Y.Z. Act IV [PG-16]

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It was frustrating to Miki that Giles actually made a pretty important point. She was putting his position at risk - though she'd probably be better off not caring about what happened to him considering he was the enemy in this situation. She had come here knowing she'd have to give something up, and other than herself and money, there was really only one more thing she could offer up. "It's too late now to avoid him and the core from becoming a single entity, considering the leech-like nature of that item, but I can give you the boy if you promise you'll construct a body to keep him alive." It was the worst possible solution possible – giving the enemy what they wanted. As long as Soren was bound to that core, they wouldn't be able to use it for whatever they wanted to, but it needed a host to stay completely active. Basically, it's cultivation within Reid Davies was the best possible state to have taken it in, but now that it has found a host, Exeri would have to keep the boy alive somehow until they could find a way to separate his soul from the core, or else the core would die as well. It was complicated, Miki had noted, and the item probably had many other strange attributes that had remained dormant until a week ago. She didn't know why they wanted this item, but her guilt for dragging the group of above grounders into the problems of below was too strong to let one of them die. It wasn't like any of Soren's group seemed to care for him anyways, so really…

She reached into her pocket and removed a cellphone, assuming the deal would be okay. It was regrettable, but maybe they could save Soren from Exeri later on… "Yes? Have the patient moved to Thedora via transport ring immediately. Co-ordinates C45.644 Did I get the ore? …Something like that. Alright, thanks." The transport ring was a fairly recent invention, a device for converting even people and machines into energy and transporting them to set points. It ran on a lot of power though, and they were limited to one a city. Thankfully, Miki's group was in possession of one. It wasn't long before a light began to glow in the hollow room, originating near the door. When it faded, Soren, on a wheeled bed was present, dressed in a white nightgown with the chest of the gown ripped open to reveal slowly blackening flesh around his chest. A sign that the core was corroding him. "You'll need to apply a large amount of energy after opening his chest to get the core to reveal itself. If you take it out, you'll need to place it in a synthetic body immediately to preserve the boy's soul and consciousness, which will in turn keep the core from deactivating, which I'm sure your people don't want." She took one final look back, and headed for the door. "I guess I'll be leaving now."

--

"What do you mean Miss Miki gave the subject over to Exeri!?" One of the soldiers shouted in the hall outside of the room the group was located in. "Doesn't that mean we gave them what they wanted!?"

"SILENCE." Sid's voice boomed afterwards. "The leader must have had a good reason. Besides, we have no idea why they even want the darn thing. Now quite down, you know my fiancé is sleeping in the next room over! Not to mention our 'guests'."

"Ah… sorry sir. I forgot Siina was ill… You have my sympathies."

"Its fine, she's due for a full recovery any day soon. Just keep it down…"

"Sir!"

"What did I say?"

"Sorry…"
 
Giles stood up when Soren entered the meeting room and he threw Miki a brief, questioning look before ignoring it. He would get a heyday for this, and he didn't need to concern himself with her choice if she was the one who had made it. "You have a deal, with me anyway." Giles stepped over to Soren and observe the corrosion of the core, shaking his head and looking up at Miki, "I'll stretch my powers and see if I can get him under my jurisdiction. But I already have another synthetic human, and I don't know if they'll agree to keeping him alive or storing it in the body of an Exeri loyalist. I'll try my best to keep him alive though, if that's the most important thing on your side." Giles stepped past Miki and opened the door, kicking the stand down and motioning for her to go out. He turned and rolled Soren's bed out of the meeting room and tied his hair back into a ponytail with one hand. "Be careful on your way out. I can't save you if you get in trouble, since I better get this kid hooked up to something to keep his lungs and heart working while I make his new body."

He began to push the bed towards the morgue-like room where bodies were created with the synthius mined just a few stories down before he faltered, looking down at Soren with a worn out look. Another little seed of trouble. Shaking his head, Giles put the metal to the pedal as he tried to make up for the time he'd wasted thinking. That was such a bad habit.

As soon as Soren was all hooked up, Giles was glad for once that he'd studied this practice and actually done it so many times. This would definitely be the pinnacle of his career both in Exeri and as a synthetic body creator. He left the abandoned room to retrieve two containers of synthius, and then his box of repair tools from his room. He was surprised to see Ray up and about. "Oh? You're awake." Giles commented off-handedly, collecting his scattered tools and dropping them messily in his normally meticulously organized toolbox. "You'll kill me for asking, but wanna help me make a new body for the Ophelian Core?" The lid of the box snapped shut and Giles shrugged, not waiting for Ray to answer as he swept out of the room again, hurrying to Soren's side and sliding a stainless steel table. Cracking his fingers, Giles put pencil behind his ear, a compass between his teeth, and busied himself with measurements, and began making a smaller version of the tall teenaged boy, about the abnormally large size of a preteen. This would take a lot of Synthius. He dropped a collection of different rulers all hooked together by a ring and pulled out his cellphone, hitting "1" and putting it on speaker as he tossed it onto the rolling table that held his tools.

"I don't suppose you know how to read a clock, Mr. Aliot." A calm yet displeased voice replied.

"But I know you won't care once you know what I've got." He replied pointedly.

An interested silence spurred Giles on to make his impromptu report.
 
Despite the guilt and insecurity weighing down on her, Pethalamine couldn't help being entertained by Natalija's little moment of embarrassment, hastily burying her face in the pillow to stifle her mirth before it could spark a fresh argument. If there was one thing none of them needed right now, it was another argument.

Unbeknownst to her, however, an argument was precisely what Alderian had been involved in up to this point. Kisei was not normally one to openly scold her reila, but when she did she did so with a vengeance and the priest had been left with no illusions about what she thought of his actions during the ambush.

'...should I tell them?' he ventured, his body still betraying no sign of consciousness. Natalija's loud demands had effectively muffled the answer she had been seeking, but a skill's ears were not so easily distracted. He had caught the whole thing just as effectively as the conversation preceeding it, though at the moment he found himself wishing that he hadn't.

'You may as well.' his negafael replied in a resigned, though far from pleased, tone, 'With this kind of laxness, it's only a matter of time until someone slips up and divulges this information anyway, and after your last little venture the last thing we need to do is draw any in-group hostility towards us.'

'Understood.'

The moment he let his act down, the priest's eyes snapped open with almost unnatural abruptness, already focused straight on Natalija's before he had opened them, "Soren...is no longer among us." he replied, though a glance at the sheer shock reaction on Pethalamine's face immediately made him regret his words, "Oh, forgive my poor phrasing. The young man you speak of is assuredly alive, but..." he couldn't help a troubled expression, "Just now...I overheard two people in the corridor discussing his case. Apparently, he is to be transfered into the care of a group called Exeri. Just what this group is, I do not know, but judging by madame Miki's explanation earlier, Soren is in a rather poor condition, so I can only pray that this group has a means to cure him." he sighed, slowly raising himself to a sitting position, "That is all I know. It seems we are to be placed under surveilance, so hopefully whoever is appointed to this task will be able to answer any further questions." he offered an apologetic smile, "I am sorry I can not be of more assistance, madame."

Surveilance...was it? Pethalamine's heart sank, even as her body finally dropped any pretense of getting more rest and rose up to a sitting position as well. It wasn't really anything she hadn't heard already, but hearing somebody else say it in such a matter-of-fact way brought the reality of their situation to an uncomfortable level of intimacy. They were prisoners, weren't they? Nothing but a handful of prisoners trapped in some kind of complicated power game. And Soren...though the priest had probably simply been too tactful to say it, Soren had just been elevated to a high-value pawn in said game and summarily traded off for goodness knew what. The very thought sickened her, and the realization that she had effectively approved all of this by refusing to take a stand on the matter definitely wasn't making things any better.

But...she couldn't say it, could she? Not after she had let all of it happen without raising a finger. Not before she came up with something, anything, they could do about the situation. The scholar couldn't help a rather desperate glance in Dimitri's direction. He had been the first to decline any rights for a say in this, right? Was he...facing the same kind of realization as her right now?
 
"Done." Giles smiled in satisfaction. He'd announced to RAY that he was finished, but he wasn't about to clean up and get some much-needed sleep. He had some double-checking to do. Dropping his molding tools and leaving the Synthius on the lifeless body's perfectly trimmed nails to stiffen, he tilted the metal table up so that he could easily very a good view of the body. Measurements looked good, and as far as he was concerned, everything was close to perfect. Tugging gently at the dirty blonde tresses flowing down the body's shoulders, Giles acknowledged they were firmly attached. He tugged harder, then gripped a handful in his hand. Excellent. Everything was looking good. Using his gloved thumb to push the lids of the body's eyes back, he double checked the eden green color of the eyes, the clarity, and then, whether they were focused properly or not. He'd accidentally made a lazy eye in his first body, and he hated fixing eyes. (They were usually squishy and gross.) "Alright Ray," Giles said, stepping back and examining his work, "You can deal with fixing his hair later, but go find him a set of clothes."

"Alrighty Soren." Giles said, pushing a button as the robotic body returned to it's original position parallel to the floor. Rolling it over beside the dying body, Giles brushed a few strands of jet black hair from his line of sight. The skin around his eyes weren't red with rubbing anymore, as it had been a long time since Giles had paused to give his bad habit a little notice. He looked incredibly normal, if it weren't for the fact that he'd just been playing mad scientist. Normal simply didn't apply with Giles. "Well I wouldn't meet interesting people if I was normal." Giles shrugged, musing to himself as he pulled down what looked like an upside down satellite dish and positioned it over the blackening flesh in the center of Soren's chest. He pressed '1' on his cellphone again, sure that his boss was awake by now.

"I'm going to need someone to come in and fix the original body. I can deal with keeping it functioning until then."

"Fine. I'll arrange for that, and the preservation." The recipient of the call hung up at once, and Giles stepped back from the two bodies, sitting behind a make-shift control panel that he'd set up while the main mold of Synthius for the body had been finishing it's job. Giles hit the switch, and a high pitched whining sound emitted from the machine, his nimble fingers poised and ready to immediately move the core with the machine to the new body as soon as the core was extracted.


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

Natalija sat down as Alderian explained, looking rather docile, though not much more concerned than before. As soon as he finished his last word, Natalija folded her arms tightly, and hooked her legs together by the ankles. "So they just gave him away like an object? Without even consulting us?"

"She asked." Dimitri replied sharply, defending Miki even though the Miki who'd sent Soren away was not the girl he'd originally met. "Miki's not as inconsiderate as you."

"I'm not inconsiderate." Natalija shot back, "I think about everything, but why ask? My opinion is always the best anyway."

"Oh yeah, I agree." Dimitri replied sarcastically. Natalija silently fumed at Dimitri, then decided to add Alderian, that woman, and Soren in the whole jumble. Since when did Dimitri get the spine to talk back to her? She didn't appreciate having to stand up for herself against a wimp like him. Pethalamine and Soren were a different story, since they weren't doormats. And then Alderian. He didn't have to send her halfway to dumbfounded shock before pulling her back by correcting himself. And that woman just stepped in and pulled a Stahn out of nowhere. Ugh, that ugly girl would pay for it later. Natalija wasn't about to let herself get jerked around again, she'd see. And then even worse, Soren. What the heck was he doing, going off and getting himself into a situation where he'd end up running off to some other group and leaving her here with the three creepers? Sure he was a creeper too, but Pethalamine and her dresses, Alderian and his god, and Dimitri and whatever pill he'd swallowed? She preferred Soren's melodramatic ways any day. And what the heck. Natalija added Pethalamine while she was at it. So she was in a room full of people she hated even more than Soren.

Wonderful.

"I want to go with him!" Natalija complained like a spoiled little girl being denied an expensive doll house. "I don't want to stay here! Where are we anyway?!"

Dimitri sighed, plopping back down on his bed and rolling over to face the wall. "They'll explain it sooner or later, it's not like we know anything more than you."

"That's true." Natalija replied instantaneously, referring to his last line, taking it in the way that would be more offending to everyone else. "I can't argue with you there." She flipped her hair over her shoulder, running her fingers through her straight locks as haughtily as she could. Holding her other hand out and flattening her palm, she held it up to the ceiling, commanding, "Minke, Meine."

Nothing happened, and Natalija blinked, frowning.

"Minke!" She barked, "Get out here now!"

She shook her hand trying to get even a drop of mahstion out of herself. But nothing happened, and neither the white or black creatures appeared. Natalija had transcended angry at this point, and was silently simmering, waiting impatiently to blow her fuse at anyone who dared to light it.
 
OOC: Figure I better revive this before it's one month expiry. XD

IC:
"Special delivery~!" The clearly enthusiastic voice of Kay dinged throughout the room as she came through the entrance way to the medical bay, Sid being dragged behind her in a comical manner. He didn't look too pleased. The girl threw her right hand in the air, and the sound of metal clinking together filled the room. Dangling from her petite hand was what appeared to be a group of thin, metallic bracelets. "These babies are fresh from our Research and Development department! They'll let you use mahstion down here, seeing as you can't because it's way too dense as it is..." Kay had apparently not taken into consideration that she was still wearing her work outfit, her brown hair pulled back into a ponytail and an apron resting over her body that had the word 'KAYstyle' on them. She had apparently received the news of the bracelets and raced out of her hair salon, which was only a block away.

Sid sighed. Kay never was very thorough. "What she means is, what you consider mahstion up in your little world is actually a really watered down form of mahstion. Mahstion is actually the exhaust from our machines that has seeped up into your world. As it travels through the layer of crust above us and into your world, it thins out, which is why you people can use it in such a strange manner. That bracelet will thin out the mahstion around you so that you can defend yourselves until we can get you back to the surface." He paused for a minute, thinking of how to continue wording his sentences. "Think of it as an apology for borrowing your acquaintance for now. We'll get him back later, for sure." Throughout Sid's speech, Kay made a point to nod every so often. "Now, if you guys want to go out and see the town tonight, I have a subordinate who can accompany you since Miki is busy with things, Kay has to tend to her shop, and my fiance will be going into labor soon, so..." He turned a bit red at the end. His main purpose for bringing that up was to prevent them from bugging the young woman later, but the concept that he'd be a father soon still flustered him. "A-anyways, she's a bit of a klutz, but she'll be suitable for a guide if you want to borrow her?"

---

"Gillllles! I don't want a brother! Why can't I have a sister?" RAY whined, unhappy with the choice of an external appearance Giles had given the new machine as she wandered off in search of an outfit. She could always edit it's appearance later if she wanted to in secret, but Giles might get mad, so she'd leave it for now. Her clothing quest took her near and far, but she eventually settled on an outfit that she assumed the being would like based on the attire of his old body. If this idiot hadn't gotten in the way of her extraction, he wouldn't have ended up like that anyways! She eventually returned to where Giles' was, holding the outfit close to his body due to the amount of clothing involved. Torn up, blue jeans she found in a garbage disposal, a white shirt she found in one of the residences, and a navy blue hoodie she found in the shop in residence made up the outfit. Her kind didn't need undergarments, seeing as there was nothing to hide. "Gilllles! I found some stuff!"
 
"And now we're really done." Giles let out a sigh and relaxed his shoulders, tossing aside a scalpel and clay molding tools that he'd used to make the smallest details, "It's been awhile since I made a whole body... I hope it works..." Stretching his arms to the ceiling, he mumbled a word of thanks to Ray before he turned the metal bed that the new body rested upon back to parallel. Pulling a rolling chair to the side of the body, the agent pulled his long black hair out of it's restraints and leaned back. "Would you mind getting him dressed before he wakes up, Ray?" Giles spun around in the chair and scooted himself over to a desk where various papers were scattered, measurements and functional information scribbled down. Drawing out four new sheets of paper, Giles proceeded to absentmindedly recopy the information in a neater format.

He'd been so shocked by seeing Miki at first that he hadn't really registered it was her. Then, her urgency had again, postponed his sense of reality. And lastly, the pressing issue of fixing the boy a new body before his original deteriorated any further had consumed him. But now that he sat down to this boring and tedious task, Giles remembered things he'd forgotten, both good and bad memories. The reason he was here, the first time he'd met the girl in question, and then... Giles' pen stopped moving as he blinked, stills of memory flashing in his mind in faded color. It was late. Giles shook his head and continued writing, more vigorously. It was late on the clock, and it was late to remember things that would change nothing in the end.

There was an endless canyon separating them now, the ground trembling on either side. One land mass would have to fall if the other would become stable.

What a disgusting comparison. Giles put his pen down and looked over at the blonde on the surgical table. What an unfortunate existence.

"I wonder..." Giles said, spinning around and wondering how long it would take for him to regain conciousness, "What this boy's name is." Giles glanced at Ray, as if confirming whether she held the same curiousity as well.

---

Dimitri had little to no reaction to Kay's announcement that they would be able to use mahstion due to the bracelets. What mahstion could he use? He'd only recovered a small amount of his already small ability in a week. And he wasn't planning on staying here for long. There was no where else he could go though, even if he went back to his world. No, his level? Dimitri wondered, compared to the Underneath- was this place better, or worse? He couldn't tell just by looking outside. Everything seemed distant, and unreal. The fumes they were talking about, billowed from various buildings that spiraled high into the sky. "Thanks." Dimitri said, an unfeeling smile touching his face before he turned back to staring at his blankets. What had they done to Soren in their indifference? Dimitri honestly didn't want to stick around and find out. He certainly hadn't felt very attached to the boy. He was rude, overemotional, and freaked out about all the smallest things. But it had still been Dimitri who had made the initial decision to leave Soren's well-being to near strangers. Miki, he'd known for a full… few hours. Soren was hunting her, so she couldn't possib-

…. Wait. Dimitri's brow furrowed, but he said nothing. He wasn't keen on voicing his concerns about the particular issue nagging at him, as he did… trust Miki as far as trust could stretch in a few hours but it was a dangerous possibility that Dimitri had to keep in mind.

"Yay!" Dimitri jerked out of his train of thought at the familiar voice in an unfamiliar register and emotion. Natalija was overjoyed.

"Oh this redefines my opinion of you guys!" Natalija hurried over to the girl, "You may have a horrid taste in nightgowns, but you're so considerate!" Natalija immediately put one on, "And it's plain, so as long as I don't wear any gold jewelry- oh, but then I can't wear any red…" Natalija perked up, "By the way," Her voice was dead serious now, "That 'style', part of your apron. Does that mean style as in… fashion? Hair? Clothes? Is there shopping outside? Because if there is, I want to go! Does your guide person know the brands? Oh is the currency down here different?" Natalija bombarded the two with questions, completely ignoring Sid's mention of his fiancé and him about to become a father. First of all, she was not a fan of close relationships like that. Second of all, pregnancy and childbirth was prospect that made her stomach churn with nausea, and she wanted nothing to do with it.

But... Natalija paused in her shower of questions.

"... And," She added carefully, toning her question so that it sounded less concerned about Soren himself, and rather that she was curious as to their intentions, "What are you doing with Soren...?"

Dimitri, on the other hand, hadn't really paid enough attention to give a polite congratulations after Sid had mentioned Soren's situation, as he turned without saying anything to Natalija's outburst and returned to his own thoughts.
 
While Soren drifted through unconsciousness, he was provided with images he'd never seen before, as if someone else's memories were being flashed before him. He could tell, after hearing all the stories, was that he was witnessing his Uncle's adventures when he was young. He could see his Aunt, his mom and dad, everything. From the moment he rescued Princess Rosaline from the clutches of death's fingers, to the betrayal of his closest friend, to the battles with the Apostles, to his time with the Archai Squad of Flazure, to his strange time training with Stahn Evalice, to the deaths of many of his friends, to the defeat of the evil God Tylonstus. With this, more things made sense to him than ever before. The thing that had knocked him out, it was called an 'Ophelian Core', a part of Opehlia herself. The memories continued, eventually reaching to the day Soren was born. At that very moment though, the memories shut off, and he found himself in darkness again, two figures standing before him.

"I'm sorry master, that's all we can allow you to see for now." Tia, Soren's plufael announced as she bowed apologetically, her wavy black locks falling down over her white, gothic lolita attire. Black frills decorated the dress portion of the simple, yet extremely puffy, with a black bow tied up in the back. She wore stockings as well, black and white horizontal stripes alternating every few inches until they reached her pair of black Mary-Jane shoes. Even her eyes were kind of eerie, the colour being the same white as her dress. The negafael, Telsa, looked almost identical to the one she considered her sister, the only noticable differences being that her hair was straight, and all of the black and white on her outfit was the opposite of Tia's, the outfit itself slightly torn in areas to give her a super eerie appearance. Soren chose not to rely on them too much. They were useless in battle, since they were everything he wasn't. They were obedient, calm, polite and they hated violence. What use were they? For a person who liked to fight, they weren't at all. But, recent events had brought him to rethink that.

"Why can't I see the rest?" Soren finally murmured a reply, pretty flustered from all that had happened, and from the sinking feeling that he was going to wake up in a situation he really didn't want to be in.

"That's because, Master, we feel you would go off and do something irrational. We'll show you when you're ready, though." Telsa was the one to reply, as she bowed in apology as well. "It seems it's about time you wake up. If you need us in the future, please do not hesitate to call us. We have a special guest now after all." She was obviously referencing the core. And, as she predicted, his darkness began to grow back into light.

"I wonder... what this boy's name is?"

"Me too... but, wait! Giles! You never answered my question earlier!"

They were voices he didn't recognize. A man and a young girl, was it? Why did he feel so... stiff? He could smell machines as his eyes began to adjust, a strange camera lens-like sound echoing in his mind as he tried to view his surroundings. He was also concerned because he seemed to have no heartbeat. At least, when he was unconscious he could feel it, but now... "Where... am I?"

"Ah!" RAY exclaimed at the sudden movement of her fellow machine. She ran over and grabbed it's hand. Her new friend was awake! "You're in Thedora Mine. My name is RAY! Can we be friends, please?! What's your name!?" Her enthusiasm was more than apparent at the whole situation.

"Ah... sure. It's Soren." Soren, still dazed, replied, getting a little squee out of the girl. "Can someone explain what's going on?" He sat up, the stiffness still apparent. It... didn't feel like it normally did when he sat up from lying down. And why was everything so big? He brought his hand in front of him, and noticed that it was way too small. Too the touch, it was cold, as if there was no blood flowing through his body. He brushed a blond strand of hair out of his eyes, and noted that it was not his hair color at all. He looked up quickly at the man. "What the hell did you do to my body!?"

"See!" RAY shouted at Giles, totally off of the point. "You should have made it a sister!"

---

"Kya! Sorry I'm late Captain Sid!" A brown haired youth gasped as she ran through the door to the medical room, obviously short of breath. The brown haired, brown eyed girl was dressed in what Sid would consider unusual clothes, although he had little grasp on fashion. A pair of extremely short, teal shorts covered her lower half, leaving a lot of leg showing, and she had on a plain, violet t-shirt. The piece of clothing that made her outfit a bit bizarre to him was the piece of clothing that went over top of both previous pieces of clothing mentioned. It was like a black micro-dress that went over of both, but it had pockets so it was kind of like a shirt? He wasn't sure, he just thought it was weird. She wore silver-coloured sandals, along with black legwarmers with some teal material on top. Her hair was done up in a single ponytail by a floral decoration, and had a white bracelet on her right arm. Draped over her dainty shoulder was a green bag, in a design he would never attempt to explain in his life. She was the kind of girl he would have had a crush on if he was six years younger. He'd be around her age of sixteen then.

Sid sighed, having had actually wanted her to wait downstairs until after he had gotten consent. "Why were you late, anyways?"

"Well it is dark out, sir. I wasn't expecting to be called to work at such an hour on my day off!"

"So basically, you were out spending your paycheck on shopping again and lost track of time?" The dreary facial expression he got in return was confirmation enough, and he chuckled a little. "This girl is Aya. She, like you, was brought down from the above. Her circumstances were... different, though. I'm sure she'll tell you if she feels like it. She's, like I mentioned, a little bit scatterbrained, but I hope you'll all get along."

"Hm..." Aya mumbled as she surveyed the group. None of them were dressed yet, so it was hard for her to judge them accurately yet. "Pleasure to meet you!"

OOC: Aya
 
Had she possessed the energy to do so, Pethalamine would have screamed out in sheer frustration. She was used to discovering new facts and things, certainly. That was what being a scholar was all about, but she was used to uncovering these things one bit at a time; not having them tossed at her in huge blasts of revelation like everyone she had come across since this craziness had started seemed so intent on doing. It was...disconcerting.

Mahstion, wings, the great mysteries of the world...all the result of an underground waste problem? The more time she had to mull on it, the deeper the absurdity of the whole thing sank in, until at last...she simply couldn't hold it in.

Full aware that her companions would take it as the final confirmation of her insanity, the scholar abruptly broke out into a fit of laughter, retreating back down onto her bed to avoid bumping into anything. No cruel, sadistic creator goddess out to make her life miserable, no supernatural forces meddling in her life and stalking her every step; just regular people with a waste disposal problem. The world wasn't out to get her; just raving mad. To be able to take an insecurity that had gnawed at her for as long as she could remember and laugh it straight in the face...such relief could not be put into words, and so she expressed it in the one way she knew how.

The laughter continued for a good while yet, how long precisely she couldn't tell, but when she could finally control herself again, her stomach ached just a little. It wasn't a bad kind of aching, though; far from it. A good laugh. How long had it been since she had last afforded herself that? She had almost forgotten how good it felt, but coming back to it now, she felt a rare moment of actually understanding her mother's outlook on life. Sure, the world was still a cold, uncaring, selfish place, but if she let that get to her, she would just be letting the world win and she wasn't about to do that.

With the remnants of her unexpected burst of mirth still tugging at the ends of her lips, Pethalamine finally picked up her offered bracelet and slipped it on without argument. It was around this time, that her usual sense of prim and proper manners caught up with her.

"Oh, sorry..." she added in Aya's direction, still unwilling to shake off the last remnants of mirth clinging to her, "...it's, I wasn't laughing at you, it's just that...well, I finally realized something." she shook her head, well aware that Natalija would probably be dying to insert a jab at that one, "Anyway, I'm Pethalamine. Pleasure to meet you...Aya, right?" she took a pause, "Oh, and..." she purposefully dragged her sentence out just a bit, in preparation for the veritable bombshell, "...you wouldn't happen to have any spare clothes around here that I could borrow, would you? I...well, it just feels like a change would be appropriate, you know?

For the first time in longer than she could put a number on, the scholar was feeling almost at peace with her place in the world. Sure, things may still have been somewhat bleak for her and the others, but now they...well, they didn't seem as hopeless like they had before. Where there was a will there was a way, and right now she had plenty of will. They would get Soren back, she would find a way to make up for her outburst, they were going to clear whatever mess they had to clear and have this whole affair over with, and somehow she would even solve the problem with the damn tattoos. She didn't have the faintest idea of how any of this would be done, but somehow it all felt fully possible.

Somewhere at the back of her mind, a cat snarled in displeasure.

Alderian, meanwhile, did not look nearly as entertained, merely staring straight ahead with a slightly glazed look in his eyes, one hand fiddling feverishly with his Ophelian cross. He seemed to be muttering a prayer of some kind, but his voice was too low for any of the words to be made out.

Mahstion.

Surely, surely.

No matter what these people said, mahstion was Ophelia's blessing upon her chosen people...right?

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

"So, how long will you be keeping this act up...hmm?"

The shop assistant took a brief pause, lowering the broom in his hands - not that it had been doing much productive work for the last while anyway - and turned an inquisitive glance in his employer's direction. Granted, his body was most not exactly average shop assistant material; even nearing his fifties with the blonde color of his hair slowly fading towards gray, he still had the lean, muscular physique of a routined fighter, the many scars on his tanned skin remaining as testaments to his experience, but even so...

"That's rather cruel of you, madame Silth." he chided in a would-be hurt tone, "I may not be the best of floor sweepers but I am deeply hurt that you would suggest I'm not trying."

His employer merely shook her head slowly, taking another dainty sip of tea from the teacup held in her delicate hands. Her employee may have attracted a few raised eyebrows, but she herself certainly did not come far behind. Between the short, wavy, blonde hair - its color shifting through orange to a deep red by the tips in a dye job that would have taken your average stylist hours to perfect - and her red dress, which - in contrast to the hair - branched out through orange to bright yellow by the hem, its sheer outrageousness finished off with the intricate leaf paterns it was decorated, Argalie Silth was probably among the most conspicuous individuals in the entire neighborhood. And that, as it so happened, suited Argalie just fine.

"This may come as a surprise to you." the twenty-something replied mildly, replacing the teacup onto its saucer, "But Argalie, she is not an idiot. That strange disturbance a week back, Exeri expressing sudden increased interest in materials used for radiation treatment and advanced surgery equipment, you fidgeting about like a child of five, you would have her believe this is all coincidence? Hah!" she took another sip of her tea, "Even if you clip its wings, a bird is still a bird. All it takes for it to remember is to see the flock. Is Argalie not correct?"

The assistant bit back the witty retort he had planned. Messing around with first person Argalie was one thing, but third person Argalie was all about the business; trying to mislead her was like digging your own grave...and in the end she would make you like the shovel clean. Many an opportunistic businessman had learned this lesson the hard way as they had tried to wrest ownership of Silth Pharmaceuticals from beneath her after her father's death.

"My-my, seems like Argalie is too sharp for me." he confessed with a cheerful chuckle, "But you can tell her not to worry, it's only a small diversion-"

"Then go."

The male raised an eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

"Argalie said go." his employer repeated calmly, "Go and see the strange birds that tumbled down from above. If it is only a small diversion, it should not take long...yes?"

"But the store-" he waved the broom feebly at his surroundings, "Are you sure you'll be able to handle this all on your own?"

"This may also surprise you." Argalie replied, composed as ever, "But Argalie is not incompetent either, nor is she defenseless." with a nonchalant wrist motion, she flicked out a small blade that had been concealed inside the sleeve of her shirt, absent-mindedly trimming the nail on her index finger with it, "A bird longing for home makes for poor company and an even worse assistant. You are on paid leave until you have this out of your system, Mr.Everard, so stop inspecting all the fillings on your proverbial gift horse's teeth and go."

The male tensed slightly at the name, but he dutifully placed the broom aside and offered his employer a courteous little bow, "As you wish, then." he replied, turning around and heading towards the door. Just as he was about to exit, however, the male paused briefly, "But don't call me by that name...it's not mine anymore."

Argalie let out the tiniest hint of a tired sigh, "As you would have it...Pendragon." she replied placidly, "Just stop loitering and go already."

Pendragon nodded, the door slamming shut behind him a moment later.

"Silly man..." the young businesswoman muttered at her teacup, "You say you've left all that behind you, but you still wear that tragedy like a badge of honor."


OOC: Character introduction and de-emoification of Pethalamine...go! Yay, looks like I've finally gotten over my writer's block for this RP. :3
 
Sitting back and watching the young boy soak in his surroundings and new conditions, Giles said nothing upon his awakening, letting Ray smother herself all over him in enthusiasm. Well, keeping Ray in a good mood was also somewhat apart of his job description, so that was just fine with him. The boy's name was Soren, apparently. Giles would have to request for someone to look into the boy's history later on. He pulled his fingers through his hair, not a single tangle blocking their progress through the raven locks, though he'd kept his hair up in a hasty ponytail for the past god knows how long. "Well let's begin with what's going on, shall we?" Giles crossed one leg over the other, rubbing his eyes harder than usual. He was so tired, but he would feel sorry for the kid if he was to spend the next eight or so hours wondering what had happened.

"I'm not sure what your exact circumstances are, but you were brought here by a young lady of whom I share an acquaintance with." Giles began formally, but soon decided to drop the formal front, "She was pretty desperate to save you. Ah, but you might not even know why your life was in danger? Alright, well let's rewind all the way back to the beginning then…" Stretching and yawning, Giles set the beginning of the story at an explanation of Ophelian Cores- or at least, a vague one. "An Ophelian Core is something that can be found in the bodies of Ophelia's chosen ones. We know of a handful of people who contain these cores, but we singled out your uncle. Why? Well, we'll save that story for another day. Let's just say that Ophelian Core hosts aren't usually normal people, and your uncle's circumstances were the easiest to disrupt. But you kind of got in the way of our business, and the core we were extracting from your uncle redirected into your body- which is not good, because it began to suck out your lifeforce and erode at your existence. Unpleasant indeed. Well now, first thing. Removing the Ophelian Core from its host is not an easy ordeal, and is currently impossible up in your world without killing the host. However, this young lady who wanted to save you brought you down here. Perhaps we'll explain the differences between your world and my own some other time, but the point is, it's possible to extract a core from someone in this world." Giles paused, irritated by the long winded speech that was coming from him of all people. To drag on the silence, Giles redirected Soren's attention to his original body- ragged and hooked up to life sustaining machines until the officials came to take it a preservation chamber.

After a few moments of letting the sight sink in, Giles continued reluctantly, "People are bonded with the Core. That's why they die when it's removed. And that's why you can probably think of a few things about your uncle you didn't know before. And that's why you, along with the Core, are in a new body, specifically designed not to be eroded by the power of the Core. And your old body will be moved to our facilities, put back together, and… you get to roam around in a fake body for now. Kind of like Ray here."

Standing up, Giles brushed off his suit, though residue from the process of creating a body was smeared across the fine fabric no matter what. "Hopefully that'll answer any of your imminent questions, but any more in detail you may ask Ray, or myself, after some rest, a fresh change of clothes, and a status update. My name is Giles, and for the time being, you will be under my jurisdiction. If any part of your body feels strange, please do not hesitate to inform me. I'll fix it for you right away should you ask. And in your world, my name is Guile, so please keep that in mind. Ray, keep Soren in this room for the time being. Feel free to tell him anything you find relevant, but remember to tell him about the neuro-implants."

With that, Giles walked over to a tray, eight silver rings scattered across the surface. As soon as they were safely secured on his fingers again, he stalked out of the room, nodding to Soren and Ray before pulling the door shut behind him.


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


Natalija tapped her chin, narrowing a scrutinizing eye at Aya.

Fashion…. Perhaps a 90% perfect. Trends weren't quite executed to their best, however.
Personality was a definite 0%. Natalija hated bubbly girls like that. It was like purposely demoralizing the female intelligence level. Ugh.

But due to the fact that Aya had earned higher than a 50% on her fashion mark in Natalija's imaginary gradebook on people, Natalija's criticizing expression managed a plain smile. And the girl had been out shopping? Perfect. She held her hand up at her shoulder in a short notion of greeting, "Nice to meet you too! Oh, and my name is Natalija Nikolajs."

Raising an eyebrow at Natalija, Dimitri was at a loss for Natalija's… Well… Civility, towards the other girl. She was so harsh towards everyone else, it was like she was a completely different person. But then he raised both eyebrows at Pethalamine's outburst- this time an outburst of laughter. Sinking his head into the nook of his hand, Dimitri was both relieved and resentful of the fact that his sour mood was quickly being washed away. He wanted to laugh at Natalija's act, and he wanted to ask Pethalamine if she was laughing at Natalija. Though Pethalamine eventually explained that she'd realized something, Dimitri couldn't really decipher the point of this comment, and decided not a laugh or ask anything at all. He nodded to Aya and offered a polite response: "The pleasure is all mine. I'm sorry to change the subject, but…" Dimitri looked over at Alderian, perhaps the only person in the group that he wasn't irritated with, "Is everything okay?"

Natalija's expression had "Who cares?" written all over it, but she said nothing, sitting back down on the bed and crossing one leg over the other, moving on with the conversation without waiting for Alderian. "Wait, is it nighttime?" She asked urgently, "Well that means that the stores are closing… So there's probably nowhere to go shopping…" She folded her arms, "When are you going to bring Soren back? Well more like, can I help at all? Because if we're working on saving him, then I can always go shopping some other time." Natalija reasoned with herself, likely trying to convince herself more than anyone else in the room, "And I can take the time to look through some magazines and get in touch with the fashion down here…" She was tempted to tell the three strangers in the room to not let Pethalamine choose her own outfit, as it would surely be gaudy beyond dried vomit on pavement, but she didn't think it would make a difference. Unlike Dimitri, Natalija had already long gotten over Pethalamine's outburst earlier- after all, it was a regular occurrence for Natalija, and it wasn't like she'd been particularly fond of Pethalamine to begin with, seeing as the girl was a 0% for fashion and 0% for personality.

"Well I hope we'll get along too! If there's still time to go out tonight, I'm all for it!" Natalija looked expectantly over at the others.

"I'll pass," Dimitri replied immediately, "You seem like the kind of person who makes everyone else carry the bags, and I'd rather stay here."
 
Sitting back and watching the young boy soak in his surroundings and new conditions, Giles said nothing upon his awakening, letting Ray smother herself all over him in enthusiasm. Well, keeping Ray in a good mood was also somewhat apart of his job description, so that was just fine with him. The boy's name was Soren, apparently. Giles would have to request for someone to look into the boy's history later on. He pulled his fingers through his hair, not a single tangle blocking their progress through the raven locks, though he'd kept his hair up in a hasty ponytail for the past god knows how long. "Well let's begin with what's going on, shall we?" Giles crossed one leg over the other, rubbing his eyes harder than usual. He was so tired, but he would feel sorry for the kid if he was to spend the next eight or so hours wondering what had happened.

"I'm not sure what your exact circumstances are, but you were brought here by a young lady of whom I share an acquaintance with." Giles began formally, but soon decided to drop the formal front, "She was pretty desperate to save you. Ah, but you might not even know why your life was in danger? Alright, well let's rewind all the way back to the beginning then…" Stretching and yawning, Giles set the beginning of the story at an explanation of Ophelian Cores- or at least, a vague one. "An Ophelian Core is something that can be found in the bodies of Ophelia's chosen ones. We know of a handful of people who contain these cores, but we singled out your uncle. Why? Well, we'll save that story for another day. Let's just say that Ophelian Core hosts aren't usually normal people, and your uncle's circumstances were the easiest to disrupt. But you kind of got in the way of our business, and the core we were extracting from your uncle redirected into your body- which is not good, because it began to suck out your lifeforce and erode at your existence. Unpleasant indeed. Well now, first thing. Removing the Ophelian Core from its host is not an easy ordeal, and is currently impossible up in your world without killing the host. However, this young lady who wanted to save you brought you down here. Perhaps we'll explain the differences between your world and my own some other time, but the point is, it's possible to extract a core from someone in this world." Giles paused, irritated by the long winded speech that was coming from him of all people. To drag on the silence, Giles redirected Soren's attention to his original body- ragged and hooked up to life sustaining machines until the officials came to take it a preservation chamber.

After a few moments of letting the sight sink in, Giles continued reluctantly, "People are bonded with the Core. That's why they die when it's removed. And that's why you can probably think of a few things about your uncle you didn't know before. And that's why you, along with the Core, are in a new body, specifically designed not to be eroded by the power of the Core. And your old body will be moved to our facilities, put back together, and… you get to roam around in a fake body for now. Kind of like Ray here."

Standing up, Giles brushed off his suit, though residue from the process of creating a body was smeared across the fine fabric no matter what. "Hopefully that'll answer any of your imminent questions, but any more in detail you may ask Ray, or myself, after some rest, a fresh change of clothes, and a status update. My name is Giles, and for the time being, you will be under my jurisdiction. If any part of your body feels strange, please do not hesitate to inform me. I'll fix it for you right away should you ask. And in your world, my name is Guile, so please keep that in mind. Ray, keep Soren in this room for the time being. Feel free to tell him anything you find relevant, but remember to tell him about the neuro-implants."

With that, Giles walked over to a tray, eight silver rings scattered across the surface. As soon as they were safely secured on his fingers again, he stalked out of the room, nodding to Soren and Ray before pulling the door shut behind him.


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


Natalija tapped her chin, narrowing a scrutinizing eye at Aya.

Fashion…. Perhaps a 90% perfect. Trends weren't quite executed to their best, however.
Personality was a definite 0%. Natalija hated bubbly girls like that. It was like purposely demoralizing the female intelligence level. Ugh.

But due to the fact that Aya had earned higher than a 50% on her fashion mark in Natalija's imaginary gradebook on people, Natalija's criticizing expression managed a plain smile. And the girl had been out shopping? Perfect. She held her hand up at her shoulder in a short notion of greeting, "Nice to meet you too! Oh, and my name is Natalija Nikolajs."

Raising an eyebrow at Natalija, Dimitri was at a loss for Natalija's… Well… Civility, towards the other girl. She was so harsh towards everyone else, it was like she was a completely different person. But then he raised both eyebrows at Pethalamine's outburst- this time an outburst of laughter. Sinking his head into the nook of his hand, Dimitri was both relieved and resentful of the fact that his sour mood was quickly being washed away. He wanted to laugh at Natalija's act, and he wanted to ask Pethalamine if she was laughing at Natalija. Though Pethalamine eventually explained that she'd realized something, Dimitri couldn't really decipher the point of this comment, and decided not a laugh or ask anything at all. He nodded to Aya and offered a polite response: "The pleasure is all mine. I'm sorry to change the subject, but…" Dimitri looked over at Alderian, perhaps the only person in the group that he wasn't irritated with, "Is everything okay?"

Natalija's expression had "Who cares?" written all over it, but she said nothing, sitting back down on the bed and crossing one leg over the other, moving on with the conversation without waiting for Alderian. "Wait, is it nighttime?" She asked urgently, "Well that means that the stores are closing… So there's probably nowhere to go shopping…" She folded her arms, "When are you going to bring Soren back? Well more like, can I help at all? Because if we're working on saving him, then I can always go shopping some other time." Natalija reasoned with herself, likely trying to convince herself more than anyone else in the room, "And I can take the time to look through some magazines and get in touch with the fashion down here…" She was tempted to tell the three strangers in the room to not let Pethalamine choose her own outfit, as it would surely be gaudy beyond dried vomit on pavement, but she didn't think it would make a difference. Unlike Dimitri, Natalija had already long gotten over Pethalamine's outburst earlier- after all, it was a regular occurrence for Natalija, and it wasn't like she'd been particularly fond of Pethalamine to begin with, seeing as the girl was a 0% for fashion and 0% for personality.

"Well I hope we'll get along too! If there's still time to go out tonight, I'm all for it!" Natalija looked expectantly over at the others.

"I'll pass," Dimitri replied immediately, "You seem like the kind of person who makes everyone else carry the bags, and I'd rather stay here."
 
"Except my body isn't a replacement, it's the only one I have!" RAY interjected around the point of time Giles was explaining Soren's body to him. Soren, to say the least, was very concerned for his safety as of now. From what it sounded like, he was to be kept where this Giles man could keep watch, and from the looks of things that meant he wasn't getting free anytime soon. He understood what the core was, now, at the very least, and why he was in this strange body. Well… he kind of understood it, but some knowledge was better than none. This girl, at the very least, was similar to him, so he had no reason to feel isolated because of his condition. But… if the core being removed killed the host, what had happened to his Uncle? There was so much that was uncertain right now, like where the heck he was. He didn't say a thing until after the man left, leaving him alone with the girl. For some reason… he couldn't bring himself to trust that wingless man, and he had no intention of working under him against his will.

Unfortunately, all of Soren's questions became replaced with a single one. "Neuro-implants?" He turned to the girl, who was still looking at him wide-eyed like she had just gotten a new toy. Words probably couldn't express RAY's joy, though, as she had never had a person other than Giles around. It was forbidden for her to interact with others too much, after all.

The red haired girl's response was quick and to the point. "It's insurance! So that you don't go doing anything stupid! Basically, it's their way of controlling you, I have them too…" The explanation seemed to get the girl depressed, something Soren had not intended on doing. RAY was not his enemy, that much he could identify. That Giles person and the people in charge of him, however…

The questions continued later into the night. Soren had a lot to learn, and only a short time to learn it, after all.

--

Aya took all of the greetings with a smile. It wasn't until Natalija inquired about the shopping that she decided to contribute something else to the conversation. "You don't have to worry about stores closing down here. Most shopping complexes are maintained by only a few people and a bunch of machines, so most stores stay open twenty four hours! But… we'll get to that later." She nodded at Sid and Kay, indicating that she could take everything from there. "We confiscated your clothing, so the first thing we need to do is shop anyways. If you want something temporary, we did tuck your clothes in the closet at the back of the room, however." She motioned to the white doors. "I suggest buying new ones, as you don't want to stand out too much. Luckily, the citizens aren't aware of your world, so we should be able to pass you off as cosplayers or something, but if an Exeri or other government official sees you, we may have more to worry about than needed." She picked a small, blue orb out of her pocket and dropped it on the ground before her. Upon hitting the ground, it expanded into a light that created a glowing circle on the ground. "When you're ready, step on this circle. It will take you to Reytva, one of the clothing stores in the city. If you have any other questions, think of them and you can ask me there."

OOC: Short, but I'm posting from school.
 
OOC: Like, fifty percent of this post is just describing clothes. Skip it if you wish. D: [/just realized that Dimitri is platinum blonde. Wtf? Why do I suck so much at remembering my own characters? xDD]



"In other words, I have to come along unless I want to wear pajama's everwhere…" Dimitri sighed, averting his eyes from Natalija's triumphant expression. After a moment of consideration, he kicked his sheets away from his legs, untangling himself and getting out of the bed. His legs buckled upon receiving the full weight of his body, and he sat back down. It'd been a long time since he'd last stood up, apparently. His legs felt like jello when he actually tried to walk on them. He wasted no time in getting back up and waiting for himself to steady again before bending over and stretching. He pulled on the edge of his pajama shirt and wondered if one day, he'd stop suddenly waking up in different clothes than he fell asleep in. Even if it had only happened once before, it was still a very strange sensation, to know someone else had dressed you for sleep. He was highly amused with Natalija's dreamy expression. It was obvious that she only got this worked up over these kinds of things, and he'd seen the blank shock register on her face when Aya had said "24 hours". He shook his head and remembered that as soon as Natalija was done with her shopping spree, she'd go back to her irritable self. Stepping back to the closet and opening it up, he saw a group of ragged formal clothes, and also their original outfits from before they'd changed. He failed to mention to Natalija that she had one more outfit to go with, at the very least. He doubted she'd care, what with a whole new shopping experience opening up for her. He extracted a box out of the pocket of his trousers and set it down on his bed, opening it to reveal his earrings and such. Sifting through the contents with his index finger, he picked out five different metal pieces. Two metal rings on his left eyebrow, one stud on the far side of his lower lip, and two hoops for his left cartilage. As soon as everything was in place, he snapped the box shut again and set it on the floor beside his ever-precious skyboard, which had miraculously survived the adventure, following him faithfully the entire way.

Natalija in the meantime, had already departed for the store- whatever its name was. She didn't quite understand how it worked, but when it came to shopping, there was nothing Natalija couldn't figure out.

… At least, since there was a machine which was taking her step-by-step through the holographic display….

"This is so cool…" Natalija mumbled to herself, rotating through various outfit choices. Her keen eyes gave a full half second for each article of clothing before she moved on, and every now and then, she would switch to the next part of the outfit- accessory, bottoms, shoes, and as her outfit came together, Natalija's frown deepened. The device was incredible. But somehow, she was unsatisfied with the trendy look she'd chosen. She felt out of place, looking at her reflection dressed like she had before. She shook her head and quickly changed it again. And again. And then once more before she was moderately satisfied. An off-the shoulder, loose mini-dress made of deep midnight blue twill over a pair of black leggings lined with lace around the hems, stood in the holographic reflection before her. It was hard to adjust to the fact that she could see what she was trying on without even actually putting it on. Natalija worried over the fit, but decided that they must've at least somehow accommodated for that. A loose belt cinched the dress in around her waist, and a pair of black ballet flats covered her feet. A criss-crossing halter with two-inch straps crossing around her neck underneath the dress made the look a little less morbid and simply more professional.

"This is fine." She gave the okay for the outfit in her reflection and designated her hair to be put up in a ponytail with no alterations to her bangs, a white rhinestone flower decorating her pony. In order to counter the dark colors of her ensemble, she chose flashy gold shimmer eyeshadow, light eyeliner, and clear gloss. It'd been awhile since she'd last gotten the chance to put on any make-up, and she was ecstatic. She was already in full ensemble by the time Dimitri reluctantly stepped through the circle and was halfway through flinching when he arrived at the store. Natalija waved at him cheerfully, sitting on a couch and waiting for everyone else. He didn't return the favor, simply raising an eyebrow at the notion and wondering what was wrong with Natalija before being steered away by a machine.

It took him an even shorter amount of time than Natalija, despite her speed shopping abilities, as he chose his clothes fairly easily- in other words, he wasn't sure about fashion down here, so he chose a random one. He was okay with the sleeveless shirt he saw, which ended up being a long white cargo shirt. After that, he chose the first pair of shorts that were long enough for him- a black pair that sagged just below his knees. The first pair of shoes he saw- a pair of gray boatshoes lined with orange-yellow leather string were good enough for him, though he'd never really worn those kinds of shoes before. He'd cared about how he looked before this whole incident.

But that was before he'd met Natalija, who made caring about how you looked look like a sin. In all honesty, Dimitri hated the white shirt. It would get stained in a heartbeat, but he didn't find the motivation in him to change it. He was losing interest in this little game fast, and like any gamer, it was at the point where everything is just button mashing.

"Ohh, good outfit!" Natalija applauded when Dimitri walked out of the dressing room, still frowning at the white shirt. He looked up an frowned at Natalija, half contemplating going back in and changing his choice. But this weird system of shopping… it was too weird. He didn't want to deal with any more of it. "I'm surprised you picked something like that! Well other than your piercings, which are still gaudy. But still... Soren could learn one or two things from this ensemble…"

"I didn't pick these clothes, and Soren's not here." Dimitri pointed out.

"Hmph." Natalija stuck her nose in the air, "He will be."

At least when she was confident about things like that, her arrogance was more positive than negative. "I wonder if they even sell clothes that fit Pethalamine and Alderian's tastes here." Dimitri wondered aloud, thinking about each of the other two's unique tastes in clothes.
 
Alderian offered Dimitri a blank look at the inquiry, the kind that only someone who had had the central belief of their life smashed to pieces in front of their eyes could give.

"...it's...nothing." he lied, "Please, do not concern yourself with it."

And sure enough, everyone soon got other things to concern themselves with as Aya spoke up, introducing a surprise shopping tour to their program. Normally, Pethalamine would have balked at the notion, but now was...different. As unlikely as it was, she actually found the prospect rather...exciting, though of course not nearly as much as Natalija did. The Ayre household was home to many forms of knowledge, but knowledge of fashion had never been among them. Her mother had supposedly received some fashion advice from a beloved friend some twenty years past, but that was hardly applicable anymore, and somewhere down the line, even the fashion-comatose Pethalamine had to concede, Faewyn had surely taken a wrong turn and left the good advice standing by the roadside to watch the spectacle in polite bemusement and Aertan, true to his nature, had never been one to speak his mind on the subject.

As such, Pethalamine found herself quite awed by the sheer range of options that the peculiar machine presented her with. Oh, the fashion harpy was going to berate whatever choice she made, that much was for sure, but right now the scholar didn't care all that much. She had an idea...a vision of sorts, and changing into more practical wear was part of it, fashion be damned. Much like Natalija, the girl seemed to be cycling through the countless choices in an instinctive manner, but unlike her more fashion-conscious companion, the scholar's choices were really just that; instinct. A blunt comparison method that took the first thing that resonated with her vaguely defined vision and approved it with no further questions asked.

A number of decisions later, the girl cycled over to the 'advanced' options of the selection, a thrilled smile spreading across her face as she noticed just what the wonderful little device was capable of, punching in one, last command. A little surprise...for later, one that came with the distinct pleasure of getitng to tell Natalija that she herself had inspired it.

The scholar afforded herself another small smile at the thought, casting one last glance at her outfit in the display - not that she would have spotted everything that was surely unacceptable about it - before nodding for herself and stepping back into view.

Pethalamine's new attire came like a peculiar antithesis of sorts to its predecessor. Where her last one would have been better suited for an old lady of eighty or above, this one may as well have been fitted on a boy. A peach-orange, zippered sleeveless hoodie now served to cover her torso, fitted above a white, long-sleeved shirt, while a pair of tan cargo pants reached down all the way to the sneakers on her feet, these bearing a color scheme of white and the same orange as her hoodie, the long strands of her hair at the back now tied into a long, bristled ponytail at the back to keep them from getting tangled. For better or for worse, the only default for clothing choice she possessed that had any relevance to this millenium was her mother's, and these clothes were, if nothing else, at least far more comfortable to move around in, the holster and gun already having been hidden between the double-layer shirt combination. The real surprise, of course, was hidden someplace completely different, but that could be used to shock a certain someone later down the line. Even though their resident fashion critic had yet to open her mouth, Pethalamine could practically smell the scathing criticism around her already. She didn't let that bother her, however, casually striding over to the group and offering them a polite nod.

"Done." she announced, in case there was any doubt on that matter, casting a mildly interested glance at the others, "...what's keeping Alderian?"

What indeed? Fashion challenged Pethalamine may have been, but compared to the priest she held considerable advantage in that regard. For one, she was only in the possession of a single discordant fashion sense.

"But Dere-Dereeee..!" Cheradine bawled, indicating a particularly gaudy-looking, sparkly jacket in the selection, "Look at it! It's perfect!"

"Perfectly ridiculous." Kisei retorted scathingly, "We are doing this change to be less conspicuous; not more. Reserved colors are called for."

"Aww...but Kissy!" the plufael protested, "That's what you'd wear for a funeral! It's soooo...boring! Dere-Dere doesn't like it either, right?"

The priest sighed irritably, doing his best to block out the argument raging inside his head as he sifted through the available articles of clothing. It was all very annoying, and right now there were so many things he needed to think about, none of which involved articles of clothing. Personally, he had seen nothing wrong with simple black and white, but given how that was apparently conspicuous here, he supposed that he would have to break out of his usual pattern, no matter how much Kisei objected.

...this was going to take a while.

When he finally emerged, Alderian's expression remained as politely neutral as ever, but there was just a hint of tenseness in his manner as he joined up with the group again. It had been a long, tedious negotiation effort, but finally, plufael, negafael, and reila had reached a compromise of sorts: nondescript white tennis shirt - Kisei's last stand on the matter - loosely fitting, asparagus colored trousers held in place by a brown belt - these picked by Cheradine, much to the priest's chagrin - and a pair of red and white sneakers that Alderian had snatched at random out of sheer frustration with the whole process. It was a mismatched ensemble, cheradine having insisted on adding a thicker kind of shirt - this one pink out of all things - to the combination, but having settled for the compromise of Alderian carrying it along for now rather than actually wearing it. That definitely settled one thing: Cheradine wasn't going to be controlling this body any time soon.

"Could we...possibly move along now?" the priest asked somewhat testily.


OOC: Que the imminent detonation of Natalija. Ah, me and my fashion-unconscious little babies. You should know better than letting them loose in a clothing store. XD
 
To Pethalamine, Natalija gave only a simple expression that spoke everything she needed to say: "What were you thinking?" Perhaps it wouldn't have been so terrible had it not been a complete flip-flop from the dreary fashion faux-pas that Pethalamine had been wearing earlier, and her draping hair getting in the way of everything like curtains. And it was so tomboyish, it was... weird, to say the least. Natalija threw a look at Dimitri, as if daring him to run with his polite ways and compliment her on the hideous ensemble. He said nothing, but he looked just as surprised as Natalija had earlier upon seeing Pethalamine's choices. The only difference is that he didn't make a face when he looked away, but instead glanced around for another chair. It wasn't necessary though, because Alderian was out by the time Dimitri had taken his first step towards the chair he'd discovered. Now, Natalija had though Pethalamine's cargo pants were the most disgusting things she'd ever seen a girl wear, excluding that weird moth-eaten dress she'd worn earlier, but Alderian easily topped Natalija's list of worst outfit of all time. However, instead of a screeching harpy lecture, he received something that may have been more insulting than the former. She burst out into laughter, easily comparable to Pethalamine's earlier outburst- but she quickly choked it back, clearing her throat and smiling as she held back her mirth. "That outfit is absolutely hideous!" She blurted out incredulously, before getting another load of Alderian's jacket.

"PFFFT!" Turning around in her chair and facing away from the others, she tried her hardest to stifle wild giggles. His outfit was too ridiculous! Too ridiculous!

Dimitri laughed as well, though his was good-naturedly, while Natalija was simply laughing at Alderian altogether. "I think you're going to stand out a little more than you would've before in that outfit." He said, grinning. He may not have been a fashion-freak like Natalija, but he sure knew an irreparably hideous outfit when he saw one. "But hey, if that's what floats your boat-"

Natalija's laughter stopped and she spun around again, dead serious, "I refuse to walk out of this store, with that man…" She pointed accusingly at Alderian and paused, fighting a smile when she saw his outfit again, "… wearing a pink COW on his back, and those vomit-colored VEGGIES on his legs!" She snapped, "That's even worse than Pethalamine's granny dresses! I mean, that pink, with that green!"

And cue launch of lecture. Alderian was getting the full package deal. "I mean, the outfit would look fine if it were for those sneakers and the jacket! Though I do kind of think the green doesn't compliment your hair, that's not even a big deal compared to that shirt-thing! Who designs this kind of stuff?! They need to get shot, that's what." Natalija fussed about, but she didn't really seem willing to alter Alderian without his consent. He was… creepy, to say the least, and nothing like Soren and Dimitri, who were just wet rags to her that she could swing around at her every whim. "Change!" She stood up, putting her hands on her hips, "Three colors maximum! And two of them have to be neutral colors! Brown, black, or white! Argh!" Natalija threw her hands in the air, tugging on her ponytail, "I can't even stand to look at you anymore without getting a cramp from laughing!"

Dimitri shoved his hands into the pockets of his shorts, standing idly and watching in amusement. It was obvious that Natalija was very close to just ripping the offending pink article to shreds, but it was also obvious that she was having a huge internal conflict about getting too close to Alderian. What a show.

"Get rid of it!" She squawked, blocking him from her eyes by holding up her hands. She wasn't about to touch her make-up after it'd just been perfectly applied, "I can't take it anymore!!"

"Chill out Natalija." Dimitri scoffed, scratching the back of his head and pulling at the ends of his hair to pull them out of their flattened state from slumber, "Just let him wear what he wants. You didn't have a problem when he was wearing those robe-things."

"That," Nataljia jabbed her index finger at Dimitri, "Was because he didn't look like an eighty-year-old man trying to look 'hip' and 'trendy' WAY after his prime! Just look at it! He's dressed like a clown! Like a preppy nerd gone wrong!! Alderian, right? You can't wear that. I won't allow you to make yourself a public display of ridicule, especially since we'll probably be walking within a vicinity of ten yards of each other. "

Heaving a sigh and shaking his head, the loser of the argument looked up at the ceiling lights and said nothing more, simply waiting to see how his amusement might be furthered by Alderian's reaction to Natalija spontaneous combustion. After all, usually she had a very straightforward response to things. A very negative, "I hate it" sort of response. But Alderian's outfit had been so perfectly ridiculous to Natalija that she'd changed from absolutely entertained, like Dimitri, to absolutely scandalized.

Then there was Pethalamine, who had somewhat... taken a dramatic change in the last few minutes.

Dimitri shifted his weight to his left leg, still avoiding anyone's gaze. He felt much better, though he felt sort of bad that it had been at Alderian's expense.

And at the same time, he felt terrible, for having been such a prissy kid beforehand. He needed to get his act together before they left the store, he told himself.

Definitely.

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

Little tendrils of steam curled up in the air, a hot cup of untouched coffee slowly growing colder, despite the pleasant weather beyond the quaint house's window. The house was neat, but dusty, dirty, and worn with lack of use. Peering out at the rolling green hills, Adela sighed, folding her arms tightly across her chest as a chill ran through her body. It felt cold, though it was quite warm. She wanted to know how Reid was, how Serge and Rosalynne were. But she was trapped in this stupid summer house that was too old for its own good, and was only still standing because her father had kept it in a livable state for a few years. But as true to her father, it may have still been in existence, but it was messier than Adela remembered. She didn't have the heart to clean up though, and Jeckt didn't nearly care enough about that. All the cared about was making sure that Adela didn't go off and put his existence in jeopardy as well. Thus why she was here. He'd quickly overpowered a panicking Xaviae and taken over Adela, to prevent her from going back to where the children were. It wasn't necessarily safe there, and Jeckt didn't give a butt about those two annoying brats. So he'd locked her up in this place, where he knew she would not have a pleasant stay, and where he knew he'd have the upper hand in a takeover every time she attempted to leave. It felt like it had been months since the incident at Meredy, months since she'd last seen her children. Serge and Rosalynne would be fine, she'd told herself. Aertan and Faewyn had been with them. They would've figured something out. Somehow.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Adela stared longingly out of the window, feeling like a pet in a cage. Probably how the wyverns and phoenix's would've felt. She felt a little sorry for them, knowing that they'd been in this house as well, feeling the sinking worry in the bottom of their stomachs.

"It's been a week." Adela's voice spoke to seemingly no-one.

'Really? I hadn't even noticed.' Replied a voice that obviously didn't care.

"Let me out."

'Well if I let you out, then you'll run after the little kiddies and Reid, no doubt? Reid, who makes more trouble than he's worth. You agree, don't you? You showed me you did. And even if you didn't agree, then who's to say Xaviae wouldn't run off to go find his lover?' Jeckt scoffed, crossing one leg over the other as he peered into a crystal ball that glimmered eerily in the dark night of Adela's mind. Unlike Mistral and Xaviae, Jeckt had allowed himself quite a few years of aging, and looked in his mid-thirties. His attire had yet again changed, but only back to a more traditional Chinese attire that was comparable to his first appearance as Adela's plufael. 'I think we should stay here just a little longer, don't you?'

"Jeckt-!"

'I've let you two do as you please for twenty years.' Jeckt sighed, leaning back onto the grassy clearing, 'I'll do as I please.'
 
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Pethalamine merely smiled in return to the surprised expressions she received. Ever since her epiphany, she couldn't help this strange feeling of mirth bubbling inside her, and the sheer incredulousness in Natalija's eyes was making it churn even louder. Whether they knew it or not, they were - to the scholar's way of thinking - actually confirming that her vision had been fulfilled. Not even the people who had been with her ever since this craziness had started, people who had arguably seen more of who and what she was than anyone short of her adoptive parents, had anticipated this change at all; to a stranger, she would no doubt even register as the same person. Pethalamine wore an ancient, Victorian-style dress. This had gone beyond the statis of a mere general observation and become an accepted part of distinguishing that which was Pethalamine from that which wasn't. No Victorian dress; no Pethalamine. She would probably have to cut the hair too, to complete the transformation, but even with her newfound optimism, there was a limit to how much she was prepared to change in one go. There was a continuum to uphold so that she herself would remember that she was, indeed, Pethalamine Ayre.

Pethalamine's personal musings on the intricacies of identity were cut short at Natalija's outburst, however. Granted, even the scholar - who herself was far from a fashion expert - could tell that something was off about the priest's clothes, but unlike the others she didn't actually laugh, having seen enough peculiar clothing combinations in her life to be quite used to even this sort of thing. Besides, there was something about Alderian's expression as he calmly stood and received it all...and the suffering look from when he had first stepped in.

It was like...Natalija was only saying what he himself had thought.

It was then that she heard it, about the last response she had expected. Crying. Briefly, her gaze rested on Alderian, but she quickly ruled him out from the list of possible sources. He looked pained, but he certainly wasn't weeping, and what's more this voice...it belonged to a little girl and it was resounding in her head.

"Dere-dereee!" a piteous voice that sounded like a ten-year old child bawled, "That mean old witch hurt my feeeeelings!"

Alderian gave a long, weary sigh, "Thank you for your most tactful response, madame." he shot in Natalija's direction, "Cheradine, please-"

"But she insulted it! These clothes are pretty! You!" Pethalamine could practically see the accusatory finger jabbed towards Natalija in her mind's eye, a disconcerting sensation all of its own, "You're just jealous because you're an ugly old witch and can't look pretty without hiding your face behind a mask of that gooey, sticky stuff!"

The disembodied sensation of a stuck-out tongue finished off the retort, but this - as it turned out - was only the plufael gaining wind. As the high-pitched tirade drew on, resonating inside her skull where no amount of ear plugging could help, Pethalamine thought she had begun to realize just why Alderian had submitted to this kind of treatment.

"You...have faels?" she ventured in the priest's direction.

Alderian grimaced and nodded in return, "Cheradine and Kisei." he replied, "Ophelia's blessing upon her faithful, though..." he made a face as Cheradine's voice hit a painfully high pitch, "...at times I will admit that it feels like more of a trial." he sighed, "I was hoping I could avoid this through compromising with her, but there's no stopping her when she's gotten that worked up. I'll go and change into something a bit less...colorful, shall I?"

"And I think we have all learned an important lesson here." a harsher female voice chimed in, "When I say it is too gaudy to wear, it is too gaudy to wear."

"Indeed."

Pethalamine could have sworn that there was a hint of relief beneath the suffering in the priest's tone as he turned away. Unfortunately, even as he did so, the plufael's ever more frustrated rant repeated itself in ever tighter cycles of 'mean', 'old', 'ugly', and 'witch, like a slighted puppy furiously chasing its own tail.

Grimacing at what would most likely become a nice, strong headache later down the line, the scholar slipped into an unoccupied chair of her own.

"And here I thought my faels were obnoxious..." she mumbled, shaking her head.
 
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Even Aya had problems stifling laughter after seeing the getup Alderian had come out in. "If... I'm from up there like you guys... I DEFINITELY didn't get my fashion sense from them!" Her sentence was broken up by laughter, although she quickly regained her composure. She glanced apologetically over to Natalija, whom she was afraid of offending with that statement after getting it all out. She was also quick to root herself in the discussion of faels. "Oh, I have faels as well, but unfortunately they aren't as talkative as me!"

"Of course we don't. You hog all of the conversations!" An irritated voice echoed, though nothing made any sort of appearance. "Besides, you know just as well as we do that we were manufactured, unlike theirs. We're 'not as good'" The last comment was rather spiteful, as if the fael held it against the ones of the other group for being the real thing.

Aya seemed rather disheartened by the faels negativity. "That's not true, Wrei! You're plenty good!"

"No we're not, and neither are you! That's why all three of us were thrown-" A new voice interjected, only to stop himself after remembering there was company. This voice was higher than the first, and seemingly more energetic.

"Aaaah, so, since you all have clothes now, maybe we should get moving?" Aya motioned to the sliding door before walking through the doors herself. It was cool outside, what with a slight breeze and all, but it was still a nice night, with the moon out and all. The cobblestone street was lit with bright streetlights, large buildings toppling over top the road, each one containing stores of every sort. So, welcome to Zeta. This is a city, that if you were looking on one of your maps, would fall somewhere below the Tealian city of Meredy. I'm sure you're wondering about the sky, seeing as technically we're underground. To be perfectly honest, nobody knows how or why it's there. It's been there since the formation of your world, or so we're taught." The girl bit her tongue, not sure what else to say. "Umm... this is the shopping district, so it's a lot brighter than the others... Well, let's do it this way. Does anyone have any questions or kinds of places they'd like to go? Most places outside of the shopping district may be closed, though, so save any kinds of unique places for the morning!"

---

"Hmm... that's odd." The glossy lips of a child formed the words as her ice blue eyes blinked, reflecting the light of the holo-screen before her and her master. Her hair, long and the same icy blue colour, was tied into two pigtails that went to either side of her body and down alongside her white uniform, which fit her petite body tightly. The uniform resembled something a stewardess would wear, with a small white cap atop her head - complete with the Exeri logo emblazoned in it, a large red 'E' in a tahoma-like font with a large chunk of the letter cut near the bottom in a circular fashion that gave it the impression that something had been cut out with a cookie cutter. It was simple, but they were masked by their reputation of being a political party, so simplicity was needed. There was also a red scarf tied around her neck, the bow being on the right side of her small neck. The rest of the outfit consisted of a white blouse and white skirt, which was super short considering her small stature, but still managed to reach her knees. Her legs were bare, and she wore a pair of white, flat ballet slippers. "Master, an unregistered synthetic just came online around the Thedora Mine area." Her voice had genuine concern, even though she didn't care for her master at all. It wasn't like she was given a choice as to who her master was, considering her status.

There was some rustling across the room as a man shifted through some papers. It was difficult to make out his appearance due to the darkness, but he was a man of very tall stature. A rough, snaky voice called back to the girl. "Did you sense it, KI?" The girl nodded. "Hmm... Thedora Mine? Who do we have stationed there now that has the ability to activate synthetics?"

"Officer 452, Giles, sir. All of the others are currently here working on that project. Should I disable the bogey?" KI replied, her mind half on the network that ran synthetics, half in her conversation with her master.

The voice came back again, inflicted with some sort of enthusiasm. "Giles, eh? No, leave it for now. We can always dispose of it later if it proves to be a problem. After all, it may be a good diversion for Miss Miki. Only a little more time, after all, until that wretched upper world is gone forever." The synthetic girl went back to her previous job of calculating Exeri's budget. "Let's see how useful you prove to be, indeed..."
 
'UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WAAAAAHHHHH'

Dimitri flinched, rudely knocked out of his train of thoughts by a sharp, piercing voice that joined in the orchaestra that Alderian's fael was already making. 'N-N-NATTI IS-ISN'T A WIIIIITCH!' It wailed incessantly, a small ball of white mahstion tumbling onto the floor from mid air and making a huge fuss. It unrolled itself to reveal none other than Minke, who was pounding the tips of his feet and his hind legs on the ground as he protested to Cheradine's name calling, 'AND SHE ISN'T OLD, OR UGLY, AND IT'S CALLED MAKE-UP NOT STICK-GOOEY-STUFF, AND, AND, MUH-MUH-MY NATTI WOULDN'T BE JEALOUS OF SOMEONE LIKE YOUR REILA YOU BIG-' A huge hiccup that sent the little creature into the air interrupted it's sentence, 'FAT, UGLY, MEANIE-BUTT-FACED BUUUUUULLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY'

The skyboarder clamped both hands over his face as he practically died of laughter, the little furball dragging itself over to him and weakly punching his leg, 'ISH-HIC!-ISH NAWT FUUUUNNEEEEEEEEY!!' This only caused Dimitri to laugh even harder.

"No, no, it's not." He gasped through his laughter, "S-Sorry-"

"Don't apologize." Natalija barked, wrenching Minke off of Dimitri and throwing the loudly protesting fael halfway across the room. Minke disappeared entirely just before smacking into the wall however as Natalija brushed her hair off her shoulder with a huff.

"Take it as a blessing your faels don't talk much." Natalija sighed, folding her arms, "Mine never shut up. And stop laughing!" Natalija snapped, "It's not funny, because I'm NOT ugly, and I'm NOT a witch, and I'M NOT jealous of HIM." She pointed a rigid finger towards the direction where Alderian had wandered off to to make her point but received only a shaky grin from Dimitri, showing that he was very close to bursting again. "And!" She spun around again, "You better not be laughing at Minke!!"

She heaved a heavy sigh, smiling contentedly at her own little outburst. She'd officially gotten that out of her system, and thus, civility could once again be picked up. Turning to address Aya, she put a hand on her hip and snapped her other to kick off her side of the conversation. "Oh I agree, the people from where I come from can be so tacky sometimes. It's like, look at your own body shape in the mirror for once, you know?" She shook her head, following Aya out and looking around. It was much more… exotic than she was used to. The buildings felt like they were just barely teetering on the edge of their foundations, leaning perilously over the streets. The buildings themselves were incredibly intricate, as if every complex were as expensive as the spacious houses of her father's business friends. She felt so…. Perfect. More than ever before, she felt like she really fit. Her clothes, with her surroundings. Before, she'd always stuck out against everyone else, but this was different! So different!

"Places to go…?" Natalija pondered out loud as she absorbed in her new surroundings, "No where in particular…." She turned around to look behind her, a mesmerized expression on her face.

Places he wanted to go? Not really. Dimitri leaned against the wall of the building they had just exited, waiting to see if someone else would speak up while he was still making up his mind about what he wanted to do. He was sure someone would, knowing this group of crazy kids. He wasn't tired, since he'd been sleeping for nearly a week already. Otherwise, he would've asked to go back to the room that they'd woken up in. And he wasn't interested in changing right after getting dressed anyway.

But what could he tell Aya? He'd never exactly been here before. He'd never heard of this place, either, so it wasn't as if he knew all the best places in town that he wanted to visit. But hand in hand with the notion that he had no idea where he was, he had a gazillion questions for their guide. The problem was, he didn't know in which order to ask them. Where were they? Why do the people down here know that the upper world exists, but the upper world doesn't know the lower does? Why is everything so advanced down here when things above this world's sky were so much more primitive? Why didn't anyone here have wings? If this was what was under the Underneath, then what about the history that the abovegrounders learned? Why was mahstion concentrated up where he was from? Were the events in the past few weeks due to the world underneath? If so, why? And then, what happened to Soren? And what would happen to them? Dimitri dropped his forehead into his hand as he thought in circles. So many questions, but where to begin? What would be the easiest, most straightforward way to sort everything out?

"Oh, I have two questions!" Natalija held up an index finger as she thought of her inquiries, "One: Is there an art shop anywhere near here? Preferably one that sells acrylic paints in sets?" She held up another finger, "And second, I'm sure we're all wondering this, but what did you guys do with Soren?"

Dimitri looked up. He was interested in the second one. And mildly in the first. What did Natalija want with paints? And what had they done with Soren? They'd all been awfully vague and evasive about the subject, having completely not answered the question the first time Natalija had asked.

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

"No." Giles replied, tightening his newly knotted necktie, a cellphone clamped between his ear and shoulder as he re-arranged his cuffs, "I haven't had the chance to run diagnostics on how he's adapting, but I don't think I'm going to anyway. He seems like the type who'd tell someone if something were bothering him, and if not that's his problem…. Yeah, but I don't make mistakes old man. They woke me up an hour after I fell asleep to nag about the transportation of the kid's body to better facilitated location, so I had to go and oversee that... ... Yeah, the kid had a cow over it, but that's natural. We took his body somewhere he couldn't see it. I'd freak out too. Well anyway, I went back to bed after that, and I just got up, so I'm gonna go ahead and see if he has any more questions, make sure he doesn't have some weird limp or something….. Course there wouldn't be a limp, I was just kidding, I wouldn't make a stupid mistake like that. …. That's true. Well I guess that'll put a smile on Ray's face." The last line was delivered with three tons of sarcasm, and a silence prolonged as Giles listened to the other person speak.

"Yeah, works for me. See you upside then." He twisted the phone shut and dropped it in his inner breast pocket, rubbing his eyes and pulling pieces of his long black hair in front of his face. He sighed, and left the room, strolling over to the new room where Soren had been relocated during the move of his original body. It wasn't like it was a very pleasant room, the one where synthetic bodies were created. The newer one was more comfortable, even if by only a margin more. Pushing the door open, Giles twirled a pen around in his spindly fingers, "Morning kid." He greeted Soren, though neglected to actually look at him when he was talking, "Rise 'n shine, we gotta get some stuff done today." Giles rearranged the papers on his clipboard, "Before that, you can ask me any questions, if Ray hasn't answered them all already, but make it quick, cause I gotta eat eventually."
 
"My face only looks that way because it's reflecting yours!" Cheradine shot back at Minke's accusation, throwing in another impression of a poked out tongue, though the fael was not given much time to retort as Natalija promptly seized and banished it.

This did little to dispel the general humorousness of what had just occurred, however, and Dimitri was certainly not the only one who had to struggle to keep their face straight.

It was at this point that the group set off, the scholar making as if to object about the continuous absence of Alderian until she noticed him right beside them. He was dressed like a common office worker now, the kind your gaze just kind of slid over without paying attention to, and Pethalamine couldn't help a slight grin. He looked so much like the people who occasionally popped by from the jerk's workplace, it was almost nostalgic.

"Ah, something wrong again?" the priest asked, catching the grin.

"Oh, no, no, no." the scholar replied hastily, shaking her head, "You just...reminded me of someone, that's all. Very inconspicuous."

Though now that she thought about it, in company as colorful as theirs, that may have been kind of conspicuous in its own right. As she mused on this, their tour moved on to questions and requests, the scholar immediately perking up.

"Is there a library in this city?" she asked immediately, "Or a book store? Maybe a university that runs either of those? I'd like to know more about the history of this place. And...well, mahstion too. The other side of the story, you know? And..." she took a pause, a thought suddenly occurring to her, "Oh, who or what is Exeri? You transferred Soren to them, right?"

Okay, so her clothing may have taken an about-face turn, but that didn't mean Pethalamine was going to stop being a scholar any time soon. Or a literature geek, for that matter. History that could change the understanding of the world as they knew it and shed light on one of the greatest mysteries within; what self-respecting scholar would pass up on something like that? It was a golden opportunity, and with the hectic pace things had kept thus far, there was no telling whether she'd ever get such a chance again.

Among the people milling about the street, a solitary figure donning a rather garish red overcoat paused, apparently to adjust the wrapped cloth-wrapped bundle slung across his back - a stick of some kind, perhaps a broom. For the briefest of moments, his gaze lingered on the group, but then he continued on, just a moment before Kisei would have given in to her suspicions and alerted her - currently rather preoccupied - reila.
 
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"If you're looking for a school, there's the Sekt University in the educational sector of town. It has an extensive library, and there are quite a few bookstores scattered in that general area of the campus. I'm pretty sure there's an arts and crafts store on the campus as well... I'm a student there, so if you'd like I can grant you two entrance in the morning? Let's wait until then, though, as unlike you guys, I've been up all day!" Aya's status as a student was something to be admired, considering how hard it was to become one with the current education system set in place. Schooling was something that cost a lot of money, so not a lot of emphasis was placed on learning for the youth. Scholars were few and far between, most having to join political groups in order to fund their own learning. Those who could not afford school did little things like run shops or participate in physically bearing jobs to get by. "Miss Miki prepared some hotel rooms for you guys tonight, and apparently I'll be staying with you all as well, just to keep an eye on things."

She paused for a moment as she pointed to a building behind her, towering maybe fifty floors into the sky. It was way taller and way more modern in appearance than anything the others would have ever seen. Conveniently, she wouldn't have to open another portal this way. "As for your question about Exeri, Miss Ayre," Aya added quickly at the end, being as formal as she usually was with names, "You could say they're a party dedicated to the upkeep of the natural world. Down here, very little is natural anymore, seeing as the sky is fake and most of the plantation is scientifically altered to grow in these conditions. Exeri supports these remaining natural qualities, but that's only a guise. Since everyday people here aren't aware of your world, Exeri campaigns in secret in support of eliminating your world. All the attacks that happened up there a week ago were the fault of their weapons. If you friend was taken to them, I wouldn't normally guarantee his safety, but Miss Miki took him personally, so I have a feeling he'll be okay..." She looked lost in thought for another moment, before turning her back to the group and heading towards to complex. "Come on, let's all get you checked in! I'm tiiiiiired! You can save anything else for the morning!"

"Slacker."

"Shut up!"

---

"I don't have any questions to ask you. RAY explained things just find." Soren rudely replied to Giles' comments. As he stood from the sitting position against the wall he had been in prior to the man's entrance, the red haired girl laying beside him stirred in her sleep, eventually opening her eyes. He had been told by that girl that synthetics didn't require sleep, yet she had dozed off shortly after finishing their seven hour long discussion. Apparently they didn't need to, but they could. He, on the other hand, hadn't slept a wink as he had been busy contemplating his situation the entire time. He was in a body unfamiliar to him, in a city unfamiliar to him, in a world unfamiliar to him. The only ally he had at the moment was this girl, as she had made herself clear during the night. She apparently didn't believe in what this group that had him hostage what was doing, but had no way of leaving due to her technological specs. She'd have nobody to care for her if she left, not to mention those neural implants... "Well, maybe not everything. Just what is it you intend to do with me? I can't imagine I'll be getting my body back anytime soon."

OOC: Crap post, but Aya being my only usable character in the main group right now is impeding what I can do. XD Your next posts should time skip to the morning, and if you'd like you can assume Aya escorted whoever wanted to go to the campus and took off for a little while as she left them to her own devices. The others can be hanging around the hotel, I suppose. There's a nice pool and casino if any characters like to swim or gamble? XD
 
Pinching Minke's paws between her forefingers and thumbs, Natalija had been sitting in bed doing virtually nothing for ten minutes, just twisting Minke around like a stuffed animal. She was deep in thought as the little fael made no protest against the unusual treatment. The night earlier, Natalija had disappointedly washed off all her make-up, knowing that it would be impractical to keep it on from now on. It was impossible to know when she could take it off, so it would be better if she just didn't wear it. And afterwards, she'd used nearly all her might to send Minke up to the place she so vividly remembered as her home for a total of three seconds before he bounced back, reporting that there were no conscious minds inside her home to anchor off in. Natalija was worried, but not quite yet beside herself. She knew that her brother had been in Tealia for a reason, and that was something about business, but would that business be in Meredy? Would that disaster have spread close enough to the outer bounds of the city limits to affect her home, which lay only a handful of miles away from the capital? Sliding back under the covers of her bed, she hugged Minke tightly, silently staring at the sunlight filtering through the cracks in the ruby curtains. Her father had been in Meredy, probably. His office was there. And if her father was in Meredy, then her mother probably had been too. She had never really liked either of them. Her mother had always liked Jazz better, because he was her first and only baby son. Her father hated that Natalja constantly lost to her Mother's worthless first husband's son. Jazz had always been the best to her, but she'd never really appreciated that either. He was a rival and an enemy, not a brother or a friend. But he couldn't be any of those if he was dead. Natalija squeezed her plufael tighter, and Minke looked up, his ears pressed flat against his head.

"Natti…?" He ventured, but Natalija didn't seem to hear him. She closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but thoughts about her family kept her awake. Her father always gave her whatever she wanted, so she should naturally have mourned his death, shouldn't she? But she wasn't even sure if he was dead or not. And even if he was, Natalija didn't really feel like she was mourning him because with him had gone her source of money. He never deserved a familial love though. She turned over, the light burning through her eyelids disappearing into cool blotches of blue color. She took solace in the fact that she definitely didn't care that her mother was dead. All the woman ever did was nag at her and brag about Jazz. She felt like a step-mother, and Natalija treated her like one, and had never really ever registered or accepted that fact that she was her real mother.

"Natti, you know, they might be in the shop in the Underneath." Minke offered, and Natalija released him from her grasp, propping him up on her pillow beside her. Meine appeared as well, curling up at the other end of the pillow just beyond Minke and using the white creature's back as a head rest.

"I know." She replied, grabbing a fistful of her blankets and pulling them up over her shoulder, "It'd just be nice to know for sure though."

Minke and Meine glanced at each other. They were too far away to be able to pick up signatures, or sense Jazz's faels, Judicialis and Maledictio. "You know, he doesn't usually talk about my sense of fashion, like other people do." Natalija mentioned, out of the blue as her faels gave her their full attention, "But he did tell me that he didn't like my hair a few years ago, when I was still trying to beat him."

Meine's tail swished back and forth very slowly as he chose his words. He knew Natalija loved her hair, and Jazz hated it. "I'm sure he didn't mean it in a bad way."

"I kind of agree with him now." Natalija pulled her gaze up to Meine, "I don't like it. It just gets in the way, and it's too hard to maintain. With this crazy schedule where sometimes we don't end up getting a good shower for a week thanks to being unconscious… I don't want to deal with it anymore." She sat up suddenly, and the two faels did the same.

"Cut it off."

Meine's tail stopped moving. "… Wait are you-"

"To… just under my chin."

"Natti, but you always said that your hair was the-"

"I think," Natalija interrupted, "That this little side-trip with Soren, Pethalamine, Dimitri, and Alderian is doing a little good. I think it's a lot easier to talk to them than it is to other people. Maybe they're just getting used to the way I am, but even if they're not really friends, I think I see why Jazz wanted me to stop hanging around him. I see now that he wasn't just good at making friends, he was… good at pushing them away too. But I don't talk to Jazz about things that I've talked about recently. So he wouldn't be able to see my changes." Natalija put her hands under her hair and pushed it behind her shoulders, "Do you… sorta get it?"

"Of course we understand, Natti, we work inside your head." Minke piped up, "But won't you regret it? What if… what if he's not there to see it?"

Natalija frowned, "… He'll definitely see it. Now c'mon, before I change my mind again! I don't have all day. Meine, you do it- use as much energy you need to make it work, and just make some scissors yourself."

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

Giles took this chance to raise an eyebrow at Soren. He said nothing in response to Soren's rude reply, but decided that since he had no questions, this was a good time to stop talking like a radio talk show host. As Giles arranged himself in a seat in the corner of the room, he wondered why Miki was so interested in saving this boy. He certainly didn't see why anyone would want this ingrate to live, though he supposed that Miki- being Miki, wouldn't have had to suffer seeing this irritating side of the kid. Giles just had a knack for drawing out the defensive side of people- and it wasn't like he didn't know why. He just wondered why people couldn't see past his… usually menacing and sly appearance.

"Well, maybe not everything. Just what is it you intend to do with me? I can't imagine I'll be getting my body back anytime soon."

Giles looked up from his folded hands, smiling pleasantly. "Professionally speaking, for the time being you'll be acting as another unit, like RAY. You'll just be helping with menial tasks during missions. Including the reconnaissance mission we have today. My partner, Mr. Garrett Berkebile, will be joining us for this mission," Giles looked pointedly at Ray with a much kinder look and tone than the one he was using with Soren. Though his run-in with Miki now felt so far away that the relaxed, warm tone that he'd been using the night before had long washed away, and he was back to the way he usually was. "Currently, it's most likely that you won't get your body. The chances rise and fall depending on you." Giles crossed one leg over the other, "Nothing's set in stone."


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Grass, grass, grass. It was like Alicel's house, except there weren't any mountains; It was all flat. For the longest stretch, it was flat, and grass. "I think I'm going to go crazy." Aertan mumbled under his breath, narrowing an eye in annoyance, as he craned his neck around to look at Faewyn, "Are you sure it's this way? I get the feeling we're walking in circles. I can't feel any signatures around here." But then again, he'd very quickly gotten much worse at sensing other people's signatures and faels a few years after parting ways with Reid and Adela. The ability had simply faded and lost it's effectiveness over time.
 
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