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[She only dimly hears Tyr's voice, aware that the other ghosts are still there but too focused on the hideous thing grabbing at her to tear her eyes away from it.] Let go of me!

[When Tyr punches the ghost, his fist passes through it, though the phantom does recoil--not without Tyr's hand going ice-cold from the contact, though. As it recovers, the others crowd closer, all reaching.

Trying to pull back, Rita bumps into Tyr and shivers. They're trapped by these...things. She can't stand doing nothing and letting them do whatever they want, so she starts casting and shouts at Tyr.] Stay still! I'm getting rid of these things!

All, all right!

[ He can't stop himself from stuttering, and he stays still just as Rita says. He grips his hands, surprised at how cold his hand could get even with his glove on, but doesn't take his eyes off the ghosts. He can't even tell if that hit actually did anything... If he knew what Rita had planned, he might join in casting, but he wasn't going to risk messing up her spell by trying to help her.

They keep coming closer to them, though. The ghosts reaching out to touch them, the...thing clawing its way closer to Rita again. But they're cornered now, so it'll have her eventually! ]

Don't move! Just stay here!

[She repeats it with a shrill, nervous voice, pressing against Tyr's back as the things all come close...Not that she's trying to stay close to him for any reason other than to keep him safe from her spell, of course-!

She casts as quickly as she can while the ghosts come closer and reach for Tyr's chest, and then Rita's casting her Tidal Wave spell. She can control it just enough so that Tyr won't get swept away as long as they stay together like this, so she unleashes the water on the room and the monsters around them.]

[ He nods; there's no point telling her he won't go anywhere when he presses himself closer to her to try to avoid being touched. He almost holds his breath as she casts - maybe because he's afraid of what the ghosts could do if they touched him more - and doesn't breathe easy again until her spell washes over the room.

He braces himself, staying back-to-back with her, and manages to not move while the ghosts and the portrait monster are washed away and tossed against the walls with the furniture. In the back of his mind, he thinks it's a good thing he chose to not help her, but more immediately- ]

—Now let's go!

[ He turns back around to face her and takes hold of her arm. They have some time now while the monsters recover, so they shouldn't waste it! ]

[Rita feels a small amount of satisfaction at watching her spell toss the creatures around. Only a small amount, though, because she doesn't think it'll stop them, and she can't stop thinking about what those things will do if they catch up...]

Just hurry up! [She immediately starts running after him. Can they even find Tyr's staff like this?]

[ Tyr cares much more about getting away than he does about finding his staff. He doesn't know what those ghosts will do or what that thing attacking Rita even was. Her order is met with silence; it's not like he's staying still, though running through the water that's left over from her spell doesn't help him run faster either. He's barely waiting for her to keep up.

He decides to run through the new hallway the monster came from, under the logic that going the other way will trap them between the ghosts again. ]

[Rita makes no complaints about the direction; like Tyr, she just wants to get away. She hates giving up on the staff, but important or not, it's not worth their lives...

But she still hates it. Why can't she decide?] Dammit...

[This hallway's in the same terrible shape, even worse now that it's waterlogged and the floors are slippery. But more dangerous than the floor might be the old bookshelf against one wall which, seemingly without warning, starts to tip over as they get near it.]

[ He doesn't question her little muttering, assuming she's just aggravated by the situation with the monsters. Tyr himself has no intention of giving up on his staff - they'll definitely find it somehow, or he'll make a trade for it - but if he knew Rita was really that concerned about it...he'd be happy.

That thought doesn't even cross his mind, though, as he slips to a stop, fingers digging into and scratching through the molding walls. He barely stays upright as he watches the bookcase fall over, some of its books falling on Tyr's feet, until it lays diagonally between the two walls. ]

Ah-! [ He hisses. His poor, poorly protected foot... ] This place...

[She doesn't want to just forget about the staff, even with everything that's happening...More immediately, though, she bookshelf gets her attention as she nearly stumbles into Tyr. And she's attacked his feet during a curse or two, so she knows they're not the most protected...]

Hey! You didn't break anything, did you?

[A laugh echoes down the hallway at his pain. Rita glares around at the walls but sees nothing besides the dust settling.]

[ He pulls his feet away as he stands up straight again. It hurts and he knows it must be bruised pretty badly, but...if it is broken, he'll just have to deal with it later. His voice is strained when he responds. ]

I don't think so...

[ With that laugh, Tyr does the same, but of course there's nothing to see. He's going to hate this place even more if he leaves without his staff now. With a heavy sigh, he pulls the hood of his cloak over his head to provide himself with a little bit of protection as he rests a hand on the top of the bookshelf. ]

...Forget about that. Come on, we can't stop here.

Really? [She's aware of the strain in his voice, but...She doesn't have any gels and they can't stop, so she sighs and makes to follow him up.]

I know, I know. Let's go!

Really!

[ He says it more strongly just because she questioned him. And right now, the pain is being numbed by his drive to keep going, and he ducks under the bookcase and crawls under as quickly as he can. He can feel the wood splintering and getting caught in the fabric of his cloak, but if it tears, well, he can get it mended. ]

Fine, whatever! [She is concerned about him, but she's just as impatient to get moving...so she hesitates for just a split second before following after him, even though she doesn't particularly like going under the bookcase that just tried to fall on them.]

[ Tyr makes it out to the other end without a problem, and he takes a few steps back to let her out as well. The other end of the hallway looks the same as it did before the shelf fell, at least, but there's still no sign of whatever was laughing.

Except another ring of laughter as another book somehow falls from one of the shelves and onto Rita. ]

Ow-! [She curses when the tome falls on her, and shouts out her frustrations at the seemingly-empty hallway.] You things are so dead, got it?!

[Not that they aren't already....She crawls out from under the bookshelf, rubbing her head with a scowl.]

[ He looks over at her, but he's not too concerned (though he could hear that thunk when the book fell on her). ]

Come on, we need to find them before we start making threats.

[ With a glance back to see that the ghosts don't appear to be following them (yet?), he starts walking more carefully down the hallway. ]

I'll threaten them all I want!

[Because it doesn't feel like they're really accomplishing anything else...Nevertheless, she strides forward down the dark hallway, walking quickly but keeping her eyes open. The hallway seems to end in a spiral staircase that winds upward, though there's a few doors on their current floor. If they want to find the staff, they can't go up...]

...Come on. Let's go right.

[ Maybe they're not accomplishing anything but getting more bruises than they need... But if she wants to complain and toss around threats, he can't really stop her. As much as he wants to leave...he really doesn't want to leave his staff behind, and he simply goes along with her suggestion and shines the light of his device in that direction. It feels like the light is getting dimmer. ]

Okay, right it is...

[ After a moment, he thinks aloud- ] I wish we knew what time it is...

...Even if we find a clock or something, I bet it wouldn't even have the right time.

[They'll know when midnight hits, anyway. The house should disappear, and they'll...

Wait, what will happen to them? Will they just appear outside like nothing happened?]

...Let's just hurry up, all right? [And she flings the door open, while another laugh comes from the staircase. There's nothing there, except for a lacquered staff with gold tips floating lazily in the air over the steps...]

Mm... [ She's right about that. It doesn't stop him from wanting to know how much time they'll be stuck here, though. The thought of disappearing with the house in the same way his staff might doesn't even cross his mind - thankfully, or he might just give up on finding his staff entirely...

When he hears that laugh, his first instinct is to see if there's anything in the room that looks immediately threatening, and failing to see anything that does, he spins on his heel to try to find anything else that could be a threat.

His eyes are almost instantly drawn to the staff, though. It has to be his. ]

My staff! Wait here!

[ Letting himself get careless, he runs after it, slipping along the floor but not falling over. The sooner he gets it, the better. ]

Huh? What- [She glances back down the way they came when the laugh sounds, but at Tyr's shout, she whirls around, confused until she spots the staff. And then she starts after him, shouting.] Hey! Wait, don't just go running in!

[The staff drifts higher up the staircase, which is old and rickety and in danger of collapsing.]

[ He still makes it up about a half-dozen steps before he stops, too aware of the way the stairs shook under his feet while he ran. He glances back at Rita before turning his eyes back to his staff. ]

I can't leave it!

[ Even though he's not moving now. This isn't really sturdy, is it? And Tyr's not about to risk real injury just for his staff. He can always make a trade, he reminds himself.

But until he has to do that, he shouts up the staircase. ]

Get back here! Give it back!

[The stairs creak and groan under his feet, and the staff hovers just out of reach, where he could grab it if he just went on step higher...

Rita dashes over to the bottom of the stairs and scowls, noticing how unstable it looks. It just might collapse if she tries to climb it, too, so she stays there.] Just wait! Something has to be holding it, right?

[ One more step... He grips the railing as he thinks about taking it, but he knows he's just being taunted.

Still, he almost sneers at Rita. ] Like a ghost?

[ Tyr's sure now that fighting ghosts is pointless. If he had his staff, though, he thinks he could fight almost anything... ]

[She stiffens and glowers up at him furiously.] No! I mean like another crazy monster!

[There's a clock on the wall next to Tyr--was it there before? And was it ticking so loudly? The tick-tock seems to echo along the stairway as the minute hand moves. 11:59.

The staff hovers tauntingly in the air, right there.]

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action; ♥! And heading to class soon! o/