The colour drained from Ash's face as he saw this, and realised what was happening.

"NO!" he yelled, grabbing Kayla and tearing her off of Alice, throwing her against a nearby wall.

"Damn it!" he cursed, grabbing his communicator and pressing a button to alert all those with them.

"Code Orange! Section 4, hallway 2! It's Kayla!" he shouted into it, before standing at the ready, his hands balling into fists.

"I don't care what you think, or what you believe to be your justice." he said to her. "You're changing. You're becoming a threat. And NOBODY deserves to have that inflicted upon them. You can blame Alice all you want, but damn it, she doesn't deserve to share YOUR fate! Or the fate that Vic almost succumbed to!" he growled.

"Because damn it, we need to hold onto our humanity! Our civility!" Ash yelled back, as his hands balled into fists.

"And you want my mana? Feel free to try and take it." he growled, as they heard more footsteps racing towards where they were. From all directions. And they knew that it would be people ready for this. They would come prepared to take Kayla down, and throw her out into the wasteland if need be. The only reason Vic was given the treatment she was, was because she was one of the ones that could potentially end this hell.

Kayla? Not so much...

"Kayla, you KNOW what's going to happen..." Ash said to her.

"And I'm sorry it had come to this." he finished, sadness in his tone, before he narrowed his eyes, and lifted Alice onto his back, the hood she'd been wearing still covering her face and head.

Ash watched as Kayla seemed to just willingly let go of her humanity. Vic had fought to keep it, and it showed. He'd seen her slow decline, as she grasped ever tighter on her soul, but it kept getting torn away, bit by bit.

Kalya, however, looked to have just given up. Seeing Alice must have just caused her to completely 'let go', whether it be unintentionally from her emotions, or worse... willingly, for cold revenge.

But there was no denying it. She was gone, now. And soon the physical changes would start. He could tell from that laugh. She wasn't going to 'come back' from this like Vic had. She'd let go. She was now falling into that pit. And not even trying to grab onto the ledge to slow it down.

"...right." he replied quietly to Alice, before slipping away, and telling one of them someone needed to take over sentry duty on the roof for now. When the one he spoke to said they would do it, themselves, he nodded, disappearing from the commotion.

He made his way to the room that Alice had told him, slipped inside, made his way to the cabinet in question, and opened it... to reveal that it looked practically empty, save for some old dusty broken brooms, and small empty containers that once had cleaning supplies in them.

"...just step through..." Alice told him. He nodded in response, before walking forward... and slipping through the back of the cabinet like it was nothing. Like it wasn't even there.

"...glamour?" he asked Alice.

Lindsay had been tending to some notes, when he looked over and saw the two of them.

"...Ash...?" he muttered.

"What are you...?" he started to ask, before he noticed the shape that Alice was in.

"Good lord, what happened!?" he exclaimed, rushing over.

"Your mana levels are... alarmingly low." he said, before pausing as the thought came to the front of his mind.

"...did one of THEM get the drop on you, somehow?" he asked.

"....damn it..." Lindsay cursed.

"So we've lost Kayla now." he said.

"Easily." Ash commented. "As soon as she saw Alice, it was like she found her reason to let go of her soul, and she readily did it." he explained.

"Damn it!" Lindsay cursed again.

"Well, just rest for a bit, Alice." he then said to the woman on the couch.

"Give it 20 minutes or so, and you'll be up and about like nothing happened."

Ash just sighed.

"Don't blame anyone." he said.

"I was working when I shouldn't have been. Was covering for someone who suddenly fell ill. High fever and really just... couldn't stay awake." he told them.

"...well, it was bound to happen sooner or later." Lindsay admitted, shaking his head.

"Also... Zeria?" Ash addressed the newcomer.

"YOU'RE down here we well?"

"Oh." Ash responded.

"That makes sense." he said, before pausing again.

"Wait..." he said. "Wait, Jordan's down here, too!?" he asked.

"... she is." Lindsay confirmed.

"I see." Ash muttered.

"Well, seems that wish I made however long ago erased my memories of you guys being here, and this room, anyway." he commented.

"....." Ash was silent as that was said, and just sighed heavily.

"Well... well, Vic finding out before she succumbs isn't an issue any longer..." he admitted.

"...what?" Lindsay asked hesitantly.

"Lindsay, she's gone." Ash said. "She finally couldn't hang on any longer, and... and..." he stammered, biting his bottom lip.

"She's a monster now." Lindsay finished.

"Actually, no." Ash corrected him. "We... did the 'swap' ritual." he said. "Vic's soul was pulled away before it completely eroded, and... well, I assume it passed on to the afterlife." he explained.

"And... Vicki from about 250 years ago is in her body now."

Ash looked at Alice after she'd said all she did, and after Zeria had made her comment.

"Naïve, yes. Over excitable, maybe." he said. "However, she's doing all she can to help this." he told her.

"And I agree that WOULD be catastrophic, but thankfully, that hasn't happened." he agreed with Zeria.

"Help...?" Lindsay asked.

"Wait... are you suggesting that Vicki learn what happened here, so that she can go back and stop this from happening in the past?" he asked Ash.

"Pretty much." Ash responded.

"At this point, letting this world rot and die, as little more than a branch timeline... if that's how that works, I honestly can't figure it out, still... is a very viable option." he reasoned.

There was silence for a moment in the room, before Lindsay sighed.

"Indeed." he said.

"That IS a good point." he admitted.

"Huh?" Ash muttered.

"What are you talking about?" he asked them.

"After graduation? You mean her becoming new head of the Council?" he asked further.

"What's wrong with THAT?"