles directly at him, convinced he would not be able to sever the arm coming towards him, Henry jumped several meters into the air avoiding it altogether. A second attack however, from another tentacle smacked Henry right into the ship, breaching a hole which he tumbled through.

Before Will knew it the Kraken had already latched onto the ship with two of its free tentacles from underneath, his ship now riddled with sea monster tentacles draped across the deck. The extremities constricted it, applying great force and bending it in unnatural ways.

Now fearing for his own life Will grabbed one of the foreign arms trying to destroy the ship and froze it -— followed by a strong whack with his arm, shattering the creatures arm clean off. The arm which had just been severed grew back nearly instantaneously.

Now having garnered Ursula's attention the creature latched onto Will with its newly regenerated limb encircling his human body, slowly supplying more and more force in an attempt to terminate the threat. He could see black dots decorate his vision, his breaths becoming few and far between, and just as he was about to lose consciousness a bright light shone through the deck and a blade pierced through the floor and served the arm once more.

"Sorry about that, she got me off guard, barely hurt at all. See I'm totally fine." Henry spoke confidently positioning himself once more in an attack position.

"Uhhh, no you're not." Will spoke correctively, not believing Henry for a moment. If one took even the slightest moment to examine Henry's body no one would believe his last statement, the left side of his face had a bruise roughly the size of a baseball, and the left side of his body containing multiple swelling spots. His attire only accentuated his unhealthy state -— his white shirt once pristine now covered in squid ink and blood.

"Oh, come on!" Henry spoke, in a tone of fake sincerity. "Can't you just for once believe me. Even if I have an arm or two cut off some confidence from you can go a long way you know?"

"Just get this cretin off the ship already!" Will commanded, deeply concerned with the invading presence on his ship. Without even a moments hesitation Henry charged directly to the creatures head, jumping from the side of the ship and into the air, empowering his leap with sheer magical energy. The kraken tried to use its his colossal tentacles to swat the mighty witch aside in mid jump, but after reprioritizing his magical energy's by redirecting it's focus from impulse to renewed speed, Henry managed to dodge each and every tentacles that came his way in mid-—airsliced through the air at him. until he fFinally landed landing on the enormous head that stood dozens of meters above the water's surface, and he jammed his lance in it. With the monsters head pierced his whole body conducted electricity as the creature screech out in agony, and at the same time paralyzed to be unable to move.

"Kou-—Zuma!" With the command given the monster was shot off the boat, and disintegrated, returning to the spirit realm. With the threat gone, Lei Shen left the confines of Henry's body, returning his hair and shape back to its natural state. "See, everything's fine."

"MY SHIP!" Will screamed, making exaggerated gestures at all of the worst places. He feared to even imagine the amount of money it was going to take out of his pay to fix that -— assuming he wasn't to be flat out fired and sued; in that order. "There's a human sized hole in the hull, another hole on the deck! Not to mention the bends on this ship that are present EVERYWHERE!"

Henry took a moment to think, rolling his eyes back slightly. "You MAY have a point." A response which earned him only a menacing glare. Henry sighed in defeat, "I guess this means I'm missing my own party." He paused taking a moment to think "Or maybe not…"

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The man who collapsed earlier was rushed into the poorly constructed shelter, and despite his already fragile state the group dropped him on a hard wooden table with such force that one could hear a bruise forming as he hit it. This behavior was to be expected -— the people were already in a fragile state of mind, having traveled a great distance into a completely new unfamiliar, uncertain, and uncivilized environment, just to have their presence once again be threatened.

"What happened?" Mindy asked, concerned for the man's well beingwell—being, worried she would need to treat him for stroke AND a bruiseconcussion. She approached her patient, gently touching her hand on his shirt while concentrating on the task at hand. Mindy specialized in healing magic, so the instant she saw the man and felt the panic she knew there was work to be done.

"LeslieSylvester paid us a visit;, seems he found us." Fiona explained, growing worrisome of the crowd who had gathered. "Left us a little gift and everything." She continued makingmade sure to point out the blue vein which had appeared on the man.

"This is truly bizarre," Mindy spoke aloud to contemplating contemplate her situation, . realising Realising there was a crowd to address, she started to make a formal announcement, not wanting to be overshadowed overcome by so many in the room. "Everyone, please don't worry. I'm going to take care of everything -— rest assured if any of you feel sick please come see me. For now, it's best if all of you went back outside and continued your duties."

Fiona nodded, having now assimilated assumeda Second- in- Command like position, she took charge and led the group outside, knowing Geoffrey wanted to stay inside with Mindy and her patient. They obeyed hesitantly, all curious as to observe the unfolding event and likely scared -—– it was only a matter of time until they eventually gave into the fear of this illness and returned to Salem if no cure were to be found.

With the people gone, Geoffrey spoke his mind, "So what is it, really?" Over their time together, Geoffrey managed to pick up on many of Mindy's tells, and as such he knew she was honestly nervous, or at the very least knew something was wrong.

"It's LeslieSylvester, nothing is EVER that simple." she placed her hand thoughtfully on his neck examining the new artificial vein which had appeared. "It seems to be a strange Lyrium-Lacryma compound." Taking a moment to sigh, she focused her energy on the vein in question.

During this time, the task was obviously draining Mindy: her face was in a mode of extreme concentration and struggle as if lifting a weight that was far too heavy for her. In a matter of seconds Mindy collapsed on the floor., a A panicked Geoffrey rushed to her side, picked her up off the ground and set her back onto her seat. She was short of breath and sweating, ; even drops of sweat were seen in her hair, as the task nearly wiped her out.

"Mindy are you okay? What happened?" He spoke, his voice screaming for information., he He had never seen her collapse like that before., perhaps Perhaps the exhaustion of casting healing so much in one day had finally caught up to her.

"I don't feel so good." Mindy spoke short of breath, still sweating and her complexion down paling a few tones of color. Mindy looked wide eyed as she noticed her patient still laying on the table. "Oh no! The vein's still there."

Geoffrey couldn't help but sigh mentally, . here Here she was, having just collapsed from a failed effort, and still her only concern was her patient. Mindy was people driven almost to the point of self-endangerment, she rarely took concern about her own needs and desires -— instead putting them last. Regardless, in this case she had a point, as the vein's presence was indeed still a factor.

"Wait is it just me or is it actually bigger?" Geoffrey noticed, as he stared at the man's neck. the The vein indeed was a different size, shape, and position, but it was hardly enough information to say if it had grown bigger or not. In a moment of sheer curiosity, Geoffrey touched the newfound spot, . He drew back in surprise when it moved around, - as if alive, now scurrying over to his the man's left pectoral just over his heart. "That can't be good, can it."

Abruptly, Tthe man shook around as if in a seizure, the spot rifling around and expanding to cover an approximately two-—inch circle. Mindy moved forward placing her hand on his neck, checking for a pulse but the two of them already knew what had conspiredthe answer, — the man died.

At this time,Before they had a chance to react, Fiona rushed in with two more people who had apparently collapsed, flinging the door open with great force, to reveal the patients were: one 14 year old girl, and an approximately 38 year old man. Each having had a pale complexion, and Mindy was sure that an inspection was not necessary to guess that they had a blue vein just like the others.

"I got two more for you. They were practicing levitating a ball in the air when they suddenly collapsed.," She she announced, and placed the two gently on the adjoining table, with the help of a few spare volunteers. "Made any progress yet?"

"Yes and no," She spoke on the verge of tears, Mindy hated letting people down, and seeing that she inadvertently caused the death of a man took a great toll on her. However, she knew the mayor wouldn't go down without a fight, and knew even if she hadn't been here this man would've died anyway. She was trying her best to shut down her emotions for the sake of the group, but it was very hard for her, ; barely holding back the tears it was takingtook all of her strength to hold back. "I'm sta—I'm starting to understand what this is.

"I'm sorry, Mindy." Geoffrey spoke, placing a hand on her back, trying to console her, . she She in turn leaned into him crying. Fiona and her two assistants stood in the entranceway staring at the scene with discomfort, unsure of what they should do given this the situation. Geoffrey simply continued to console her, letting her express her despair in the way she needed, trying to empathise with what she was going through.

Just then, Fiona put on her resolve. "Mindy, I hate to say this. But get yourself together!" Fiona stated outright. Geoffrey, went wide eyed staring at the woman who spoke the brazen statement, which was clearly inappropriate for Mindy's well beingwellbeing, who but now surprisingly stopped her sobbing. "Look, I'm sorry about what happened, truly. But if you can't deal with the fact that someone died during our venture then you should just quit right now!"

"Fiona…" Geoffrey spoke, offended by her outburst, whose egregiousness becoming became more evident by the awkward atmosphere which instilled itself between them and the two volunteers, feeling the blunt end of it.

"Oh, come on. We both know it. I'm just the only one here willing to say it!"

"Geoff, it's okay, she's right..." She said stifling a sigh with her voice still trembling with emotion and her face now removed from the shelter of Geoffrey's chest. "I need to focus on the task at hand, — I can't have LeslieSylvester get away with any more people dying today." Taking a moment to collect herself, she continued, giving a much more monotone response thaen her usual ones. "The main thing I don't understand is how it's spreading. It seems to be some sort of magical parasite, so logic would dictate we needed to have had this initially enter our body through eating, or something."

"Could it be that we're breathing it in?" Geoffrey was always surprising, despite not having a high intellect he had the strangest way of suggesting new and outlandish ideas or thoughts which often offered a very helpful and useful angle at a situation, and this was no exception.

"That would explain it, but this of course leaves to out what triggered it. The first infected showed signs just moments after his arriving, and these two have been here for several hours. I doubt LeslieSylvester Dewitt released the parasite just then either, or we would've seen it. Since we're still.." Mindy paused taking a moment to catch her breath. "I'm sorry, I think that must've taken a lot more out of me than I…" with that last statement she collapsed on the table -— now unconscious herself.

"MINDY!" Fiona screamed, trying to wake her up by shoving her awake, and applying some light pressure and pinching her arm. "This is just great, why did she collapse too? All three of us have been here for almost three whole days."

"Magic!" Geoffrey exclaimed,. Now now believed believing to have figured out what caused it. "The first victim was probably going to attack LeslieSylvester, Mindy got infected when she tried to heal him, and the last two we're using telekinesis to pass a ball between them!"

Fiona nodded, vigorously. it It at last all made sense and connected what they were missing. "You two, please go tell everyone outside to gather for an announcement, I'll be out shortly." Without even a moment's hesitation, they obeyed and left the shelter. "This is a problem, — if we can't heal these people, they're going to leave and go back to Salem and suffer an even worse fate, especially now that LeslieSylvester will know that most of these people are witches. How in the world am I supposed to keep them, calm about this?"

"I think you're going to do fine with this, Fiona, simply assure them that as long as they don't use magic for the time being they'll be fine." As Geoffrey spoke as he stood up from his chair and walked to the back entrance of the shelter, Fiona went wide eyed in disbelief -— it was probably the worst time ever to go for a walk.

"Where do you think you're going? I can't be left alone with a responsibility like this!" she spoke with rage and confusion hidden just beneath its a fragile and emotional tone. Not only was he the last member of the Circle who organized the whole plan, he was their leader. As much as Fiona knew Geoffrey trusted her, she often lacked that trust in herself, and being left alone in charge of a group of panicked refugees was certainly not on her to to-do list today. Not now, not ever.

He simply turned to look at her with a smile on his face, and offered her a coy response, "There's more than one way to heal someone,." finishing with a wink and left.

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Alexis smiled, pulling his dance partner up, continuing his role as a lead on the fourth step into their tango, he gave her a twirl, her hair spiraled around, and they now reconnected in front of each other as Alexis placed his hand on her hip. Moving together in harmony, their legs moved quickly and succinctly, legs occasionally interlocking in a playful, flirtatious manner, following the tango's motif.

Now the couple moved forward towards the center of the circle where their crowd had formed., once Once there, Alexis gave Lucy a short half turn spin, where she casually, let herself fall backfully depend on the support of the leading man, now slowly falling towards the ground. Once low enough, she grabbed the hands of her partner, swooping under his legs., now hHaving usurped the leading role of the dance, she giving gave him a one final dip as the song reached its climactic end.

Their audience was stunned at the wonderful performance, and the amusement of seeing not only a man finish a dance in a non-leading role - a Kingston no less -— brought on a great sense of entertainment and a grand round of applause.

The pair pleased with the response bowed to their beloved audience, the scene only interrupted by a woman on a microphone. "And that was a lovely dance by our beloved Lucy Bellerose and Alexis Kingston," Kira Meyers spoke now situated on the podium, in the back of the room.

She had long orange-red hair, she had and a tall fair figure, h. Her skin was slightly paler than most others but it looked quite beautiful on her. The only jewelry she wore was a pearl necklace located on her midnight blue dress, modest in size. It The dress not only covered her body, but shoulders as well; Kira was not comfortable in the form- fitting dresses most men preferred, not that she cared much., her Her time was very focused on her career, ; combine that with focus on maintaining her family duties, and she possessed little little-to to-no time for any 'extra-curricular activities'.

"Now, I've been informed that the man we've all been waiting for has arrived, I'm afraid I must steal these two performers backstage for a few moments while we prepare for the formal announcement."

Lucy smiled as she pulled Alexis back to his full upright position, escorting him to the backroom while following Kira's lead, somewhat perturbed by the announcement for the pair to join her backstage. It was quite unusual for her to ask for help especially in a public manner, at an event which should have been succinctly organized, but alas this was Henry they were talking about.

In only moments all three arrived backstage with to witness a collapsed Henry on a bed, his suit covered in what appeared to be a black sludge with some blue mixed in. All three of them could feel the sickly and exhausted aura emanating from the man, and if it weren't already evident -—– the facadeit certainly wouldn't remain that long when once his voice made it's appearanceannouncements. The state of the man was quite unbecoming of the room, which featuring featured an almost victorian Victorian esque vibe, . the The bed had posts reaching long high enough to hang a drape which one could close at their leisure, in addition to a small sheet which shielded the sleeper from any light above, . even Even the pattern on the bedsheets themselves had an elegant mix of red, dark blue with swirls of a gold gold-like thread (or perhaps even goldthe valuable metal itself), now tainted by the blood and sludge on the man who at first glance easily looked like an imposter.

"I don't feel so good." He moaned, in a quite unusually uncharacteristic fashion, the voice laced with the combination of exhaustiveness exhaustion one would normally expect after a long flight and with a few beers thrown in for good measure.

"Why am I not surprised." Alexis spoke with heavy disappointment of the sad state of a man before him. Henry turned aroundrolled over, exposing his front side, which was just as bad as his backfront., his His face contained a few cuts, and two fairly large bruises and his suit was essentially unpresentable, the unidentified sludge having covered nearly a third of the fabric.

"Oh dear!" Lucy spoke with authentic concern, noting the sad state Henry was in. His clothes although originally well planned for the evening certainly did not cater to the formality of the party any longer.

"Can you two just stop scrutinising me and just help me please. ? I have the worlds worst headache,." He he moaned as he placed his hand slowly on his exhausted fpace and in nearly over- dramatic fashion -— as if he were in a terrible play.

"This is unbelievable, it seems like as though you went to a bar, drank until you passed out, and rolled around in mud!" Alexis steamed. Alexis and Henry, never really got along, but in a strange way they did authentically care about each other when they weren't trying to rip each other's throats out, ; this was certainly no exception at an inauguration party.

With his response finished, Lucy sat down next to Henry -and lifting him upright, removing a small container of white pasty cream from her purse and applying it to his face in all spaces that needed attention. The cream itself was nothing too special, it contained a mix of herbs which naturally enhanced the capabilities of healing spells which he feared they dreadfully needed. It smelled similar to that of an over over-the the-counter muscle relaxant as it did contain a hefty portion of eucalyptus. "Alexis, I know you're upset right now and we can deal with addressing this inappropriate state of appearance later, but for now what would be beneficial?" She Ttryingried desperately to avoid a giant outburst between the two.

Alexis stood dumbfounded before replying, "I'll go get him one of my suits, but I swear, if he ruins it like this one…" Lucy turned again facing to face Alexis with a stern glare that indicated, this was certainly NOT the time., He gave in instantly. "I'll go see what I can find."

Kira sighed with relief, the moment Alexis left the room, taking the opportunity so sit next to Henry on his other side. "Surprisingly enough, that didn't go anywhere near as bad as I thought it would." ," The the Archon spoke to her friend Lucy, . the The pair, unlike Alexis and Henry, had a very beneficial and positive friendship. They both enjoyed helping:, Lucy preferred helping others with their personal problems while Kira preferred maintaining order -— which lentds itself significantly to her job as chief police officer of Sleepy Hollow.

"Tell me about it," Lucy responded, completely aware of how it could've gone, fearing an all-—out magic battle between them. Relaxing her shoulders slightly she now moved her right hand on Henry's shoulder and had the left one rotating slightly in front of his face. "Sana, Sana, Sana" She chanted, as she did the cream dissolved revealing a Henry with his cuts and bruises no longer visible.

"Thanks Lucy," He said, still tired -— and again in an almost drunk likeen stupor, . she She knew Henry was bad when it came to planning for formal events, but his intoxicated like state was very unlike him, ; as she looked at him hoping for an explanation, Henry took the queue cue and began his albeit poor explanationrecounting. "I was in Aussie, fighting the thing, to do the thing…"

Kira now sat wide-eyed, "YOU DIDN'T!" she spoke in an elevated voice. "You used Hermes to travel halfway around the world? YOU IDIOT!" Kira spoke, slapping him with a force greater than she intended. Now looking away in a disappointed fashion, in a strange way truly isfinally delivering a fitting punishment.

"Owww," He responded in pain. "Why do you heal me, just so she can slap me?" he said, now in a whining voice similar to that of a two year old. "I needed to get here quickly, and Will needed help cleaning his ship," ." he He took a break from his apology by swallowing a pill Lucy placed in his hand, not even questioning it -— not that Lucy would ever dream of hurting him… or going through with a plan to anyway. "Speaking of which, Alexis needs to fix the bends the Kraken made."

"Alright, let's just take it one step at a time, I'll pass that small bit of news to Alexis myself, perhaps we'll send his daughter, Maya,." Lucy announced, trying to ease away any potential problems they mightay encounter in the near future, placing her fist in front of her face as she coughed.

Henry now having been revitalized thanks to the efforts of Lucy stood up and gazed at himself, admiring himself in the old-fashioned mirror which stood upright, still pertaining to the victorian motif with its fancy gold bordered edges. He gazed at himself, perhaps longer than what most people would consider the norm. "Now all I need is a new suit, and I'll be my usual gorgeous self, not a single person here will be able to keep their hands off me!"

"Really? you think NOW is the best time for you to get laid?" Alexis spoke, as he re-entered the guest room. "This will be your chance to make a good first impression so please, PLEASE don't do anything to tarnish our reputation, you're representing our circle for goodness' sakes! I thought we went over this."

"You said I would be the best Archon BECAUSE you wanted someone more upbeat, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." Henry spoke in an almost arrogant fashion however, and upon noting the lack of disan approval from his comrades, sighed in defeat. Kira looked at him as if she was going to murder him, and Lucy in turn stared in blatant disbelief. "Fine," Henry gave in, "I will act more like Alexis."

Taking the suit from Alexis, he went behind the separator, removing his old suit and putting on the new one. The new suit was much more formal then his prior one, now tailored to a classic bold black and white style, nearly identical to Alexis'. It only differreddiffered by a wider broadcast of the dress shirt underneath the vest, then again that may have only been the case due to the size difference between Alexis and himself, ; either way, he thought it looked better on him. Calling Henry a bit vain was certainly an accurate descriptor, . Hhe didn't mind being made fun of for that fact and often playeds along with the jokes that stemmed from it, more than happy to play suffer a joke at his expense.

"Now, it's time to greet my adoring public,." He he spoke with a smile, opening the door revealed a waitress tripping into them, tipping over the contents of her tray, . it It contained various glasses of a clear yellow-brown substance which were presumably whisky. With her fast reflexes she grabbed Henry, almost tackling him out of the way, leaving only a few shattered glasses and their contents spilled.

The waitress fumbled around awkwardly, removing her towel previously draped around her arm and soaking up the spilled beverages. "I'm so sorry! I just thought the new guest would like something to drink… I didn't mean to…" She spoke sputtered while looking down, embarrassed.

Henry sighed, going down to his knees next to her. "It's okay, just clean it up and come outside for the speech. That way nothing bad happened in the end right?" He he spoke assuredly, . this This response earned him overall approvalrecourse from his peers, all of whom gave a look of approval as to how he handled the situations, ; sometimes he knew just what to say, despite the fact that he at times acted like an arrogant asshole.

"Yes, sir." ," She she spoke, placing her hand over the speill and chanted,. "Munda." And with that word, the stain was cleaned, . magic Magic was extremely commonplace in Sleepy Hollow, so using magic a spell for a trivial matter such as this was shocking to none present. What was a surprise is was the fit of coughing which ensued after the fact from Lucy.

"I'm sorry guys, I don't know what's going on, I must have gotten a cold or something." She spoke reassuring everyone, . much Much to her dismay, however, she was hardly fooling anyone as her complexion became a few tones paler. "I think I just need to catch my breath for a moment." Grabbing her throat momentarily she sat on the bed, coughing a bit more beforeand falling over, exposing a blue vein on her neck.

"Oh, shit." Kira spoke aloud, realizing the gravity of the situation, even now hearing murmurs from the outside crowd, and. surely Surely enough, Jason blitzed in the room, his demeanor quite panicked, clearly having exerted himself in order to bolt to the room, with an unconscious Jacob Victor draped over his shoulder. Jacob was the Archon of the Victor family – one known for its healing magic, so as all there feared, the epidemic couldn't have picked a better target for it to spread.

Much to the relief of Jason, Jacob was not a particularly heavy man, but was rather slim in figure much like Alexis. His short dark brown hair, normally slightly upright was now drenched in what could only be sweat, judging from the water like substance wetness present on the rest of his body.

"Guys, we have a serious problem with some of our guests,." Jason spoke, "Any of you know what this is?" he asked, pointing to a blue vein on Jacob's neck. He was clearly Cconcerned for not only their own safety but that of all their guests.

Before silence turned to dismay, a voice emerged from the corner of the room. "I think I might actually…" spoke the waitress hesitantly.

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LeslieSylvester sat in the mayor's office gloating in his victory of the day soon enough, the witches who tried to escape from his clutches would soon be gone and his plan will be one step closer to fruition. Furthermore with the threat of witches removed, he'ldl be a shoe-—in for the next election, realising his thought he removed himself from his oak wood chair, grabbing a bottle of red wine from his cabinet gently pouring it into the see through glass in front of him, swirling it around slightly before sipping it, a finely aged cabernet.

His choice of wine wasn't the only item of class in his office, he sported finely furnished wood furniture, all boasting a rustic like charm to them. His office's primary colors were variations of the lighter shades of brown varying from a dark wood like tone to a light almost beige color. This was particularly true of the few paintings in his office. Even now he stared at one made by a local artist, little more than a group of villagers assembling a village, it was the perfect one to look at in irony, letting out a sigh of contentment.

"Did you really think that was wise?" spoke a woman's voice, and indeed one was present boasting a dark green dress marking her as a woman of higher class. Her skin was fair in color, and her hair neatly tied up in a bun on top all wrapped around a gold like circle.

LeslieSylvester lowered his head, his evening of deserved relaxation now interrupted by his unwelcome guest. "It needed to be done, they would have only garnered more power had I done nothing, now please leave so I can enjoy the rest of my evening." He spoke excusing himself to the stranger, his voice still filled with an overwhelming confidence.

"You humans are quite the animals aren't you?" She now spoke, in strange mix of curiosity and punishment. Now strolling around the room as she said this, letting her hand trace around the expensive wooden cabinet adjacent to the mirror.

"Well, most of us maybe, but certainly as you've noticed. Not I." LeslieSylvester spoke quickly to defend himself from the femme fatale, her presence somehow gaining more and more significance by the second – further increasing the power of her words.

She gave a noise of muffled contemplation, "Well your taste may be higher than most, not sure I can say the same about the rest of you." tracing her hand along the mirror before cracking with the smallest flick of her finger, sending shards of it on the ground.

LeslieSylvester's eyes widened in shocked, and shortly after with irritation turning to her, in an assertive tone. "Why did you do that?"

"Oh, for entertainment darling, besides if you can't even repair a simple thing like a mirror, with my magic I'm truly wasting my time aren't I?" she spoke now sitting on his desk.

LeslieSylvester sighing in defeat, with a wave of his hand the pieces of the shattered mirror re-—attached themselves to the pane and closed all seems as if nothing had happened at all.

"Satisfied now Aria?"

"No, not quite." She spoke as if she were actually contemplating something, an occasion which was rare for someone like her. "Do you have any pets?"

LeslieSylvester taken aback by the answer, hesitated before answering. "No, I've sometimes considered getting one but never given it much serious thought." He paused a moment, expecting her to further explain herself, Aria was never much concerned with his life – let alone pets so this all seemed rather strange. "Any particular reason?"

"Well with pets, you can try to give them the simplest commands and they don't listen." She announced approaching LeslieSylvester in a slow and graceful manner, placing her hand on his shoulder – leaning in to his ear. "But, it's always so hard to tell if it's because they don't understand you or because they're trying your patience." Her breath was felt on every hair, now realizing the gravity of the statement. She retreated distancing herself, "You know I honestly thought we had an understanding I'd help you with your magic problem and in turn you help me with my little 'project'"

"Look, I can explain I..." LeslieSylvester spoke stuttering his words trying to come up with an excuse, for his behavior.

"I told you, to only use the Lyciria when I told you to."

"They were all together! How is that a bad time to use it?" LeslieSylvester spoke furious at the accusation, he had done nothing but further their cause and now she was accusing him like some low life dog.

"Unfortunately, that was the worst possible time." With a wave of her hand, the mirror showed, Geoffrey McDowell in the company of Dr. Gellar a man known for his odd fascination with unusual diseases performing an extraction of the Lyciria using an array of medical tools in a room filled with patients, if he was as skilled as people said they would all be up on their feet again. "Since they were all together they quickly deduced it was targeting witches and have now found a way to cure it."

"Well how was I supposed to know this was going to happen?!" LeslieSylvester spoke infuriated. "Our mission was to stop the village and now I have…"

"What you HAVE done is show them that now more than ever they should stick together. Further uniting their cause." now clearly irritated by her underlings behavior. Raising her hand, LeslieSylvester floated into the air, grabbing at this neck and trying desperately to breathe. "Now comes the part where the master must choose to discipline the pet, or put it down, and I'm afraid I've grown quite tired of MY pet." She spoke as Geoffrey continued gasping for air and his struggle for life continued until the black dots ran across his vision and finally gave into it. Struggling with the last small ounce of his strength he lifted his hand pointing at the mirror. Aria curious to his final gesture turned, and saw that the patient the doctor was operating on was experiencing violent seizures, smiling in delight.

She sighed, dropping the body on the floor and smiled at herself, "It seems like you have lucked out THIS time. But from now on, we'll do things my way, understood?" Puzzled by the absence of the man's response she lowered herself to the floor, turning his head and examining it. Seeing his eyes opening slightly, she smiled. "Well, if they make it out of this I still have my backup plan. Rest assured despite the fact that Aria Strauss is the only woman out of the seven Ancient One I am by no means the weakest and far from the nicest. So let this be a lesson to you cross me again or do so much as look at me the wrong way and I won't hesitate to end your miserable life!"

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Henry now stood in front of a large panicked crowd of the ballroom, all whispering worst case scenarios of the tragedy which had befallen them. Many attempted to leave, but thanks to the quick thinking of Alexis the guards were told to let no one out, while in the best interest of containing whatever was affecting them it only served to heighten the threat level to the already frightened crowd.

He sighed, taking in a deep breath before grabbing the microphone. He was always told he was a good people person but telling him he was their only hope of calming an entire crowd was another thing altogether. Furthermore he had little experience with crowds, as much as he enjoyed being the life of the party he did not to be the crucial cog in the machine that would keep it moving – well at least not with lives in the balance anyway – he would be more comfortable if he had naturally assembled the elements to create one and not be thrust into one which was all planned out already.

"Hello, everyone." The crowd, turned to look at Henry with next to no hesitation all keen to hear of what has become of their current situation. "I know that my dear friend Alexis has given us all a fright locking us in here like savages. But I want to assure everyone that nothing has changed, and furthermore we have nothing to fear. We just have to wait while the big thinkers in the back fix up a little something for us, so what we can do instead of waiting and panicking is to remember why we're all here. We are here to have a party so let's do exactly that! And I know that for some of you are REALLY tired of this high class fancy crap, which no offense to Alexis, I'm sure you all know isn't really my style." The crowd, gave a group laughter at this joke – most of them agreeing themselves. "But right now all I want is to party! And who else is better to party with then the god of wine and partying, DIONYSUS!" He announced in a loud MC voice, as a man in typical DJ attire came out from the backroom and materialized a stereo system and DJ booth, playing music with a heavy beat, "Y'all ready for this", by Jock Jams.

Without even a moment's hesitation Henry hopped quickly down to the ballroom area, grabbing Kira as he went along his path. Kira, would normally have resisted, but being caught so off guard she could barely keep track of the day's events and next thing she knew was dancing – and terribly at that – next to Henry whose moves flowed as if he were perfectly in sync with his body and clearly an experienced one at the art of dance.

Alexis sighed closing the door, which unfortunately did not completely drown out the noise of the party outside, his reaction was almost as negative as one could expect. In only glance one could easily notice furrowed eyebrows and crossed stance denoting extreme dissatisfaction.

"I can't believe he did that." Spoke Catherine Maxwell. "This is going to make a GREAT story, scorned Alexis Victor berates new Archon, the Sleepy Hollow Times exclusive." Alexis returned a glare to her, saddened by the response. "Oh, come on. You can't tell me this isn't something you saw coming."

"I guess I did have it coming didn't I?" He spoke laughing at himself, no the situation in its entirety. "I suppose I must admire his ability to transform this dire situation into a party, even if its missing a certainly amount of class."

"It's extremely hilarious though. Granted I might be just the tiniest bit drunk right now. You have the best selection of wine out of all of us, and hey open bar!" She spoke, not pulling any punches.

"Glad to know I have some uses." Alexis spoke in defeat, almost conceiting to the hypothetical fact that people were only close to him for his things.

"Noooo, don't say that!" she spoke, as she draped her arms around him in a surprising hug, Her blonde curly hair in his face and her white dress waving around his legs, and her breath which most certainly did reek of alcohol. "We love you."

"So is this a bad time or…?" spoke the waitress having re entered the room through the back hallway door. His voice trembling with anxiety.

Alexis and Catherine followed the waiter down the hallway into an adjoining room, it was a small nursing room, as in the medical kind. It boasted various medical supplies, the waitress put on a doctor's: gown, mask, and gloves before taking out a scalpel. Prepared to cut open the unconscious Jacob before them.

ShHe delicately applied pressure, slicing a small opening from his upper chest approaching the vein in a steady line but stopped a few inches before reaching it, now delicately putting heris hand through the incision, with the normally fearless Jason cringing in the background as blood came oozing out, and soon enough the young womaen extracted a blue tree root like item from Jacob Victors body.

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Dr. Gellar just finished as he removed the foreign substance from Mindy Victor, wiping sweat from his forehead he delicately placed it in a jar before sealing the cover. With his work done, he sighed in relief, trying to ignore the pounding he heard in the background, confused by the look of great concern of his cohorts he noted, Mindy was experiencing a seizure of some sort.

"Quick get me some salt, water, Raichi and wolfsbane!" Gellar screamed turning back to his patient one more, quickly opening the jar ripping a small piece of placing it in another, and mixed it, together vigorously – hoping he could use the parasite itself to form some type of antidote. With any luck the liquid would turn from a blueish liquid to a translucent colorless fluid.

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Much to his dismay the liquid remained the same color. A process which normally never failed him in the past was now inadequate, no it was impossible. "I'm missing something, what am I missing?"

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jason asked, honestly concerned for the now viciously shaking man. A normal human could not survive a seizure for that long, if this was any indication they had a minute at most before his body would finally cease to function.

"Honestly? No. But if you don't mind I have a narrow windows here!" The now makeshift doctor announced, mixing heris bottle, turning the liquid into a light blue. Nervously she reached over to a container bearing a yellow liquid. "Please, please work. With any luck this will turn into a clear liquid, and we should be good to go."

Dumping the contents into the container, she swirled it around for a good thirty seconds, sighing putting it back onto the counter of the medical room. Placing her hand on his forehead before, mumbling to herself.

"Damnit, what am I missing? Maybe I screwed up, I don't know…" The operator spoke sighing, thinking to herself. Time was ticking by twenty… nineteen… eighteen…

"Wait look!" Jason exclaimed pointing at the container, "It's changing its turning clear!" With barely a moment's hesitation, the operator took a sponge, dipped it inside, applying a small portion of the liquid onto the wound, holding her breath.

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The crowd stood mouth agape as the doctor applied the liquid at the last minute, Mindy's tremors ever constant, all present held their breath awaiting the fate of one of their own. He held his breath all too worried, of the potential frenzy should he fail, possibly accused of working for LeslieSylvester.

Her tremor's decreased in frequency, and eventually stopped, scared of the final verdict Gellar examined Mindy's lifeless body, barely spotting movement for her breath, unsure if it was his imagination he gently placed his hand on her neck, checking for a pulse.

"She's alive."

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"I can't believe you somehow managed to convince a panicked crowd to commit to this ridiculous dance party." Kira speaking in a weird mix of irritation and admiration, Kira's taste was much closer to Alexis when it came to events, for different reasons. It wasn't so much that she preferred the compliments which came of higher class events but envied and respected the years of tradition behind them.

"Well, a decent portion of it is thanks to Dionysus. Besides, I know you love these things, even if you won't openly admit." Henry snickered to her.

"Alright, maybe I do enjoy them… a little." She replied, responding as if she were responding to some form of guilty pleasure.

"Only a little?" He spoke in an accusing questioning tone, before responding with grandeur. "Oh! You wound me, and my pride."

"Right well can your pride take a backseat, while we go see what news Alexis brings?" Kira said nodding to the side. Her gesture pointed in the direction of the small group they left in the backroom attempting to find a cure to the mysterious disease which appeared in their party. Calmly Kira stop taking Henry's arm and moving him towards them, anxious to hear news of what transpired. "So, what news do you bring us?"

"We just need everyone to drink this and if their infected it will get it out of their system." Spoke Alexis passing a sizable contained of a clear liquid. Henry smiled, taking a small sip of the substance, grimacing.

"Eugh, that was awful, no one will want to drink that."

Kira looked at him, confused as he passed her the bottle, and she too made a face of great dislike, closed eyes and all. "Tell them it's a shot of Tequila?"

Henry turned wide eyed and enthusiastically walked down the podium. "Come on everyone compulsory Tequila shot!" he spoke passing the bottle to a waiter, giving him instructions that were too far for the group to hear.

"I was kidding!" Kira spoke, grunting in defeat. "You know what forget it. It's probably the easiest way to get it done either way." She spoke now turning to their friend who came to their rescue in the nick of time. "By the way we should really thank you for all your hard work. What's your name?"

"Aria, Aria Strauss."