X-DREAMERS [IC - BASE]

[ValidEmotions]

Yusei & Sora

Stan finished giving his breakdown of events that had occurred and Twilight encouraged everyone, especially the newcomers, to disperse and spend time as they would until things were further sorted out. Standing straighter, Yusei started to make his leave when something happened beside him. Turning his head, he watched as Hush, the odd grey creature that had disappeared to who-knew-where, apparently returned. It hissed once more and, in his head, Yusei heard, "Why is he here?"

 

Glancing in the direction Hush... was it glaring? His eyes landed on Sora. The boy had not yet noticed the creature's arrival. "He's here like you are, displaced from his world," Yusei answered finally, flicking his eyes back to Hush. "Why do you hate him? Why is Sora a 'traitor', as you mentioned earlier?"

 

At his name, Sora turned his attention towards Yusei and - "Hey! There are Nobodies here!" Instinct kicked in before he allowed himself to think of the present situation. Instantly, the Keyblade was in his hands and he was crouched, ready to lurch forward as he shifted his wait to his leading foot. 

 

"Hold on a moment," Yusei lifted his hands, duel disk entering the edge of his vision. He hoped there would be no need to use any of his cards. "Hush is not here as an enemy," he started. Glancing around the room, he quickly noted everyone that was still here - including the very anxious being with odd body language. A fight was the last thing that needed to happen. "Sora, tell me about the Nobodies."

 

The boy flexed his fingers, adjusting his grip only slightly. Still, he stood a little less tensed, the tip of his Keyblade lowering a fraction. "Yen Sid explained that Nobodies don't exist, not truly. They're bodies with no hearts, pretending to have emotions. Lesser Nobodies, like that Dusk behind you, answer to a higher power of Nobodies called the Organization XIII. My friends and I were trying to find King Mickey and figure out what the Organization was attempting to do. Nobodies attack the Light without question and can only return to the Darkness," Sora explained.

 

Yusei lowered his hands, not giving any other response. Eventually, as Sora stared at the man, the duelist glanced behind at Hush. "I think we better clean up the mess you made before I let you roam the castle on your own again."

 

Sora huffed but the Keyblade disappeared from his hands and his stance relaxed, hands clasping together behind his head. "You really think we can trust it?"

 

"Yes. All of us are in the same situation. There's no use in fighting amongst ourselves."

[Coryn02]

Hush, Child of Void

 

The Nobody was indeed glaring at Sora. Its seething resentment for him had resurfaced. Were this any other situation, it would almost certainly have attacked and tried to rid the world of his presence once and for all.

 

But Yusei was here, and promised to help him. That was worth more than spilled blood.

 

"That boy and his friends took down our leaders, one by one, after leaving us behind. And he's a Keyblade bearer, one of the only things that can kill us. He's a murderer!"

 

Hush bristled at Sora's explanation about Nobodies, and yelled without thinking.

 

"I am not a monster! The dark ones are the real monsters."

 

He moved out from behind Yusei, ready to strike first or evade a blow, until Yusei stopped him with the statement that he wouldn't be allowed to roam the castle until he'd cleaned up his mess.

 

Right... I did make a big mess.

 

Much to his surprise, Sora lowered his weapon. Why would a warrior willingly put down his arms in the face of an enemy?

 

I guess he needs friends too.

 

After a moment of silence, Hush inquired as to the nature of this cleanup.

 

"So, where do we start?"

Edited December 6, 2017 by Coryn02

[ValidEmotions]

Yusei | Leaving Tea Party to go clean

Watching Sora leave, Yusei glanced at the Dusk once more before starting to leave the dinning hall in turn. The comments about murderers, monsters, and unknown intentions disturbed the duelist but he needed time to figure out what any of it might mean or what it could lead to. Clearly, there were different sides to the situation and, being an outsider, Yusei could not say for certain who was right and who was wrong. But maybe it was all gray.

 

Do they really not feel emotions? Yusei wondered, watching the Nobody twist and flit about the hallway. He studied the creature, its fluid yet jerky motions carrying it up and down the hallway as he walked forward. "We'll start with the first room I found but then I need you to lead me to any other places you may have messed with." If they didn't feel emotions... Is it just a ruse? 

 

The hatred towards Sora seemed real. But it also looked instinctual. 

 

Light and darkness... Forever at war, even within ourselves. A body and soul without a heart, because the heart was consumed by darkness.

 

Finding the room that still had ball bearings scattered along the floor and shelves in disarray, Yusei stopped at the doorway. The damage wasn't as bad as he initially thought, having been more focused on trying to catch up to Hush before the Dusk disappeared and slipped away, guilt free. He stooped down to pick up a ballbearing. Something didn't add up perfectly. 

 

"Help me find the container these were in," Yusei requested, holding the ballbearing up for Hush to see.

 

Circuitraider | Recon

Leaving as soon as it was clear that Stan was finished and Twilight wanted everyone to go on their own ways, Circuitraider excused herself - but it seemed like everyone was going to ignore her further. No one answered any of her questions (though, really, it was only two and they were likely unimportant anyways). Her tires rolled slowly as she traveled down a hallway that few others seemed to take, finding her through the castle. Why were human structures so... cramped? She blamed it on their punitive sizes. 

 

The Autobot didn't bother to track how long she had been moving, studying the layout and tracking data points. But she eventually heard the familiar steps of a bot. Energy surged through her spark, something like anxious excitement. Someone she possibly knew, someone to indicate that she wasn't alone in some far corner of the universe?

 

Her tires spun faster, trying to maintain traction on the pristine tiles. The bot came into sight, its silver exterior and droid-shaped body foreign to her processors. Her spark sank briefly, hopes of familiarity fluttering away. It wasn't a Cybertronian but, at least, it was definitely mechanical. And it reminded her of the bronze bot she'd seen earlier. "Identify yourself," she requested, the transmission filtering from her circuitry. No response. Perhaps the wrong frequency then. She tried again, switching from one to another as she analyzed the frequencies she knew and those she didn't. 

 

It only took a handful of clicks, or human... seconds, was it? However, she finally sorted out the right frequency to transmit to the silver bot. 

[hikarinomemori]

[ Where the splat am I? - Marie ]

 

"Staaaay fresh!"

 

Another day, another successful concert. Things had been going pretty smoothly since the whole Octo Canyon incident (despite Callie going through a little bit of trauma from the whole situation).

 

"See you tomorrow, Marie! Stay fresh!"

 

"Stay fresh, Callie." Marie had gone home, to Calamari County, and had gone to sleep that night in her bed...

 

She woke the next morning to an unfamiliar place and a lot of yelling. Who were all these people?

 

Wait... People?? These were not Inklings!

 

Were these... Humans??? Callie would flip out if she heard about this one! There were humans here (and a few not-so-humans). Marie felt a little bit threatened - she hadn't expected humans to be so tall - so she felt around and discovered that she still had her weapons: a Splat Charger, some Splat Bombs, a Killer Wail, and an Inkzooka. If she needed to defend herself, she would, and if she needed to go into Squid Form and flee, all the better.

 

But for now, all she could do was gather her things and cautiously approach the rest of the group. Hopefully these people were friendly...

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - First Floor Hallway

 

   A couple of turns later and he began to recognize the route he had taken from the dining hall. He imagined the halls were actually intuitive, but he wasn't used to the architecture of Earth buildings, nevertheless alien ones structured like them. Learning what each room was and where would help. He at least already knew a few obvious correlations, but the Luma's vague direction could indicate any room it crossed through... The map in his head wasn't finished, but he was pretty sure the building didn't shift its floorplans, and as a result his partner could be in one of three different areas...
   He paused when he felt some mental static, hard to describe but with obvious implications. He took a few steps back to see if he passed through a signal, but the static stopped. Still, he began to get excited.
   I must be getting close! Has she found an intercom or maybe some vents? I haven't seen any in the building but no doubt she figured something out. With that thought, he looked up and scanned the ceiling, yet spotted no wires, cameras, or even a random, industrial element within the gilded place. It was rather fancy, and also appeared rather useless. Maybe it's all hidden. He was about to continue on his way, but was stopped yet again by a fainter, static signal. Again he paused, now wondering how he intercepted the signal again when he had moved away from it. He turned around as if it would give him and answer, and was surprised by a familiar sight: the purple car that had entered the dining room, still without any passengers and yet rolling to a stop in front of him? Who was controlling this car?
   Possibly another human, he mused, recognizing that most of the people here were humans with bizarre abilities. Maybe this one is the equivalent of a cloaking de- He cut the thought short when more mental static interrupted him, fluctuating like it was being tuned. He felt a sense of urgency and turned away from the car. I can address stalkers later AFTER I find Fiddlesticks.

   So much for his priorities; three steps in and the static finally began making sense. Vocal tones! He immediately halted to see if he had stepped in a prime spot and listened.
   It was some kind of embedded language... not spoken aloud like the languages of lifeforms, yet best described as a voice in his head. The odd thing about it though was that he didn't recognize the voice. Clearly feminine, but definitely not Fiddlesticks, nor Violet, Stasis, or Pixiedust, or any other female machine he knew, and it definitely wasn't a human using a transmitter, not unless there was a codesmith hanging out in the base trying to mess with him. Which brought him to a tempting question: was it a detached conversation, and should he eavesdrop on it?
   No. He was better than-
   Identify yourself.
   He visibly jumped when the voice suddenly rang loud and clear in his head. He immediately turned accusingly to the car, but it hadn't done anything; so he sighed and averted his gaze, locking on to the frequency.
   Huh? That was an odd one...
   Typheus. I'm guessing you missed the meeting, he sent back. He looked around for the entity while remaining in place, yet no one but him and the car were around. A really suspicious, nice-looking, self-driving car, which was actually pretty plausible to him considering what he found out from the scientists. Usually the self-driving cars still had people in them though... Mind if I ask whether you're a veteran or a newcomer?

[ValidEmotions]

Circuitraider | Bot Stuff in the Halls

The silver bot jumped when she secured the correct transmission frequency. Was it glaring at her? Perhaps the bot didn't enjoy strange Cybertronians accessing its frequency without permission. She wanted to grunt with a mixture of satisfaction and mild annoyance at the bot's indignation but she refrained - mostly because Circuitraider couldn't grunt in her vehicular form.

 

Typheus. I'm guessing you missed the meeting, came the response.

 

Yes, I arrived with the cyborg named Stan just after Twilight seemed to finish debriefing the situation, she explained. 

 

Mind if I ask whether you're a veteran or a newcomer?

 

Newcomer, I suppose. Given the questions you were asking, I assume you are as well. He wasn't looking at her. In fact, he looked like he was trying to find someone or something else in the hallway. She made a proximity scan, finding no one else around as her sensors only pinged against the walls to their sides or reach onward down the hallway.  Are you looking for the bronze bot? she questioned. You are not Cybertronian... What are you?

 

She rolled backwards a few feet, debating whether or not she wanted to transform at this point and stand, hunched over, in the hallway so the bot could see her face. Small as she was for Cybertronian standards, she wondered about the scale of Typheus' world that required him to be smaller than she by several human feet. Or did he have a specific purpose to utilize his small stature?

 

Debate over, she rolled back a few more feet, allowing space between her and the silver bot before she started transforming. Circuitraider internally sighed about the lack of vertical space but, she had crawled through smaller openings before during missions. She could handle kneeling for a few minutes to make required conversation. Silver metal slid into hiding within the sides of her helmet, revealing the metallic mouth that she possessed. The symbol of the Autobots was molded into the plate across her chest, the bold red a stark contrast to the violet paint. 

[TehUltimateMage]

Pascal -- Gateway

 

A resounding shout of 'what the hell' followed by yelling and a string of apologies alerted Pascal to another pair of newcomers. She pivoted on the tip of her staff to face them -- the one laying in the grass was a weird muscular man with big horns and purple skin and wings the size of him, while the girl who had accidentally fallen on top of him looked relatively normal, with light hair and red bows and who seemed to deactivate her armor and change right into a school uniform.

 

Cool!

 

"Hi!" Pascal repeated. Supervising the gateway was a job that never got old -- so long as there wasn't too much waiting involved. "Welcome to the Gateway to the Starry Skies!"

 

Two other forms within the grasses and flowers began to stir, one pink, one white and green. She waited for a few heartbeats for both the cat creature and the squid creature to gather their bearings, before continuing. "I'm Pascal! You've been transported here because of an inter-dimensional anomaly and so, it's our job to keep you safe for a bit until we find your worlds! We also go around fixing other people's universes from falling apart, so you're welcome to join us if you want."

 

At the sight of the ground rippling and forming clay-like humanoids, Pascal shifted her weight from her staff to her feet. The weapon felt light in her hands from familiarity; it would make quick work of any monsters even without her using her magic. Having seen similar magical enemies before, it didn't hurt to be a little cautious of the mud constructs she saw, even if she caught vague mutterings of english between them. Something about the universe magic seemed to allow people to communicate regardless of their language. It might be possible to negotiate with the monsters, now, instead of beating them up. "Hi dirt people!" She waved.

Edited December 9, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[hikarinomemori]

[ Gateway - Illidan, Hibiki, and Marie ]

 

One of the people seemed friendly enough, having introduced herself as Pascal. Illidan visibly relaxed his stance as his Spectral Sight came into focus and revealed the grassy environment around him, as well as a little more detail on the auras of the people around him; he still held his Warglaives, though. Marie put away all her weapons, seeing no need for them as these people were friendly. Hibiki - being her usual, super-friendly self - ran up to Pascal and took one of her hands in her own, and was the first to speak. "Hi, Pascal-san! I'm Tachibana Hibiki! It's nice to meet you!"

 

Marie was next, speaking with a slight warble in her voice, as if underwater. "My name's Marie. THAT Marie. Y'know... of the Squid Sisters."

 

Illidan raised an eyebrow. One of these girls had introduced her name backwards and the other... well... was a squid. "...the... what now? What on Azeroth are you talking about?"

 

"For eel?! You don't know me or the Squid Sisters at all?! And... what's an Azeroth?"

 

"In case you didn't hear, ink-cheeks, we're in and from different worlds," Illidan snapped. Yikes, someone had woken up on the wrong side of the Gateway. "As for my name, call me Illidan."

 

Hibiki let go of Pascal's hand, ran back to Illidan, and took one of his hands in hers, startling him. "I think it's exciting, meeting so many different people! And from different worlds, too!"

 

What is this girl's problem?! Illidan yanked his hand away, clearly not amused by having his hand held by a seventeen-year-old human girl. "Do you do that with everyone you meet?!"

 

"Well... yeah! Everyone's friendlier if you just hold hands with them!" Hibiki then took Marie's hand - apparently she had made an art out of holding hands with strangers in an attempt to be friendly. Unlike Illidan, Marie's reaction was much calmer, although still a little startled. "See? So much friendlier!"

 

Illidan grunted and crossed his arms. Hibiki was nothing if not persistent, he had to admit, but part of him wondered if she'd been hit in the head as a kid. But then what Pascal had said hit him. "...did you say... interdimensional anomaly?! Oh, sweet Elune... I need to find a way back to Argus before the war against the Burning Legion takes a turn for the worse!"

 

Hibiki looked at Illidan, letting go of Marie's hand. "...now that you mention it, Illidan-san, everyone in S.O.N.G. probably needs me back home, too. Especially the other girls. Miku-chan's going to worry about me so much! I hope she'll be okay..."

 

Marie looked down slightly, worried about her cousin. "Oh holy Zapfish, Callie's going to be worried sick about me! I know she can handle all the fans without me, but..."

 

"We also go around fixing other people's universes from falling apart, so you're welcome to join us if you want."

 

Illidan sighed. "I may as well. I have nothing better to do since I'm pretty much stuck here. That and staying safe is not an option to me. I'm not a Demon Hunter for no reason; I live for danger. Maybe, just maybe, while saving the multiverse and everything, I'll find a way back to Argus where I'm needed." He sure stuck the emphasis on the last three words - it seemed Illidan was far from friendly.

 

Marie looked around, then looked at Pascal. "I'm not sure how much help I'll be, just shooting ink all over the place... but I'll help in any way I can. I've helped save my home of Inkopolis twice before. What's to stop me from helping to save entire universes?"

 

Hibiki was practically beaming with energy and was holding a red pendant. "Count me in, too! If Illidan-san thinks it'll help him get back to his world, maybe it can help me get back to mine! And I want to help people, too, like Marie-san! And I'll use my Gungnir to do just that, because I've used it to save my world like four times now!"

 

It appeared these three were in agreement on helping to keep other universes from falling apart, but for different reasons. Illidan just wanted to go back to where he felt he was needed, which, at this time, seemed to be a world he called Argus. Marie felt like, since she had helped defend her own world, she could help defend others, too. Hibiki just wanted to help as many people as possible, just as she had done in her world.

 

Then Marie jumped at the mention of mud. Mud meant water, and water to an Inkling like her meant certain death. She quickly stepped away from the strange mud constructs, as did Hibiki, who didn't want to get her clothes dirty.

 

But Illidan just looked at the strange mud people with a smirk. Some kind of magic was definitely involved here. He could hear them speak in broken Common - perhaps there was some level of intelligence in them, as well. He was also the first to notice the strange pink cat trying to lay low. There was something... odd about its aura. "You know I can see you, right?"

[Coryn02]

Hush, Child of Void

 

Hush nodded, then walked across the room to where he knew the boxes were kept. He brought them over to Yusei, and then started working on the books, rapidly putting them all on the shelves again with his stretchy arms.

 

It occurred to the Nobody at this time that the boxes were marked with labels, and it stopped what it was doing, zoomed over to look at them again, then glanced at the ball bearings scattered all over the room before questioning Yusei again.

 

"Might take a bit. Sorting."

 

 

Mud People, Earth and Water
 

As they began to walk away, the Mud People were called back by a perky young woman with a staff.

 

The key word here was 'dirt'. While this was only partly true of their nature, the cycle of life did require a source of dirt to continue, they all turned back.

 

One of them aimed to strike up a conversation, as much as you could with such limited speaking ability.

 

"Hi. We need mudpit."

 

Another one moved over to Illidan, finding him strange but intriguing, and tried to poke one of his wings with an expression of awe on its limited facial features.

 

"Ooh."

 

The final mud person was peering off into the distance, using its eyes as primitive binoculars, trying to find a mudpit or some resources in the event that they needed fixing. Finding nothing, it called back to the others.

 

"No mudpit. What we do?"

 

[skwerl56767]

   XDRS - Hallway

 

   So the entity came with Stan and Xker? Who else was there? The car, but... Typheus turned and gave it a look of suspicion. Someone has to be in there, yet cars don't output signals, they receive them.
   Pretty much, he answered; there was no reason to deny he was new here. He looked around him again, though more out of habit so he was aware of his surroundings. He debated asking the entity to give him her location, but as polite as everyone has been so far chances are there was a reason this person was hiding; the fact that it might be an AI and lacked a proper body in the first place, for one, or as another thought, it could be a photosensitive or immobile creature.
   Are you looking for the bronze bot? the entity suddenly asked. He looked up in surprise.
   What do you know about her? he demanded, before he realized how harsh he sounded. Rather than retract it though, he waited tentatively for a response, deciding that the entity must be near him, as there were no cameras around...
   You are not Cybertornian... What are you?
   'Cybertronian'? his thoughts echoed. He looked at the floor, unsure on how to respond. What's a Cybertronian?
   I could ask the same about you, he replied. As if on cue, the car next to him began to roll backward, and he looked up to keep an eye on it. That didn't make sense... if it was rolling backward the floor had to be sloped, but it couldn't have remained still before if it was.

 

   The signal went quiet. Suspicions rising, he tried tracking its source, still watching the vehicle as it defied physics again and halted, now seven quli away from him.
   He watched it carefully. Up to 90% progress on the tracking...
   Then the car began to move in a way cars didn't move!
   Typheus jumped into the offense position, bayonets unsheathing and wings flared, ready to charge or bolt if needed; yet he was frozen in place as the metal pulled apart, shifted, twisted and flipped with bizarre, mechanical complexity. Luxury seating and controls drifted from their place, wheels pulled back and sheathed in, and doors folded across an entirely new form with arms and legs. There were so many parts it was hard to track them all! It sounded pretty cool too; and once it was all done, he was surprised to see a remarkably human form.
   The car... turned into a person... He didn't need the blinking icon that showed up five seconds ago to tell him where the signal came from now.

 

   He was still frozen from awe. She was definitely bigger than him, and it showed by how cramped she was in this small hallway. A red symbol streaked across her chest was now visible, yet it gave him no clear indication of her origin, and her eyes were blue and looked very alive. He couldn't tell if she was a lifeform, or a machine, or something disguised as either, but he definitely felt threatened by how big she was; not that she was bigger than a 17 Tank, but he was used to big machines looking like him, not people! So, for a long moment, he had nothing to say, except for "Um..."
   He tried to think up a civilized response. He remembered that she said he wasn't Cybertronian, so was this what a Cybertronian looked like? Impressive... also kind of scary...
   "Uh, mech." He finally gestured to himself in introduction. "Built by Xinschi-uual. They're... very small. I'm a Superiority model, but that doesn't mean anything to you..." He faltered with his composure, feeling overwhelmed. "Yeah, I'm looking for the bronze machine. All I know is that she's over here somewhere."

[TehUltimateMage]

Pascal - Gateway

 

"Mud... pit?" Pascal repeated, cocking her head to the side.

 

The cogs in her brain turned and she lowered her staff. These monsters weren't hostile. They were looking for a mudpit. Their composition suggested that they too were beings of mud, and perhaps mud was to be used to keep them alive just like frogs who needed to be kept damp with water. They didn't seem to be too eloquent event when they formed sentences, and Pascal remembered that she might have something up in her room to help these constructs out...

 

For now though, she took a few steps away from the central portion of the gateway, to a patch where there were no flowers, and planted her staff straight into the ground. "One mudpit, coming right up!"

 

Magic welled around her in a blue circle, rising from the earth and lifting her scarf with steady power. Focusing her energy, Pascal called the name of her summon.

 

 "Cyandine!"

 

Water in the form of a fish-tailed woman gushed from the earth as smoothly as a salmon leaping through a river. As quickly as she came, she dove back into the ground and disappeared, leaving a stream in her wake.

 

Pascal stomped around the large puddle she made, furiously mashing the ground into mud. She was certain that this plan would work!

 

Twilight -- Dining Hall

 

Twilight's horn glowed as she steadied Reshiram's chair to stop them from falling backwards. The humanoid was pretty untalkative, or maybe couldn't speak at all. Nevertheless, it was good to keep talking whether or not they could understand what she was saying. Perhaps their origin would enlighten her with how she could help.

 

"Hm..." She began to think out loud. "Xander picked you up in a world called Ylisse since it didn't seem like you belonged there, but he has told me about Manaketes and speculated that you might be one based on that stone you have. And," she closed her eyes and re-visualized the incident where the strange transforming human blew a hole in the ceiling, "It seems like your powers are almost instinctual and limited in duration. Can you turn into a dragon at will, or is it only when you're scared?"

 

 

Edited December 10, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[ValidEmotions]

Circuitraider | Buddies in the Hallway

Typheus' faltering did not escape Circuitraider's notice. However, she never encountered someone smaller than her, let alone who was visibly intimidated by the scout (excepting the humans) that she did not know how to ease the... mech's, possible concerns. "I hail from the planet Cybertron, an Autobot scout under the leadership of Optimus Prime. I suppose... You don't know what any of that is..." She trailed off. Bumblebee was often better at these kinds of interactions than she was. At least, in more recent decades. 

 

The fact that Typheus was a strange Mech made the situation a little easier for Circuitraider. She wouldn't know what to do with a human without Optimus or Bumblebee nearby to assist. "I realize I startled you a moment ago, I apologize for doing so. Regarding your friend... I think I last saw her beginning to struggle with something? I'm not sure about your functions and it was while the human and his pet were first in the front hall." 

 

The wings that decorated the sides of her helmet shifted as she began to orient her audio receptors. Within nanoseconds, she picked out the voices and sounds that drifted across the first floor of the castle that was within her range. She didn't know how big the place truly was and still needed to finish mapping the layout for her reference. "Your companion is stationary, speaking with others," Circuitraider informed, receptors retreating from view as she brought her blue optics back to Typheus. "She wants to know the location of 'Duke'?"

 

Yusei | Cleaning

Standing, Yusei looked over at the boxes as Hush spoke up about needing some time. "That's fine," he reassured. Looking at the ball bearing in his hand once more, he continued to frown. Much of the items that he could see appeared to belong to Stan and, in the disassembly of the room, some looked as if they were broken by mistake. He began to gather was might have been broken, along with the obvious items that needed repairs. 

 

Sweeping all of the ball bearings together was only faintly tedious but, once they were collected and out of the way, moving around the room was far less treacherous. The duelist found an empty container that he could keep the damaged items in, making future transport far easier than if he would have tried simply using his arms and hands. 

 

Soon enough, the room was back in its original state of order and the man motioned for Hush to come with him. "Since I want to get your request put up before too much time has passed, I plan on taking care of it first. Then I want you to show me any other areas that you may have... played around in. I need to bring these items to Stan, can you promise me that you'll help clean the rest of the mess you made?" he asked, tucking the box under his right arm as he stepped into the hallway.

[hikarinomemori]

[ Gateway - Illidan, Hibiki, and Marie ]

 

Illidan gasped loudly upon feeling something cold and wet on his wings - not good! Before he could even think, his wings had outstretched and hit whatever had touched them. HARD. "Don't do that! Those are sensitive...!" Folding them back up, he was made alert to two more beings that had arrived.

 

One of them was a demon.

 

CRAP. As if on instinct, almost like a jungle predator, Illidan crouched down, Warglaives of Azzinoth in his hands, ready to leap and pounce upon his prey, as he'd done so many times before to the demons on Argus...

 

...but Hibiki leaped into action, grabbing Illidan and stopping him from moving to kill the pink-haired woman. She was... surprisingly strong, given her build. "Illidan-san, no! We don't know if she's bad or not!!"

 

"It doesn't matter! She's a DEMON! She has to die!" Illidan seemed pretty dead-set on that, too.

 

"I, uh... don't think her friend would take too kindly to you attacking her, Illidan." Marie pointed to the guy with her, what with his rather impressive wingspan and all... a guy like that was pretty hard to miss.

 

"...even so, we cannot give her that chance, ink-cheeks. She might attack us--"

 

"It doesn't mean she will. Please, Illidan-san, just give her a chance to at least speak! You can at least allow that?"

 

Illidan groaned. "FINE. But if she makes ONE MOVE to attack us, I'm skewering her alive. Are we clear?"

 

"Crystal." Hibiki then let Illidan go, and he relaxed his stance. He was still a little wary, though - his experiences with demons had almost all been bad...

[Coryn02]

Mud People, Earth and Water

 

The mud person who tried to touch Illidan's wing was knocked over. After a moment, it picked itself up off the ground, and stood around blankly while the argument between demons ensued in its vicinity.

 

The other two were gathered around Pascal while she tried to make them a mudpit.

 

"Deeper." One of them commented, noting that the current state of affairs would not be able to support a community. The other briefly tested the muddy water with its fingers, as if to assess its progression.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Coryn02

[Pyrowings]

Light ~ Books! Lots of Books!

 

Light eyed the pile of books she had in her arms already, looked back up at the one that just caught her eye, then set the stack down, feeling a sense of release in her arms as she did so. She stretched, sighing at her lack of physical strength, and pulled the book down before calling out. "Louise!"

A levitating woman with long black hair, wearing a variety of purple furs and tribal skirts, holding a staff with a curved, hornlike tip appeared in front of her, poised and ready for battle. That is, until she had a glance around. Then Louise relaxed, slinging the staff on her back. "Another one?" she asked, glancing around at her surroundings. "And where is this one? Honestly, Light, sometimes I wonder if you're a sniffer dog for libraries."

"Hey! But I have no idea," Light admitted. "I think I fell into an interdimensional gate somewhere near Central Park."

"See?" Louise spread her hands and grinned. "Sniffer dog for libraries." Her expression promptly turned more serious, though, and she crossed her arms, looking concerned. "I haven't heard of one opening so close to Central Park, though. Do you know where exactly--

”No!"

Light and Louise both turned towards the sound, Light with ears prickled and alert, Louise with her staff back in tensed hands and spell on her lips.

”No, no, absolutely not! Please do not damage the books!”

As she saw the commotion, though, Light raised a hand towards Louise, though she still had a confused expression on her face. It was the wolf-boy from earlier—what did he say his name was? Fu-something?—stumbling back, a book in his mouth. Did he follow us? Light cocked her head and approached, glancing back once to see Louise following, though she had the stack of books Light picked out in her arms now. Wolf-boy looked between the two of them with a slightly panicked gaze.

”Give it to me, please!” Spike reached out to take the book in wolf-boy’s mouth. Does he not know what a book is? He’s almost like a wild animal… But he seems to be smarter than that. I wonder…. Light grabbed a random book from the shelves and kneeled beside wolf-boy.

"Books aren’t for eating,” she lightly chastised, then opened the book she had just pulled to a random page, pointing to the words. ”Look! … thus, the dragon of time is ever locked in conflict with the dragon of space. This draws the ire of the dragon of antimatter, who would then enter battle with the intent to punish both,” Light read.

 

 

Cistina ~ Gateway

 

Cistina shook her head slightly—So many new arrivals from this one—before turning to inspect all of—OGRE?! As her eyes settled, Cistina stared at the demonic purple beast, feeling the blood drain from her face. Denizens of the netherworld, foe to the world…. She remembered the monsters they had fought, the…. The evil doppelgangers that had been summoned to the fallen king’s aid—Folcurt, Olivya, Denam, Arycelle, herself, and everyone else; except made from swirling shadows, the colors on them dulled, the only expressions on their face either sheer anger or sadistic joy. Cistina moved herself back slightly, as she shivered, remembering the brutal fight. King—No, the ogre, had welded corrupted elemental powers and possessed incredible strength… And now one of them was here? He had his weapons out, ready to fight.

”P-Pascal, be careful, there…There is….” Cistina trailed off as someone covered in mud poked him and he unveiled large wings, snapping annoyedly at the mud-covered man. There was something strange with that action. Cistina frowned and watched as he noted the arrival of the other two—he recoiled at seeing one of them. He got into a combat—Cistina flew forward, getting between him and the arrivals. But some of the ones closer to him were trying to dissuade him too? Of course, he wasn’t listening to them.

”Black Willaw!”Cistina ordered, aiming the spell to bind his feet to the ground... But something in the way they were talking made Cistina pause a bit.  Not to mention how he wasn’t attacking outright, but… All the ogres had a purpose… I could be misjudging. One of the two arrivals responded to his taunts, and Cistina turned around. Was she… Trying to fight? If she thinks herself able to… I cannot possibly… But there are others here… My primary duty here is to keep peace, and he is not attacking yet... Cistina held her spear defensively, sparing a glance at the woman behind her. ”Please do not antagonize him,” Cistina warned.

[hikarinomemori]

[ Gateway ]

 

Finally, someone with sense enough to warn against antagonizing Illidan. Not that it mattered - he was already very much riled up and ready to fight, and was about to drive the Warglaives of Azzinoth into the demon girl's chest.

 

Except now there was that other guy that Marie had pointed out, and he was... far less serious than she'd made him out to be. In fact, if anything, Illidan was finding him quite annoying. So much was being said so quickly... "Wha... brother?! Hell no! I'm not related to this... this WITCH!"

 

"...oh hey you have a wrap on your face, that a fashion thing?" He wasn't wrong, but still... Illidan was pissed enough.

He tossed the Warglaives at Hibiki, who struggled to catch them. "Hold those for me. I need to get a brat out of my face." He then curled his arm back and smacked the poor child in front of him - and although they weren't quite claws, his fingernails were still pretty sharp, and thus raked across Yuki's face. "Now... stay out of my way!"

 

He reclaimed the Warglaives from Hibiki and entered a combat stance, ready to strike the demon girl at any given moment.

[Kiran]

Jowan [ Dining Hall ]

 

He wasn’t sure why, but he felt disappointed that Duke hadn’t decided whether or not he was going or not. For all he knew, Duke wasn’t even as helpful Jowan thought. “I was just curious, and, well…” It would have been better to just outright say that he was interested in going, but he hesitated. Was it not presumptuous to assume that anyone even wanted him to come? Especially Duke; he had to be tired of babysitting by now. 

 

“Oh!” Hurriedly, he gulped down the last of his tea before coughing. “Hot.” Duke agreeing to go just because he wanted to had been unexpected. “Yes, I’m finished,” he said, gathering his teacup and following Duke out of the room. “Thank you.” 

 

Everyone had been so accommodating and kind to him (well, not everyone; most people in his life hadn’t, actually). It was more than he deserved, and it strengthened the feeling of needing to explain his powers. All of them, not just the weak flames and ice that he could conjure without bloodshed. Maybe things would have gone better with Neria if he had told her. 

 

It was just that he didn’t know where to start. None of the members of XDRE seemed fazed by any of the powers that the new recruits displayed, but blood magic… ‘Hey, Duke, you know this cut on my arm that’s been causing problems? I did that on purpose so that I could boil everyone’s blood if the situation at the Gateway went bad.' Yeah, that’d go over well. It seemed like a different situation from turning into a strange furry monster or having dead people in one's head. 

Edited December 11, 2017 by Zor

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan -- Stan's Room

 

His room was filled with the things he liked to have, even if his collection was much more sparse than he would have liked it to be. That was alright. He had to leave a lot of his personal items behind -- again -- though his favorite things tended to never leave his person. It was a gamble, though, because sometimes a stray bullet could just happen to pierce his bag, and his carrying capacity was limited and weapons had higher priority than sentimental objects.

 

His desk, used as a working surface, was clean and his toolbag tucked under it, though everything in his drawers -- collected tickets, notes, coins, a pack of cigarettes that he hadn't looked at in a while -- was unorganized. The supplied chest of drawers, containing categorized clothing, had junk lying on its top surface such as spare batteries, whiskey, an old portable gaming device, and a few choice books that looked like hey had been flipped through many times. A small radio sat on his nightstand, quietly playing a positively ancient rendition of Hey Jude. It reminded him that he had a Beatles poster once. The only poster he had on the wall now was folded many times over and had lost much of its color, even though it was terrible unlikely that it was an original. The castle's room just had so much more wall space than he was usually used to, and so he didn't know what to do with all of it other than dream about painting the baby blue walls a shade of neutral grey instead.

 

A knock on his door. He just wanted to lay down for a bit, still in his ash-stained clothing. Just to get a moment of rest without actually sleeping. He didn't have time for that. A couple minutes on his bed would just have to do, and for a moment, he pretended that the act was the equivalent to taking a nap. It felt like this day just continued to drag on -- and perhaps it was because the days were bleeding into each other because of the eternal dawn. Rallying people for the mission was rather sudden, he knew, but he also knew he wanted to see more of that mysterious world of ash and mist.

 

Stan didn't want whoever was at his door to wait too long, so he slowly rolled off one side and slipped right into his boots. He took a moment to adjust them before making his way over.

 

On the other side was a familiar face he tended to see a lot in the garage. It was the more rational of the two people with face tattoos he knew on this planet. Stan also couldn't figure out how his hair worked.

 

"Oh, Yusei," he greeted, but with a fraction of his usual energy. He was just a little deflated now that he was caught in a moment of reprieve. "Did you need me for something? Or for more information about my mission?"

 

Behind Yusei was the grey and blue humanoid creature he saw at Twilight's tea party. It seemed to be rather attached to the duelist. "Oh, made a new friend? I saw that there were many newcomers at the table today." He rubbed the back of his neck out of habit and his lips pulled into a small smile. "I wonder if they're still popping out at the Gateway?"

Edited December 11, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[TehUltimateMage]

Pascal -- Gateway 

 

"Deeper?" Pascal repeated what the mud people were chattering about. "Sure!"

 

Cyandine reappeared, this time for more than a split second. Water fell off her form as she solidified into a delicate azure creature, adding to the mud puddle that was forming, but Pascal quickly realized that they might have to excavate the dirt. Perhaps they would need to use Xander's terraforming abilities, or perhaps someone who could punch the ground hard enough to form a crater. (Away from the gateway's rocks, though. She didn't want to risk damaging the magical stones.)

 

The silver-haired boy. A friend of hers? Many of the assembled newcomers were watching the whole scene, some attempting to intervene, others trying to egg it on whether accidentally or intentionally. The pink cat creature she saw earlier slinked away. Cistina seemed to have her attention on the no-eyed purple winged man. Pascal watched the pink-haired horned girl instead. It was a good call, having Twilight leave her with backup. The grip on her staff tightened when Illidan made a move to slap the boy on the cloud and her attention immediately shifted back to Ayaka to gauge her reaction -- and predictably, the action had drawn her ire. Her nails sparked dangerously as she spoke, igniting a purple flame in her hand.

 

Pascal had faith in the Gateway's strange decision-making process regarding who was worthy of setting foot on the planet, although, for a split second she wondered if it could have made a mistake. To banish that thought, she reminded herself of Nata's introduction, and how he had eventually warmed up into becoming one of the squad's most reliable juggernauts when it came to sheer power.

 

She nodded to her summon, Cyandine, and the aqua-haired and fin-eared mermaid transformed into a stream of water just as the horned lady released her fire. Water dashed forth, cutting through the flames burning through the grass, and Cyandine's liquid shadow erupted from below the demon in the form of a geyser before vanishing entirely in a mist of droplets.

 

Pascal held her staff at eye level, the butt-end pointing towards Ayaka. Her usual smile was gone from her face and her amber eyes were focused and unwavering. "Now," she said, looking down the barrel of her shotstaff to assess her aim. "It would be in everyone's best interest to put all your assumptions aside until we sort this all out."

Edited December 11, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[Kiran]

Jowan [ Duke’s Room ]

 

It was difficult to tell whether Duke was being serious about not understanding why Jowan was thankful or not. With Duke, it could be either one. Still, he was grateful.

 

He didn’t want to intrude or ask for more than he needed, but getting cleaned up did sound nice. It had been far too long since he’d had a proper bath, and he was eager to be rid of the grime and dried blood coating his skin. He shook his head to say no, of course he didn’t mind, but Duke already had his back turned to him. 

 

As they walked, Jowan tried to remember who each of the rooms belonged to. “I’ve never had a room of my own,” he admitted. Unless one counted a jail cell, of course, which he didn’t. First had been the apprentice dorms, then had been the servant’s quarters at Redcliffe Castle. Neither had been too bad, at least once he had gotten old enough to leave the dorm with the younger children. He'd never been able to bear the crying. 

 

In all honesty, Duke’s room was less messy than he had expected. The bed was comfortably unmade, and he felt himself relax another fraction. The castle had no Templars to yell at one for leaving a bed unmade. “I should be fine without a healer. It’s not too deep, and I’ve done stitches before.” He left out the circumstances that required him to do stitches on himself. 

 

“I’ll have you know that I’ve never burned anything down,” he said, unable to keep the smile from his voice or face. The banter was familiar, and he felt a twinge of nostalgia in his chest. “Thank you,” he said again before he walked into the bathroom. It was shockingly white- the tiles on the floor, the walls, the fixtures. The sink and bathtub - both made of the same shiny white material - each had metal faucets. Strange. Experimentally, he pushed one of the levers above the sink up, then pushed it back down when water flowed out of the faucet. “Duke?” he called, hoping that Duke hadn’t already left. It was possible that he’d be able to figure things out, but he didn’t want to take any chances. “Could you explain how this all works? It’s a bit different from what I’m used to.”
 

Edited December 11, 2017 by Zor

[hikarinomemori]

[ Gateway ]

 

Illidan was almost ready to snap completely and let loose with felfire, but was quickly caught off-guard with Ayaka's purple flames. Was this how his life was going to end?

He wasn't prepared for this.

...nor was he prepared to look again and see that he was alive. Completely soaked from horns to hooves, but alive. How on Azeroth had he--?

 

"Now, it would be in everyone's best interest to put all your assumptions aside until we sort this all out."

 

Was that Pascal's voice?! She suddenly sounded so... serious. Perhaps picking random fights isn't such a good idea after all... Illidan lowered his Warglaives and backed off, a tense glare on his face - this demon's death wasn't worth coming face-to-face with his own. "...Argus would do better with me alive. But don't think I'll ever like you one bit, demon."

 

Hibiki and Marie were pretty shocked as well, with the latter having stepped back quite a bit because of the water. Why why why is there so much water involved?! Was this where she was going to be splatted for good?

 

Hibiki was just relieved that the fighting had stopped. She'd met stubborn people before, but Illidan was in a class all his own... Hoo-boy, this one's going to be a handful. It was nothing she couldn't handle, though, right? If she could convince someone who was literally burning away her memories for the sake of destroying the world to change, then she could definitely convince someone who is half-demon to change, right?

Edited December 11, 2017 by hikarinomemori

[Coryn02]

Hush, Child of Void

 

The Nobody dashed out from behind Yusei, whirling past him and Stan into the room. So many interesting things lay beyond, and its curiosity was overflowing.

 

After looking about the room, its gaze passed over the poster, and then focused on the small electronic device on top of the dresser.

 

With unusual deliberation, it grabbed the game console and stared at it for a few moments, before abruptly turning to look at Stan.

 

"Where's it from?"

 

 

Mud People, Earth and Water

 

As soon as their new friend stopped making their mudpit, the Mud People blindly followed her into what could be a dangerous situation as she went to stop the fighting.

 

One of them stood beside her staring blankly into space, before tilting forward without warning and falling face-forward. The second went over to Illidan and waved a non-verbal hello, unafraid from its last encounter with him.

 

The last stayed by the water pool which was to become a mudpit, and was digging a hole in the ground nearby to plant some flowers.

Edited December 12, 2017 by Coryn02

[ValidEmotions]

Yusei | Cleaning to Stan's Bedroom Doorway

 

Hush guided the man to a few other locations, pointing out the mess that was made in each area. Yusei took mental note of each one, wondering just how much time Hush had spent on his own before finally being noticed. Along the way, the duelist found a scrap piece of paper and a pen. Using the wall as a surface, he scrawled out the details of the Dusk's request for help: 

 

"Individual requesting assistance: Hush, the Dusk Nobody

Information: Limited. States that home is destroyed and is alone. Mentioned wanting to have his heart back. May want to find his brothers. 

Suggested requirements: Personal knowledge about Nobodies and the universe they come from.

Mission: Reconnaissance first"

 

He stared at the paper scrap, knowing of possible consequences should he pin the request as written. Sora's words still collided with Hush's. The two accounts did not match up and Yusei was sorting out why. 

 

The words... Glancing at Hush's back as the Nobody continued darting down the hallway, the duelist frowned slightly. 

 

Organization XIII was a group of powerful Nobodies that commanded all others of lesser strength, others like Hush. Sora was trying to find out who the Organization was and what they wanted. 

 

But Hush's leaders were dead, killed by Sora.

 

Tucking the pen behind his ear, Yusei plucked a pin from the cork board and stuck it through the sheet of paper, leaving it to hang against the light brown surface. He understood the situation. He was willing to take a risk. Looking towards Hush once more, he felt something twist in his chest. He hoped he was making the right decision....

 

Picking the box of items up from the ground and tucking it under his arm again, he stuffed his free hand into his pant pocket and began walking. This time, he led Hush down the hallways and up the flights of stairs until he came to the floor he wanted. Stan's bedroom was not far ahead from there. In moments, he was at the man's door, pulling his hand free from the pocket and rapping his knuckles against the surface. 

 

Yusei waited patiently as the minutes began to tick by but Stan didn't leave him waiting for long. The brown-haired man was still in his soiled clothes, a shadow of exhaustion hiding in his features. "Oh, Yusei," came the greeting.

 

Shaking his head slightly, Yusei gave an apologetic smirk. "Sorry, Stan. I don't mean to bother you. I'm not here for more information," he started to explain. He knew he wasn't going on Stan's mission. Glancing over his shoulder as Stan's attention drifted to Hush, the duelist watched the Nobody quickly dart into the bedroom and begin to explore. "I suppose..." he replied, frowning now. "He asked for help so I put his request on the board. Hush is responsible for a number of messes in the castle today and we've already cleaned up one room. He's shown me the rest so we can return to them shortly. However, I wanted to bring some items to you from the first room - they looked like yours."

 

Holding the box out for Stan to see, Yusei flicked his gaze back to Hush as the Dusk questioned Stan about an item in his hands. 

 

Sora | Roaming

 

He wasn't very happy, knowing that a Nobody was wandering around, but Sora had no choice except to leave it alone. A groan floated from his lips, annoyance sliding across his features as he lazily paced the hallways. Hands clasped behind his head and gaze tilted up towards the ceiling, he sighed. "Ma-a-an... Wish Goofy and Donald were here..." he muttered. The boy didn't really know what to do. There were no Heartless here and, with the exception of the one Dusk (didn't Yusei call it Hush?), there were no Nobodies either. 

 

Traverse Town was really the only world he knew of that was mostly free of Heartless now, though some still lingered in the Second and Third Districts. But there were shops to resupply at least. Here? There wasn't a single Moogle in sight. 

 

No fights, no supplies to shop for.  He was bored and lost in a galaxy far, far away...

 

Voices drifted down the hallway and Sora brought his gaze down from the ceiling, looking ahead. "Oh, hey..." he breathed, recognizing the pair of girls from Twilight's Welcome Party. It looked like they were talking about something but then started to walk away. "H-Hey! Wait a sec!" he called out, picking up his pace to jog down the hall until he caught up to them. "I'm Sora!" he introduced, greeting the pair with a large, goofy grin as he waved. 

 

One was noticeably older than the other, a woman and a girl around his age. Maybe. The woman didn't look too friendly. "Are either of you familiar with the place?" he asked.

Edited December 13, 2017 by ValidEmotions

[TehUltimateMage]

Stan -- Stan's Room

 

Yusei's new friend was an excitable one, moving around in an odd mix of skittering and floating. It was almost like they were immaterial, and perhaps they didn't quite understand the concept of personal space.

 

"That's--" Stan began in a panic, before he relaxed his shoulders and repeated in a calmer tone, "That's my gameboy. Bought it at a junk store on Ganymede. The keeper didn't know the value of the thing, being old Earth tech."

 

That was a lie. There were many people who collected antiques like he did, and he just happened to acquire a five finger discount after investigating the disappearance of said keeper. Other than the big stuff and the important stuff, it was likely that most of it was going to be recycled anyway. Vale told him to return it. He never did. He liked to blame the strict rules of society for his delinquency and his interest in history, though his conscience eventually caught up with him and he sent the equivalent value of the thing to the man's daughter three years later. She probably didn't even notice it was gone in the first place.

 

"Probably originated on Earth, America, around the 2000s. Looks familiar to you?" Stan asked. "It's loaded with Pokemon Yellow," he continued, "though I've been seeing if I could collect some other games through cross universe time loops. Needed a little work and a few replacements, but plays just like new! Old Earth had a bunch of cool stuff, buried under all that rubble, like replica cards resembling Yusei's."

 

It was a real shame that that place became so inhospitable. Some crazy people stayed in underground bunkers to wait for the dust to settle, eventually forming the Gaia Coalition hundreds of years later. But that the time, much of Humanity had fled to nearby terraformed planets and moons shortly before the impact of 2162. Life was hard for his ancestors when they established the colony on Mars, but Stan was glad he was born in a time of relative peace many decades after.

 

Yusei, unlike the creature who was named Hush, still stood at the doorway with a box of familiar items. He said that Hush submitted a request for aid, which Stan noted would be an exciting thing to look at when he had the chance. That was before he processed the words responsible for a number of messes and the man whirled around to glare at the Dusk, before slowly turning back around to face the duelist.

 

He had a suspicion now that the ghastly sock puppet had something to do with the ball bearings and the fire. The box was full of things he had laying around, but also of which he thought he had tucked away and organized. Cans of spray paint, marbles, vials of different powders... a second set of shoes.

"Where did you..." he inquired, choosing his words one at a time. "Find all this?"

Edited December 13, 2017 by TehUltimateMage

[Pyrowings]

 Light ~ Library

 

To her delight, wolf-boy seemed very receptive to her reading. When Light looked up from the page, his face was alight with amazement, and he took the book out of his mouth as he stared at the words she had in her hands. From behind her, Spike loudly exhaled in relief. He seemed to think for a moment, then pointed to the word “space.”

“Dragon?” He asked. Where did he come from? He learns quickly, but he doesn’t seem to have much of a grasp on language, much less words.

”No,” Light shook her head, then pointed at the correct word. “Dragon.”

He then seemed to come to a realization of sorts, and held up the book in his hands. “Dragon?”

Light giggled, then shook her head. ”Book,” she said, tapping the one he was holding. She then pointed at Spike, who did a little wave. “Dragon.” She pointed at the word he was just looking at. “Space.” She set the book down, still open, and waved her arms around nebulously. Oh… But something abstract like that would be hard to explain to someone without words…. “Nevermind,” Light said as she shook her head. Should I really be doing this? Light absentmindedly picked the book talking about the dragons back up, putting it in her lap, before pointed at the book he held and Spike as she repeated what they were. “Book, dragon.” Am I explaining this to him at all? I’ve never taught anyone before--Lady Sharan help me!

 

Cistina ~ Gateway

 

One of the two arrivals approached the ogre jovially, much to Cistina’s chagrin. Is the boy insane?! And the ogre responded by throwing him away—there were large gashes in the boy’s face—Like hell I will let that stand! Before she was able to react, however, the woman strode in front of her and unleashed a mantle of flames.

Dark flames, corrupted with the energy of the Netherworld. She could feel the demonic heat, searing her even from this distance—Cistina flinched as the flames shot forward and she slid quickly backwards, the spell she was casting faded, and she could tell the flames were magical in nature because it felt as if she was standing next to a roaring bonfire and the demonic energy from it felt like needles—that sensation disappeared as Pascal’s summon came and inundated the area before disappearing herself.
"Now, it would be in everyone's best interest to put all your assumptions aside until we sort this all out."

Thank you, Pascal! The ogre looked cowed, and… The ogress… Looked abashed. So she too has power similar to that of the Netherworld… Pascal held her fusil-staff towards the woman, serious expression on her face. Cistina edged herself forward—I should not have flinched away, however reflexive that was. The fire would not have hit me—with her spear readied defensively. She willed a wind to whip up around her, surrounding her.

“Wow, Aya this is why you don’t have friends, always blasting fire first and talking second!”

What?

“You probably don’t have many friends either. You should be more like me! I have loads of friends… like Aya! She’s great, she has lovely hair,” The strange—and winged, now that she actually got a good look at him—boy spoke up again, this time to the cowed purple ogre… Or perhaps, the ogre-like being. Was…. Aya…. Cistina looked back at the pink-haired… Horned demon.

“It’s pink like yours! Though yours isn’t fully pink, it’s white, like snow!” The winged boy was talking excitedly to Pascal, with nary a fear in his tone. Cistina stared, befuddled.

“Hey the secret to keeping Aya from hurting people is to just dump a bucket of water on her! Or freeze her hands in a block of ice, I’ve done that before! Though she might try to gouge your eyes with her nails or horns, hahaha”

What? … I would not expect her to keep a friend like he…. Cistina frowned, looking between the two. This “Aya” didn’t seem too happy at what he “revealed” either.

"Keep talking and I'll attack you," she threatened. She then made an impressive leap to beside the purple creature. "A truce, then, and a handshake to seal the deal. I suppose you could say the feeling is mutual."

Interesting. Despite similarities, neither particularly seem to trust the other—that means they are not of one goal, at the very least…. I suppose I had been too hasty in my judgement. Cistina lowered Zephyros, though she kept the wind swirling about her.

“Pascal and I have some explanations to offer for your questions,” Cistina said carefully. ”More likely than not, we cannot answer all of them, particularly of any you have regarding the state of the location you came from.” Cistina tensed slightly, waiting for their reactions.