[FrostWynd]

Word had begun to float around about an event of sorts being hosted in the area, serving as a means of celebrating with everyone who wished to partake in the spooky holiday, and it just so happened to have spread far enough into town for Millie to catch wind of it. The moment the girl overheard a few folks bringing it up, she knew she couldn't pass up the opportunity to have some fun of her own. "We've worked hard enough already today, so I'd say it'll be the perfect way to reward ourselves! Wouldn't you say so, Tondra?" Bright emerald green eyes shifted down to one of her little companions that was often by her side. The young green canine perked up at mention of her name, and yapped back in response.

That was good enough of a reply for her, and thus the pair were well on their way to the palace grounds. Things seemed to be progressing nicely for the celebration, as they saw plenty of other people also present once they arrived at the gates. Millie whistled at what she'd find as they passed that threshold, looking about to admire all that the place had to offer. "They really went all out on decorating, didn't they?"

[Trick]

[Wyvern]

Jace stood and shivered in place, his front claws held together, as he gave a long look across the magical atmosphere. He could see a fountain sprouting with bright green liquid, and small ghost-like critters popped up from the glowing water. As soon as his tail uncurled from between his hind limbs, he felt a chilling sensation crawl up his spine as he felt a tiny, rodent-like skeletal creature scurry over his tail.

"Ooogh! What was that?" The Tundragoon looked down and behind him, but couldn't see a thing. In fact, all he could see, besides the fountain, was thick grey fog that almost shrouded his legs.

"Listen, Jace, why don't you calm down and try out-"

Jace hopped a short distance backwards, startled by the Fellox that approached him once again.

Kumara gave a long sigh, before he lowered his head. From his neck slung off a cloth bag, which sounded as if it was filled with soft plastic, crumpled up inside. "Come on, I got you some candy. There are more appetizers within the palace grounds, as well."

He gave the cloth bag, which was colored  bright orange, a soft nudge with his paw. "How many times will I have to assure you, that you'll be alright? Let us go join the others!"

[Good Treat]

[zapdragon555]

The snack table was crowded, but... maybe that was a good thing. Tenma recalled a time in his life when he'd done all he could to avoid crowds like the plague, but now they were a source of shelter, of cover from being recognized. In the end it was him who offered to plunge forward into the thick of people to retrieve something to eat while Grimmer kept watch. Being the taller of the two of them, Tenma felt better about trusting Grimmer's eyes than his own when it came to looking for danger. That, and...

Well... his friend did have a particular skillset. Tenma imagined that going through training to be a spy had its advantages in situations like... well. Like this, and all the other times they were on the run.

Somehow, as he stacked pumpkin and ghost shaped cookies onto a small, plastic plate and dipped a cup into the punch bowl, he couldn't help but feel like hiding out like this was a waste of time. Especially when he was supposed to be going after someone. When every moment he rested, more people could be getting hurt...

"Where's your plate and cup?" Grimmer asked when Tenma reappeared, taking both offered things from the doctor's hands with a quizzical, but placid smile. His smile fell ever so slightly, but not completely, as Tenma hesitated and uttered out words that had become rather familiar by now.

"I'm not hungry. It's okay, enjoy them."

[Trick]

[Adelie]

After tripping over at least two sets of rambling pumpkin overgrowth and nearly giving himself a concussion on an animatronic skeleton, he was starting to think might have been a bad idea.

He had never really been one for the 'spooky,' as people liked to call it. No, it wasn't that he was superstitious - or god forbid, scared of ghosts and demons and floating creepy-crawlies. He was simply... easily startled. Yes. That seemed to the be the word. These haunted houses, which relied so heavily on surprise and setting the atmosphere, were certainly not helping him.

Market research, he reminded himself. That was why he was here, after all. Enough people flocked to these Halloween parties that it was his duty as a store owner to investigate what kind of events they ran and how they managed to attract so much customer interaction. Of course, he was starting to doubt that too. If number of people was the only measure that mattered, then he may as well start investigating freeway traffic jams to see how they managed to collect so many people in one place for so long.

In front of him was the crown jewel of the entire establishment - the palace, complete with a little warning on the side proclaiming that it contained some truly terrifying rooms and that visitors should enter at their own risk and be prepared to face their deepest, darkest fears. He gulped.

Market research, he reminded himself. It's all for market research.

[Treat]

[SpringsSong]

The women made their way into the mansion after offering bows of their heads to Metha as they passed, along with the usual smiles that they exchanged when they came to such events. Xyshari's smile was complete with her fangs, and Lana's eyes were plenty spooky without any additional help.

"...do you ever wonder if we should actually make an effort to get dressed up for this sort of thing?" Lana asked Xyshari as they made their way into the mansion.

"If everyone else believes that we're in costume, that's their choice to believe," Xyshari replied. "Besides, I find it rather convenient, not needing to hunt down an outfit for an occasion such as this. Remember the last Festival of the Golden Thread? How we spent all that time on those costumes only to find out there was but a single spot left?"

[Treat]

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Ichabod peered at the red lollipop he had been given at the doorway, as if it would reveal itself as a key of some sort. He hardly noticed as the girl at the door stepped aside, and the fog whirled around him as he stepped through the doorway into a lavishly decorated hallway.

Spiders crawled over the walls, the candles in the chandelier flickered just right to send the shadows dancing into figures of their own, and Ichabod thought he saw the skeletal rat from earlier slip past him and run under a cabinet - but surely it couldn't be the same one, surely there were more of them?

He came to the door at the end of the corridor, which was manned by what seemed to be a cheerful pixie with gleaming wings, and he spoke the passcode he used to enter the house - "Trick or Treat?"

[Treat]

[GrayGriffin]

Caldera had been allowed to explore by himself for a while. He still wasn't sure about the exact logic of "dressing up" for this holiday, but after some searching, he'd purchased himself a "photographer" costume. Ray'd snickered when he'd seen it, and insisted on modifying the attached false camera slightly to be more "accurate."

However, Ray wasn't here now. And he saw several people walking up to this house. He remembered hearing about this "trick or treat" tradition, and so he walked up after everyone else, prepared to participate in it as well.

[Trick]

[Jaden Wolf]

"Trick or treat?" Cassidy looked confused. "Like trick on purpose?"

Monday frowned at her. "I don't know why people ask to be tricked, it's just like a halloween thing."

"It's stupid."

"It's halloween. And you can't say stupid."

"Yeah I can. Stupid, stupid, stupid," Cass drawled sarcastically. "Anyway, it doesn't make sense, even if it's halloween."

"Well I want treats and that's what we gotta do to get treats," Monday replied, ignoring Cassidy's taunts. The two were hunched over a small bag of candy off to the side of the room, gesturing toward the hub of activity in front of them. To be fair, a large event like this could be rather intimidating to two young kids, which explained why they were just sitting around debating silly things instead of just going up and getting more candy.

[Trick]

[FrostWynd]

For those with far keener senses than this particular pair, perhaps there were some other larger significance in taking those few steps to cross through the gates of the palace. As an act that was so innocuous, it would be incredibly easy for almost anyone to walk into something without even realizing it. Provided there actually was something there, which neither one would ever even know about as they moseyed along the checkered paths to check out the grounds.

Millie had her eyes focused mostly on what was ahead of them as they passed by the various objects used to decorate the place, which were used to great effect as she stumbled across a statue that managed to really catch her attention... as well as confound her. What it was exactly, she couldn't really find words to best describe it, as the girl couldn't even make heads of tails of it. It was weird though, that was for sure.

Tondra on the other hand had her head closer to the ground, and was busily sniffing out the place to sort out everything that was here. Without a doubt, it was absolute chaos. She could easily detect the trees, various plants and shrubbery, stone, loads of people, the hints of flame from burning candles and the like to illuminate the pathways, even pumpkins! There was so much to pick out from everything that mingled here, that her short tail couldn't stop wagging the entire time, and she grew even more eager as she picked up a bit of speed on her way down the path.

[Treat]

[Firetra]

The creature floated through the garden, summoned by the whims of some unknown sorcerer or witch that pulled him through the great beyond and back into the material plane. He was bound to this place and unable to pass back into the great nothingness, his soul unable to even pass through the gates into the wider world.

So he was understandably even angrier when guests started to pile through the gates and pay no mind to the various spirits and poltergeists as they walked through the garden. Mindlessly walking straight through them and disturbing their incorporeal form as they pass through the grounds. Most of them would react in fear or shock, others would apologize, but some would just ignore the fact that they walked through a ghost as they continued jotting down in their notebook, completely absorbed in whatever they were writing.

[Treat]

[Jaykobell]

It had been a while since he had come out in a more public place. He liked to keep to himself now, staying home and doing his own little things. After everything, he enjoyed his uneventful little home life. It got lonely at times, but he had ways to fill in that hole when he needed that little social buzz.

Today was such a time. He had heard of this event happening, and it had been a while since he had left his home. It seemed like a good opportunity to hit two birds with one stone.

The decorations weren't really his thing - they were very endearing, though - he was more interested in the sweets that were being distributed. When he reached the front of the mansion, he sat down to request the candies. "Trick or treat!"

[Treat]

[Kitsumi]

Some might say that Kitsumi was a bit too old for this particular seasonal activity; that trick or treating was meant to be for children only and not adults. But she had been assured that this was a celebration for all ages, and that there was even a haunting experience waiting for her if she ventured inside of the building where the event was being held. So here she was, dressed in a simple, last minute costume that she had thrown together out of items already hanging in her closet.

She let herself enjoy the atmosphere and the decorations as she waited her turn. A shrill scream was quickly followed by a light-hearted giggle as she was startled by a mischievous skeleton that had managed to sneak up behind her. By the time she reached the front of the line, she was smiling from ear to ear.

"Trick or treat!"

[Trick]

[amapup]

"Are you sure anybody is even going to understand your costume? 'Party Escort Bot' is kiiinda specific."

"The point isn't whether they 'get it'," GAL huffed, adjusting her round helmet. It looked robotic with a large purple eye. "The point is to have fun!

"And besides, that's what this is for." She gestured at the sign on her shirt.

THIS WAY TO THE PARTY! it said in large Comic Sans font, with clipart balloons and confetti.

"Whatever." Livee rolled his eyes underneath his ghoul mask. "Hey, let's check this place out."

The two kids walked towards the mansion. GAL started jumping up and down as they entered the drive.

"Hey Livee, there's a party here!" She nudged his side with her tail. "I'm a self-fufilling prophecy!"

"Whoa, is that a living skeleton?" Livee walked up to one of the skeletal beasts with awed eyes, before turning around and jerking a thumb towards it. "How cool is this guy?!"

Something hard and cold touched Livee's shoulder. Livee jumped into the air as GAL started cackling. He looked behind to see the beast had reached a claw out towards him.

"That skeleton got you good!" she cried.

"No it didn't," he grumbled, hunching his shoulders. "C'mon, let's go get our candy."

The two walked up to the double doors and Livee rang the doorbell.

"Trick or treat!"

[Treat]

[Sarah]

"Do you think it'll take your arm off?" Silthael asked, watching Sanarel war with themselves about touching the skeletal creatures.

"I don't want it to cause a scene," Sanarel murmured in return. The dragon had not wandered far off, its large head swinging close enough to the two that Sanarel could very well reach out and touch it without fuss. The thing appeared to be scanning the outside in slow sweeping motions.

"I will touch it, if you will not," Silthael offered plainly. "What do you hope to discover, anyway?" they asked.

Sanarel gave only a noncommittal shrug in response. In truth they had nothing to learn from the creature. They merely wanted to touch a thing they had not touched before.

[Treat]

[Kylo]

Granta was not impressed with this activity despite his parents' best efforts to entertain him. The candy was nice, but everything was just so weird. He didn't understand the point behind it all.

Then again he wasn't one to really celebrate anything. He like getting gifts and candy but that was the extent of his enjoyment in celebrations. He tolerated birthdays and most holidays. But this holiday was the weirdest of all.

His parents seemed to actually enjoy the weird decorations, or at least Xanatos did. Orion seemed to jump at every noise and laughed nervously.

Granta however didn't budge or scream or even show signs of fear. It was all fake so why be scared?

[Treat]