"Come on, come on! Faster!" Barb Junior raises her voice to the other elves hauling buckets of blood into the cathedral by the gallons. She was growing impatient by the pace at which her fellows had been moving. "This is an important moment and you're all trying to waste it with your incessant meandering!" She shouts again.

The chapel they'd been housed in was in an overly active state, unlike a few days ago. The red vines that cover every inch of the building's walls and floors were now glowing bright red and profoundly pulsating. All of this recent activity stems from one origin point.

At the center of the cathedral was a rune, carved into the concrete with deep, almost frightening lacerations. The elves take the blood they've been transporting from camp all morning and pour it all out onto the rune. The dark liquid spills onto the floor and slowly seeps its way into the cracks of the glyph, making the chapel reverberate to the point of nearly coming down on top of them.

"We need more please!" Junior turns back to the others. The elves almost endlessly pace back and forth with buckets upon buckets, with the rest for their tired little bodies, but it wasn't enough. No matter how much goes onto the rune and into the cracks, none of it was enough. To add to junior tensity, they were quickly running low on material. "Ughh." She growls, her teeth gritted and her expression ablaze with anger.

"Barb! Barb junior!" Junior turns to find a frantic elf entering the chapel, striped for stamina and sweating profusely. It was one of her sisters, and she had been late. Junior brings a furious gaze down upon the kneeling wretchling.

"And where have you been?" She sneers at her disappointment of a sister. Her stare was heavy, judgmental, and was close to the point of burning a hole through the other elf's skull without issue. Joiner's displeasure was not without good reason, however. Her previous aggravation was beginning to bleed into a full-on rage with the more progress she doesn't see from her ken.

"M-my apologies, s-sister. I was on my way back, but my vials... all of them..." The pitiful thing looks up at her sister with the most fearful eyes. "They were taken."

"What!?" Junior exclaimed calmly. The kneeling elf wasn't expecting a good reaction from her sister, though she wasn't expecting anything remotely calm either. "You said you lost... all of your attend vials?" She leans slightly down to the other then turns her head away with abhorrence. She could hardly stand the sight of the girl before her.

"I looked away for but a brief moment and then they were gone." She explained and shone an innocent grin when Junior comes back around to leer at her. "B-but I did manage to save one." The elf reaches into her robe to unveil a single vial of blood.

Junior sighs at her sister and motions her toward the center where the rune lay. She doesn't know how much of a difference one vial of blood could make but she knew they couldn't stop now. They needed to keep going.

Junior turns to her mother, still wrapped down by tendrils and plastered to the cathedral walls. The elf puts her hands together and steps over to the woman.

"Oh, mother." She jeers. "It looks like we will have to move on to plan B. Seeing as we've already given so much, and still, she has yet to appear before us." Junior mutters. She wasn't so sure of her own words or what needed to be done next if they couldn't bring Elizabeth back now.

"Junior," Barb spoke in a drossy tone. Her energy was all but spent and cast aside in a discarded heap of hopelessness. "You know Susie won't allow you to. You won't win against her." A weak smile crosses Barb's drained face.

She was right. Junior knew there was no winning against a witch so powerful. "I know." She replies. "But it would be better to die trying to save this world than to watch its oncoming collapse off to the said."

"The world doesn't need saving... it can do without magic," Barb said, her eyes fluttering as they struggled to stay open.

"Magic is the world." Suddenly a cataclysmic rumbling reverberated throughout the cathedral. Junior looks back toward the center and the rune. Her sister had just finished emptying the single vial of blood into the seams of the craved-out glyph and it begins to break apart.

Her sister, noticing the quickly approaching collapses, steps back quickly as the floor begins to rupture and the concrete ground gives way. Any unaware elf still by the rune in prayer had been cast into the abyss of the newly formed sinkhole. From that dark hole a light gleamed forward, as bright and crimson as the dawn.

The light becomes brighter and brighter the closer it reaches the surface until it dims entirely. The elves look at one another and Junior watches the hole closely. After some minutes, blood starts spilling over the edges, bubbling up and gushing out onto the floor of the chapel. And from that pool of dark red, a figure would ascend. A goat, a witch, Elizabeth.

She was there, stood before them and harboring a faint trace of something powerful, though incomplete. Her body was only a partial translucent haze without fur and flash. From blood, bone, and vines, she bore her innards to the world without shame.

Barb's eyes widen from her tendrilled position and Junior drops to her knees before the almighty being.

"Elizabeth." She breathes slowly, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. "Finally, after centuries. You return to us." Junior looks up at the imposing figure. "Though not fully."

The goat looks down at the elves, all kneeling before her. "Yes." Her voice bellows through the chapel with a kind of hatred and power non had experienced until then. "Yer effots were... commendable." She spoke with reluctance. "Though fa from enought. Eh... but da recen offerin, da lass taste..." She pushes forward with a wide, uneven smile, running her long tongue over her top lip. "I haven't tasted da blood of a glow worm in ages."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Oscar walks through the dark, kicking up dirt, small branches, and bits of leaf as he went. "Man." He grunts out a mutter to himself, still upset from earlier on. He still couldn't believe Max and Hedgehog would even think to do something like that to him. Especially Hedgehog of all people. And she was supposed to be his best friend.

To try and manipulate Oscar into being with someone like that. They didn't even consider asking how he felt about any of it. He was beside himself with exasperation and dismay and he could even feel discomfort start to dig itself up.

"Stupid Hedgehog," Oscar said in low vitriol. The nerve she had to do such a thing he thinks. To go behind his back, to feel she knew how he operated. To think she knew what was best for him. It hurt that she still sees the boy as this child that needed to be protected and pushed in the right direction. The direction she thought was right.

"Stupid Max." He mumbles. Instead of the bat coming out to Oscar outright and despite him promising that the lying and secret keeping was over and done with, Max still went and did it. Lied through his teeth.

Oscar thinks that's what hurts the most. He could get past Hedgehog being weird and outright distrustful, but he really liked Max. "Why didn't you tell me." He stops, looking at the cluttered dirt trail below. "Ugh, god!" He groans loudly, nearly shouting as loud as he could, and keeps walking.

The more he thinks about the past week the more his naivety becomes ever so vivid in his mind. He wonders how he could be so gullible of so much. He kicks up more dirt at the thought of the two trying to control him for their own personal gain.

"This is so stupid," Oscar said, coming up to a clearing near the end of the forest. He was back at the cabins, back to something familiar that doesn't tick him off, and it was about time he feels. The further he got away from those two, the better he might be. Just barely at least.

The distance he makes doesn't stop them from appearing in his mind constantly of course. He'd like to think it was because he was angry with them, but it might have been something more compassionate than that. He was angry, but he was mostly sad.

Sad that they would find him so childish that they couldn't help but treat the boy like a small baby. Everything in life had to be sugar-coated for Oscar and up until recently he was okay with that. Until Max makes him feel otherwise.

Ever since they started hanging out more, Oscar's mind began to shift and mold into something new. The bat brought out a kind of confidence in him that he never thought he'd had or could have.

"Oh, man." Oscar sighs. He comes up to his cabin and stands in front of it for a bit. His mind was blank, say for two certain individuals that refuse to leave. He didn't want to go inside just yet. He knew if he did, he'd go right to sleep, and sleeping with his mind in shambles like it wouldn't do him any good.

So, he goes around back, kicking off his shows as he made his way to the backyard pool he rarely ever uses. Oscar bends down, rolling up the legs of his jeans then drops down by the edge of the pool as he drops his feet into the cold clear water.

He uses his new reposeful surrounding to clear up some of his more ravenous thoughts. He stills himself, slightly moving his feet around inside the cool, pool water. Oscar takes in a deep gentle breath, holding it for what felt like ages, then exhales it. He takes in another, wrapping everything he was feeling around it.

The boy sits with it for a while until he was on the brink of passing out, then releases it, along with all of his worries, insecurities, and loathing that consumed his heart. He opens his eyes and frowns.

The breathing exercise doesn't make him feel any better. Oscar sighs. "What do I do?" He was stumped for current answers and was too disheveled to come up with any new solutions. He brings his head down and plants his eyes in the palms of his hands.

That was the only thing he could think to do. He was too overwhelmed; the squeezing pressure was beginning to feel unbearable. The worst part is, despite what he said about not needing to be babied, there was no one there to help him. He could sure use the comfort right about now.

"Something wrong hon." Oscar brings his eyes out of his palms and snaps them over to the voice he'd heard just in front of him.

"Oh." Oscar gasped. "Hey, Shark." He greets the shark sticking halfway out of the pool with little to no eagerness left in his tone. He remembers the first time they met, on the first day of camp. Hedgehog had wanted to throw a small get-together that spiraled into a camp wide party. The boy didn't make any good first impression then. Maybe one actually.

When the party had become too much for Oscar to handle, he fled to the pool in the backyard. That's when he met Shrake. He gave the boy some pretty good insight and even convinced him to stay and weather the storm that was summer camp Island when Oscar was about ready to call it quits and leave.

The sight of him spreads a vague smile over Oscar's lips. "You look tired... and sad." The pool shark reads him like a well-written book. Of course, he would.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a long day is all." Oscar tries to swerve out of the way of sharks' concerns. He felt like his problems weren't a big deal. They were to him, but he doesn't want to drag others into a problem he could solve on his own. Or try to solve it anyhow.

"Are you sure?" He asked again, getting Oscar to second guess the answer he wanted to give.

"Yeah..." The boy held firm, though not without some thought. There was a lot on his mind, though nothing he needed to bare out in the open just yet.

"Well..." Shark floats a bit closer to the boy. "I don't think you're alright. In fact, I know you're not." Shark plays a pretty bold hand with Oscar, one that he would win. It wasn't hard to get the elephant to crack under pressure. Only a tiny amount placed in the right spot was needed.

"Yeah..." He admits. He doesn't fight anymore, doesn't make up any excuse. The problem quickly bubbled up and burst. He hardly has any fight left after that. "I'm... all missed up right now." That's the best way he could describe what he was going through. A circumstance like this, what he was feeling, has never happened to him before.

"Hmmm." Shark hums, getting even closer. "What makes say that?"

"Gah! I don't know." He threw his hands up and accidentally kicks his feet up, splashing water around the pool area. "It's not even my fault... it was all Hedgehog and Max." Oscar sneers as the names leave his mouth. "It's so annoying like you wouldn't even believe Shark."

The shark nods to Oscar with closed eyes. He doesn't speak, instead letting Oscar's frustration linger for a bit. Once he felt the time was right, he proceeds. "Why don't you tell me about it?" He asked.

"Well-" Oscar stops. How could he explain exactly? Supposed he should start at the beginning. "So, a few days ago. Hedgehog was, uhm..." He brought his tone down to a whisper. "Practicing magic and this was her final lesson before she could become a full witch. But she was starting to act strange all of a sudden."

"Strange?" Shark mussed. "How so would you say?"

"Well, she'd start acting weird. Almost like she was sick or something and that started affecting her magic in weird ways. And she only ever acted like that when Max was around." His eyes roll over when he thinks back. "How could I not notice." He says to himself.

"Hmm," Shark chuckles. "Sounds like love, doesn't it?"

Oscar huffs back. "You have no idea. After a while of trying to avoid it, I guess, she finally just told him. The thing is, he didn't really like her back." He laughs lightly. "Apparently, he liked me." He shakes his head as a frown begins to show. "So, after that, things go downhill and this whole time, this whole time Shark, they were fighting to see who could have me. Like I was their favorite toy or the last piece of bacon or something."

"Hmmm... I see." Shark nod again. "You know, friendship can be a hard thing, and loving someone, either romantically or otherwise, is a challenge, not many people want to face down head-on. Their missive hurdles that are a struggle to get over for anyone. Having two separate people go through all of that for you has to count for something right?"

"That doesn't give them the right to manipulate me." Oscar retorts. "Gahh!" The boy buries his head back into his hands.

"You're right, it doesn't." Shark lightly taps against Oscar's leg, gently gesturing for the boy to open back up to him. "It doesn't give them the right, but you and Hedgehog have been friends for a long time, and it's clear Max really likes you and he hasn't tried to manipulate you before, right?" Oscar brings his head back up to meet the pool Shark and slowly nods. "Is this hiccup really worth dossing your friendship with each other?"

Oscar sits in silence, his eyes swaying from side to side as he begins to consider what he's told. "I mean..." He thinks it over. "I guess not..." He gives in to the caring shark and buckles under his opposing thoughts. "But what am I supposed to do about it? Just forgive them and carry on like nothing ever happened?"

"Talk to them." He lays out plainly. "Hear their side of the story, these things are never cut and dry hon. Set boundaries on what you are and aren't comfortable with. Knowing them, I'm sure they'll understand where you're coming from. From there, you can come to an understanding. Healing is a journey, and never one you should walk alone."

The boy bobs his head up and down. "Right." He pulls his feet out of the pool quickly, drying them against the green grass of the backyard. "Right, that makes sense." He was still nervous, but he had to do something. "Thinks Shark. For talking with me."

"No biggie. I am a therapist after all." He smiles at Oscar before going back under the clear water.

"Oh yeah," Oscar whispers. He had forgotten about the pool shark's day job.

He wouldn't let that linger on his mind for too long as he slips his shoes back on to start making his way back into the woods.

For the entire trek, the boy's mind was bogged down by the eventual confrontation. He goes over many things, what he'd say, the boundaries he would set, and how they would move on afterward. It was a lot to think about. A little too much even.

"Talk to them," Oscar whispers under his breath. "Boundaries." He felt like it wasn't enough to just talk it all out. Still, they were his friends, and he really did like Max. Oscar wasn't sure if the boy liked him as well before that night, but he was starting to get a clue. "What!"

A sudden rustling in the bushes startles the boy half to death. He looks out toward the thick foliage with a hand over his rapidly beating heart. He doesn't know where the rustling came from or what it was or even if it was anything at all.

"Come on Oscar. Keep it together." He mutters to himself when he hears the rustling again. This time he was sure it had been someone or something. "Hello!" He calls out with no response to greet him. "Susie!?" He tries again. Oscar couldn't comprehend why the witch was the first person to come to mind, but she does regardless.

"O', please. Perish da thought, child." A voice finally slithers its way out past the dense brush. It wasn't Susie. "I would'ent be caught dead. Da thought alone o' bein er is so... abhorrent." The clocked figure steps out into the opening. Oscar couldn't see her face past her hood, but he knows it definitely wasn't Susie. "Ta think, I could be compared."

"Who are you?" He asked, his voice trembling despite attempting the mask the fear. He should have been running, but his mind seemed to be caught between itself.

"I am... was, a good friend. An much like ye, I was betrayed, a very long time ago naow."

"W-what..." He raises a brow at the hooded figure. How could she have known what was going on with him and his friends? And what did she mean by betrayed?

"No need for worrin child. I coul since' eh, long before I lay eyes on ye." She points to him. "Yer hurtin'. Ye feel like ye have no one ta rely on and nah a soul ye can trust. Yer closest friend." She laughs. "An da boy ye love... loved, both deceive ye. I know how it feels child."

"You..." Oscar's body becomes less strand and he lowers his guard. "You do?" He wonders out loud. He was so suddenly enamored with this mysterious stranger. He could think straight. It was like she could read his scrambled mind and speaks out to soothe his eternal soul with just her words alone.

"I do, an I know ye don't deserve any of da heartless treatment they would offer ye." She brings her hand back up to him, holding out an open palm to the suffering boy. "But I would naive treat ye like da."

Oscar looks at her then looks at her hand. "You... you wouldn't?" He whispers to her, still unsure.

"Allow me ta help ye." Oscar stares. He thinks about the past few days, Max and Hedgehog. Their feud with one another. "All I want... is ta love ye Osca." She speaks again and it's his final nail in the coffin. If she could help him, he'd take it.

"Okay." He walks toward her, reaching out for her oddly miscolored hand, and takes it. Her touch is cold yet comforting. He peers up at her, he could still see no face, but he bets everything that she was the most beautiful thing. The woman brings another hand up, guiding it over his head as his eyes glaze over and close shut.

"Ye will be in good hands. My glow worm."