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Azulu had stopped breathing for a second, her heart practically breaking into his hand as he set it over hers. She had been thankful that he did, otherwise it would've hopped out and escaped from how hard it was thumping. "Ere...bus..." she whispered softly before he kissed her.

Azulu pouted, gently lowering her eyes as she spoke. "That's not fair! You... Your lips..." she said softly.

The dome around them shook and then collapsed as Blossom undid the earth and grabbed up Azulu. "Sorry, outta time! We gotta go!"

Behind her were shady figures, seeping in and out of the ground like shadows.

Blossom and Ember met up, setting down Azulu gently upon the ground.

"They're here?" muttered Azulu to Blossom, keeping her eyes on the frozen shadows which seemed to twitch and jerk.

Blossom nodded lightly and turned to Azulu, a worried look on her face.

The shadows broke free of Erebus' hold since there were many dark areas they could reside in from lamp posts, to benches, to trees, leaves and the grass. Once they broke free, they vanished in quick dashes and into shadows.

Azulu, Blossom and Ember stood back to back, looking around. It was nearly impossible to stop them.

"Ember, you ready?"

Ember nodded a bit, a small flame forming in her palm.

Azulu frowned, her eyes darting left and right quickly. "Shades. They're... almost vampyric. Shortly put, they're shadow-leeches. Drain energy but aren't immune to light. They're quick and also form into mist, so sometimes it's hard to see the - Ahhh!" Azulu sank into the ground, devoured in whole into the shadow as it quickly darted away.

"Ember! Over there!" called Blossom, pointing at the shadow that was departing so quick, it was hard to see.

Ember took aim, fired, and missed and before long the shadow was gone... as was Azulu.

Ember and Blossom exchanged glances, Blossom removing her cap to run her hand through her hair before putting it back on. "This... But... What the ******** does HADES want with AZULU?!"

"Unless it's not Hades, Blossom. Surely it can't be that hard to find willing Shades to go about causing havoc." Ember pocketed her hands, one arm over her stomach and the other resting it's elbow on it to allow her head to lean against it. "Remember... that one time?"

Blossom turned to Ember, swallowing hard. "The incident? I still can't believe we didn't see that. He looked like any other boy and he felt like it, too. Nothing absurd was vibrating off of him."

Ember nodded lightly. "After we caught him, he swore to take her back seeing as how she was the purest thing he'd seen and felt." Ember paused, as if trying her best not to cry. "Azulu didn't walk out of the room for months," she whispered. "She was too afraid to. And she kept seeing him everywhere after that day."

"But then she found you," Blossom said, glancing at Erebus. "And he won't allow you having her."

Ember sighed and glanced at Blossom. "We need to find out where that shade went and where that guy is. I no longer have the mental connection with her and I can't sense her anywhere near."

Blossom shook her head lighty. "I can't sense it on the ground and we've been looking for him since forever now." She tried to drown out Erebus' swearing, closing her eyes and sighing softly. "All we know is that it went that way," she pointed, "but even then, it could've taken a turn to fool us or gone upwards. Or something," she muttered.
----

Meanwhile...

She squinted in the dark, trying to see and trying to adjust her eyes in it, but it was useless. She couldn't even see an inch in front of her. Her teeth chattered against each other, her body cold, practically freezing as she wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed at her arms as if to keep warm. "It's c-c-cold..." she whispered to herself, continuing to look around in hopes of finding SOMETHING, but nothing. The only sounds she could hear were her teeth, her heart and her breathing. "Where... am I?"

If Nyx searched for Azulu, she'd come across a very faint signal, as if a barrier was separating them from completely meeting. She would only be able to feel the faint hint of cold temperatures and the confusion in regards to the darkness. Azulu's teeth continued to chatter, slowly crawling forward and feeling around with her hands. The floor felt metallic, conducting the coldness.

---

Ember watched Nyx, but Blossom began to walk off in the direction the shadow had gone off to.