"Kipo, can you use your cool catgirl powers to move this?" Mabel called, and Kipo sighed.

"I... still don't know what that means," Kipo noted, but she walked over anyway. "Move what?"

Mabel tapped a large block of wood. "This. Also, I'm going to force you to watch anime one some time. When I figure out how."

"Oh," Kipo said, changing her forearm to the jaguar form. She picked up the piece of wood, and moved it off. "I'll look forward to it-Hey, you found it!"

"Hm?" Mabel said, before she brightened. "Oh! Hey, it's..."

Mabel suddenly trialed off, staring down into the stairs. Kipo frowned, suddenly concerned.

"Mabel...?" she asked. Mabel jumped, looking up. She managed a smile at Kipo's expression, but she still looked worried. "Is something wrong?"

"It's..." Mabel started, but Coraline, who had come up behind her, suddenly groaned.

"Oh, not this again," she huffed. Kipo frowned at them, even Luz and Fei Fei were starting to look sick.

"What is it? What's wrong?" Kipo asked them, before she remembered. She looked down at it, suddenly understanding. "Oh."

Right. The desert. The stairway. And, most importantly, the place where Hurricane couldn't follow.

"We can't go there," Fei Fei warned them. "We can't..."

Kipo shook her head. She didn't know why they were so afraid of it, but none of them were getting within a meter of it. But... Kipo had a feeling they had to go down there.

"Mabel..." Kipo said slowly. The eyes on her back had a weight to them. "That ghost that led us here, do you trust it still?"

Mabel paused, seemingly have forgotten about that. Slowly, she nodded.

"Oh, come on! We can't do that!" Coraline cried. "We all saw what happened to Mira, right? We can't go down there!"

"Coraline, you don't have to come with us," Kipo told her, not unkindly. "I didn't see what you all saw in the desert, so I don't know what to be afraid of, but this is Kai's basement. I know this place. And, since the ghosts have literally never done anything to us before, why would they start now? It wouldn't make any sense."

"Ok, but we did use a Ouija board, and I feel like in most horror movies, that's the main reason they all die," Coraline pointed out.

"We're not in a horror movie," Kipo argued. Coraline rolled her eyes.

"Speak for yourself."

Kipo shook her head, and turned away. "These ghosts were alive once, and they were in our shoes. I think they'd want to help us, but I'm not going to force you all to come down if you don't want to. Only one of us has to go down."

The others didn't respond at first, but Kipo couldn't wait. If she did, her courage would fail, so she stepped forward, holding a hand to Luz.

"You all can wait here," she told them. "Just give me the board-."

Luz jerked away. "No, I can come. I want to help!"

Kipo blinked. "Uh, okay. That's good. You don't have to shout."

Luz looked miserable. "Sorry. I just... I'm worried. I don't really want to go down there, but you're right. It's... probably fine."

Kipo opened her mouth to offer Luz an out again, but changed her mind. Luz might not take it as a kindness.

"I'll go," Fei Fei offered next. "You are right. I trust the ghost."

"Me too!" Mabel cried, but she didn't look happy about it.

Kipo nodded at them, feeling far more reassured than she did before. She smiled as she knelt down, picking up a torn piece of wood and tying another torn cloth around the top. She took the lighter from her pocket (finding that was like a miracle), and lit her makeshift torch.

"Alright, let's go," Kipo said, holding up her light. "Um, Coraline, keep watch, I guess. We'll be back soon, I promise."

"If you're not dead," Coraline called. Kipo shook her head, ignoring her. Instead, she clutched her torch tighter, looking at everyone else.

Despite her friends being more than willing to help her even when they were terrified, she still didn't want to go down there. Still, she made herself turn, taking the first step into the stairs, and then down, into the basement.

Despite everything, this felt familiar.

Back at the top, Coraline watched them go, sitting on the ground as she started to wait. A cool wind blew through, and she shivered. They had started the séance just as the sun had begun to dip on the horizon, and now, it was completely down, casting the destroyed town in shadows.

She tried not to think about it, but Coraline could feel their presence. It was in the wind, in the shadows, and when there were eyes in her back, and it made her feel like she was on display. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, and Coraline wondered if they wanted something from her.

Whatever. Coraline stood up, and hurried down to the stairs. Better down therewith everyone else than up here all alone.

Kipo startled as she heard footsteps behind her, and then relaxed as she saw Coraline bound down the stairs. She didn't saw anything, only offered a small smile as Coraline sighed.

The stairwell was short, as it had always been, and soon they emerged into the basement, the small light easily casting shadows all over the small room, where, in one corner, there was the mysterious machine Kai had been looking at before, and beside it, Kai's tools and some of his old plates. Kipo snorted. Kai had promised he had taken all of them back up, but clearly, he'd missed some. However, some of them looked like they were growing mold, so Kipo left them alone.

"Um..." Luz spoke up nervously. "There's no one here."

"Yeah," Kipo agreed, looking around. There were still eyes on her, even here. She was beginning to feel like that all the time. She just hoped it wasn't Hurricane watching her. "Here, put the board down."

Luz's eyes widened, immediately doing that. "Ooh, a ghost."

"Mabel, can you-?" Kipo asked, and Mabel nodded almost immediately sitting down again.

"Oh, great," Kipo said, a little surprised. "And Coraline-?"

Coraline shook her head. "Absolutely not."

"I'll do it," Luz offered, and when Kipo shrugged, she sat down opposite Mabel. The others followed her example, and soon they were sitting in a circle much like the one before, with Kipo beside Mabel, Coraline beside her, then Luz, then Fei Fei. They all faced inwards, towards the Ouija board, and slowly, with hesitation, they put their pointer fingers back on the triangle.

"Thank you for leading us here, Star Butterfly!" Mabel started, trying to sound enthusiastic but her voice was strained. "Um, you're still there, right?"

The triangle piece started moving again, but this time, when it moved, it went to 'no'.

Mabel and Luz sucked in a breath.

"O-Oh," Mabel said. "So, you're a different ghost, then?"

The triangle piece moved to yes, and, before anyone could even ask, it began to move around the board.

"I-M-N-O-T-T-E-L-L-I-N-G-Y-O-U-M-Y-N-A-M-E."

Kipo blinked. "Yeah, that's fine."

"Can you help us?" Mabel asked. The piece didn't move for a minute, as if the ghost was thinking that over.

"I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-T-T-H-E-M-T-O-F-I-N-D-M-E."

"He doesn't know we're here," Kipo told them. "I don't think he can see down here."

Again, the ghost didn't answer straight away. "C-O-N-V-I-N-C-E-M-E."

The small circle exchanged glances.

"We can't stay here, we're going to die," Luz eventually spoke up. "And, we want to go back home. We want to go back home, to our families and friends. I know... what happened to you wasn't fair, and I so sorry it happened. But if you help us, then you can save someone!"

The ghost seemed to mull that over. "E-H."

Luz flared up. "Just 'eh'? Seriously?"

Coraline hummed crossing her arms. "Well, if that doesn't convince, how about this: This could be your revenge against the people who killed you."

"T-H-E-Y-D-I-D-N-T-K-I-L-L-M-E."

Coraline's eyes widened, but Kipo frowned, wondering what that meant.

"I-W-A-S-A-L-R-E-A-D-Y-D-E-A-D."

"...I'm sorry that happened to you," Coraline said, now floundering. "Um..."

"W-H-A-T-E-V-E-R."

"I-W-A-S-J-O-K-I-N-G-I-W-I-L-L-H-E-L-P-Y-O-U."

Everyone sighed in relief, but the ghost wasn't done.

"I-D-O-N-T-W-A-N-T-T-O-G-E-T-I-N-V-O-L-V-E-D-T-H-O-U-G-H."

"I-L-L-T-E-L-L-Y-O-U-W-H-A-T-Y-O-U-N-E-E-D-T-O-K-N-O-W."

"P-A-Y-A-T-T-E-N-T-I-O-N."

"Oh... thank you," Mabel said, surprised. It was a pretty big turn from the ghost's earlier attitude. She glanced at everyone else, uncertain. "Uh, go ahead."

"T-H-E-Y-A-R-E-H-I-D-D-E-N-I-N-T-H-E-M-O-U-N-T-A-I-N."

"T-H-E-Y-A-R-E-A-L-W-A-Y-S-W-A-T-C-H-I-N-G."

"T-H-E-Y-A-R-E-P-O-W-E-R-F-U-L-L-B-U-T-T-H-E-F-L-O-W-E-R-S-A-R-E-M-O-R-E."

"T-H-E-Y-W-A-N-T-T-H-E-F-L-O-W-E-R-S-T-O-K-E-E-P-T-H-I-S-W-O-R-L-D-A-L-I-V-E."

"T-H-E-W-I-S-H-F-L-O-W-E-R-S."

Kipo frowned. The wish flowers... Anne said that, too.

"Y-O-U-C-A-M-E-H-E-R-E-T-O-D-I-E."

Kipo's eyes widened, and Coraline scrambled up, away from the circle. Luz froze up, holding up her hands in a defensive position, and Mabel let out a cry of surprise. Fei Fei startled at their reactions. But nothing happened, and Kipo started to wonder if the ghost was messing with them again.

Finally, the piece started moving again, completely independently of Luz and Mabel. They flinched, but the triangle stayed on the board.

"O-N-E-M-O-R-E-T-H-I-N-G."

"Y-O-U-R-L-I-T-T-L-E-F-R-I-E-N-D."

"S-I-X."

Luz gasped, suddenly leaning forward.

"S-H-E-S-O-N-E-O-F-T-H-E-M."

"S-H-E-B-E-T-R-A-Y-E-D-U-S."

"A-N-D-K-I-L-L-E-D-U-S-A-L-L."

"What?!" Luz cried. "Wait, what do you mean?! What happened? Why did Six betray you?!"

Luz waited anxiously, but apparently; the ghost was done with them. The piece didn't move again, and for the first time, Kipo felt an absence of an overwhelming supernatural presence since she got here. The world... felt clearly then it ever had before.

Kipo looked around at everyone else, wondering if they felt it, too. Mabel was rubbing at her arms, Coraline crossed her arms, frowning deeply, and Fei Fei shuddered. The three of them, and Luz, were too focused on the board to notice the change in air, but Kipo saw that they clearly felt it.

For the moment, anyway. Suddenly, the feeling of being watched returned with a vengeful force, and Kipo was immediately on her guard again, looking around. Had the ghost returned...? No, this was different. This was...

With her enhanced eye sight, Kipo saw a little creature, waiting and watching them in the darkness, holding something in its mouth. Kipo recognized it at once.

"Six..." she started, and everyone else looked up at once. Kipo lifted the torch, bringing the fox-dog thing into the light. Six looked annoyed, but she didn't move. No one did, for a good long while, and after a minute, Six bounded down the stairs, a small red flower in her mouth. A very familiar flower.

Immediately, Luz stood up. She was on her guard. "Six... where'd you get those grave flowers?"

"Where do you think?" Six asked her back, spitting the flowers out. "A grave, obviously."

Luz opened her mouth, and then closed it, and then repeated that process a few times, looking like a very angry fish. She didn't seem like she knew what to say. How could she begin? What was even going on anyway...?

Six seemed to realize Luz's dilemma, because, she broke eye contact first, staring at the ground, an unreadable expression on her face.

"We should talk about this..." Six started. "But in private. All of you can leave."

Kipo, Mabel and Fei Fei stood up immediately, and Coraline took a threatening step forward.

"Um-," she started, but Luz shook her head.

"No... wait," Luz started, holding her friends back by raising her arm. "It's fine... I want this, too."

Kipo turned to her friend, concerned. "Are you sure?" she asked. "What if...?"

"I'll be fine," Luz told them firmly. "I can fight if I need to... but more importantly, I need to know if the person I've been spending so much time with is actually the person she says she is. I want to know... what's been going on."

The rest of the group exchanged glances. They didn't want to leave, but Luz was determined, and really, it would be difficult to argue against that. Slowly. Kipo nodded, and the rest followed suit.

Coraline started towards the door, glancing back at Luz frequently. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but she kept her mouth shut, moving forward and up the stairs. The others followed her, and, after some consideration, Kipo placed the torch by the door. But that was all she could do, and before Luz could chastise her, Kipo hurried up the stairs with everyone else.

When she got up, everyone was crowding the stairs, looking lost.

"Now what?" Mabel spoke up, voice uncertain. "Do we wait for her?"

"Just in case?" Coraline added. She leaned towards the opening, trying to listen. Kipo lifted a hand to stop her, but then she paused.

Kipo really wanted to say yes... she was worried about Luz, too. A hundred reasons to say raced through her mind as Kipo wondered what was going on down there... but the consequences of the last time Kipo had wanted to help was a constant distraction in her head as well. If there were no good choices, then what was the best choice?

Kipo sighed, finally shaking her head. "No, let's go help Tulip and Kai," she said. "We know that Luz can handle herself. We just have to trust her. You all do, right?"

Coraline frowned. "Yeah, obviously, but-."

"She knows more about magic then all of us put together," Kipo reminded them. "And she's smart. She'll be fine. Meanwhile, Tulip and Kai definitely need our help, so we'll go help them instead of waiting."

Coraline, Fei Fei and Mabel looked disgruntled, but in the end, they seemed to agree, nodding along.

"I know, I know," Coraline agreed. "I'm just worried..."

"I am, too," Kipo admitted. "Especially with... never mind. But we've been gone way too long, and we still promised to help Kai and Tulip."

No one argued with her on this, and after a second of indecisiveness, Kipo turned around, starting towards the community center. The others followed her quietly, and they picked their way across the debris.

As they walked, Kipo tried to keep her mind off Luz by focusing on Kai and Tulip. And she was worried about them, too, but... she kept wondering if she was making a mistake. Despite her confidence back then, a deep fear gnawed at her stomach, fearing that this decision would get another one of her friends killed, and that she was wrong about everything.

If there was anything she had learned about mistakes recently is that there was no buildup or foreshadowing. You make a choice, and sometimes, it just happened to be wrong.

Kipo was intent on making as little mistakes as possible.