Ash was ready immediately as Alice did this... as he saw Vicki's hold on herself grow weaker and weaker. Just as Alice finished doing what she did, and started to stagger back, Ash initiated the runes.

As soon as they hit her, Vicki essentially felt herself yanked from the jaws of an unknown beast, and found herself floating in an abyss. She heard Ash and Alice cry out, though it sounded muddled and muted, like she was underwater, and when she looked back, she saw Vic's body attacking Ash and Alice.

However, she then remembered what Ash had said.

'Don't hesitate. Find the signpost of your old self, and race towards it.'

Ahead of her, she saw darkness... but she swore she saw a light shining in the far off distance... and it seemed pretty bright, too.

"Vicki!" Ash exclaimed, racing over.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Your mana was freaking out and you suddenly passed out." he told her. "I called a medic to come and take you to the hospital, but... I admit, I didn't think you'd wake up already." he admitted further.

"What happened?" he asked.

"You really stressed or something?"

"Wait, what...?" Ash muttered.

"Vicki, hold on." he said. "You just passed out under odd circumstances, you need to be checked out." he told her.

"I can get ahold of Alice if you want." he then offered.

"But just try and take it easy, all right?" he continued.

"Passing out is never a good thing."

"What the...?" Ash muttered, before shaking his head.

As he walked over towards her, she saw him take out his cell phone and give the details as to where they were.

"She's up and about, but she's refusing to stay here until the medic arrives." he said into it.

"No, she's absolutely insistent that she has to see her sister, and she refuses to listen to me." he went on.

"...from what I can tell, she seems all right at the moment, yes." he then said further.

"Uh-huh... uh-huh... all right, thank you." he finished, before hanging up.

"Certainly hope they're not mad at me and think that was a crank call or false alarm."

"..." Ash didn't quite know what to say here, but then sighed.

"I see." he said.

"Well... I don't know what good I can do, but... if you want company for this, I'll go with." he told her.

"Just in case you need someone there to... well... back up how you feel and such." he continued.

"The powers of your premo...nitions..." he went on, but then trailed off.

"But... you see the PAST..." he recalled. "How does...?" he started to ask further, but then shook his head.

"The answer's going to give me a headache, isn't it?"

"Ah... right then." Ash muttered.

"I see." he said.

"Well, I'm sure Alice won't be an issue in terms of convincing." he went on.

"...but perhaps I'll tag along, just to make sure." he then said.

"Let's go." he told her, before the two of them vanished from where they were, appearing in the backyard of where Alice lived.

Ash was silent, before just shaking his head to himself.

"Should have asked." he muttered.

"But I didn't." he said.

He then watched her go, before following her.

"Right." he said.

"Lead the way." he told her.

"You're the one that knows where we're going."

Thankfully, Ash HAD followed Vicki into the office, so Alice was, indeed, directing her question to him, as he shut the door behind himself. He then looked at Alice, before sighing heavily.

"Yes and no." he responded.

"I have NO idea what research she's talking about." he admitted. "I don't know any of the nitty-gritty details." he said further. "However, what I DO know is that, through technicalities, she's seen what the future holds." he told her.

"And the future is apparently very bleak." he went on.

"Alice, you know mana is a very fickle and unpredictable thing at times." he then said further.

"But I really think that Vicki's onto something, here. I think we need to take her word for this."

Ash paused as he thought about it, pondering his brother and his personality.

"...hmmmm..." he mumbled.

"Perhaps." he said.

"He might need serious convincing, though." he told her. "You know how pacifist he is. Irritatingly so." he grumbled.

"Which is to say, you're going to need to perhaps be forceful with him." he then clarified.

"Not necessarily hurt him, but... well, maybe assert dominance-" he went on, before his cell chimed. He looked at it briefly, before his eyes widened.

"Excuse me a moment." he told then, before stepping outside the office door, closing it again behind him.

There was silence for a moment, before the door was answered by Evan.

"Oh! Aunt Vicki!" he said, opening the door a little more and stepping out of the way.

"Come in." he offered.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Want something to drink or something?" he offered.