The Bells of the Era Ring Out at This Moment [16.5] / Demoness: The Master's Mission [17.5] ...

The mist gradually spread, gathering at the bottom of the temple. Dark poked his head out again and couldn't help holding his breath. From where he was, he could clearly see the cultists kneeling before the statue. Thick clouds of mist had climbed over their bodies.

Some strands writhed like snakes, slipping into their ears, nostrils, mouths, and every other opening in their bodies before emerging again. They seemed to be receiving the goddess's blessing, but it looked more like brainwashing. Dark's brow twitched as he noticed the mist spreading to the thirty-four couples. It seemed to be testing them cautiously, sending out just a little at first. It entered through one person's left ear and emerged from the other's right, connecting a man and a woman. Some reacted.

Others didn't. The mist abandoned those who showed no reaction and coiled around those who did. There were exactly seven couples, fourteen people in all. The mist increased its efforts. Thin strands of a transparent, liquid substance were drawn out by the mist as it passed between their ears.

The liquid gathered beside their ears in bubbles. Dark couldn't help thinking of the Antique Shop on Traveler Street, and the sight of Old John using the Hook of Fate to pull his stray thoughts from his mind. The liquid being drawn out by the mist seemed similar. Since he knew so little, Dark could only guess.

As more and more liquid was drawn out, the substance belonging to each couple began to attract the other. Like bubbles underwater, the droplets slowly floated above their heads. They merged between each couple, forming a single large bubble. The surface of each bubble grew uneven, like a relief carved into a wall. Scenes from the couples' lives seemed to drift within them, like images