"Rest now my boy," Smolkie caught Lin as he fell forward, unconscious. Breathing a sigh of relief, the hypnotist glanced up and found that the fog lifted. The fairgrounds were covered in crows flying, cawing, hopping along, and scavenging through various attractions. It looked less like a carnival and more like a sanctuary for black birds of death.
Suddenly, they heard a familiar voice call out to them. "Ah, it is good to see you all safe and sound," Vontell approached with a smile. "It would seem you have made your way back to us," he gestured to Vivienne and the others before looking behind the hypnotist with narrowed eyes. Smolkie followed his gaze to the big top resting ominously ahead. It appeared as if in their quest to find Velvet, the dastardly fog had guided them back to where they had begun.
"I say..." The hypnotist let out a shaky breath. "That is an extremely unpleasant aura indeed. An evil most foul awaits us within there. Of that I am sure!"
Vyc gently took the unconscious Lin from Smolkie and laid him beside the others, sharing a knowing look at Vivi who was beside Vanora in worry. He stood upright and cracked his neck, "Well, might be some answers in there to this freakin' mess. We gotta go in and check it out, right?"
"Right! There's a lot of people counting on us," Velvet chipped in with an uncharacteristic fist to her palm. "I got some payback to give, too. Whatever's causing this mess got me choked and that sucked."
"I wish I could help, but I feel as if I have to stay back and watch them..." Vivienne held a hand to her chest with a concerned look at the ones slumbering. "Dr. McMoy, they... will wake up, won't they?"
Smolkie gave her a confident smile, "On my honor, Miss Harper. It may take them a while to come around since the darkness had them tight in its clutches, but I do say they will be ever fine! Right now, however, we have to do something about that," he looked towards the big top with a narrowed gaze. "Let us be quick, careful, and safe."
"That is a most sound argument, Vivi," Vontell nodded. "I shall stay behind with you and offer what meager protection I can provide! None of us should be alone in these dire circumstances." Vivi looked up at him mouthing the words 'thank you.'
Unbeknownst to them both, the miniscule blackness in Von's eye wiggled about. . .
The group made their way slowly to the big top, watched by beady red eyes every step of the way. Steeling themselves, they pressed through the entrance flap and emerged in a pitch black space. Not even the light from outside seemed to pierce the darkness around them. There was no familiar sound anymore. No crows. No crunching of their footsteps. Just strange muttering of an otherworldly nature. Like an unnerving chant of some sort, sourceless in the shadowed air.
"Did I say it's up to us? I meant you guys," Velvet turned on her heel to leave, but it was too late.
A myriad of disembodied eyes blinked to life before them. Eyes of various sizes and states. Eyes of bloodshot sorrow and innocent curiosity. Eyes that, in terrifying unison, flicked their unflinching gaze onto the group. The unrecognizable words they heard before hadn't skipped a beat.
Velvet's own eye twitched as she took a step back, "Yeah okay, I cap my brave meter at floating eyes!"
"Wait, I recognize this symbol!" Smolkie clenched a fist in realization and shouted, "Io! I know you're there. Please don't be afraid, my boy, and speak to us!" There was a pause in the distant voice, however slight, before its tone rose. With the increase came a wave of nauseating energy that brought the group to its knees in collective anguish. What was a single pulse turned so intense that the group thought themselves wrapped in a cyclone of despair.
"W-wait, my... boy..." Smolkie grunted as he clawed himself forward. The eyes above and beyond shifted closer to observe his struggle. One eye twitched hyperactively around him as if excited. "Don't... don't do this, I say!" He brought his pocket watch to bear and pushed it against another wave to fight the building pressure. The watch glowed brightly and emanated a shield of light that seemed to protect him... for now.
He shouted back to the rest, "We must break through, my friends, and save Io! Only then will the darkness be quelled, I think!"