"The house has changed quite a bit since you left." Mara explained as she led the polar bear through the house.

"All I care about is being able to turn back." He said to himself, "I'm going to hit my head on the doorways."

"I heard that." The vulpine woman said, "We have an eight-foot tall were-lion in here now. I don't think that'd be a problem."

The house still looked all too familiar to Zane. He had been in here when he was a kid, forced to watch all sorts of things he didn't particularly care about. The only thing he did seem to care about was still there at least - that TV. He spent too many hours in front of it, much to Aelly's dismay.

Though for some reason, there seemed to be sheets on the couch, and pillows of some kind. Mara said a few things in Korean at this sight, and then looked over the apparent family room.

"Eileen apparently doesn't seem to think she's anything but a guest here... really she doesn't have to be sleeping on the couch."

"At least she can fit into the couch..." Zane said.

"What was that?"

"My brain to mouth filter momentarily malfunctioned."

"Well, anyways, we've been reduced to only a handful of our previous members in our little struggle against Topham and the Twentieth House. You've met... one of those Incarnations."

Zane and Aelly nodded.

"He's the one who summoned them. Eileen used to be with them but defected after finding doubts. With her we have only five members. Where is she, by the way?"

"Don't ask me," Alana said, "I can always try and scry her if you want since she left this tube of purple lipstick." Alana picked up something on the end table next to the couch. "But she could always be in the bathroom."

Alana walked off somewhere, possibly the basement. All sorts of memories flooded back to Zane after that. He remembered so much of this, but had wanted so much to forget it all and just leave it behind. Though now he was getting forced back in.

"Niiiice, more animals." Zane heard a rather British-sounding voice behind him say.

He turned around, immediately getting some kind of scent that screamed "lion" to him. This person looked just like any other human, but he didn't quite smell human. At least, not to Zane's rather enhanced ursine sense of smell, that is. How did he immediately recognize this as "lion", he had to wonder.

"Looks like a more conventional werebeast too." Aelly pointed out.

"Yes, thank you captain obvious." The human said, looking to the spirit, "I expect you're going to ask 'what's a paladin' sometime?"

"Wait, you can see her?" Zane said.

"You're walking to a house with mages, were-lions, and Korean nine-tailed foxes! How are you surprised we can't see other spirits in here?" He started to laugh.

"This is Peter - he's one of our newer members. He was targeted by the Twentieth House a little while ago. I don't know if you remember how other cabals work, but they never accept shapeshifters like us." Mara explained.

"Hi." Peter said.

Zane just shyly waved his paw. Now he felt like he was encroaching on somebody else's territory - he was really pushing his limits, he assumed. Before anything else could be said, Alana walked right back into the crowded room.

"Thankfully that scrying thing works still." Alana said, "It looks like Eileen ran away. I saw her riding on her pewter horse towards some mountainous place with one hand on her phone. Maybe she's decided she wants out."

"That's not good." Mara spoke up.

"Should we make sure she's not running into a trap?" Alana asked.

"Exactly - she was chased by... something. They might have decided that, for once, they will sacrifice somebody who has turned their back on them for whatever reason. I bet you anything there's an Incarnation waiting whever she's going."

"Well how do we get there in time?" Peter asked, "I bet you anything he won't fit in the truck."

"Hey!" Zane spoke up.

"We'll travel through the spirit plane. Peter, get Journey."

"Are you sure that's who you saw?" Eileen asked, holding onto her pewter horse. She took off after finally managing to get an answer on her phone, from Joe, nonetheless.

"Yes!" Joe said on the other side, "She-it came to me and warned me not to stick my nose into anything further. It was after I talked with Connor."

"Connor has to know the truth. Seriously, all three of us are getting in something over our heads for sure." Eileen said, "You said you had that mountain cabin off of Loveland, by that cliff?"

"Yes!" Joe said on the other line, "How're you getting over there, by the way?"

"I got that little horse of mine I made out of Pewter. I rode all the way from Denver, remember?"

"Damn that thing has some stamina... where are you now? The cabin is a log cabin."

"I don't think it's that far... unless you want me to look for some other distinguishing features."

"There's a tree that got split in half." Joe explained, "It's a rather big one - lightning struck it last year. I didn't remove it because technically I don't own the cabin, and wasn't given permission to do so. Careful though."

"Got it. I'll call back if I see a tree. You know what I look like, right? I haven't changed my appearance since you saw me in Denver by that creepy horse statue."

Eileen hung up the phone and continued to ride. This was a little foolish of her to leave without even sending a note. But even then, she had to know the truth. When she found out that Connor had been on his way to meet Joe, she had to run as soon as she could.

She had the impression that the people in Manitou House didn't exactly trust her. After all, who could blame them? Not long ago she was attempting to capture one of their newest members. They did let her in when allegedly Topham couldn't enter, but well... she still felt detached from them.

It wasn't long before she spotted a tree that was split in half down the middle, as if someone had taken an axe and cut right down. That was a pretty distinguishing landmark. She dialed Joe and described this tree to him. It was that tree. Thankfully the log cabin wasn't that far from her.

Eileen got off the horse and shrunk it back down to a small copy. She placed the trinket in her pocket and walked towards that log cabin. Maybe now she could get some answers, finally.

She knocked on the door, hoping that it was the right house. Thankfully, the other side revealed a rather broad shouldered man who could have been middle age. Joe. What luck, that was the right house.

"Eileen." He said, "So explain just what happened to you. You said you summoned an... Incarnation unintentionally?"

"Yes!" Eileen said as Joe gestured for her to enter the house. She walked right on in, letting Joe close the door behind her. It must have been a two or three room cabin. Perfect for a weekend or just one week in the summer.

"What did they look like? I know we had Sloth - I had that guy summoned a few times when we had a troublesome spirit to deal with. Was it a woman who looked all blue?"

"Yes!" Eileen said, "It was uhm... Sadness."

Joe nodded.

"I accidentally summoned her the other day. I was told to keep looking for Kazunari after being warned not to stick my nose in further. He bailed after that incident in the airport and I have no idea where he is now. I have a feeling he went insane."

"...And you did not call anybody else about it, like the police?" Eileen asked. "And you met an Incarnation face to face like we did? Why didn't you even call Topham about it?"

"Believe me I called Topham. But he told me that it was all right as long as he wasn't injured. Except that Incarnation told me no, and kept telling me to track him down, and wouldn't tell me why. Eileen, I don't know what to think anymore! So that's why I came out here and told Connor to call me when he got out here."

"I don't either." Eileen said, "Well... should we wait for Connor, or should I take you to this Manitou House, aka the rogue cabal about things? They've been surprisingly nice to me and gave me an entirely different perspective. You know Sharlow?"

"Yes... Topham's number two?" Joe guessed.

"He's supposed to have been responsible for a girl's parents' deaths. I don't know what to think either. It feels like everything's spiraling out of control."

Suddenly, Eileen's phone rang. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked at the caller ID.

"Connor!" She said, hitting the call button. She brought it to her ear. "Hello?"

"I know you're in that cabin Eileen." A sinister voice said, "Come out here right now. And bring that other disloyal one. You know whom I mean... Joe."

The phone hung up. Eileen bit her tongue and looked right at Joe. He had overheard some of that already.

"I made a terrible mistake... I fucked up... I fucked up hard!" Eileen said.

For Journey, Peter, and Zane, this was their first trip through the spirit realm. It was a rather interesting place. Everything seemed dark, almost like a black and white movie. For some odd reason, they seemed to look much different as they 'phased' out.

Journey's outfit seemed to change, looking almost like some kind of patchwork dress. The plushies that she had with her also seemed to change as well - Leopold got rather huge fast, as did some of the other plushies that she manufactured in her off time. The unicorn plush that she made with Peter's suggestion grew to the size of an actual horse. The panda plush seemed to hop right off her and start walking around. All of them seemed to be able to move of their own accord.

Meanwhile, Peter seemed to be immediately transformed into his more leonine form. He didn't even notice himself, a little more distracted by how the stuffed animals that Journey carried with her started moving of their own accord, and her clothes started to look like Raggedy Anne's.

"Nice clothes! Is that your true spirit form, Pippi Longstocking?" Peter teased.

Journey looked over her modified clothes and facepalmed. At least it was better than the other two animals that didn't wear clothing at all.

"No comments about that," She said.

Zane and Aelly simply looked the way they normally did. Although now, Journey and Peter noticed how Zane seemed to have that strange almost transparent look that Aelly had. Looking at themselves a little more closely, they also had it. It must have been that simple "Everyone is a spirit on this plane" trope.

"Shame, wish I could see through your dress," Peter said.

"I will slap you SO hard your descendants will have a mark on their face!"

"Both of you, this is no time for arguing," Mara's voice spoke up.

All four turned to face Mara's voice. Peter smiled a little when he spotted her. In the spirit realm, Mara seemed to take on her nine-tailed fox form. Not just an anthropomorphic fox, instead a rather large pure white fox, with nine tails. So this must have been her true form, or how she appeared in the spirit realm.

Right next to her was none other than Alana. Surprisingly, she didn't have any clothing on that suggested "plush". Instead, she appeared to have clothes that looked clumsily sewn together. But not clumsily manufactured as such that they would fall off.

"You know where she went, right?" Mara said.

"Yes. Time doesn't exactly move on this plane the same way it does on the material plane," Alana responded.

"I know that, why're you telling me?"

"It's for them," Alana gestured to the newcomers.

"Yeah, why do I look like freaking Raggedy Ann?" Journey asked, "Do these damn things have to follow me?" She turned to face her plushies wandering around her. "Not you guys."

"No, something like... I don't know, sort of your true form and your power sort of manifests like that? Like how controllers have weird clothes that base how their powers work? I don't know. All I know is, we can cover longer distances in a short amount of time like this. Just tell us if you start getting tired. It exhausts you fast."

"Why am I even here again..." Zane wondered to himself.

"To the south. Eileen wasn't that far." Alana spoke up.

Eileen was afraid to move. She and Joe had exited the house to find a rather horrifying sight. Right across from them was a hooded man with what looked to be a metal mask. And behind him was Connor, with his back turned to the cliff. The hooded human seemed to have cut off his escape route completely.

"Who in the hell are you?" Joe asked.

"One step closer, and he goes falling!" The hooded man said, "You can call me Despair."

Eileen and Joe gulped at each other.

"You didn't tell me you'd threaten her!" Connor said to Despair.

"Quiet," Despair grabbed Connor's shirt, and then turned to Joe and Eileen. "You know the terms. I've heard about you two already."

"I don't know what terms you have. You just told us to come out, and then boom! Here you are threatening Connor with a cliff!" Joe said.

"I actually wasn't going to, but this makes a good spectacle, doesn't it?" Despair said, "Thank you for hiding in a house right next to a cliff. Who puts a house like this anyways?"

"It wasn't always." Joe said, "It used to be a good three hundred feet away from the cliff into the canyon, but then some more fell and-"

"Quiet!" Despair said.

Joe instantly shut up.

"You need to tell us your terms before we can negotiate." Eileen said to the Incarnation.

"Well, here we go. Connor here was looking for you and told me he would do anything to get you back, or at least know you're safe. And here you are. You turned your back on the Twentieth House as I'm told. We know exactly what you did. You fucked up our gathering of Torment and his Vessel. We don't like when that happens, we only needed him back."

"What? Torment? There are more of you?"

"Ha! Sorrow was right - you aren't even involved in the plan for the... oh I'm not here. You don't know. So clearly you're not in on it. So consider this - you also were the ones who summoned Sloth to his death."

"I wasn't!" Joe spoke up.

"Be quiet! I wasn't talking to you." Despair snapped.

"I-It was an accident!" Connor said.

"You! Shut up!" Despair turned to face Connor for a brief moment, and then brought his stare back to Eileen and Joe.

"So, I guess you can call it a life for a life. We can't summon Sloth back into the world for quite awhile. I have very good reason to kill the both of you. Or maybe I'll just take this one. The one who said he would do anything to bring you back, Eileen."

Despair then turned to face Joe.

"You have also screwed up massively. You were to escort Torment's human host to a safehouse where we would later attempt to coax Torment out. But no, you ran when Eileen here meddled. If there's anyone who should be here, it should be her, you know."

"Just tell us your damn terms." Eileen said through gritted teeth.

"You two both come back with me to Topham. Or he falls.

"Joe, I think we should. He's an Incarnation. He's serious."

"There's got to be some other way though..." Joe said.

Entering the Spirit Plane was a little different for everybody else who hadn't done it before. It seemed almost like focusing into a certain area, or turning your powers to "tune" into a different "channel". Mara told them to stay close to her and Alana - they would easily be able to phase them back into reality when they needed to be on the material plane again. Peter and Journey made note to ask how this was done later. Zane simply seemed to be on for the ride.

The group phased back into reality not far from where the confrontationtaking place. Peter seemed to turn back into his human form, while Alana and Journey's clothes seemed to turn back to normal, much to Journey's relief. Of course, Zane still seemed to remain a polar bear for some odd reason. Mara was once more back in her human-looking form as well.

"This may not be the best option, but Alana, do you have a toy soldier you can send as a scout ahead of us, or something else?" Mara asked.

"Easily," Alana said as she produced one of the soldiers from her pocket and tossed it out. She closed her eyes, as the soldier started to move.

"Déjà vu," Zane mumbled. "I think I've seen something like this before."

"You should have." Mara turned to the larger polar bear; "You and Alana used to be friends."

"She's young enough to be my daughter, how can-"

"You're only nineteen." Aelly spoke.

"Don't interrupt her," Journey said.

The group watched Alana closely. She was silent for a few minutes, before speaking up.

"Okay, the soldier is concealed in a bush. I see Eileen with some other guy and Dr. Doom. Dr. Doom is holding another guy right at the edge of a cliff."

"What? We have to do something then!" Peter said.

"I think he's holding the other guy hostage. It's that other guy who was with Eileen back on the campus."

"Well this gets quite interesting now." Mara said.

"What do we do now?" Journey asked.

"We'll have to approach with caution. That Incarnation might be able to sense us coming. Do so discretely... Journey and Peter, you go forward first. Don't turn into your were-form until it's needed, Peter. He'll find you easily. And don't send any plush animals out until you know you won't send the other off by mistake. We'll be your backup."

"Working together, isn't it nice?" Peter said.

"Don't try anything, this is serious." Journey said, "Which direction?"

"South-southeast," Alana said.

Peter and Journey set off. Thankfully, Journey's plushies didn't take up too much room inside her handbag. The only one she really had to carry was the bear that would pin down whatever it touched.

"Well? You going to surrender now, or is he going to fly?" Despair asked.

Before Eileen or Joe could say anything, they heard a small cracking noise behind them. It sounded like a gunshot. Thankfully, Connor didn't lose his balance. Eileen and Joe turned to face it.

Right there was Topham! He was not looking happy at all. He took several steps forward towards Despair. Joe and Eileen instinctively stepped aside, giving him a clear path towards the Incarnation. Where did he come from? And was it even him in the first place?

"Despair, what are you doing?" Topham asked.

"Just trying to catch your rogues. They would have needed some coercion."

"I don't use coercion like this!" Topham said.

"You don't, but I do. You were always too soft. I said that back when you were my hos-"

"SSSSH!" Topham said. "Let Connor go. Now."

"If you so wish," Despair said. But he didn't move. He looked towards his left.

"Actually, no. I can't. Because you see, if I do, you will be attacked by those two over there."

Topham looked towards where 'over there' was. At first he couldn't see anything. But then he sensed them. Others too. He even glared at something familiar that was on the ground. A toy soldier. Just like one that was at the island.

"Well, good work Despair." Topham said, "It seems that your little rogue cabal came to you."

Eileen gasped - they followed her! She wanted to call out to them to tell them to run away, but now it was too late. Topham walked over to the toy soldier and picked it up off the ground.

"Face me like honorable opponents, you two." He said to the soldier, before throwing it off the cliff.

Connor and Joe wished they knew what was going on. Toy soldiers, other people here too? This was all too much. Meanwhile behind the bush, Peter and Journey did not move at all. Topham started to get closer and closer to them.

"Do you know these people, Eileen?" Despair said, "Tell me now. Or he falls."

Eileen bit her tongue and clamped her mouth shut. For once she was glad that she didn't put on any lipstick - it'd have smeared all over her. She clenched her fists. They were so nice to her. How could she sell them out like that? If she did Topham would surely kill them. She instead remained silent, thinking it was better.

"Well then! You know what I said! I keep my word!" Despair then pushed right into Connor's chest, knocking him off balance.

"NO! CONNOR!" Eileen screamed.

Topham turned around just in time to see Connor fall. He widened his own eyes, seeing a look of pure terror spread across Connor's face as the boyish-faced man tumbled off the cliff. Time seemed to slow for everyone. Eileen fell to her knees, screaming Connor's name. Her legs just could not support her own weight anymore.

Peter and Journey pushed off, trying to run towards the cliff to hopefully catch him. They weren't fast enough, as Connor fell out of sight. They saw everything, the look of fear on Eileen's face, Joe covering his mouth with his hand, Topham stopping his advances, even the callous look across Despair's metal face.

Connor vanished completely from view, as Despair turned towards Eileen on her knees. Joe still had his hand over his mouth. The two were frozen, essentially. Topham held his hand out to Journey and Peter, signaling 'hold'. Then he turned his attention over to Despair.

"I did warn you." Despair said.

Eileen didn't say anything, tears starting to come out of her eyes. Joe still kept his mouth covered, sliding a finger into his mouth between his front teeth. He knew how deep that cliff was. There was no way Connor would survive a fall like that, even if he landed on his back.

"She's all yours, Topham. You always were too soft." Despair turned to Topham.

Topham clenched his fists and instead grabbed Despair by the neck. Despair didn't choke at all, but still reacted out of surprise.

"How could you?" Topham said, "How could you?"

"What, he said he would do anything to find Eileen. And he died for it. He never said he would not-"

"DON'T YOU DARE MOCK CONNOR'S WORDS!" Eileen screamed.

"Oh, you cared that much about Connor?" Despair looked towards her. "Ha! You should have just told me what I wanted to know from the start!"

"DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK HIS NAME, EITHER!" Topham threw Despair to the ground, sending the demon off balance.

Journey looked to Peter and nodded. Peter smiled as he started to bulk up.

"Master, you're too soft." Despair said.

"I'm not soft, I'm practical. Do you know what Connor meant to us? He was raised by the cabal! And you threw him off a cliff like this! He was one of those people I wanted to make my new age for. And you took it away from him!" Topham shouted.

"By the way, there's a were-lion and Plush-rider right behind you."

Topham turned around, spotting Journey and Peter running right towards him.

"He is all yours - I would suggest you let Eileen there do the finishing blow."

Topham ran aside, much to Journey and Peter's surprise. They stopped for a moment, as Despair stood up.

"And you're not helping me?" Despair said, "How practical are you to ignore one of your finest Incarnations? You even hosted me."

"I don't host an Incarnation of MURDER!" Topham shouted, "That was a big mistake! I should have never let you out of me! I ask you this as a father - destroy that demon now."

"Seriously?" Journey said.

"If these two join Connor at the bottom of the cliff, will you forgive me?" Despair said.

"Maybe." Topham said. "By the way... there is a were-lion right behind you."

While Despair was distracted, Peter had snuck right behind Despair. He brought both of his paws to the side of Despair's head and lifted the Incarnation up off of his feet. Journey brought Leopold out, and hopped right onto the leopard's back.

"Free shots!" Peter announced while Journey brought Leopold right in front of the were-lion's front and started to pummel the demon. The demon was knocked back and forth with each pummel for several minutes. Journey grabbed onto the demon's legs and pulled.

"Attack!" Journey shouted as a plush unicorn trampled out of the bushes, hopping over the smaller of the two and went right down onto Despair's chest, horn-first. Despair screamed as the horn pierced his metallic body. The plush hopped off, landing on the ground with some crinkling noises.

Right after that, the plush went underneath the demon and stood on its hind legs, plunging its horn right into the demon's back. Despair screamed again.

"See how much you like to be thrown off of a cliff." Peter said, "One, two."

"No, you have to destroy its stone, that won't kill it." Topham said.

Instead, Peter gestured for Journey to let go. After she did, Peter immediately flipped Despair onto the ground. He smacked the demon around a few more times. The others from Manitou House had caught up by now. All four raised an eyebrow at such a weird sight.

"What? Why aren't you-?"

"That is no longer my subordinate." Topham turned to face the others, "He is all yours. Destroy that abomination."

Despair continued to reel in disorientation. Aelly stood on her hind legs and gestured for Zane to join in. He ambled over to the demon on the ground and sat on him.

"Is that seriously the best you could do?" Peter laughed.

"Uhm, yes." Zane said.

"Get off! Let Eileen have a few shots too."

Zane stood up and stepped over the demon's metallic body. He put his paw underneath it and kicked the limp creature over towards the still stunned Eileen. She looked over the demon, and then held her hand out.

"I'll KILL YOU BASTARD!!" She screamed, summoning her metallic claws.

Eileen raised her hand, and then plunged the claws right into where the Incarnation's neck was. It seemed to do something. Despair howled in agony, as the metal started to rapidly rust and dissolve.

"Take THAT and THAT and THAT AND THAT!!!" Eileen shouted repeatedly gouging the claws into the neck of the demon. His body continued to crumble until all that was left was the green cloak, and some assorted pieces of metal on the ground.

"I thank you," Topham said. Everyone turned their attention to him next.

"And YOU." Eileen said, glaring at the man. "You knew this would happen, did you?"

"No, I did not. The fact that it did meant that Despair didn't need to be in this world. I request this, Manitou House. A ceasefire for today only. I will retreat back to the Twentieth House and inform them of the events. I will not hurt you, and in return, you will not hurt me at all."

Mara glared at the man, but nodded anyways.

"Then it is settled. Eileen, Joe, both of you has a very good reason to hate me. What you do next is up to you. The Incarnations will not touch you from now on. I will see sure to that. Despair was a fluke. Find Connor's body and give him a proper burial. And place a set of flowers at his grave. From everyone at the Twentieth House. I will see to it that Connor will never be forgotten. I would suggest you find some place safe. I will order the Incarnations not to track you."

Topham reached into his pocket and dropped a $20 bill on the ground. After that, he simply bowed to them, and then vanished with another crack.

"Are you nuts! You let him go!" Zane said.

"No." Mara said, "It was a ceasefire. What will you do now?" She turned to Eileen.

Eileen pulled back her metal claws.

"Joe... I don't care what you're doing, but I am going back to the Manitou House."

"I am going with you." Joe finally spoke up. "I know a way down the canyon... we must find Connor's body and give him a proper burial."

Sharlow and Keyes were waiting for him at the island. Topham wordlessly walked past the two. Both of them followed him in, wondering what was up with him.

"Welcome back, Master. What happened to Despair?" Sorrow spoke up when he entered the main building.

"Don't speak his name." Topham responded.

"Master?"

Sharlow and Keyes still kept silent, as Topham walked into a private room and closed the door behind him. Sorrow almost opened it up, but it was locked.

All three overheard something inside. Was it... crying?