Visiting Iva's grandparents near the outskirts of had seemed like a safe enough activity for the day, especially for the the seven year old and his preteen sister who made the trip often enough that they could probably do it in their sleep. Rohan had asked Hazel along for this trip, because he thought it would be a good idea for her to get out of Sularia and see what the world was outside the desert oasis. He really wanted to show her that people outside Sularia could be kind and gentle, and that she didn't need to fear the outside world with Mr. Jack. 

What Rohan hadn't exactly understood why so many of the clergy had acted as though it was a bad idea on this occasion. But now he was pretty sure he had an idea. People were angry, and there was a smell in the air that wasn't right. Well, they were either really happy, or there were those ones who seemed ready to explode. All in all, Rohan was getting the vibe that it was a bad idea to have left the safety of the Gardens. But he didn't want to disappoint Hazel, so he squeezed her hand as they continued onward. He noticed people walking around with the strange little syringes of red liquid, people sitting in the alleyways injecting themselves. He didn't really understand it, but he knew that syringes like that typically held medicines. 

"Iva? What are they doing?"

Her grandparents had loved watching the young woman that she was becoming. They always told Iva how proud they were of here and that her father would have been proud of her as well. It made Iva sad, however, to notice over the years how much older they had gotten. It wasn’t like her Rosenite family where they were ageless, no her grandparents here on the outskirts of Adeluna were human and she could almost smell the approaching deadline of their lives. As morbid as it might have sounded Iva was used to the push and pull of life and the challenges it brought. She knew that humans lived a relatively short life compared to her and the rest of her family. She had never questioned it because somehow she had always understood. Maybe it was due to the visions she had or maybe Iva was just blessed with a great sense of knowledge.

Hazel was clinging close to Rohan and practically hanging onto his arm with Mr. Jack in her other arm. She had never been this far away from her parents but she was with Ro and he made her feel a lot safer than anyone other than her parents. Even Iva was helping to keep Hazel feeling grounded. After all, the girl was volatile, but not because she wanted to be.

It had taken a lot of convincing for the clergy to even let the three of them go anywhere close to Adeluna. The children had been confused since it had never really been a problem up until this point. Hazel was now jumping at the fighting and the screaming as she held onto Rohan as tight as she could. She was even squishing Mr. Jack up against his arm. Mr. Jack didn’t seem pleased about this either as his tentacles moved and a low growl left the stitching were his happy looking smile was.

Iva looked when her brother had pointed out the people with the syringes. She knew that it was bad if they weren’t receiving medicine and she got the feeling they had walked into a disaster. “I’m not sure but that’s not medicine. I have a strange feeling that we shouldn’t be here right now,” Iva spoke as if she wished she could see some kind of vision like when she was dreaming at that moment. She moved around so she could protectively be behind Rohan and Hazel. “Just keep moving and don’t make eye contact… We should probably head back home. No wonder the clergy didn’t want us here…”

Rohan looked at Hazel and she was clearly uncomfortable with this situation. She was clinging to him tightly now, and even though Iva was there, she was practically jumping at shadows. Adeluna wasn't usually this violent. He nodded slowly at Iva's comment how they shouldn't be there. "Yeah… I think your right," he said as he looked at Hazel. He squeezed her hand. He hadn't wanted to be the one to say it first, but now that Iva had said it, he could at least agree with his sister. 

"Let's go back. We can visit them another time when things are… less angry…" he said as he began to turn around and walk back towards the portal to Angela's domain. He began pulling Hazel along quickly, looking over at Iva to hurry as well. All around them things seemed to be escalating. He didn't want to bring any attention to them, but the need to get back to safety was overwhelming. They rounded a corner and ran directly into a couple of men fighting over one of the vials and syringes full of the red liquid. 

He pushed Hazel quickly out of the way as the fight over came them and the two men tripped over Rohan, the three of them falling over. The fight continued and Rohan scrambled to get out of the way, managing to pick his way around the men before he ran over to Hazel and grabbed her hand again. He pulled her away from the fight, knowing that right now she was going to be beyond frightened. He grabbed Iva's hand too before he pulled them into an empty alleyway and pressed his back against the wall panting. 

"Are… are you guys ok?"

Hazel held onto Rohan as tightly as she could. Possibly a little too tight because her hand was now cramping just a bit as she squeezed Mr. Jack tightly to her as well. She trembled in fear from all the violence around them. All the yelling and screeches were making her head so very dizzy just hearing it. Seeing it was on another level for her as she tried to hide her eyes into Ro’s shoulder every once in a while. Iva felt sorry for the poor girl and the plushie sounded angry with its growls towards the situation.

“Things aren’t always like this… are they Ro?” The words came out with fear dripping off of them as her mercury colored eyes looked up at him. He was her protector friend, he would know best. “Alright…” She was glad that they would be leaving. She was pulled along with the half-Rosenite as they made their way back to the temple portal.

Things weren’t getting better as they continued and it caused Hazel to reach new levels of anxiety as it continued. Finding the men she immediately got behind Rohan and stared at them from over his shoulder. She had been so skittish before but this was a new level for her. Once the men were coming in their direction Rohan had pushed her out of the way and into Iva. She screamed just a bit as she watched Rohan get tripped over. She was so worried about him but he was tough as he got away from and pulled her with him once more. Iva was keeping up with him and she was cool and collected as she tried to help her younger brother and his friend.

Once they were in the alleyway Hazel immediately hugged herself against him and hid her face in his chest. “I’m okay but you really worried me. I’m scared Ro I don’t want to be here anymore.” She had a few tears in her eyes as she hugged him really close to her. “I don’t like all the fighting and yelling. I don’t like what it makes me feel…” She liked it… she liked it because Mr. Jack liked it. It scared her because only she knew what he liked deep down. She hated violence but the being inside of her? He thrived on it.

“Can we just go? Please, Ro…”

Rohan felt a strange sensation washing over him. He felt giddy, and hot, and all shaky as Hazel hugged up against him. He also felt sick, and dizzy. There was a dreadful pinch in his belly too. He knew Hazel was scared, but for some reason his tongue didn't want to work to answer her. All that was coming out was giggles. His mouth tasted funny, and that pinching in his belly was getting worse. He looked down, and realize that there was a good reason for it. 

The syringe was stuck deep in his abdomen, and he wasn't sure if the dark red stuff on his shirt was from the syringe or if it was his own blood. His hand wrapped around the syringe and he tried to pull it out. It hurt a lot. He went white as a sheet, the color draining from his face and he slumped down to the ground. 

"Ahhh…. Iva, it hurts. Help me get it out, please!" he said, his voice giddy and shaky, and not in line with the panic he was supposed to be feeling. 

With his sister's help, the now empty syringe was removed and thrown aside. Rohan pressed a hand over the spot, tears welling up in his eyes. He hated getting shots. But this was worse than anything. He looked up at Hazel who looked ready to cry, and he laughed giddily, tiny little veins of black beginning to spread over his skin. 

The moment that Rohan began the insane giggling was the moment Iva became really concerned for her little brother. She moved Hazel out of the way and looked at the syringe that was embedded in him. “Don’t panic,” she could tell that he was beginning to act like everyone else. She took hold of the syringe and gave it one mighty pull before throwing it off to the side.

Hazel was now starting to get upset as her shadow began to freak out with the eldritch power that laid within her. The plushie was just as upset as the girl was. Iva took a deep calm sigh as she attempted to figure out what to do. She was the older sister, she was supposed to take care of Rohan. Suddenly she directed Hazel to stay with Rohan.

The fiery redhead didn’t take long to grab one of the people floundering about in the city. She beat him to a bloody pulp while asking, “Tell me how to fix him!” Finally, with blood across her knuckles, the man wheezed out that the Goddess Dalanesca had told them to go through the trials of Inferni. That this was their punishment for taking the liquid. IF they could reach the end and get to Dalanesca’s palace than they would be worthy. As small as the girl was, this man was human and no match for her inhuman strength as she hurled him into the wall. “Morons! You would just take whatever a damn fishy apothecary would give you? Are you a bunch of morons?” No wonder their mother had left the area, this place… It was doomed.

“We’re going to Inferni. We’re going to do the trials or get as far as we can and hope that Auntie Dal hears us. Do you understand Ro?” Iva came back over to her brother brother lifting him up onto her back. “Just try to rest while we go.”

It would take them some time to find the portal to where the trials were. It was Hazel who was scaring Iva the most. “Is Ro going to die if we don’t win?” There was a displeased look across Hazel’s pretty little face. She was angry, so very angry at Adeluna.

“I think so,” Iva wasn’t going to lie to her but she didn’t think it would fuel the rage that came out of Hazel. The first area they were in was all too familiar to Iva, it was the Soul-Stream that her mother looked after with Dalanesca. “Be careful,” Iva said in a hushed tone.

There was a girl not far from them, though she looked more like a reaper with the way the soul-stream moved and glittered off her weapon. Hazel wasted no time losing control. The eldritch tentacles came first and Iva dove out of the way keeping Rohan safe from the very visible wrath. “GET OUT OF OUR WAY,” Hazel screamed at the girl.

“You must defeat me to leave.”

It was probably the wrong thing to say to a girl already out of control. The mass of dark energy was let loose and Iva couldn’t remember just how long it had taken for the Pale Death to be beaten. It was nothing to scoff at but considering that a lot of people died trying to beat this place… Iva had her concerns that Hazel wasn’t going to stop until Dalanesca healed her brother.

There was a march going on as Hazel continued her rampage and Iva kept up behind her. They moved to the second circle. Succubi and Incubi while strong in their own rights were powerless to the children who were not motivated by lust. Iva theorized their biggest obstacle at that moment was wrath. “Hazel, be careful… these are demons.”

“I’m worse than a demon Iva… I’m not going to let Rohan die just because humans are too stupid not to listen.” Hazel was crying again as they walked through the second circle. "So Mr. Jack and I will kill them all to make sure that Rohan is alright because we are going to protect him." The little girl squeezed the plushie closer to her. "Rohan would do it for me." That… Iva couldn't argue.