Y.Z. Act IV [PG-16]

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The moment Dimitri spoke up, fear was the only thing that kept Pethalamine from screaming out in pure frustration. Her ploy, quite obviously, had gone right over the skyboarder's head, meaning that she had put herself straight on the line of fire for no gain whatsoever. And fire was most certainly on its way. The madwoman's expression immediately hit a new level of batcrap crazy when the scholar finished her speech, the thin line of her patience practically went 'twang' when Dimitri effectively confessed to having murdered a Carn soldier, and it most certainly went 'snap' when Soren dropped his hoop.

What happened next went too fast for Pethalamine to fully comprehend, the girl barely having the time to raise her arms to shield her face from the incoming fireballs before it was all over. Luckily, everything about Pethalamine save the cloak she wore was soaked to the core, and as such the flames did not manage to gain much foothold, but much to her displeasure, the scholar noted that her already abused dress had gained a number of new burn marks. Brilliant, just brilliant, though given the circumstances she supposed that they had gotten off easy.

"Oh well, let's go while she's disoriented. If she really cares that much, she'll catch up at some point."

"To be honest, I would prefer it if she didn't." Pethalamine replied, kicking Saria's spear further away from her body as she passed, just in case the psycho lady would wake up and start stabbing again, "And shouldn't we at least...disarm her or something? Or do something about Yuki's wound? Oh, never mind." she scoffed, noting that everyone else, Yuki included, seemed fully content with simply walking away from the scene, "Let's just get away from this place, then."

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Despite the beauty of the sunlight shining through its tinted glass windows, the chapel was desolate and melancholy, the overturned benches and damaged lectern evidence that not even this sacred place had been left unravaged by the invasion. Dried blood coated the flagstone, and one of the beautiful windows had been shattered, countless colorful glass shards littering the floor in front of it.

The soldier made as if to scream, but no sound escaped his lips, his body contorting in a grotesque pantomime of the act. He watched this performance with mild curiosity for a few minutes before the realization struck him.

"Ahh...I forgot to grow your tongue back this time, didn't I?"

Despite the kind tone of the question, the soldier merely stared back at him in fear before finally offering a weak nod.

"Yes, I imagine that would make answering my questions a bit more problematic." the man continued, lionus wrapping around his hand once more as he reached it towards his helpless victim, "My apologies, but screaming does distress me so. Now." the gaze of his warm, light brown eyes hardened, "Who is responsible for this massacre?"

"You..." the man spluttered as the missing organ was finally returned to him, "You monster! Thylonstus shall see you burn in hell for what you've-AAAARGH!"

"You're false god is dead." the man interrupted harshly, his interaction partner's attempt at a reply mercilessly cut off by the fresh blast of near-lethal Lionus enveloping his body, "Unless you wish to join him in the lightless abyss which he belongs to, answer me now: who ordered the massacre?"

"I don't know!" the soldier screamed, his pupils still wide from the shock of the attack, "I don't know! Even the commander didn't know! And even if I did know I would never tell it to someone like-"

"I see." the man remarked softly, watching with mild interest as the soldier's body slumped down to the floor, its heart stopped for good, "I shall pray for your soul, even though you do not deserve it."

Carefully slipping a small crucifix into the dead man's hands, the male rose up, facing the single undefiled statue of the goddess that remained, "Do not worry, mother." he said, his hand instinctively clenching to a fist, "I will find the ones responsible for this evil and route them in your name. And then..." his smile reached an almost manic proportion, "...your perfect world will be reality."
 
As much as he loved fireballs, Dimitri had to admit that he'd been expecting a more frontal attack- say, with that spear. Dodging vital parts, grabbing the spear once it got close or- in the worst case scenario, sunk into his flesh, and giving the girl a good crack on the neck to let her chill out for a few hours had been the plan, but it really was hopeless. "Holy shi-!" Dimitri spluttered as he'd noticed the girl's action that was decidedly different from what he'd been expecting. Not exactly being a mahstion master himself, the fact that mahstion even existed often slipped his mind. His position that had been originally to make grabbing his weapon more easily now turned into a position that was ideal for dodging the fireballs, as he used his arms to push the skyboard upside down and ducked under it. The turbines on the bottom blew any fireballs away from on top, so that Dimitri's precious baby of a skyboard wouldn't get burnt, and Dimitri's precious treasure of a head and hair wouldn't catch fire. At this point, Dimitri succeeded in being generally useless until Saria was down for the count. Well, that sat well with Dimitri anyway. He didn't like mahstion, especially since it was a cheap way of going about things in battle. One should rely on brains and brawn, not magic and skill.

But it was really showing that nobody was doing a good job of being a 'team'. Not that they'd ever officially labeled the rag tag group a team, but it was kind of like it'd been a long time ago, with him, Wiz, Slinky, and Tank. None of them were really 'friends' in the beginning. Just a bunch of brats who banded together to survive in a world where there were trashy adults and even trashier kids. As everyone here had only just met each other, their plans didn't really mesh. In fact, each plan pretty much ignored the other altogether. Dimitri sighed, longing for a leader like Wiz. But, Soren's plan didn't do a bad job in the long run, so all that was well, ended well. As soon as Yuki's wionus had blown away the fireballs, Dimitri quickly slipped out from underneath his board to check for any damages. Which, thankfully there weren't; because otherwise, he would've wanted to take Saria along to throw her mercilessly off the edge, rather than take her along because he felt sorry for her. But as things were, Dimitri wasn't really sure of how he'd go about taking her with them out of pity, either. He certainly didn't have any room on his board. He didn't have room for two, Miki and Pethalamine, let alone three, with the addition of Saria. Man, why were all these people without rides females? Dimitri rolled his eyes to himself, turning his skyboard back upright and glancing from Yuki to Saria. Yuki's wound needed to be treated before going down to the Underneath. There wouldn't exactly be great facilities to handle that sort of thing down there; everyone fended for themselves, so who would want to give out bandages to some stranger? (One with wings, no less.)

"Hold on." Dimitri announced, pulling his skyboard along as he walked over to Saria. After all, he never let his most prized possession leave his side; ever. A blow to the jaw wouldn't put her lights out for good, Dimitri reasoned, bending over to pick her up and deliver a chop to the neck that would really shut her down for awhile. "We should ditch this place, I agree, but if Monsieur Massacre comes back, it won't be good if she's just lying in the middle of the road. I mean, not that I want her to follow us," Dimitri explained as he sat her up against an empty bakery lining the street, "But since we can't console her, we shouldn't make things worse for her either." He raised an eyebrow at the fact that his poor job of dragging her aside had left her sitting in a somewhat lopsided position. "… Well it's good enough. Let's go."

Pulling out his lasso again, he stepped up onto his skyboard with ease, sliding through the air so that he stood to the right of Miki, pushing the left edge down with his foot so that she could get on as he looked over at Soren. He wanted to know for sure what was going down with Pethalamine's method of going down to the Underneath, since he wasn't able to give her a ride himself. "You're gonna give Pethalamine a ride with mahstion, right Soren?"

As good at remembering things like names and faces and comments Dimitri was, mahstion types flew over his head as swiftly as secret ploys did. And it seemed he wasn't very good at remembering anything regarding Yuki, as it appeared the fact that he was gravely injured had already flown out of Dimitri's brain. But then again, maybe he did remember, and had just failed to mention it, as he normally would've. After all, who was he to go against divine retribution? Karma? Or whatever the heck had spurred that now unconscious girl to pick the most worthy of getting stabbed out of all of them?
 
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"Well, it's not really a ride. It works like any other mahstion portal. It's just, the distance is so great that I'll only be able to send one person through." Soren removed a torn map from his left pocket after throwing his hoop over his shoulder again. He surveyed it, trying to ignore Dimitri's act of sympathy towards the girl. Sure, he didn't kill girls, but if it was indirectly his fault, he didn't care as much. They'd be better off leaving her to die if she really did come after them - though that was unlikely. It was definately best that their little group part ways after the descent, because quite frankly, they got along as well as tazmanian devils fighting over territory. But where to go after the descent? That's what he was trying to figure out by looking at this old, crusty map. Ah, perfect! "It looks like Tempest isn't too far off from our landing point. Being the port city it is, I'm sure it has plenty of ships running in different directions. We can take them to where we want to go afterwards." It sounded good on paper, but was it really that easy? For one, the Underneath didn't take kindly to the winged, unless of course you were in Azern, in which the opposite was true. Not to mention they had no way of knowing where else Carn was. It'd be best to call his uncle when he had the chance. He was on the police force in Meredy, so maybe he'd have an idea.

"So are we going, or what? It's probably far from a good idea hanging around here." A familiar yet unfamiliar voice chimed. Soren glanced up from his map to see Saki, who was grasping one arm with her other, apparently in boredom. Er... this was still weird. "Stop looking at me like that! Yuki needs to recover, so he's going to be sitting things out for a little bit while my lionus repairs his wounds!" They used different mahstion as well? That was interesting to know.

Soren sighed. It's not like he didn't know they were in a rush. but he had to figure out where to have the portal end. "Now, my big issue with this method is that we either leave Peth alone her for a moment, or she goes first and we meet her down there, since a mahstion portal is one hell of a faster method to descend. I'll leave it to Peth to decide what she'd rather do."

"OH! RIGHT! Hi Pethalamine! I'm Saki!" The girl exclaimed after realizing she had yet to introduce herself, extending a hand to shake in the process... even if the girl still smelled bad.

In the meantime, Miki finally got the hint to step onto Dimitri's board, and did so without saying a word, the chain still floating around her. She seemed unphased by anything that had happened thus far.

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"Hey, dad, why haven't you been home much, lately?" The twelve year old girl peered over her father's shoulder at the paper he was writing on. "It feels like you're never here, and I miss you!"

The father glanced back at his daughter, his brown hair spiked slightly in the front, and sweatdropped while giving a forced smile. What was he supposed to say? 'Sorry, I've been doing undercover work for Princess Evaline in order to figure out what was going on'? 'A bunch of people were just slaughtered in Alta so I've got more on my plate than usual'? Nah, not really things you say to your twelve year old kid. "I've just been really busy with work down at the station, honey. I'll be around more soon, I promise, Rosalynne."
 
Pethalamine couldn't help staring just a little at Dimitri's efforts at helping out the strange woman who had tried to kill all of them a few minutes ago. Sure, from the way he had behaved earlier, the scholar had already figured that this skyboarder guy was a pretty friendly and helpful person, but concern for someone who was not only a stranger but had also tried killing him a mere moment ago and would probably do so again? No, that was quite definitely not normal in her book. In fact, she had not seen such behavior since...

Well, since Faewyn to be honest. Even as Dimitri declared that he was done, the young woman continued staring at their unconscious assailant for a while more.

"I really hope you're sane enough to appreciate that." she said, though of course not loudly enough for anyone in their group to catch on, casting one last glance at Saria before turning to follow the others.

The Sumeragi duo, meanwhile, had pulled their gender bender trick once more, effectively drawing any attention that might have been directed at Pethalamine's lagging to themselves, the lolita from before immediately snapping to attention and offering introductions.

"Umm...hi." she managed in return. This girl sure was...loud, definitely not Pethalamine's favorite kind of person, but - the scholar couldn't help thinking as she returned the handshake, performing a tiny curtsy out of instinct - right now she was still prepared to credit this little girl with not being Yuki, and so she added, fairly convincingly, "Nice to meet you."

As the subject shifted to her method of transport down to the surface, Pethalamine's expression contorted to a frown, however, only for a mirthless little smile to replace it a few moments later, "Funny, isn't it?" she asked at last, "If I go first, there's a chance that you will just cut off the portal halfway through and let me drop to my death, or neglect the deceleration component, which will result in the same, yet if I chose to stay behind, you could just head off on your own and leave me up here to be killed instead." she tilted her head to the side, peering carefully at the mercenary, as if in search of even the slightest signs of treachery, an expression of bemusement still etched on her features, "Either way, Mr.Soren, it looks like I will be entrusting a near-stranger with my life. Funny how the world works, isn't it?" she shook her head, as if to dislodge the current train of thought, "But we don't exactly have the time to discuss philosophy, do we? So for now, I guess I'll just trust your word on that you don't kill women and go down first." she nodded, "Whenever you are ready, then."
 
As soon as Miki had stepped securely onto the skyboard, Dimitri sank his weight onto his right foot, bringing the left side up. He laughed at Pethalamine's statements, interjecting, "Don't give him any ideas- g-BUH" But with the push on his foot combined with his pull on the lasso, the left side shot up, while the right side shot down, toppling the pilot cheek-first into the ground. His body was strung up in the air due to his foot, which had caught the edge of the board. After taking a moment to register what had happened, the victim let out his crushed voice, "… Ow." It wasn't so much having his cheek thrust into the gravel that hurt, but more like the earrings in his right ear which had conveniently stabbed themselves into the side of his head. Anchoring his hands on the ground and pushing himself up, Dimitri nearly faceplanted again, if it weren't for the fact that his arms were keeping him mostly upright. The grip of his foot on the edge of his board quickly slipped when he'd pushed himself off the ground and sent the rest of his body back to earth. "I'm okay- it's all good!" Dimitri announced, getting to his feet and rubbing the spot behind his ear where he'd been pricked by one of his earrings and stepping back onto his skyboard. This time he took out the right lasso, muttering to himself as he pulled to even his weight with hers, "I dunno why I thought you were heavier than me…"

While he'd been planning on moving out as soon as Miki had gotten on, there was a little delay when he noticed a smear of red on his hand that had rubbed the place he'd been stabbed by his accessories. "Hm…" Dimitri's cheerful expression flinched at the sharp sting in his ear. He brought his free hand up, feeling around before expertly using one hand to unfasten the dangling metal rectangle earring from his earlobe, not wanting to let go of the lasso for a precaution against toppling off again. As soon as he pulled the earring in sight though, he made a rare, irritated expression at the blood dripping off the end, "Well damn."

He bit the flat metal between his teeth as he reached to his ear again to check the extent of the damage. "Hrh, well vats vud." Dimitri said incoherently, taking the earring out of his mouth and shoving it into his pocket, "Least it didn't rip all the way." He rubbed the crimson liquid between his fingers until it was just a red smear and looked over at Soren, dropping the entire subject over the fact that his earring had torn his earlobe a little from the fall. "So we're basically going to whatever city we see first on the way down, which would be this 'Tempest', right? I don't really know the names of any cities in the Underneath." And that was no lie. He may have grown up in the Underneath, but it was such a vast expanse; and it wasn't as though he'd ever received a formal education on geography. Just reading, math, the basics, and that was only because that way, you wouldn't get ripped off by mechanics. All he knew was the town he'd grown up in and the specific area's name; "The Slums" and as Wiz put it, "The Crappiest Place on Mother Earth." Though the latter probably wasn't its official name.


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The man sitting at the kitchen table had never been any good at admitting that he was capable of any kind of 'tender' feelings. Pansy, girly emotions like love and worry were just too embarrassing to express for the strung up male. But by the tint of bright bubblegum pink flushing his cheeks, it was obvious that he was very very concerned. Or maybe it was his unnaturally tight grip on that morning's newspaper, which of course, he was reading well past morning due to the fact that most of that portion of the day had been spent in a meeting with the C.E.O. and various other managers.

Though only in his late forties, a head of pure white hair often made him look older than he really was; and the tight knit eyebrows that revealed his irritation at being unable to peacefully be updated on the current events did nothing to make his forehead look any younger. While having had perfect vision in his younger years, old age was catching up, and he now had been forced to wear a pair of rimless glasses at all times, unless he wanted to be walking into poles left and right. (Because Haeon't and Geote most certainly would not warn him beforehand, relishing anything comedic to entertain them these days due to Aertan's not-so-exiciting occupation.)

"ARGH!" Aertan finally smashed his paper together and threw it down onto the wooden surface, because Tylonstus- or well, Ophelia, knew that it was impossible for him to read up on the latest avalanche. At least not while worries of whether Faewyn (who took priority) and that irritating know-it-all brat were okay filled his head. They'd only gone to Alta, so he didn't need to be this worried, but it was habit for the man who worried whenever anything important of his was out of his sight. The headache that split his head was the exact reason he'd been so against the trip in the first place- but noooo, Alicel needed a visit, and that irritating know-it-all brat wanted to go to the festival. Gripping his head between his hands, his face turned into a shade of brick red embarrassment as he found zero ways to vent his frustration.

"I knew I should've gone with them!"
 
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"Graceful." Saki couldn't help but take a humourous jab at Dimitri's miscalculation. It looked like it hurt, but it was funny none the less. Soren, however, didn't seem that amused. Though, Saki figured Soren looked like the kind of person who made a lot of 'miscalculations', so it was probably his life experiences that prevented him from finding it as funny as she did. Then again, that wasn't to say she had never miscalculated in her lifetime. Her near-death experience was attributed to a miscalculation, even though they were only kids at the time. Though, even Miki seemed slightly amused. It wasn't as obvious as it would have been on a normal person, as she didn't laugh or smile, but her eyes kind of lit up... At least she thought they did.

Soren began preparation for the descent as he reached into his pocket and began to fiddle around in there as if he was looking for something particular. "Well, Tempest is probably our best bet if we want to live, as well. Because it's a port town, a lot of winged pass through. Hostilities shouldn't be as bad there as they would anywhere else. Of course, as we are now, we have no way if Carn has made any other moves. Though, before testing their luck on the Underneath, I bet they'll shoot for Gregar and Beta. Considering the size of those countries, that won't take long..." He fell silent for a moment as he revealed a small, metallic ball from his pocket. It appeared to have an eye - that is, a hole with glass covering it. He crept over to the edge, paying no mind to the vast expanse of nothingness with the presence of the water in the distance as he dropped the ball off the edge. "I'm also concerned about Flazure. It was the center of the last war, but I'm not sure if it will side with anyone or stay neutral. Nonetheless, I have friends there, so I hope it doesn't get too out of hand..."

"So what did you just drop?" Saki inquired as she peered over the edge, a gust of wind knocking her back a bit and making her struggle to stay upright."

"...Camera?" Miki asked. Soren seemed a little shocked that she knew what it was. Sumeragi Co. had only released these miniature cameras a month ago, after all.

Soren nodded as he reached into the opposite pocket and pulled out a pair of black sunglasses that he placed over his eyes. He hit a button, and what the camera was seeing became clear before him. "Since I can't use a portal without first seeing where I'm linking it to, this little device is useful for helping me accomplish just that." He flinched slightly as the ball made contact with the sand below, giving him a clear view of the vast expanse before him. Tempest was clearly in the distance. He threw his right hand forward as dation began to form in a pool in the air before them. "Okay, Peth, just go through. The rest of you should start ahead as well, since I need to be here to keep this open."
 
Pethalamine winced slightly as Dimitri made contact with the pavement, effectively stabbing himself with his various accessories in the process. Despite the skyboarder's assurance of being okay, that had looked...painful, and unlike the other ladies in their little group, she didn't really find it funny in the least. Even so, she was still not her mother and certainly not about to rush over with handkerchief, antiseptic, and bandages in tow either, especially since she had none of the above at hand and the situation still wasn't the right for fussing over small injuries. She made a note of asking about it later...if there would be a later, that is.

The moment Soren mentioned a potential invasion of Beta, however, the scholar's thoughts were immediately snapped away from the whole Dimitri incident.

"But...they wouldn't do that, surely?" she asked, though with not much conviction. After all, after this massacre there were very few acts she would put past Carn, "I-I thought they were afraid to attack because Beta was holding too much valuable information about Carn's defense systems, information which they would release to Tealia the moment the treaty is broken? They wouldn't want to risk a counter-invasion like that...would they? Besides, our intelligence gathering is top-rate, there's no way they could stage something this big without anyone noticing!" she shook her head in disbelief, obviously bothered by the situation despite her words. Bothered to the point that she didn't even pay much attention to the small piece of technological marvel that Soren had procured, something that would normally have set her off on a long rant about the history of such devices and how they had roots far deeper than what current knowledge could even reach.

As the portal appeared, however, the young woman quickly erased even these musings from her mind. Even though she didn't need to focus to maintaining this portal like she usually would have, peace of mind was still important when traveling through dation conduits. When you were blatantly cheating the space-time continuum, the last thing you needed to do was panic and do something stupid that would help it catch onto what you were up to.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the scholar nodded in confirmation, "I'll see you down below, then." she said simply, stepping forward and allowing the dation to drag her into its embrace.

What followed basically just felt like a really, really long fall, even though she knew that in real time this was fast transportation indeed. She kept her eyes shut (there was nothing to see, after all), relishing the short period of complete weightlessness before her body instinctively tensed in preparation for the ride's end.

Contrary to what her body had been expecting, the landing was far from hard. With a soft thump, Pethalamine's feet met sand, the scholar staggering slightly as her body re-adjusted to standing on earth again, but managing to maintain her balance. Sand, eh? Just the finishing touch her abused dress needed. Fighting back the shallow thought, she made a bit more distance between herself and the portal opening on this side. There were others on their way, after all, and the last thing she wanted was to have them land on her head.
 
ooc: such extreme fail. Dx

ic: Dimitri scratched the back of his head with his left hand, eyebrow raised as he mumbled to himself, "Wouldn't it be faster if we all just went through the portal…?" But that might entice a long-winded speech about mahstion, which would be troublesome because as far as the sky boarder was concerned, he didn't want to learn any more about mahstion than he already knew. Therefore, he kept his lips sealed on the subject, forgetting about Saki's sarcastic jab while he pondered over the different travelling methods. "Well, sit- or… stand, tight." Dimitri commented to Miki, "You might want to grab onto the edge or something." Dimitri brought his shoulder up and rubbed his jaw line and the lobe of his ear with the edge of his sleeveless shirt. "Tch…" He shook his head, wiping off his aggravated expression as he grinned brightly to Soren, "Well, see you down below!" Tugging on the lasso, the sky board lumbered off the edge of the big slab of land known as Alta. Putting his hand against his forehead like a visor, Dimitri squinted for even a little glimpse of the city they wanted to go to. But the altitude combined with green goggles didn't really help, so Dimitri shrugged, tugging on the lasso. If anything, Dimitri was experiencing the freefall that he'd been stubbornly dodging for the past few years, albeit with a little engine resistance and some tweaks in the balance from the lasso. Dimitri said nothing during the fall, staring down as he surveyed the expanse below them. He pulled the lasso behind him, turning the board to avoid passing through a cloud. Last thing he wanted was to get soaked. As soon as he'd cleared most of the clouds, Dimitri slowed the board, looking around.

Ah, well. It wasn't hard to spot the town they were looking for. It was now that Dimitri realized a particularly troubling fact; they hadn't made a rendezvous point. He glanced at Miki, his blank and bored expression considerably different from the cheerful face he'd put on earlier. Well, he didn't think she'd care anyway. She didn't really seem like the type to care about anything. It wouldn't be a problem for Dimitri if they weren't able to find Soren right away though. Neither he nor Miki had win- Dimitri pulled the board to a spluttering stop, his eyes wide as he threw a hand behind him and felt his back.

"Oh for cryin' out loud." Dimitri twisted around, looking at the fake wings on his back, "What am I doing. We're already down here, why don't we just go to some other country where there are winged people? We could be going to Tealia, it's not like the only direction we can go is down!" Dimitri hung his head, feeling incredibly stupid. He couldn't exactly just rip off his wings out of nowhere. Especially since these babies were damn hard to get in the first place! Dimitri cursed particularly vehemently as he shoved a hand in his pockets, "Well I guess I'd be an ass to ditch now. Damn retarded plan this was..." Dimitri blinked, remembering that he wasn't the only one on the skyboard. "… Oh, sorry about that. I guess I should get moving-" He pressed down on the skyboard and it leapt back to life, "-instead of just sitting around complaining."

Being in what he considered the Underground already, he moved at a considerably more leisurely pace. It wasn't long before Dimitri completely forgot about his own stupidity. It was like seeing an entirely different face to his own home. The people here certainly weren't rich and wonderful, but… everyone was clean. There were respectable shops, and their windows weren't broken, and everyone was dressed in decent clothes and… it was nothing like the Underneath he knew. As he came to a stop at the edge of Tempest, Dimitri stepped off his skyboard, turning around to Miki, "I don't want to have my board out within the city limits." He explained, "So we'll walk to wherever it is that Soren expects to find us. Is that okay?"

Looking around, Dimitri hardly noticed that he'd lost interest in the entire game, or well, adventure. He'd failed to offer Miki a hand off of the skyboard as he probably would've done so earlier, as the gentleman he was... supposed to be. Somehow, he felt more insecure down here than he had up in Alta. Like walking into his own house, except it was filled with important strangers. And it wasn't that he wanted to hide his board; they were so much more common down here. He wanted to hide his wings. He didn't want to get hostile looks from people who were just like him. As he waited for Miki to disembark, he looked over his shoulder, trying to shove the thought out of his head.

"You want to try looking for him down at the ports? Mr. Leader was talking about them, so it'd probably be our best bet."
 
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Was Pethalamine just oblivious to the state of the world, or was she being ignorant? That's all Soren wondered as she tried to shoot down the idea of Carn invading Beta. Tealia? Tealia wasn't an obstacle now that Princess Evaline had been placed there as a figurehead while Carn council members controlled everything without her knowledge. There was no threat to be had from Tealia, which meant Carn was free to do what it wanted unless the Underneath rallied, which was equally as unlikely. As Pethalamine eventually stepped through the portal, Soren felt as if a big chunk of his already diminishing energy had been torn from his body. Making a portal that worked required a lot of dation, and unless the user was well versed in the technique, substantial amounts of energy were required. Thankfully, Soren wasn't horrible at them, so if needed he could probably go through himself - albeit he'd be more tired than if he had to descend. It wouldn't come to that anyways. That's what he thought. Then again, he wasn't thinking about any of what was about to occur.

The night sky suddenly turned bright red - like fire - as any clouds were seemingly vaporized in the slowly descending light. The fact that this was no ordinary light could be seen from across the world, as it was perfectly cylindrical in shape and it was slowly moving down towards the entire country of Alta. Soren panicked, and did whatever came to mind. Usually, it would have been to just jump through that warp and run at full speed, but that girl they knocked unconscious was still here! If that light coming towards them - was it getting faster? - was dangerous, which it most likely was considering how the day was going, he needed to save whoever he could despite their allegiance.

---

Miki began to shriek an ear piercing cry of pain as the light appeared, sending her tumbling off the sky board and onto the ground, her hands clamped tightly around her head as he body began to shake. Saki arrived shortly after and began to hold the girl, not exactly sure what to do, but assuming she had a better idea than Dimitri. "Just what the hell is going on!?" She called over the wailing of the Semi girl. This wasn't good, not good at all. "And have you heard anything from Soren and Pethalamine!?" That was another problem that needed o be addressed they hadn't arrived yet, and Soren was going to be the last to leave. She gasped as the light finally made contact with the floating country, which lit a flame the second contact was made. Pieces of the country began to crumble and fall to the land below as the light pierced a hole right through the center of the country, obliterating almost two thirds of the land in one blast, while leaving the edges of the land to slowly fall, threatening to crash into the tiny villages below. Thankfully Tempest was a ways away from that point. But, as the solid rock and city finally hit the ground, a large shockwave spread across the land, knocking most to their feet and most houses to the ground. Fortunately, Saki had used Yuki's wionus to create a barrier around their group, albeit the use of a mahstion unlike her own left her a little fatigued.

"Oi... Oi... what the hell..." Soren's voice rung as a dation portal opened before them and Soren spilled out, pulling Peth by the right arm and holding the girl from before in his other arm. After grabbing the girl, he had barely had any time to dash for the portal. From that point, he had to grab Pethalamine and run until he could see Tempest in the distance, where he spawned a portal for three people and ran through. He fell to the ground in exhaustion after making his entrance, not paying attention as the light began to retreat back into the sky.

---

"So it's begun..." The red haired man murmured as he sipped a cup of tea from a top the lighthouse in Tempest. He looked up at the light, his eyes glazing over with a similar colour of orangey red.

"What's begun, Mr. Evalice?" Stahn's purple haired assistant questioned as he too watched... then again, it was unlikely many people weren't drawn to this.


"The beginning of the end, Tsukasa." He took another sip of his tea. "Contact Ms. Eve Dular, have her send out a warrant for the arrest of any survivors. I want them brought to me."

---

"aimo aimo
neder rushe
noina miria
ender prodea
fotomi

koko wa attaka na umi dayo

ru-rei rureia
sora wo mau hibari wa nami da
ru-rei rureia
omae wa yasashi midori no ko

aimo aimo
ne-deru ru-she
noina miria
enderu purodea
fotomi

koko wa attaka na umi dayo"

The phoenix girl stood singing, at a quiet shrine just outside of Flazure. She had never been told what the lyrics meant - as they were in languages unknown to her... or anyone. But, as that light descended in the distance, she felt they just applied.

---

As the light finally disappeared and the night sky returned, all was still. Miki had become quiet, now passed out with a cold sweat, and Soren had at least gotten his breath back. Alta - or what was left of it - sat idly atop many of the villages that used to reside below it, Azern included, sand thick in the air around that area. "Now what?" Soren finally got up the nerve to ask. "We have two unconscious girls, and things aren't looking too good. Maybe we should check into an inn?" He didn't recieve any sort of recognition from Saki, who seemed to be lost in thought. "Well, we just can't stay here."

"Halt, you're all under arrest." A commanding voice echoed as the group found themselves surrounded by officers of Tempest, dressed in shiny blue uniforms.

"...OH SCREW OFF!"

OOC: The song mentioned
 
If there was one thing Pethalamine hated, it was suspense. The time she had spent in the wasteland just outside of Tempest, waiting for someone - anyone - else to appear, had certainly held a lot more of this quality than she was comfortable with. In part, there had of course been the concern of being encountered by wild animals or underneather hostiles while there was no-one around to protect her, but for some inexplicable reason, she felt that this was the least of the dangers at the moment. Something about the whole situation just filled her with a strange, primordial kind of dread that she couldn't quite put her finger on, and her faels were hardly easing the worry. Garm, of course, was nothing short of frantic - nothing new there - but what really worried her was that even the normally stoic Serret seemed to be on edge, coiled up by her eye and hissing quietly in agitation.

Then the red light struck.

The events that followed were a complete blur to the scholar, and had she not known better, she would have sworn that it was some sort of bizarre nightmare. Right there, in front of her eyes, the entire continent of Alta was shattered to pieces. Transfixed by the sheer magnitude of the destruction she was bearing witness to, the young woman could do nothing but gape in awe, feeling like an outsider in her own body, unable to move even as her senses told her that moving was the one and only thing that she should have been doing right now. It was then that a hand grasped her arm, yanking her back into the comforting darkness where there was nothing to see.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

"..."

Even when the dust had settled, Pethalamine was still having trouble forming sentences, staring nonplussed at the small cloud of dust that still lingered where the country had once been, slowly dissipating in the wind. The scholar swallowed hard, so lost in her thought that she didn't even notice the solitary tear running down her cheek, the only outward indicator of what was going on inside of her. A single thought ran through her mind again and again, eventually forcing her mouth to give it form.

"Mother..."

She paid no heed to Soren's words, nor to the two unconscious women on the ground. She did not even stop to question why the psychotic spear-wielder they had run into earlier was with them. In fact, it was not until the word 'arrest' popped up that Pethalamine's attention was finally returned to the world around her.

"Arrest?" the scholar's eyes widened even further, her voice shrill and high-pitched as she instinctively took shelter behind Soren and Dimitri, "On what charges?!"

Even as the words left her lips, the scholar realized how empty they were. These men surely couldn't care any less about what ever it was they had or hadn't done, just as how the destruction of Alta had - in all likelihood - nothing to do with the country in question. It had just happened to be there and been raided and blown up, just like they had just happened to be here and were now getting arrested through no fault of their own. Pethalamine's right hand discreetly slid into the small bundle that she had made of the cloak, her hands tightening around the small, comfortably solid metallic object within. It was her secret trump card, a mahstion gun she had pilfered when 'inspecting' the corpses earlier. She might not have had much fight in her, and powerful though it was, this one weapon would not be enough to turn the tables against such odds, but somehow just holding the weapon in her hand brought a peculiar kind of comfort.

"We've-we've done nothing wrong."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

Slowly, the brilliant red light faded away, the pinkish tint escaping from the clouds as they finally reverted to their usual color. If there was one thing to be said for the destruction of Alta, it was that it was truly beautiful. Unreal, even. The casual onlooker would probably have mistaken it for nothing more than a spectacular sunset, perhaps stopping to marvel at it for a moment or writing a short poem about the sight.

For the people aboard the Solemn Condolence, however, it was so much more than that.

It was quite the irony that, of all the vessels moored in Alta that fateful day, only a funeral barge had left carrying live passengers. Originally constructed to send the countless victims of the plague off to a worthy end, the Solemn Condolence was hardly a cheerful vessel. Colored an austere white, with nothing but the basic necessities in traveling comfort, it was truly a vessel for business and business only, but it had a small deck where one could be alone with their thoughts, and right now that was all she needed.

Brushing a few strands of her peculiar teal hair out of her face, the woman wiped away the worst of the tears from her face, only for new ones to replace them. She made no effort to stop. She was already well into her forties, and long past caring about appearances. Besides, holding your sorrow back never helped. She had tried that trick after her mother had passed away, and all it had brought her was five years of inner anguish. Better to let it all out, cry until you could cry no more.

"Faewyn, right?"

The woman paused, wiping away the tears again as she turned to face the stranger. It was one of the few refugees who had managed to make the escape together with her. It was a man who, about her age - or possibly a little younger - his messy black hair, half-shaved stubble of a beard and hastily assembled attire of shirt, vest and trousers - coupled with a pair of cheap shades for his eyes - evidence that he had been caught as off guard as the rest. Despite his ramshackle appearance, however, the thing that really caught one's eyes was the peculiar pair of metallic, clearly artificial wings jutting from his back.

"I don't mean to be nosy, you understand." the man continued, "But you've been out here in the gale for almost two hours now, aren't you getting a little cold?"

"A little." Faewyn confessed, nodding, "But...that's alright. I...don't think I could stay beneath deck with the rest right now."

The man gave a sympathetic little noise, "You had family there too, huh?"

"A daughter."

"I see."

For a moment, both of them just stared out towards the distance where Alta used to be. The man didn't introduce himself and Faewyn didn't press the matter. Eventually, however, the stranger spoke up again.

"Hard to believe they're gone, huh?"

"Yes...it's rather overwhelming." Faewyn confessed, "I mean, a whole continent full of people-"

"I was talking about lost family."

"Oh..."

There was silence again. But this time, Faewyn was the one who broke it.

"So...did you...?"

"Have family that I lost?" the man finished, "More than you can count, though none in Alta, thank Ophelia for small favors. Plague took 'em."

"Oh....I'm sorry."

"Not your fault." the stranger replied with a nonchalant shrug, "Don't care much either. The past is the past and now is now."

"You don't miss them?" there was a slightly accusatory edge to Faewyn's tone, "Are you really telling me you don't mist your loved ones at all?"

"Should I?" the man retorted calmly, "Like I said; the past is the past. We can't change it and we can't get it back, so where's the gain in brooding over it? You can cry and mope and complain about the past all you want, you can blame yourself and whine about why did I do this and why didn't I do that for the rest of your life, but at the end of the day that's just self-gratification. The dead won't know and the dead won't care, game over, all bets off; that's what being dead is all about, see?"

Faewyn was stunned, a few stray tears still running down her cheeks as her mouth struggled in vain to form a comeback.

"Oh crap, I went and overdid that, didn't I?" the man asked, scratching his head, "I meant no offense, lady. All I'm saying is that neglecting what you do have because you can't accept not having something is no way to live your life. Just something to think about, yeah?" with that, he gave the stunned woman a small pat on the shoulder before promptly turning around and heading back below deck, but not before he imparted one last piece of his mind, "Sorry...to hear about your kid."

And with that, the door was shut behind him, leaving Faewyn on her own once more.
 
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It was like the end of the world. Or at least, that was a fleeting thought that crossed Dimitri's mind. He looked over his shoulders, spinning around to get a look at his surroundings. He was looking for something, though at the time, he didn't really know what. It was like the end of his ears, was the subconscious thought that Dimitri had when he heard Miki shrieking. "Hey!" He shouted over the noise, squatting by her side to see if she had anything other than a nasty bruise from toppling off his skyboard. Saki appeared out of nowhere, and Dimitri backed off. He wasn't good with females screaming in pain. When she demanded to know what was going on, Dimitri threw his hands up to shoulder-height, saying in a desperately confused manner, "I have no idea!!" Well to say the least, Dimitri was interested in the situation again. Interested in getting out more than ever before, if you wanted to look at the fine print. "Soren and Pethalamine are MIA, as far as I'm conce-" The sounds of a continent falling apart came about that time, as Dimitri flinched and cut off his sentence. Slipping backwards at the force of the impact sent across the surface by the falling masses of land, Dimitri quickly found himself on his rear-end, looking up at whatever was left of Alta. He heard nothing when Soren and Pethalamine showed up, staring up at the empty space in the sky. His father figure of an instructor had left him in Alta; therefore, he probably wasn't even on that continent anymore, right? Dimitri took a deep breath, consolidating himself for the time being by convincing himself that that old geezer's wanderlust had probably taken him to Tealia, or something like that, where the danger of getting found would be higher…

He snapped to attention at the slightest glimpse of blue- a color that he'd been well trained to avoid since he was conscious of anything at all. And he was surrounded by it. That geezer always got him into deep trouble, indirectly, or more often, directly.

"Arrested…?" Was all Dimitri could mumble to himself in disbelief. He couldn't exactly ask "For what", because when he did, an entire list of things came to mind. Robbery, assault, the likes. He flinched once more however, when he vaguely heard someone utter a rude statement to the policemen. There was a difference between being rude the first time you meet someone, and being rude when you ran into officials.

Dimitri tried not to let the ashamed expression show on his face. Wiz would most certainly laugh his butt off if he saw Tric now. In a predicament Wiz would've conjured up a way to weasel out of in an instant, Dimitri was drawing up a blank.

--------------------------

Very little ever stirred or piqued the interest of the rosy pink haired tycoon. He loved adventure, and had seeked it the ends of the earth, even after he'd survived what one might've called the greatest adventure ever. Of course, the charming man in his late thirties hadn't escaped his escapades unscathed. It was intriguing to see his face when one half wasn't bandaged up as it was now; as a perfectly straight line split down his body, separated the right side, which was just past his most handsome years, and the left, where the skin was burned and distorted. His pink hair was spiked up, instead of out to the sides like his younger years. His bangs, left intact, hung in his eyes, the prickly strands held away from his ocular organs by a pair of rimless, yellow lensed glasses. His entirely sable suit was cut and designed more like what someone would wear to the clubs, rather than an office. But leave it to Levi Jaquez to look as if he were going out for a night with five women, rather than off to commandeer the largest business that restricted all activity to Tealia, and stretched their stubby little fingers into Carn through means of an ally company. Of course, he had also sent various donations to other countries, contributing to the finances used to build Telfin, contributing any funds that were requested of him for Flazure, anywhere he could recall a personal connection to.

But by the wide, olive green eye that was visible on the right half of his face, and the fact that his tanned hand was hanging limp after having dropped his royal blue fountain pen, Levi Jaquez was most certainly surprised. Underneath that look of disbelief, Levi felt compelled to hop onto his personal airship and go for a spin around Alta- or, well, if he abided by the news he'd just received, where Alta once was. Levi scratched the corner of his lip- of course, on the right side, not wrapped up in bandages. He was having trouble convincing himself that in the span of less time than it took him to make a situation worse than it was before, an entire continent was just… defunct.

"It's been six long and wonderful years since I hired you," Levi raised an eyebrow at his secretary, who stiffened at the way he began his response, "But I think I'm gonna have to let you go. I think you need to check into an asylum or something…"

He laughed at the expression on the man's face, but waved his hand before he could respond, "Naw, I'm just kiddin'! Tell it to the crier- I don't particularly care. We don't have any banks there anyway…." Levi's expression grew serious, "… Right?"

"No sir." The secretary replied, getting somewhat used to the C.E.O.'s love for antagonizing people when he was bored.

Mr. Jaquez threw a leg over the other, bouncing his winged foot up and down with a carefree smile instantly brightening his features- making him look as young as the free teenager he'd once been, "Well then, that means that I don't have any particular concerns with that continent. Just tell me when it affects our business, and then I'll give you an ear, mmkay?"

He pushed the floor and spun around in his chair, peering out of the large window behind him. He honestly couldn't dig up any personal attachments with that place. Meeting Sol after awhile, for a parfait. He could do that at any country. Otherwise, there really wasn't- Oh. Well, any traces of his fling as Gil were probably just about annihilated. Kind of a shame, even though Levi hadn't exactly treasured anything from his experience as a female. Levi looked down at his quite flat chest, looking back up and leaning his head back, "Some things just don't change~"
 
Auricia Raito, although thirty five years of age, didn't look a day over twenty five when she wasn't disguised. It was her curse - the curse all skills were cursed with. They aged physically a lot slower than normal people. As she watched the red light fall that night, she came to wonder how she had come to survive long enough to witness the tragedy, especially when she had been cast from the only safe haven for Skills years ago when she had her human lover taken from her and locked away. She was being hidden by a friend, a wyvern woman that suffered from a similar curse. It wasn't easy hiding in Flazure, however. As requested by her rescuer, she was required to hide in the form of a tween phoenix girl studying at the shrine her rescuer resided at. Red twin tailed hair, red eyes, those extravagantly orange, red, and yellow coloured wings, not to mention the significant age change, it was no easy form for her to swallow. But, she was indebted to this wyvern. The wyvern people were similar to skills by the fact that they aged slower, but that slower aging didn't begin until they turned about twenty years of age.

High Priestess Ellianne Ducharme was thirty eight, but didn't look any older than twenty seven. Her days at the Evliantice Shrine on the outskirts of Flazure had been peaceful the past twenty years, if not for the odd interruption by the girl she was housing. Much to her embarrassment, she had been confessed to years ago by a young man she had travelled with, but she had to decline as a result of both her heritage and the kind of life they would have to lead. The Wyvern and Phoenix tribes were discriminated against still, albeit not as much. Even if something were to happen between them, they'd never be left in peace. So, for his sake, she let him go. She was born frail, and had a disease that was known as incurable up until that time, so she used that as an excuse as well. A remedy was eventually found, however, and she was spared. As the red light shone that night, however, she felt like she needed to see him again. Just once more, despite the amount of time that had passed. She was given a chance shortly after the light disappeared.

"But, Father Willems, you want me to leave the shrine in order to take care of a girl you want to sing?" The silver haired woman was a little bit shocked. All of a sudden, she had been approached and requested to accompany a young Phoenix teen with some kind of singing talent around the globe to go on a 'tour'. He said something along the lines of 'the world needing talent like hers right now'. It was extremely off the the Father to give such an idea, but things were looking pretty grim after Alta's apparent fall. The girl's name was Lyrum, and she was only sixteen years old. Apparently she was quite the natural. But accompanying this girl as a type of mother figure? Why did she have to leave the shrine for such a thing? "And what about Auri? She has nobody else! Not to mention how dangerous this is!"

The old man stroked his white beard vigorously as he stared back at the young woman. Anyone could appreciate how much she had matured physically since arriving at the shrine. She had 'filled out in all the right places' as it were. Though she still dressed in a light blue traveling gown complete with a gold necklace and several gold chain bracelets hanging loosely off her wrists. Her hair was wavy, and fell down to her behind, her bangs brushed slightly to the sides. "Lyrum has accepted the risks. As should you. From what I've heard, you've had your fair share of danger in the past. Weren't you even friends with Skills at one point? Isn't that why only my shrine took you in? Because you didn't mention it?" The silence was a good enough confirmation for him. "You can take Auri with you. She's young, but she's capable of such a trip."

"You don't know the half of it." Ellianne mentally sweatdropped at how Auricia would react to hearing herself talked about like that.

---

"I'm with the others. On which charges are you arresting us?" Saki questioned as she rose from Miki's side, obviously the most calm about this. Though, she'd be panicking if Yuki wasn't walking her through what to do. Two of their group were unconscious, and the entirety of the party was tired. Putting up a struggle was no good, so they'd have to make due for now and follow their orders. Soren was seemingly surveying for an escape route, but they were clearly surrounded. He eventually submitted, and let his guard down. "Surely you don't assume we're responsi-"

"No ma'am, we're just required to bring in any survivors for questioning." One of the officers replied. Saki felt a quick prick in the neck, and began to feel drowsy. "But you'll all need to take a quick nap first." Soren began to suffer from a similar feeling. "These tranq darts should work just fine." Soren and Saki didn't have any time to protest before they fell into a deep sleep.

When Soren awoke, the sun was shining brightly in his eyes. It must have been late afternoon at least, and he found himself, surprisingly, amidst the soft white sheets of a bed in a large victorian-style room. "What the hell...?" He murmured as he dragged his butt out of the sleeping utility, and found himself in a white pair of pajamas. He was more or less expecting to wake up in a prison. As he walked by the mirror, he realized why he didn't wear white too often. Orange hair does not go well with white clothing. As he peered out the crack in the door, he found himself staring at Saki, in a white nightgown, staring back at him.

"Oh, you're awake. We're supposed to go downstairs." She didn't explain where the were, but she didn't seem to be in a panic. Soren hadn't really noticed before, because with her black dress, they didn't really seem out of place, but Saki had an intriguing pair of horns on her head. He wasn't distracted by them for long, as he was suddenly snapped back to the reality that they were in a strange house that seemed to be MASSIVE with all it's hallways. When they arrived in the equally massive living room, they took a seat amidst the sea of leather. Their host sat on a stage before them, apparently uninterested as he sipped back a cup of tea.

"Let's wait for the others before we begin, shall we~"

---

"Hmm? A letter from Stahn?" Reid Davies murmured as he sifted through his mail. He took it out of the envelope and skimmed it carefully, before almost spitting out his coffee all over the kitchen table. "He wants me to WHAT!?"
 
Pethalamine woke up slowly that afternoon, savoring the softness of the sheets, the warmth of the sunlight on her skin and the perfect calmness of the moment. It was only a few moments later, as she lazily pried her eyelids open, that she realized that this was not her room. Not her familiar, comfortable bed. Not the familiar home too small for one mother, one child, and one Aertan, and the moment the realization struck her, the events from last night came back in full force.

With an barely muffled scream, the young woman bolted upright, immediately becoming aware of a number of things. One, this room - while containing a bit more white than she was comfortable with outside of a hospital setting - was certainly not a prison cell. It was too airy and well-decorated, and there were no bars or locks in sight. Second, her old dress was gone, replaced by a comfortingly frilly white nightgown. Most notably, however, the unpleasant scent from yestereve was now but a memory, her skin now smelling of a highly potent detergent of some kind. Apparently, whoever had brought her here had at least had the decency to give her a good bath. But wait, if someone had cleaned her up and changed her clothes, then that meant that that someone had also-

"Crap!"

Blushing violently, Pethalamine pulled the sheet she had slept under higher to cover what little of her body was visible. Yes, if someone had really done all this for her then that someone had surely also seen her in a way that she most certainly did not want to be seen. More pressingly, however, she - and the young woman certainly hoped that this someone was a 'she' - would also have seen the birthmarks. The thought made Pethalamine feel even more vulnerable than that of having been seen in the nude, her left hand instinctively tightening around nothing.

Of course there was nothing, she inwardly reprimanded herself, what kind of lunatic would abduct someone only to restore her mahstion abilities and leave her a deadly weapon right within...hand's reach? The scholar could hardly believe her eyes as they fell on the gun resting calmly on a nightstand by the bed. It was definitely just as intact as when she had taken it, if not even moreso, its sleek, metal surface now bearing a sheen that suggested recent cleaning. Why, someone had even been thoughtful enough to provide a holster. For a moment, she simply stared at the object in disbelief. The entire weirdness of this was just...too much. Was this some kind of trap? A muffled whine at the back of her mind heartily supported this notion, but after a few moments, Pethalamine reached for the weapon nonetheless, attaching the holster to her side. Trap or no, there was still a fleeting chance that her captor had underestimated her abilities, and if this was the case, the more firepower she could bring to a potentially ugly escape, the better.

Drawing some comfort from this line of thought, Pethalamine finally got up from the bed, cautiously inspecting the room in search for some kind of clue as to who had brought her here or why, or - failing that - at least some clothing that wouldn't make her feel so...exposed. Much to her dismay, the room had very little to offer in either department and so she finally settled for tearing off a small part of the sheet and wrapping it around her forearm to cover Garm's tattoo before exiting the room.

As disconcerting as the room she had woken up in had been, it was nothing compared to the rest of the house. The first time she had accompanied her foster mother to work, Pethalamine distinctly recalled having been impressed by the sheer size of the Betan university, but compared to this mansion, with its seemingly endless maze of near-identical hallways, the structure had been...tiny. It didn't take long for the scholar to get completely lost, and even more frightened than before. Needless to say, her relief was practically tangible when she finally stumbled into the living room and spotted a familiar face.

"Soren! Saki! Thank goodness." the young woman heaved a sigh of relief as she approached two of her companions from the day before. Though neither was hardly a highly trusted friend of hers, they were at least something familiar, and right now this was all Pethalamine could ask for, "I thought I was going to be lost in those hallways forever. Do...either of you have any idea why we're-?" she paused, her attention finally snapping to the figure on stage.

"You." at the back of her mind, Garm's quiet whimper escalated to a panicked howl. As if Pethalamine had needed more confirmation that this person was bad news, "You're the one responsible for all of this, aren't you?"


OOC: Awright, hope you don't mind the whole 'leaving the gun' thing. I just figured that Stahn wouldn't exactly think of Pethalamine as a serious threat, armed or no, and would do something random like that just to mess with her. XD I'll edit if it bothers you, though.
 
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Dimitri was a pretty graceful sleeper, unlike one might expect. Once he was out, he didn't move. He was rather like a ragdoll, albeit, alive and breathing. But it usually took him about half an hour to get fully awake. Half an hour of contemplating what he had to do that day, whether he'd be able to give himself an extra hour or whether he'd have to get up right away. The smooth sheets, comfortable mattress and fluffy pillow however, smelled unfamiliar, felt unfamiliar, and were altogether better than anything he'd ever slept in before. As such, the first thought that ran through Dimitri's head was that he was not in a familiar place. This was enough to get Dimitri to open his eyes right away. His eyes darted back and forth, without him moving his head at all. As soon as he deemed himself in a generally safe place, he calmly sat up, observing his surroundings with bleary eyes. He yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth, due to the lack of anyone else in clear sight of the premises. The yawn was more than enough to force Dimitri's eyes wide open once again however. He felt no metal on his face. Or his ears. He slapped a hand onto his face. No metal. He scrambled to extract his other hand from under the sheets and felt around his ears. No metal. He looked down on his person, feeling for his jewelry case. White clothes. A white sleeveless tank made of thin cotton, and a pair of long white pajama pants. Definitely not what he normally wore to bed.

Throwing the sheets off, he spied a white mirror standing in the corner of the room, and rushed over. Ugh. He contorted his face into a disgusted look as he caught sight of his piercing, goggle-free face. It was impossible to see the holes where his earrings should've been, unless one really looked closely, but he had the faintest goggle tan on the outer edges of his eyes. Not too strong, due to the fact that he normally rode his skyboard indoors, but regardless… "I look like a goody-two-shoes." Dimitri announced to himself, pulling the white tee down past his waist, only to have it bounce back up to its regular station at his hips.

He looked around. Well, if everything was this white, at least he knew that everything was clean. Better than he could say for his… now non-existent home. Dimitri let out a strangled cry upon thinking of 'home'. Where was his skyboard?! He spun around and shuddered with relief when he saw it leaning silently against the windowsill. It looked newly cleaned, waxed, and polished. Maybe it had even been tuned up. Dimitri checked the sides. Even his iron pipes were there. They were clean too. As time passed, Dimitri was getting more and more relaxed. There didn't seem to be much threat here.

As he stood up, Dimitri calmly checked over his back, and of course, his wings sat quietly where they always were. Or, had recently, always been. Pulling his skyboard onto his back, Dimitri decided that such a chaste room was too boring for his tastes. Poking his head into the hallway, he looked to his left; then to his right. Seeing not a single living person, he proceeded to wander aimlessly down the hallways, ignoring the fact that it probably wasn't exactly prudent to be wandering around an unfamiliar place after getting forcefully arrested. It was a few exaggerated minutes of aimless adventure before Dimitri's undeniable record of good luck brought his path right past the living room. He caught a glimpse of Soren's unmistakable flaring orange hair as he passed, and taking a few steps backwards to peer into the room, smiled brightly at the familiar group. "Well hey everyone! Where we at?" He looked around and also caught sight of Stahn after following Pethalamine's gaze. His expression changed from cheer to intrigue for a moment before it changed once again, to confusion. "… Is Miki not here yet?"

His question was interrupted as usual however, by the frustrated, distressed shriek of a young woman's voice as a door slammed open. He distinctly labeled the voice as not Miki's; he'd already heard her while she was screaming. Speaking of which…

"I DEMAND THAT SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE MY, CONSIDERABLY MORE FASHIONABLE CLOTHES ARE, RIGHT. NOW!!!! ….AND SOMEBODY TELL ME WHERE I AM!"

But apparently whoever was sending shivers down Dimitri's spine with her shrill voice didn't really expect an answer, because the door slammed shut again, and all was silent. Which meant that she probably wasn't storming through the hallways.

Dimitri looked over his shoulder in surprise, sticking a finger in his accessory-free ear.

What the heck?





A few hours earlier:


"… I'm going back up to Tealia…." Came a sleepy drone as a shaggy haired teen stepped out from the basement of a shop lined with paintings.

"Okay, whatever." The nonchalant reply came from his little sister, obviously a prima donna with irresistibly shimmery black hair that was combed to perfection, and tapered steely orbs for eyes that held a sharp and calculating gaze. Her outfit for the day consisted of a pair of royal purple knee-high socks a pair of ballet-toed four inch high brown heels- patterned with khaki threading through the leather, a gray, royal blue, and tan short-sleeved dress with a matching belt cinching her waist in. Above the belt, the collar was single breasted, open all the way to the last button that sat right above the belt, revealing a pale turquoise lace top underneath. A pair of silver dangling earrings hung from her ears, large metallic circles spinning lazily as she painted her nails a plum pink. Around her neck, a scarf matching her dress in both pattern and fabric. In her hair, a head band, naturally matching. Believe it or not; this wasn't even the most fashionable ensemble in her closet. Blowing delicately on her nails as she replaced the brush into it's bottle, the girl who was resemblant of someone walking down the runway peered up at her considerably less put-together brother.

"And I'm stuck here for another week or so, right?" She didn't give him more than perhaps three seconds of her gaze as she looked back down at her nails, scrutinizing an already near-flawless job.

Jazz pulled some brown paper over his painting-in-progress, waiting until he was finished cleaning up the small area in the shop roped off for his studio before replying, "Yeah… I think so…"

"'Kay." Natalija replied, turning around in her stool and fixing her head band, the multiple black bracelets of all different designs clacking against each other as she moved her hands, "See you in a week then."

But it was Natalija's misfortunate choice to leave the shop unattended and go out shopping for whatever caught her eye that landed her on the streets when the red lights flashed across the sky. Being knocked to her feet was hardly any fun, but being arrested was not apart of Natalija's plans. She'd resisted quite effectively until someone cheated.

And then she woke up in an unfamiliar place, wearing a disgustingly, hideously, repulsively simplistic nightgown; that was taboo, all white.

Ew much?

Of course, the outfit was the only thing that she was particularly concerned about, as she had no doubts that she could easily bust out of here whenever she liked. She was confident in her skills.

Thus, proceeding with her headstrong ways, and bossy attitude, Natalija threw the door open, and quite frankly, let it all out. She wanted her clothes. She wanted to know where she was. And though she didn't mention it, they had five minutes before she was going to throw a fit. And when Dation Masters throw fits, they don't do it quietly.

"Humph!" Natalija stalked across the room, sitting down on the bed. Crossing one leg over the other, folding her arms, and sticking her nose in the air, it was obvious that Natalija was a handful, and most certainly not about to exert herself when she'd been forced here against her will anyway. They brought her here. If they wanted to keep her here, then they would have to come to her. She would not go to them, like a lamb to be herded.
 
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"Miki? Is that her na-"

"I DEMAND THAT SOMEONE TELL ME WHERE MY, CONSIDERABLY MORE FASHIONABLE CLOTHES ARE, RIGHT. NOW!!!! ….AND SOMEBODY TELL ME WHERE I AM!"

Soren sweatdropped. "Remind me to never meet the source of that shriek." He murmured to himself quietly as he considered the point Dimitri brought up. It was true, Miki wasn't there. Nor was that girl he would probably get scrutinized later for saving. Now, the big problem was that they didn't know where they were, or who this was, or what was going to happen next. In fact, as it stood, they were in the worst possible situation imaginable. Left in the dark in an unfamiliar location while presented with an unfamiliar adversary. Well, this man could very well be a friend rather than a foe, but there was an ominous vibe about this man, like he couldn't possibly ever tell the whole truth. Not to mention he looked a few grains short of a sandbox, sitting up on that wooden stage on a wooden chair, sipping tea, while those were the ONLY things on that stage.

The man twiddled with his teacup for a few moments after the yelling came from the upper floor. Was he thinking of what to say, or was he just purposely wasting time? It was hard to tell by the look of concentration on his face. He eventually held the teacup into the air as he was apparently looking at it from a different angle. "Actually, she won't be joining us. In fact, don't count on ever seeing that Semi again. She won't be around much longer anyways." He rotated the teacup, not even making eye contact with the group. Soren raised his right eyebrow. Was he going to kill her? No, by the sound of it, he was in the process of killing her. "Don't look at me like that." Soren snapped out of thought, thinking he was being addressed, but it turned out the man was staring at Saki, who seemed more than aggravated. It was the first time Soren had ever seen her like that. "Patient #394, I'll have you know I'm just taking her apart, not killing her."

The way he addressed her seemed like more than enough to set her off completely, and a chakram flew at the man, only to be caught by the man as it began to hoola-hoop around his raised index finger. "I see you haven't changed, Dr. Evalice, experimenting on whatever- whoever you can get a hold of. Like... my brother and me!" Was this the man who had fused Yuki and Saki's souls? If so, he had to be a genius. Though, according to Saki's claim, he sounded like a mad scientist. "Why didn't you just let me die!? Why did you trap us in this hell of a form you bastard!"

"Your father paid, so I did. And I got valuable research data. It's a little late to be complaining. Besides, the Semi needs to be disposed of somehow, unless you want another Alta incident. Apparently you don't understand why Semi's are killed. They're bad luck, you see. They bring about disaster."

"That can't be her fault, it's impossible for her to have done-" Soren was quickly cut off. Apparently this guy didn't like being interrupted.

"Oh really? My intitial scan of her body found a peculiar device wired to her brain. There's a signal radiating from it, probably relaying information to another source. It's quite possible she didn't cause it directly, and she may not have been aware of the device. Either way, it's too risky to let her loose with that thing still active. The only way to remove it is by force, and that'll kill her."

Something didn't fit here according to Soren. He did a scan of her? Did that mean he scanned them all individually? Who knew what else he could have done to them during this time? "And who the hell would have a reason to destroy a country? It would have to be planned, wouldn't it?" Stahn Evalice didn't answer immediately. He just fiddled with his teacup. "ANSWER ME."

"Okay, fine." The man replied, surprise by the shouting almost leading to the dropping of said cup. "What if I said it wasn't planned? What if I suggested the culprit wasn't a force present on this world?"

"...Are you suggesting aliens are the cause?" Soren sweatdropped. This was probably the farthest answer from what Soren was expecting.

"Not really."

"Then?"

"Who knows?" Soren almost fell over. "Anyways, I need you all to do something for me. I need you to help a friend in Tealia."

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa. We just want to leave, we're not doing anything for you!" Saki exclaimed in rebuttle. "We just want to go home, nothing else!"

A grin appeared on Stahn's face. An unsettling one. "I can always have you locked up right now for conspiring with the Semi. It wouldn't be too hard considering you were found with her. And Soren, I'm sure you've realized who I am by now. I'm sure you've heard stories. You should know why if you, say, tried to flee after you left, what would happen."

"Stories...? ...? ...ACKSANAKO! That was you? YOU'RE the one with that bizarre training method?" He didn't want to bother explaining it to the rest of the group. It was just... too weird.

Stahn's grin grew larger. "Yup, that's me. And I already took care of injecting you all with a special syrum. So, get defiant, and I'll play a little game with you~"

"What kind of game are you playing, Witch Doctor?" Yuki had found the opportunity to switch with Saki, his wounds finally healed from the night before. He hadn't been following everything completely, but he knew enough.

"The best kind, Mr. Heir. The kind for my own satisfaction. Well, that and Princess Evaline. I owe her a favor. Anyways, maybe I'll take a little something from each of you as insurance. What do you guys value most? Hand it over~" His glare shot at Yuki as he threw a small ball at the boy. A small blast of light shot out of the ball and struck Yuki, and the boy collapsed after having something torn from him. "I usually use this for capturing people's faels, but I guess it works on her too, huh?" He threw the black orb up and down in the air, Saki trapped inside. "Now what about the rest of you? Anything is possible for me, I can assure you."

OOC: Go! SAKI! I CHOOSE YOU! ...Anyways, you can have Stahn take whatever. You know how sick he is. XD
 
OOC: Soo...I'm assuming we can do a little character control of Stahn in this instance? 'Cause, you know, Peth is going to be difficult about this one and I don't want to hold the entire show up just for her little temper tantrum. :<

IC:

The scream caught Pethalamine completely off guard, causing her to wince and raise her hands to protect her ears from the brutal onslaught. If there was one thing she hated more than suspense, it was loud noises. Massaging her ears, she couldn't help wondering if this day could possibly get any worse.

This, as it so happened, was precisely the point where the ominous stranger up on the stage finally decided to give his teacup a rest and address them, effectively confirming that the day did indeed have potential to get much, much worse. While most of what was said went completely over her head, the young woman did not fail to notice how effortlessly this stranger had caught a chakram in mid-flight. And if this hadn't been enough, what followed in short order certainly was.

"...I already took care of injecting you all with a special serum."

Pethalamine froze at the words, her hand - which had been discreetly reaching for the gun without her even paying full attention - immediately stopping at her side. So that was why. That was why there had been no bars, no locks, why he had left her without a mahstion suppression bracelet and with the weapon so readily at hand. He had rigged this all up into a system where he couldn't lose, no matter what. The scholar grit her teeth, her hands clenching into fists as an indignant snarl from Serret escaped the private sphere of her own mind and entered the common consciousness. Right now, however, Pethalamine didn't particularly care.

Just like that.

After all these years, after all those long, lonely nights she had laid awake, promising herself over and over that no-one would get to use her ever again, she had been enslaved once again, just like that. Once again, her life was a subject she herself had no say in, and once again, she had been powerless to stop it. All her studies, all her hard work, all of it amounted to nothing! Damn it. Damn it all!

On the outside, Pethalamine looked just plain absent, her head hung slightly and the mass of auburn hair covering it effectively shielding her face from view. She gave no reaction to the little confrontation between Yuki and Stahn, she didn't even look up when Saki's soul was snatched away. Only when the scholar herself was directly addressed did she betray any sign of life.

It was faint at first, a slight heaving of the shoulders, easily mistaken for crying. Only when she finally threw her head up and raised her voice did the sound become clear enough to identify. Laughter. Loud, mocking, near-hysterical laughter that rang back and forth across the room, persistent without containing even a hint of true mirth. The disturbing behavior continued for a few more minutes until Pethalamine finally settled a little, her laughing slowly petering off as she re-organized her hair.

"You find this amusing?"

Despite the fear and sheer desperation still grasping her, Pethalamine met her captor's stare without flinching, "Yes, I do, actually." she replied in just as even a voice as Stahn had used, "Would you like to know why? It's because I just realized that I have nothing you can take." a lightly manic grin spread across her features as she elaborated, "You already took my earthly possessions when you captured us, and that explosion took the last thing resembling family that I had. I can hardly speak of having freedom anymore, and you probably conducted any other indignities I could think of - and more - to me while I was unconscious. To my way of thinking, that leaves me with precisely two things I would attach any kind of value to anymore. My life, and these people here." she nodded towards what little remained of their group, "Regardless of which you try to take, it won't gain you anything. Now, unless you can think up a very convincing reason for me to stay, I'll take my leave of your creepy and mentally deranged company, thank you very much." with that, Pethalamine promptly turned on her heel and marched towards the nearest door with all the dignity that a woman dressed in nothing but a frilly nightgown could muster.

"Did you forget about the serum?" Stahn inquired, his voice still not betraying anything beyond casual interest, "If you walk out of that door, I'll have no choice but to-"

"Make me live the rest of my life as a freak?" Pethalamine interrupted, granting him a last, scornful glance, "In case it somehow escaped your notice, you old pervert, I'm quite used to that. Or perhaps you mean to kill me?" she spat at the floor, offering Stahn her most vicious glare as she hissed, "Go ahead. I'd wager even that beats working for you." with rather more force that what was necessary, Pethalamine yanked the door open, causing it to connect with the wall with a loud slam.

"My, my, what a bother..." Stahn sighed, apparently addressing the teacup, "How about this, then? If you work for me, I will remove something you are not fond of." his glance rose a tad, focusing meaningfully on the makeshift bandage on Pethalamine's arm, "How does that deal sound to you, ms. Ayre?"

Against her better judgment, the young woman paused in the doorframe, "You're saying...you can get rid of them?" she tried another scoff, but it didn't sound quite as convincing as before, "That's impossible."

"Ms. Ayre." the man reiterated, his voice now definitely bearing a tinge of irritation, "I assure you, there are very few things in this field that are impossible to me, as I am sure Patient #394 would happily attest to. I have already taken the liberty of examining your...condition and while I'll admit that it's mildly interesting, it is hardly the incurable disease you make it out to be."

Pethalamine shook her head in disbelief, "So, supposing that you really can do something, then..." she continued softly, "What assurance do I have that you'll stick to your word?"

"None whatsoever." Stahn replied cheerfully, "But supposing you really are at a liberty to choose, what other options do you have?"

The scholar grit her teeth. She should just have walked out through that door, technically she still could, but now both of them knew she wouldn't do it. She had slipped in her words and Stahn had immediately seen right through them. It was true. Pethalamine had always detested her birthmarks above all else, and even in her happiest years she would happily have gambled all she had on a chance, no matter how slim, to get rid of them. She still would. Even if it meant sacrificing her precious freedom, even if she knew that this Stahn was not to be trusted under any circumstances, she just couldn't ignore this.

Hope. Oh, how she hated her own ability to hope at times.

"Alright." she hissed at last, "I'll play your little game for now, Evalice, but I warn you. If I ever get the chance, I will kill you for this."

Still seething with anger, Pethalamine reluctantly shut the door again, stalking over to one of the many armchairs in the room and settling down on it, arms defiantly folded over her chest.

"Let's hear it, then." she barked.
 
Dimitri stood idly by the door as Soren and the man on the stage held a conversation that he didn't really follow very well. Patient #394? They wouldn't see Miki again? Dimitri didn't press the subject, since Stahn assured them that she was just being taken apart. Whatever that meant. And he also didn't press the subject due to the revelation of her having a chip in her head that would cause trouble. Whatever that meant. But Dimitri did know that he didn't have any interest in someone who would just make his life more complicated than it had somehow already become. Leaning on the wall, Dimitri racked his brain for what a Semi was, but failed to conjur up anything not related to trickboarding. It seemed like a pretty seriously subject, so he wasn't surprised that he didn't know about it. Peering around the room, the skyboarder let his attention stray as he spent his time wondering where they were. Were they still in the Underground, or were they Above Ground now? But Stahn caught his attention at once when he announced that he'd already injected something-or-other in all of them. Dimitri took a moment to consider whether he wanted to frown or not, and in the end, failed to move his expression even a millimeter, his eyes now fixed on Stahn, prompting him to continue. But he didn't even have to think about whether or not he wanted to frown when Stahn demanded something valuable from them. His expression darkened, at the threat of having something as important as maybe, his skyboard, taken from him. It was certainly as if another Dimitri had stepped into the room and taken the place of the first one; a considerably more disagreeable, hostile Dimitri. This guy seriously thought they'd just hand something over? Dimitri's glare lowered to the black ball in Stahn's hand before he looked back up, unfaltering. This man was incredibly… arrogant. The perfect example of why Wiz hated above grounders, holding their noses above everyone else.

He stood silently, turning his mistrusting eyes to Pethalamine as she spoke up, though he failed to pay any more attention to this conversation than the one before. He wanted to know what would happen if he just stuck with whatever would happen to him if he didn't comply, before making his choice. But just in case, Dimitri sifted through his memories to try to find something of importance to him. Not his skyboard. He would rather die than give that up. His earrings…? They didn't really have any sentimental value, but it was always worth a shot. Just fabricate lies about them, so that they seemed more important than they were? Folding his arms, Dimitri closed his eyes to think, an ugly look still on his features. Ugh, something that would be convincingly valuable…. His eyelids opened when Pethalamine's conversation seemed nearly over. It was probably Dimitri's turn, soon enough.

"I'm under the impression that we'll be getting whatever it is we give you back," Dimitri's chilly voice spoke up, "After we've completed whatever favor you did such a poor job of asked for." He pushed himself off the wall and slid his skyboard off his shoulder, laying it on the floor carelessly, "Are my wings of enough value for you?" Dimitri glanced around the ridiculously huge room that was just one of many in this equally ridiculously huge house, "I mean, if you keep them for me while we're down in the Underground, that turns this troublesome scenario into a mutually profitable thing. They fetch a fair price on the market, if that helps." Dimitri hitched up a charming smile, despite his misgivings. He didn't need the wings anymore, he reasoned; His home in Alta was gone, as was the rink. There was no reason to go Above ground anymore.

Though Dimitri was completely willing to get rid of the wings to make movement in the Underground less obnoxiously obvious, it wasn't a well-thought out offer. If he'd kept up with current events, he'd know that at the mention of Princess Evaline, there would be something to be done Above Ground, where wings were most essential. And if Dimitri had thought it through, he'd remember that the wings were a direct gift from his most important person. But at this time, any thoughts of that person had flown out of Dimitri's consideration. It was contradictory, that he was the most important person to Dimitri, but Dimitri rarely thought of him, but it was true nonetheless. It was only for a fleeting moment when his residence for the past three years had been annihilated did Dimitri consider his instructor, and by now, the man who was gone more than he was around, had disappeared yet again.

"That's fine." Stahn's uninterested voice answered.

And now presented to Dimitri was the problem of taking out his wings. A problem that Stahn alleviated quite easily. "You can feel the prongs that keep it in place in your back, right? Just think about moving them out. Like if you were moving your arm or something."

Pain shocked Dimitri for a moment before a heavy clatter of metal fell onto the floor. He turned around and looked at the wings on the floor ruefully. He bent over to pick it up, but an even longer, sharp stab ran up and down his back, as if someone had stabbed him multiple times. He uttered no sound, only moving his lips to shape out a string of curse words. He knew that it was just pain and not an actual fatal wound, so making a scene wasn't really in his list of things to do. But he still found himself somewhat crippled. Removing something that had been embedded in his spine so quickly, and then moving so freely afterwards…. Probably not the best thing to ameliorate the condition of the holes in his back where the wings had been firmly rooted for so long, was what Dimitri considered to himself as he felt something sticky slide down his back. He was bleeding more often than he liked. Which reminded him, his ear seemed to be completely healed now…?

Again, a scream interrupted any thoughts running through his head.

---------------------------------------

"LET GO OF ME!!" Natalija shrieked as furiously as she could while her captor forcefully dragged her down the halls. The petite kidnapped girl was kicking her legs in stubborn protest while desperately trying to pry the mahstion bracelet off of her wrist, "LETGOLETGOLETGO, YOU UGLY-PURPLE HAIRED FASHION-FAUX-PAS! AHHHHH!!!!! STAY AT LEAST TEN FEET AWAY FROM ME YOU- EEEEEK, JUST GET AWAY FROM MEEEEEEE!!!!"

The routine continued all the way to the living room, Tsukasa, the 'kidnapper', ignoring her to the fullest as he dragged her across the house. Without her mahstion, she seemed to be no threat at all, her fists that pounded on Tsukasa's grasp only doing so much as maybe giving an intentional massage to his arms. What an amazing lack of upper body strength…

"I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP-RIGHT-NO- Iiee!!!" Natalija landed butt first after Tsukasa threw her into the room. Huffing in indignance, Natalija quickly sat up properly, pushing her somewhat disheveled hair back from her face before letting it fall back in place; perfect, flawless as ever. She looked around, as though daring anyone to say anything. She stood up, smoothing her hair and patting her somewhat flushed cheeks. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she folded her arms, throwing an aggravated glare across the party in the room before catching sight of Stahn on the stage, the only one not dressed entirely in white. (Though the guy who was bleeding from his back next to the door had some red on his clothes now, that didn't concern Natalija in the least.) She stared at Stahn, the obvious ringmaster, for a moment before her thin patience stretched itself to its limit of eight seconds. Her adamant gray orbs fired up again. She would've very much liked to furrow her brow in fury, but that would cause wrinkles; as such, she settled for an imperious look, doing her best to look dignified now that she was in the company of more than one person, "…Well?? What is it you want from me that is so important that you had to arrest me in the middle of painting my nails? I only got the first coat done, for your information."
 
Soren watched as everything was taken, curious about what the heck he could give up. Pethalamine came first, and after a bit of talking back and forth, they settled on Stahn removing something from her. Whatever this something was, he had no clue. "Don't listen to him. That man... he twists his words. He won't give you what he promises!" Yuki attempted to interject in Pethalamine's decision, perhaps the first non-insulting thing he had said that day. The boy was still on his knees, apparently exhausted and infuriated from having his sister torn from him. But, it wasn't like they were being given the choice to say 'no' here. Dimitri came next, and with it the revelation that he was an Underneather. Soren scoffed, partially because he had been lying about his identity the whole time, but mostly because he disliked Underneathers from his experiences with them, and kind of because he had a bad vibe about the guy all along. The process involved in removing those fake wings looked... excruciatingly painful, however, not as painful as, say, having REAL wings pulled from your flesh. But, in the end, that left him as the only one present to have something taken from him.

"Hm... you don't appear to have anything of worth, do you?" Soren's eye twitched as Stahn addressed him. Nothing of worth? Was he being insulted? "In fact, you look quite worthless. I could take your hoop, but you'll need to be able to defend yourself for this mission. Hm... what to do with someone so worthless..." Every time he said the word 'worthless', Soren felt like he was having an arrow thrust throw his heart. Did he really have nothing to give? Well, he was broke, he was unemployed, he was kicked out of his house... Okay, maybe he was a little worthless, but still...


"I DEMAND THAT YOU STOP-RIGHT-NO- Iiee!!!" Once again, the shrieking of that girl who shrieked earlier echoed in the room. This time, however, it was in a much closer proximity as she was basically thrown in the room. "…Well?? What is it you want from me that is so important that you had to arrest me in the middle of painting my nails? I only got the first coat done, for your information." Soren's eye twitched in irritation, while Yuki seemed to disregard her presence entirely. Soren was typically obedient to women, as that had been the way he'd been raised. But that girl... no way would he listen to that type of girl, with a container of make up shoved so far up her ass that... nevermind.

"..." Stahn paused as Natalija made her less than quiet and peaceful entrance. It actually felt like the room more or less became a graveyard, as it fell into utter silence without the ever talking Stahn to continue to speak. "Okay, for you two," he took a moment to point at both Soren and the girl, "Soren T. Florence and Natalija Dagnija-Nikolajs," the boy couldn't help but wonder what the hell kind of name that was, "As your payments, you'll be forced to stay within two meters of each other at all times. If you stray from those two meters for more than five seconds at a time, then... let's just say you'll be getting familiar with the values of one another really quickly. Yes... a street boy and a pretty little girl... This will be an interesting social experiment..."

"SOCIAL EXPERIMENT?" Soren barked, definitely unhappy with his assignment. He'd much rather have like... a leg taken or something. "I thought you were supposed to take something of value!"

"You value your dignity, don't you? Or what little you have of it, anyways." Arrow to the heart. Stahn spun the teacup around on the tip of his finger. " 3... 2..." Soren was quick to jump beside Natalija in fear of what he meant by 'getting familiar with the values of each other'. "Anyways, you have until tomorrow to get ready. You can stay here tonight, and your normal clothes should be in your rooms now. I'll have Mr. Florence's items transferred to Ms. Nikolajs' room."
 
Natalija stood dumbfounded, trying to decide whether she wanted to believe what this whacked out man was saying, or to simply disregard it because that unfashionable guy was standing in her personal space. Eyeing him over once, she decided that she didn't want to risk it; no matter what. Natalija folded her arms, unusually silent as she processed the information. If she chose to believe this man, then she'd have an annoying shadow following her around everywhere. But this man seemed capable of things that she didn't really want to press further on for details. Her contemptuous eyes spared only a slightest second for Dimitri, who was trying to mop up some blood. She let her gaze linger a little longer on the wings on the floor, which had reverted to a metallic, skeletal look. Artificial wings. Natalija proceeded to look at Yuki, on the floor. Nothing of interested. She completely skipped over Pethalamine. The little glance she'd gotten at Pethalamine? Made her sick to her stomach. She was so out of fashion, it was to the point where even Natalija, in all her prideful snobbishness, was embarrassed. For the girl, not herself. Natalija jut her hip out to the side, sticking her nose in the air in the direction opposite Soren. "As long as he doesn't get in my way, I don't really care. But F.Y.I.," Natalija held up a hand, as though trying to block out the view of Soren as she turned back to address Stahn, "He sleeps on the floor. Unless you're so kind as to bring an extra bed for him, because I am not sleeping in the same bed as last week's social disaster. Oh and, um." Natalija swirled her index finger through the air at Soren, though continued to fail to even glance at him, "We're going to have to do something about those clothes. Dressed like that, you don't even look like one of the dog- oh, excuse me, boys in the neighborhood-"

Natalija paused, before letting out an irritated sigh, "Nevermind, nevermind."

Dimitri groaned, rolling his eyes. For once, he agreed with Soren on something. This girl wasn't just high-maintenance. She was like… indescribable. Rude in every sense, yet she seemed so oblivious to that fact. And honestly, Dimitri had never in his entire life met such a… prima donna. It was mildly interesting for him, though he knew he never wanted to go through the experience again.

"Um," Dimitri spoke up, trying to motion to his back which was still bleeding. Natalija quickly interjected however, giving him no time to bring attention to his little situation.

"So since I've technically agreed to do your dirty work or whatever we're here for," Natalija spat out the words as crudely as she could, "You can have this back." She stuck her wrist out, a mahstion bracelet dangling off of the slender joint, "It clashes with this unflattering night-dress, and I can't get my clothes for tomorrow if I'm wearing this." Natalija let her eyes fix onto the door out while she waved an index finger to Soren again, "And as for you, Mister Orangutan- excuse me, Mister Florence, we're going back to my room soon enough, and of course, you're coming with, thanks to this two meter business. By the way, one meter is my personal space bubble; please stay out of it."
 
Pethalamine had half a mind to reply to Yuki's warning, to give some kind of explanation for the behavior she herself didn't even understand, but before she had time to even begin, a new stranger was tossed into the room, immediately drawing all attention onto herself and just refusing to let any of it go.

As Natalija's tirade drew on and on, Pethalamine's eyebrow twitched, thoughts of scratching and barking, which - she was quite sure - had not been conceived in her mind persistently assailing her thoughts. For once, it seemed, both reila and faels were in complete agreement: this obnoxious woman with her ridiculous clown mask of make-up, her ear-rending voice, and insufferable holier-than-thou manner was nothing you wanted to stay in close proximity to if you could mortally avoid it. The scholar had gotten herself quite a good scope of looks during her time at the circus, ranging from awe and adoration to fear, hatred, disgust, and even pity, and the fleeting one this particular individual had thrown her was definitely not appreciated. Even as Natalija's rant continued unabated, Pethalamine abruptly rose to her feet, forcing her hands away from any thoughts of clenching.

"Dimitri." she said, seizing on the best excuse available to get away from this person, "We can't have you bleeding like that. Come on, I'll bandage that for you." with that, she promptly snatched the male and began hand-walking him - and herself - away from the wicked little witch occupying the room as fast as was possible without giving a too obvious impression of escape, "If you'll excuse us, then?" she offered a nod and a brief bob of a curtsy to the others before duly ushering the skyboarder ahead of her and out of the door, taking care to shut it properly behind her.

"Right." Pethalamine said, heaving quite an obvious sigh of relief at being in a different room than Natalija, "I'm pretty sure there was a medicine cabinet in my room." 'which had better be in a completely different direction than that witch's' her mind added, "It's not that far away, so just follow me, alright?"
 
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