A Valeween Night To Remember

Miasma

It wasn't like Amity had disappeared off the face of the Realm. Not really.

Because she had been infected by a Cherubim Ray, she had been taken to one of the makeshift hospitals for the infected, to protect them from any Cherubim attacks, and keep those that sought to feed from them away - A system designed to both protect them, and to pragmatically keep any more Adult Cherubim from forming throughout the night, to keep the wider population safe too. Those very makeshift homes - turned - hospitals were one of the first innovations for dealing with the Cherubim that the Witches of the Isles had thought up, centuries ago. Many buildings that were on the edge of the town had even been constructed with this exact purpose in mind.

If someone checked, they would see the internal architecture of the newer homes change throughout the ages in a circular, radial pattern, as new ideas and innovations came with the centuries.

They were also one of the preparatory defences that saw the most immediate clearing out. As the event of Valeween came to a close, the effects of the Cherubim's Rays wore off, the moment that the tear between their realities shut itself, everyone who had been hit by a Cherubim Ray returned to their normal selves.

With the memories of what they said and what they did while under the influence of the invaders still perfectly intact.

Buildings that had been converted into these hospitals could be cleared out very quickly and easily, and often were, but after the Cherubim left, those who had been affected were seen as the truest victims of the invasion. That wasn't to say that people who had been subjected to their outbursts or actions weren't victims as well, but there was a degree of separation there that made the Boiling Isles come to see those who had been directly affected as the true victims. As they left the converted hospitals, and entered society again, some cried at what they had done or said, some seething with anger or embarrassment, while others found themselves to be incredibly lucky, socially speaking, but still traumatised from the experience. The variety of reactions and emotions was equal to that of the number that had been hit by a Cherubim Ray.

And victims or not, they would have to deal with the consequences of what they had been made to say or do. At least, socially speaking. No one was going to be arrested for something they couldn't control, but that didn't mean the people they had been around had to forgive or accept what they did either.

This particular invasion had seen a... Roughly average number of people who had been affected by the Cherubim Rays. And while it varied depending on where you were on the Isles, that translated to roughly a tenth of the entire population of Bonesborough.

And that translated to just about everyone in the city knowing at least one other person who had been affected by the Cherubim Rays.

It was easy to blend in with a crowd of that size and get out of the place before anyone knew where you went if that was what you wanted to do. Hell, it wasn't even like Amity was the only person to do so that particular Valeween either. Just one more person in a crowd of hundreds that could slip off without being noticed by anyone.

Not that that made not knowing where she had ended up any easier.

It took just a few hours after she woke up before a Healer made their way towards Luz, to inspect the chewed-up leg that she now sported. The Healer looked at the injury, and actually winced at the sight once the cast was off. Considering just how messed up things could get on the Isles, between the monsters, Magic, and brutal ecosystem, Luz thanked God that she couldn't see her own leg from this angle. Any injury that inspired that reaction from a Healer couldn't be a pleasant sight, and she was worried that if she saw it, she would really freak out, or be sick. She just closed her eyes, tightly.