The Race part 2

Olivia and Josephine****

Olivia was only momentarily distracted by two of her competitors seeming to summon that might very well have been a demon as she shed her own coat and focused on the power inside her that had been granted by the book she had picked out of the Library. The book had been called ‘The Monster Manual’. Focusing on the image that she wanted, Olivia tried to coax that core of power out of her core and into her body. With a cracking of bones reshaping, ectoplasm was drawn from the raw aether to form new flesh that only briefly touched the air before thick white fur grew forth and covered her large and shaggy form.

The polar bear that had once been Olivia Hawkins spent several long moments examining itself before letting out a bellowing roar and starting to charge up the mountain.

Josephine almost sobbed as Ivy and Rebecca were scooped up into the crook of each of Bloody Rabbits arms, the Demon’s scythe coming to rest against its back as it started to make great bounding leaps through the snow up the mountain, overtaking the polar bear that was now ploughing through snow drifts as a fast lope that was eating up the distance.

She started trudging forward in the wake of Olivia, knowing that running was a bad idea as she would only tire herself out but setting a solid pace that too would eat up the distance without exhausting herself.

Rose and Aurora

Rose gasped in shock, holding her hands to her mouth at the variety of magic on display during this challenge. Turning got Aurora with a questioning look

“Is that…is that B-Rabbit from Pandora Hearts? I wasn’t expecting that…will…will Alice really take the girls hearts if they summon her twelve times?”

Aurora hummed, a frown on her face at seeing one of the items she had put on the banned list of items that Victoria would sell, the jawbone had been considered too dangerous and out of theme for this season and its presence hinted at either interference from the Producers or that Victoria was straining at some of the shackles Aurora had locked her magic in.

“That is indeed Alice, don’t worry though she isn’t allowed to take the girls souls as they are already owned by you. I…I don’t actually know how that would interact between contract and the power of my bosses…”

Aurora waved her hand airily, trying to put on a show of being unconcerned for both Rose and the audience.

“Let’s just hope those two don’t summon B-Rabbit enough to ever have to find out. It looks like nearly everyone is making good progress though…I might have to release some of my blue shells onto Ivy and Rebecca and another onto Charlotte and Delilah…”

Rose glanced back at the piles of treasure, the illusion fading a little bit for her own eyes as the season Mistress as she saw six backpacks each marked with a small placard.

“So…these backpacks Aurora…what are they?”

The stitched together flesh golem winked from where she towered over Rose.

“Well that is a question…I’d hate to ruin this for the audience though so I’ll tell you later after the challenge. I dare say it will be interesting to see what each of the girls gets…”