Private Tales The Silence of Bones

A private roleplay only for those invited by the first writer
There it was. Alistair could tell that Evie had picked up on his irritation. He had let his emotions slip for just a moment and Everleigh had picked up on it. It was annoying, but also one of the reasons that Alistair liked Evie. She wasn't one of the dullards that the Academy frequently produced.

Still, he nodded along and followed after her. He was not in a mood to point out that they were basing their direction on luck and chance.

When Evie finally pointed out they had reached something like a mess hall, Alistair could not stop a ruthless-looking smile from appearing on his face. A little idea had popped into his head.

"Maybe we can poison their food?"


Alistair asked pointedly before also adding in. "If you do, then consider adding something that acts as a psychedelic." Just like Lucidity. He would get this cultist as high as a kite and then he would slit their throats while they were tripping.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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Everleigh glanced at Alistair, tilting her head a bit at his suggestion. It’s not that she couldn’t do such a thing, a lot of the poison she created was dangerous due to it’s uniqueness and versatility thanks to Everleigh’s innovation. She could create something tasteless, without scent, have it be so potent that within seconds everyone is choking and dying on their own spit. And adding a psychedelic factor would not be an issue either.

We can’t guarantee that all eat together at the same time,” she said softly, “so we’ll poison this as a plan b. In case we fail plan a. Which is to face the cult head on.” She then headed into the kitchen and mess hall, quietly going through items. What would be best would be if she could find something that would— yes, perfect: fresh water. She looked back at Alistair.

Turn away and keep watch, I’m gonna have to take a piss.” She warned, letting her back slide down her back, and beginning to remove her belt, focusing on the jugs of fresh water. If Alistair wanted to watch, he could, she wasn’t going to say anything, but she had already learned long ago that it was often better to warn her partner before just sliding her pants down.

Alistair Krixus
 
True, he had mainly come up with the idea out of spite for them and not really for efficiency. Now that he thought about it, he really did not feel like waiting for them to eat. He would much rather just go and kill them as soon as possible.

Alistair quickly turned around to avert his gaze when he saw what Evie was doing. He was plenty confused and had several questions, but his decency kept him from asking any at the moment, except one.

"Do you really think now is the time for that?" He understood that sometimes you really had to go, but he would not like the idea of having his pants down in the base of some crazy cult.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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Removal of anything that could be in the way was quick, her fingers deftly moving and it wasn’t long until she was positioning herself. Her eyes glowed gold as she thought over Alistair’s question. Of course there was time for this, this was the fastest way to go about it, to make sure to release the largest amount of poison into the jugs of fresh water without having to harm herself.

Oh, Al,” a impish chuckle could be heard, just as she was finishing up. “It’s not just blood or spit or tears or sweat or snot. Piss is my go-to. Especially when it comes to poisoning large groups. No sweat off my back, quite literally.” She said, pulling back up her pants, latching the belt around and then grabbing her pack to pull back up onto her shoulders. “I’m surprised you didn’t know I could do that.” Evie commented and shrugged. Not that that bothered her much, she’d much prefer it if people didn’t know everything she was fully capable of.

So, let’s go down the other way.” She said as she passed Alistair, heading down to the other end of the hall which would hopefully be much more exciting.

Alistair Krixus
 
Oh, right. Everleigh had been capable of doing something like that. He briefly remembered hearing about something like that. It had just slipped his mind at the overall indecency of the matter. Alistair was quick to push the blush from his face as he focused back on the situation.

"Sorry, wasn't really thinking."

He was thinking about where to help her back up, but thankfully she was already done by the time he was close to coming up with a decision on that.

Alistair stayed behind Everleigh to watch her back as he got a feeling they would be finding something soon. If he needed to get in front of her, then he was more than quick enough to do that. Still, at the moment, Evie was best to be at the front because of her ability to quickly let loose a wide radius attack.

"Anything yet?" He whispered as he was focusing on making light footsteps.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
Everleigh glanced back at Alistair, unable to catch sight of the flush on his cheeks but wasn’t quite searching for that. Was he distracted? Perhaps a little. But as they progressed down the hall, she hoped whatever was on his mind wouldn’t put them in any sort of danger. She blinked at that thought and shook her head. No. Alistair wasn’t like that. She needed to stop assuming all the initiates besides her and a select few couldn’t think with their heads.

Alistair had proven to have good insight and innovation. Although Everleigh still thought herself to be of the superior intellect. But Alistair was one of her more capable mission partners she had the honor of working with to date. The respect was there.

Just one big ass door,” she whispered, coming up to a large and heavy looking wooden door. She took a deep breath. If she strained her ears she could her murmured chanting coming from the other side. A slight echo. Whatever room they were about to walk into, it had to be huge. The door itself was twelve feet wide and nearly twenty feet tall. She blinked.

I’m not the type to go rushing into a place but… I really don’t see how we could sneak in.” Everleigh admitted. The moment they opened this door they would garner attention, even if they did their best to slip inside. “Maybe we open it and throw a couple of smoke bombs, find a good hiding place in the corners and try to pick them off one by one as much as we can?

Alistair Krixus
 
Alistair heard the chanting at the same time as Evie, and began to stare at the large door with the same look he had whenever he had to solve difficult math problems. The smoke bombs certainly were a good idea, but she was also right that sneaking was not going to be an option. Moving that door at all would involve a great deal of strength and noise.

He looked at her and said, "Give me a minute."

He dug into his bag and pulled out a small piece of white, arcane chalk. A rare substance used for rune mages. It had enough arcane energy that the drawings using this chalk could often power stronger rune magic than regular ink...It had also cost him two months of his allowance.

Rather than think about the cost, he began to draw a large rune on the door, interconnecting them to draw once circular rune. He added the runes for force, light, sound, confusion, and anything else he could think to add. After two minutes, he pulled away from his drawing.

"This should help with the smoke bombs." He explained to Evie. "Just give me the word when you are ready to start."

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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Everleigh would have let out a low impressed whistle, because Alistair worked fast. Everleigh had intermediate knowledge of runes, and could place quite a few of them. Her eidetic memory was useful for things like that, but runic magic wasn’t something she studied often. She lacked having a true innate interest in it and had gone a different route that she felt better suited her fighting style and her magic.

Didn’t mean that she couldn’t appreciate a job well done, however. She pointed at the one rune she didn’t understand.

We’ll start after you tell me what this represents,” she said, looking back at Alistair with a cheeky grin. “Actually, never mind. You can tell me when we defeat these cultists. Let’s go.” And without further hesitation, Everleigh pushed the doors open.

Alistair Krixus
 
The rune was quickly drawn. It would have been a problem if he needed a more detailed and delicate rune, but for what he needed his steady hand was able to draw the runes quick enough.

Alistair managed a small grin as he simply said. "Oh, that is a directional rune." Just as Everleigh kicked in the door. The runes seemed to add to her kick. The opening door brought with it a sudden flash of light and a loud bang into the room along with a strong explosive force that nearly knocked the door off its hinges and pushed back some of the closer cultists.

To the cultist, it would just seem like a freakishly strong girl had a magical kick that shed light and made noise. Not bad if Alistair said so himself.

Alistair was not about to waste the chance that he had helped create. He moved into the room quickly, his sword and dagger stabbing out aiming to kill or cripple any cultist that his blades could get his hands on. The first few seconds would be the best chance for the two of them to capitalize on the element of surprise.

"Evie, something big would be nice."

Everleigh Ebersol
 
THE FINAL BOSS FIGHT



Everleigh was surprised that by just a few pictures, the effect could be this massive. But there was no time to stand around and admire Alistair’s hard work.

The room they had stepped into was incredibly large with a dome ceiling, everything made out of smooth stone with arcane lights to brighten the place. Large ornate pillars held up the high roof overhead. A massive pit was in the center of the room, with all the cultists surrounding it, their hands raised up in their chanting. Hanging above the pit were many people, hanging upside down and naked, ropes tied to one ankle.

The small of blood was evident as the crimson bled from their slit throats and over their face.

Everleigh could taste salty air. There were two cultists in particular that stood out. One with the body of a woman but with tentacles on top her head and pointed ears. Another man that had the stature of a man and was in robes from the previous cultist that they had come across earlier.

Got it, something big coming right up! Hold your breath!” She warned and then divided into the crowd, emitting her poison breath. Increased with some minor college wind magic, the range was wide and potent.

It was two dreadlord initiates against nearly a hundred people, but it was possible. For it seemed that these regular cultists weren’t putting up much a fight, they all just continued to chant and chant.

Half of them were taken down in no time due to the teamwork between alistair and everleigh.

But then a rumbling began to happen. Another earthquake. Everleigh had to pause to make sure she didn’t wobble into the massive pit only a meter or so away from her. Something was climbing up from the pit. Everleigh didn’t have to wait to see what it was:

A massive humanoid woman, almost twenty feet tall, followed by four massive eels. Each eel expelled a breath, signifying a different attribute: one breathed out fire, one breathed our water, one breathed out electricity, and one breathed out a vortex of wind. Everleigh balked.

So their weird god was real after all?

Alistair Krixus
 
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Every slash and stab of his blades found a mark, and it was not long before a trail of bodies littered the floor wherever Alistair had been. He did not let that get him so excited because he knew fodder when he saw it. The two bosses were definitely the robed man dressed in star apparel and the tentacle woman. Between those two, one had definitely drawn the short straw when it came to intimidation.

Alistair shot out two quick bolts of force that were easily deflected by the tentacles of the woman. Ok, so it would not be that easy. He was glad the battle had not picked up too much, because fighting while holding his breath was not easy. However, the good news was that Evie's poison gas was almost certain to deal with the average cultist. From what he could tell, there was nothing that made them special.

The rumbling that came almost led to Alistair losing an ear as he nearly tripped as he was running past a dagger, but thankfully the cultist had actually tripped and ended up stabbing themselves.

Al would have no time to appreciate his luck, as he saw the arrival of the cult's 'goddess'. Ok, so correction, the robed man and tentacle woman was definitely not the bosses.

"Well...shit."

Normally, an eel goddess would be a big enough problem, but she was also shooting out four different elements.

"Let's get rid of the lieutenants, first."

The worst thing that Alistair could imagine was that while the two of them were focused on the boss they would end up getting stabbed in the back by one of those two. In response to that line of thinking, Alistair shot two daggers of energy at the robed man.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
THE ROBED MAN:​

As Alistair shot two daggers of bright-laden energy, the cultist smirked, and uttered a few words, a shield appearing of sea-green light before him just in time. It quickly wrapped around him, giving the outline of his body a shimmering glow. The man held out his book, flipping through pages until he found the right spell, he chanted, his index finger moving in harsh lines and swirls. Only Alistair would have the knowledge and fortitude to recognize the rune that the man drew in the air.

When it was completed, eight balls of blue fire would appear in a circle before each one would fly at Alistair. The spell and rune had the fire balls chase after Alistair and they wouldn’t stop until they were wither destroyed or crashed into something.



Everleigh decided that if she were to take one of the leaders on, why not the octopus lady? Just after she got rid of a few more cultists— Everleigh felt a tentacle wrap around her ankle tripping her. The initiate gritted her teeth and looked back, seeing that the female cultist had somehow stretched out a tentacle many meters away to grab her ankle. Everleigh had her lance ready to stab the Tentacle and sever it. A scream of anguish came from her enemy.

She spoke, in a language that neither initiates would be able to understand, but suddenly the cultists that were still alive and close to Everleigh began to swarm over to her, dogpiling on top of her. Surprisingly they did this without breaking their fluid chant.


SAMUDRA: GODDESS OF THE WAVES​

The goddess collected energy for now, the blood of the cultists fueling her as she drank in their sacrifice and blood.

For now, the scent of brine and salt water would fill the entire room.

Alistair Krixus
 
"Shit."

This robe guy was supposed to worship a sea goddess, so why the hell was he throwing fireballs around here? Alistair took off running while forming his own runes into the air.

"Learn to read the room."

He had to duck to avoid the first flame, but a burst of arcane bolts managed to take out five of the balls. That left three to go.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Evie getting swarmed by bodies. Well, he had just the perfect way of helping her out. He had to dodge one more flame before running straight for the pile.

"Pardon me."

Alistair ran directly for the group before ducking beneath a few outstretched arms at the last second and sliding beneath their grasp. He did not have to look back to hear the signs of two of the balls of flame colliding with some of the cultists.

That left one more ball, which might as well have been child's play. He sprang to his feet and activated a spell that caused his sword to glow with blue energy. The sword flashed out and cut the flame in two where it then exploded only serving to bask Alistair in a strong heat, but not enough to burn any clothes.

Problem one was solved, but now this guy deserved some feedback. "Now, it's my turn." He turned back to the robed man and charged with his sword at the ready.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
THE ROBED MAN:​

Alistair was right to assume that the robed man lacked a physical aptitude. He was slow and sluggish, but that’s what his energy shield was used for, that green glow ever present. Of course, if it was omnipotent then the cultist wouldn’t have felt the need to step back and away from Alistair.

He began chanting, writing more runes into the air, but also started stumbling back as well.



Getting dog piled on wasn’t that bad, at least not to Everleigh. The cultists did nothing more than scratch or kick or feebly crawl about. And really, they were beginning to drop like flies. Using the scent of her sweat, a poisonous gas was emitting from the purple initiate. The real worry was that Everleigh needed to squirm and crawl away or be crushed under the masses. Thank goodness for alistair and his quick thinking, the fire balls quickly incinerating a few of the dead cultists and making a big enough gap for her to escape.

Her eyes were glowing gold, and she focused on making sure that any of the poison gas didn’t affect Alistair.

The female cultist screamed in frustration, and tentacles were shot out at both Everleigh and Alistair, reaching for their ankles or wrists or neck, wanting to debilitate them instead of outright kill them.


SAMUDRA: GODDESS OF THE WAVES​

The four eels around the massive goddess quivered. Seeing that her lieutenants and that the majority of the cultists were quickly being disbanded by two young adults, one eel unwound itself from it’s master. It parted it’s jaws and a torrent of water shot out from it’s gaping mouth.

Alistair Krixus
 
"Really? You are going to use runes on me?" Alistair whispered under his breath as he charged closer to the man. He ignored cult members that were reaching out to him. They might as well have been background noise.

The tentacles that the woman sent his way were coming up behind him, but his sword reached out and sliced it in half without ever turning his head back to it. It was almost like Alistair had eyes in the back of his head...oh, wait.

Alistair did his best to ignore everything around him, focusing solely on the robed man. He was his target, and nothing was going to stop him.

He finally got within lunging distance and his sword now glowed a sharp purple color, a spell designed to pierce through magical defenses.

"No, running from me."

A small smile crept onto his face as he saw the sword pierce through the arcane shield. He felt the sword make contact with the robed man's body and even sink in a little bit. Sadly, he never got to tell how much damage he did because...

Well, you know how he had just said nothing would stop him. Well, no one ever calculates water-spouting god eels into their plans. For that reason, Alistair was thrown to the side as the torrent slammed into his chest.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
THE ROBED MAN:​

Alistair was successful, the man groaning in shock and pain. But he crumpled to the floor regardless, even if the sword wasn’t deep Everleigh’s poison was still potent and on the blade. The cultist who specialized in dark divine magic was not a fighter whatsoever and completely relied on magic. Soon he was found to be in a pool of blood before he was washed away but the eel of water.

Prey Slaughtered.



Alistair!” Everleigh shouted, dodging and stabbing at the tentacles that had made their way to her. She could only hope that her poison could end the female cultist. But it seemed that it wasn’t affecting her the way Everleigh was hoping. Strangely enough, the female cultist was aware of Everleigh’s poison and would detach her own tentacles, only to grow new ones.

She had to try it out at a different angle.

She focused. Everleigh couldn’t do it last time but… maybe this time she could? Concentrating as much as one could while dogging tentacles and the cultists here and there and other things, she concentrated on her poison. Slicing a thick cut up her arm, her blood deadlier than a bite from the most venomous creature found in Arethil, she felt focused on controlling it.

Toxikinesis. A ability she possessed but was as fickle as a cat on a good day. Perhaps it was the worry or the adrenaline rush she was getting— or maybe a streak of competitiveness to defeat a cultist like alistair had and not to keep relying on him— but for some reason, this time it worked.

Tendrils came from her blood, chatoyant gleam of a iridescent red and purple that seemed viscous yet airy at the same time as they turned into small bubbles. With a deep breath she shot them over at the female cultist, and right when they were in range they burst into a cloudy, hazy red-violet gas.

The tentacles stopped moving first. And then the female cultist fell, eyes open and unblinking with waves of red foam dripping out of her parted mouth.


SAMUDRA: GODDESS OF THE WAVES​

The goddess began chanting. It was clear that while she had been dormant thus long in the fight, it wouldn’t be much longer until she attacked. The initiates had a minute, no, seconds if they were lucky.

The eel parted its jaws, spraying more water everywhere, but the torrent was hardly precise, knocking down plenty of cultists as well.

Alistair Krixus
 
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Ok, quick status report. Ribs, one was definitely broken or maybe just cracked. His right arm was hanging loosely at his side. A sudden jerking and pushing motion brought with it a pop that came from Alistair's shoulder along with a yelp of pain. Ok, the dislocated shoulder was fixed for now.

He must have hit his head because he could feel blood slowly trickling down from the crown of his head. Oh, and his clothes were soaked through, freaking perfect.

"I-I'm fine. You ok?"


It was very clear from the pain in his voice that he was not 'fine', but he was on his feet and that was all that mattered for the moment. The magical glow along his blade had not shifted to a soft orange color as he moved to avoid the random streams of water.

He sent forward a few bolts of energy, but not were effective. It was more of a reminder. A way of saying 'Hey, we are still here asshole."

"We need something big and powerful. Any ideas?"

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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Yeah. Just peachy..” Everleigh said, her chest heaving. Her violet eyes watched the eels, darting between them and the cult-goddess as well. “Luckily for you, Al, I always have a few ideas.



Everleigh felt like she could barely stand, her entire body was shaking from the strain and the aftereffects of adrenaline. Not to mention that arcane fatigue on top of physical fatigue was starting to settle in. Good thing she was eighteen and filled with boundless energy, right? Wrong. Everleigh wanted nothing more than to collapse.

Her throat was dry, her vision hazy.

But somehow, through the odds, her and Alistair had survived. And more importantly, they had bested an actual god. Well. Not a true god, after all, no one could best the herald. But that goddess of the waves was as powerful as she looked, and it had taken flawless teamwork from the two initiates to beat her.

Everleigh glanced over at Alistair.

How ya feeling, buddy?” She hoarsely whispered out, somehow managing a grin.

Alistair Krixus
 
Everleigh was answered with a groan off to her left. Alistair was lying down flat on his back. He was questioning just how broken his ribs were and doing his best to ignore his left eye which currently had blood dripping from it.

His rapier was left broken on the ground, and all of his clothes were absolutely drenched.

"Evie...I mean this in the nicest way possible...I hate your plans."

Al grimaced as he forced himself into a sitting position. He looked over to where the dead goddess once was. The worst part about this was that no one was probably going to believe them. The Academy would laugh at their report if they mentioned that they had killed a goddess.

"Other than my body wanting to crawl into a hole and sleep forever, I'm doing great." He chortled sarcastically.

"You ok?"

The next task was getting out of here. Hopefully, this place had a back door nearby because Alistair really did not want to limp all the way back from where they entered.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
Alistair looked like shit. Everleigh was certain that she didn’t look much better. To be fair to Alistair, her plan did involve him being the main attacking source, allowing her to lay down her series of traps and set up the final blow. It had been risky for the both of them.

Somehow, just like all the other times, Everleigh pushed through the pain and made her way over to Alistair, kneeling down before him, still grinning.

Hey now. We had limited time and resources. I think it was a wonderful plan.” She said lightly before a more serious look settled into her eyes. “I’ll live. We both will. But, we need to get out of here.” Her shoulders sagged forward ever so slightly, thinking about how it wasn’t just getting out of their underground labrynth but also the journey back to Vel Anir itself.

If you’re in pain I… well, as long as you’re fine with it, I can numb it. You won’t feel a thing. But you’d need to stick out your tongue for me.

Alistair Krixus
 
"Tell that to my ribs."

Alistair slowly and painfully got to his feet. As soon as he did, he undid some buckles and let his leather armor drop to the ground. It left him defenseless, also no longer having his sword, which left him only with his dagger. However, he needed as little weight as possible for him to make this trip back.

The thought of numbing his body was appealing, but he also worried that if his injuries go worse while he was numb then he might not notice until it was too late.

He offered his hand out to help her up before making his decision.

"If you can, can you just numb my ribs? I can deal with the rest of it." He said through gritted teeth. Even saying that he would take what he could get at this moment, so he hesitantly stuck out his tongue.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
Everleigh was no stranger to dealing with broken ribs. She almost felt a little guilty, of course, becoming a dreadlord that guilt and shame was often beaten out of the initiates. She considered what alistair wanted her to do, but the thing was, poison didn’t work that way. If it was bone that was something she couldn’t treat on the spot. Of course, that didn’t mean she wanted Alistair to harm himself further.

She debated a couple of the options that came to her head and methodically figured out which one would provide them with the best chances of survival. He wasn’t going to like it, but there was little that Everleigh could do at this point. She didn’t like the hand that they were dealt either. But it was during the times of adversity that innovation could happen, and usually that was when Everleigh performed the best.

Look, when we’re out of here, I’ll get a decent healing spell on you. Right now, you’re going to have to deal with being numb.” She told him, her voice light but there was a sternness to it. “I’ll do the hard stuff, you just gotta keep up.” She added, as her eyes glowed violet. She took a moment, and then before Alistair could refuse she quickly bent her head towards his, and swiped her tongue heavily over his, coating it completely in her numbing poison. “If you want it to work faster, rub your tongue around your gums.” She informed as she drew back, her eyes normal once again.

Alistair Krixus
 
Well, this had to be the weirdest kiss Alistair had ever received. He had read in flowery poetry of kisses that sent a jolt of electricity through the receiver. This like the exact opposite of that. After Alistair got over the strange kiss, he was aware of the growing numbness that started in his mouth and worked his way down.

He followed Evie's instructions, but he could not help but focus on the realization that this poison moving through his body. If she wanted to, Everliegh could have killed him right then and there. That feeling of powerlessness unsettled him, but it was too late to worry about it now.

"Like I said, I can deal with that. Thanks, Evie."


He pushed himself to his feet and the pain was just barely noticeable now. Alistair activated a few ruins that were commonly used to increase his combat abilities. This would keep him moving like normal, and the blowback from the spell probably would not him until they were back to safety.

"Let's get moving."

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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Everleigh grinned at Alistair.

You’re such a good sport,” she said finally, and nodded her head at his words. They needed to get out of here. But how to do so? How deep underground where they? There had to be a way out, right? “I think the chances of their being two exits is pretty high.” Everleigh said, looking around this blood-soaked den of gristle and bone. She saw the large door they had entered from. She looked around, and frowned, seeing no other entrance.

But there had to be more? Sleeping quarters, other gathering areas, a place to hold all the memorabilia that was too big to fit on a shelf— where were those places? She hummed to herself in thought and looked up, staring hard at that dome ceiling. She was certain they were on a higher level, if a god were to break out of this place, that dome would be the perfect spot.

What if we flew?” Everleigh asked, not ironically for once.

Alistair Krixus
 
"That depends. Can you fly?"

Alistair's gaze followed her own and looked up to the dome. They would needed to be able to fly AND break through the dome. He could definately do the breaking, but he was not a flyer.

He was about to shoot down the idea, but he never spoke as he continued to look at the dome. A part of him was viewing the idea as some sort of challenge. It would certainly be the fastest idea, but it would have to include him using magic which he was already low on. That being said, his mind couldn't stop itself.

"I can't fly, but...I could probably throw us...I suppose I would also have to land us."

Alistair knew that Evie's powers could take shapes, and it stood to reason that they had a certain amount of mass to them. However, was attempting to ride poison the best idea? Al was not so sure.

Everleigh Ebersol
 
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