Chronicles of Gaia (RP)

"Theres a difference between fighting and assisting people, I shouldn't be telling you this Rowan, as for what the thing was, gimme a moment." tossing the rag aside her movements went out of the pit, hands half in the air indicating she was in no mood to attack anyone at the moment, "That was what was known as a False Hydra, hey you'll actually be able to remember this now! Those things are particularly nasty, using sound to effectively and retroactively 'delete' your memory of it as you see it, you always know it's there, you just don't... remember... it being there, specific animal species, usually feline, are immune to the sounds, once they reach a level of maturity, they start eating people, something everyone around is acutely aware of, but can't remember." - Now rubbing her temple, her mind splitting back into the two separate parts from the merger required to resist the effects, she turned to the foreman, who had left his monstrosity of a machine and had applied a kind of... powder to the arms, he himself seemed fairly chill, not questioning since the threat was dead, and the two discussed what they'd came here for, a short while later, Ama spoke to the other two once more, "Well, we'd best get back topside, the other parts of what we need from this world is... in the future, so we need to wait for an 'Ixion' to show up to perform the time travel needed, Cedric, that would be the only bleed here, and the actual problem should be weak enough to be easily taken out, thanks for the assistance." she was holding a small box, of which she removed a singular stone from said box, examining it, "Yeah, we wait, and then go back..."

"If we're getting out of this hole, then let's go." Rowan grumbled again, leading the way back up toward the surface. He didn't usually hate cave. He'd been fine in that other version of Tore's homeland, but somehow this cave seemed far more suffocating than usual. The angel felt a strong urge to just get away, though he wasn't entirely sure what it was he was getting away from. Getting out of the cave would have to do for now. Once back out on the surface he waited for the rest of the group. He wasn't sure why they had to wait for some thing to show up and go to the future rather than going back and using the mirrors again. Those things didn't seem to pay any heed to spacetime, surely it was within their ability to go to the same world at a different moment in time.

---

"Looks like our water source is coming from up there." Laura motioned toward the northern end of the springs where water seemed to be streaming slowly but steadily out of several gaps among the rocks. The footing looked safe enough, and if it wasn't, well, they'd probably just get a refreshing dip in the hot springs.

Mizuki shook her head, her hand shakily reaching out to the sleeve of Rikazu's robe and grabbing a hold of it. Her eyes seemed to haze over as visions from that day returned to her once more. "T-there was...blood, everywhere", she stammered. "You were hurt and I...I was so scared...he was really...going to kill you..." She couldn't see Rikazu, Kudret or Diemia anymore at this point, not even Carbuncle, who'd been right by her side, seemed to be with her anymore. All she could see was the area of Madain Sari, the man who'd attacked her the day before, and Rikazu's near lifeless body on the ground. Sparks of magic danced around Mizuki's body again, becoming more violent by the second. It didn't take too long for Rikazu to realize what was going on, after all...it wouldn't be the first time that Seth had rooted his illusion magic inside a person, triggering said magic whenever something specific occured. In this case, it seemed tied to the seal on her memories. "Kiddo?" Rikazu grabbed a hold of the blue-haired girl in front of him, giving her a light shake. "Focus on the sound of my voice, ignore everything else you're seeing. He's not here, and I'm not hurt. We're perfectly safe...you're safe." Lynn was quiet for a bit at Celere's words. Not being able to return to her own world...she couldn't imagine what it'd be like if that were to happen to her. Eventually, she just let out a sigh. "Yeah...you're probably right, in a world where I don't exist, I wonder if he'd still be thinking about Saki...?" What had gotten into her lately? She shook her head again. "Right, that doesn't matter either...I'm ready to go, at least...as ready as I'll ever be, probably..." Lynn's gaze shifted towards the mirrors, wondering which one would lead to her world, or rather...the TV world, as they'd called it. "Just a heads up, there's a kind of fog there that makes your mind go...rather blurry, it wouldn't be good to stay there for too long", she then mentioned, before rummaging through her pockets and taking out a pair of glasses and putting them on. "Here's hoping these still work."

It didn't take long for an absolute eyesore of a train to come rolling up the tracks, just looking at it made Ama's eyes water and slightly twinge in pain, her next words muttered to herself "So much Neon, why even?" looking over her shoulder, she wondered whether to go collect Aislin and Laura for a moment, the engines of the vehicle had stopped, accompanied by a flurry of swearing from someone at the front, her decision made, "Right, I'm assuming the Repairs aren't too difficult to make? We'd best go pick up the other two, let them get the experience of this in mind." she turned around from the glowing machine, rubbing her eyes and blinking rapidly to get the afterimage to leave, "That's going to ruin my sight for a few hours... Could one of you go the other two? I'll be trying to remove this eyesore from my retinas for a while." "Duly noted, I'm sure I can manage my mind though, can't be any worse than going 'Ape' if you catch my meaning." the Mirror required for the task slid in, Three now on display indicating the three worlds currently being accessed by the group, two dulled indicating access denied, but one shiny and opaque, "This'd be it then huh? After you." Celere waited for Lynn to enter, swiftly following behind and accessing Level One of her transformations, thinking herself somewhat smart for what she had planned to give Lynn a little 'boost' as a counteraction to energy draining that'd been mentioned, chances were, the oblivious hybrid failed to comprehend, that it wouldn't work.

Kahlua shuddered slightly at the description of the False Hydra's abilities. She may have mentioned certain felines being immunes to it, but he was pretty certain she meant certain kinds of Mainland felines, not Tyretet's felines like himself. He then noticed Ama had gone to speak with the older human and busied hismelf with hefting up the hammer and taking it out of the pit. It had served them well when it was needed, thus he felt enough respect for it to place it onto a table instead of leaving it down there. Kahlua was, however, a bit more determined to find a weapon he could handle. The poison cat soon found himself waiitng with the other two for the train, and it was... There were no words at the mishmash of coloring before him. He was used to the glowing thanks to the crystals at home, but this looked like it was coated in the damn things! Kahlua let a noise of distate escape as he began ducking his head to avoid staring too long. He heard Ama's request, but wasn't sure if sending the angel down there would be a good idea...

---

Aislin nodded in acknowledgement and, after looking a moment more, took off her shoes and socks to better grip the ledges as she climbed. She reached it fairly easily, though it was due in part to not having shoes on. It was fairly likely she would have slipped otherwise. Leaning forward to dip to mouth of the bottle into the source of the spring rewarded her with it filling it up, a slight burning sensation from her hand being exposed to the hot water, and a small treasure box sitting on the ledge above it. Ailsin merely corked the bottle first, stashing it in the satchel hanging from her shoulder before carefully picking up the box and checking inside. A grin formed as a white apple-like fruit sat within the chest, and after shutting it again clambered onto the trail proper to get back to Laura. She presented the chest and its contents to Laura and said simply, "Water and Fruit. Looks like we're done here, right?" It wasn't even a minute after that before the two were trekking back to the mountain. Aislin did look up briefly as an all-too-familiar sound reached her ears and caught the tail end of the time-traveling train disappearing from immediate sight. "Oh good, our ride to the future's waiting for us," she commented. "Fair warning Laura, the whole thing's colored neon blue with other neons as accents. It's a very flashy and noisy train." The girl did not bother to hide her excitement at getting to ride the Ixion. First in time travel and riding a train, score!

---

Kudret's hand stilled at the sight before him. Mizuki was clearly having some kind of panic attack alongside whatever Seth had done to her the day before. He wasn't sure what exactly it was he could do to help any, not unless she would focus again from something unusual happening. He pressed himself a little further onto Diemia, keeping his tail curled around him to avoid the stray sparks of magic heading his way. For all that Manas were magic themselves, Kudret was a very physical-minded person and tended to dislike magic being used on him. Even buffs, though undeniably useful, were disliked. Thankfully, Diemia had known and accepted that at the start, and had even been willing to teach him about other kinds of magic to be more prepared; Kudret couldn't have asked for a better partner.

A sigh of relief escaped from Rikazu when the magic around Mizuki lessened, the girl slowly returning to her senses. She was still breathing heavily and tears rolled down her face, but at least she seemed to recognize him again. "D-daddy..." she whimpered. "We're safe here, kiddo. I promise you that", the blue-haired male wasn't sure what to do at this point. Perhaps it was better to take a break, tell her everything later...clearly she wasn't ready to hear all of it. "Do you want to take a break?" Mizuki shook her head. "No...I need to know..." What she saw frightened her, but Rikazu was right...he was here now, he'd survived that fight. She wiped away her tears "Alright then..." Rikazu still wasn't sure about this, but if she really wanted to hear more... He then looked in the direction of Diemia and Kudret again for a moment, realizing how far Mizuki's magic had most likely reached. "Are you two alright?" Lynn entered the mirror world, stepping straight into what they'd referred to as the 'main area' of the Midnight Channel back in her own world. What a strange sensation it was to be back here. As she expected, the thick layer of fog was there as well, though her glasses ensured she could see clearly through it. Such a marvelous thing Teddie had created back then...speaking of Teddie, she didn't see the walking bear-suit anywhere. Somehow she'd expected him to be here, even if it was an alternate reality. Maybe he was with Yosuke? Taking a look around the area that looked like a television studio, she wasn't exactly sure where to go. Then again, they weren't exactly looking for someone here, she was just trying to come to terms with her own feelings. "Well, let's move around a bit, see what happens?" she mused before walking forward. She really shouldn't have been so surprised to see that the next area was a familiar-looking beach, and yet it was the last thing Lynn had expected. She'd already overcome those feelings, and this was an alternate version of her world, why was it here? "Really, this place again? You haven't changed at all, have you?" The voice was familiar, yet distorted, though Lynn had no trouble recognizing it. It was her own voice, after all... Twirling in the direction of the voice, she in fact stood face to face with herself. Or rather, her own shadow, the only notable difference being the color of her eyes and the difference in clothes. The shadow was laughing at her, a clearly mocking sound in her voice.

Seyr had still not moved from her spot, when the Statuette was thrown out of her Mana Flare, it was clean, and her half-witted attempt at cleansing had paid off, setting it upright, the Kitsune prepared herself for the act of her soul being ripped from her form, no doubt these moronic deities would greatly disprove of her plans here, but the act was quick, a third tail quickly sprouting and growing to full size at the base of her spine, inspecting it for a brief moment, she proceeded to steal a knife from someone, and using her Magics to hold the third tail straight, sucked in lungfuls of air without breathing them back out, then... brought the blade down, cutting the new tail off as part of her plans, eyes watering and facial fur staining with the salted fluid, when she did finally manage to regain her composure, fire sealed the wound shut, and she held the tail aloft, "I have no intention of being the tenth in the Pantheon, this'll either be a great Bomb, or a way to restore someones Mana Pool... Or just toss it to Rikazu when he screws up... again." - The first thing Celere noticed, was the Fog, and how she literally couldn't see because of it, at least not physically, all it took was to close her eyes and focus on Lynn's Energy, the result was that she'd followed Lynn to a place with plenty of what she assumed was Sand, she stood around and waited, still able to at least hear Lynn, then the second energy popped up, nearly identical to the one she was tracking, but... off, like a warped reflection or featureless shadow, she paid little attention to it, and just remained stationary, watching to see what would happen next, but not being able to actually 'see' the events unfold.

Kudret was most definitely not feeling up to speaking right now, his own mind in turmoil from repressed memories and old hatred. The rocky rhino merely accepted the clenched hold on his nose horn and spoke for the beastman. "My cub is fine," he assured them aloud, "The magic did not reach us. He's rather sensitive to it's use upon him, you see." Diemia let out a soft sigh at the silently sent refusal and explained further, "It's a somewhat uncommon problem in our world, but at times one is born with hypersensitivity to magic being used upon them. Debuffs, buffs, attacks, healing it doesn't matter; they will be able to feel what the magic is doing to their body. Kudret is an alchemist however, thus he needed a partner Mana to understand this and still be willing to support him." A great craggy grin formed and Diemia finished, "I am that Mana, one who sympathized with his plight and was willing to teach him everything I could about the different magics of our world... And some that no longer exist there either." "Don't call it a plight," Kudret spoke up in an irritated tone, and Diemia chuckled. "It got you to speak, didn't it," he teased, and it was Kudret's turn to chuckle and finally turn to the mages to say, "Sorry about that. We can continue when you're ready."

---

Aislin and Laura reached where everyone else was before she really registered it. She glanced at the train, and while it was rather bright thanks to dusk falling, it looked every bit what she saw in her home world. As if she needed any more confirmation that all these world's matched up with video games and the like! Aislin then caught sight of Ama and walked over, studiously avoiding looking at the train further. "We're back, Ama. We grabbed both the water and the fruit, so we're good to go."

"Oh my..." Laura stared at the radically decorated train glowing before them. It was like a casino on wheels. Horribly Gaudy and yet one couldn't help wanting to get a closer look at it. A few moments passed while the Siren took in the train and Aislin went to speak with Ama. Eventually she tore her eyes away long enough to take in the other half of their party. There were clear signs of a fight with something, though they didn't look particularly worse for wear. Rowan was sitting somewhat away on some rocks. As time had passed waiting for the train to arrive and the two girls to return, the angel's gaze had moved back forth between his feet and the sky, brooding over little and not so little things. This would change only slightly with the two arrivals. Now what Rowan found himself watching closely was Aislin. Perhaps it was because he was sitting at a distance and wasn't in close proximity now, but he could no longer keep himself from fearfully observing her for a reaction... to what he wasn't sure. If it seemed as though she might turn and see him looking, Rowan would quickly switch his gaze over to the large and flashy train before them. "So, Time travel huh?" Laura had walked around behind him. her presence annoyed him, as did most things right now, but all the same he didn't feel the energy to react right now. "So they say." he replied shortly, keeping his gaze firmly on the train. A silence stretched between them for a moment. "Are you not going to ask me where I brought the others through that mirror?" Laura asked, watching the back of the angel sitting in front of her. "Doesn't sound like something I want to know." Rowan replied, not turning around to look at her. "Oh... well That's too bad. I was hoping we'd be able to talk about it this time." Something in her tone finally made rowan turn around to face Laura. There was no smile on the Siren's face, just the look of someone who was weary, tired, and just a little bit sad. the angel just stared at her, unsure of how to respond to her words. Laura didn't give him long to think though. "Well, I won't give up quite yet, but I do these things for a reason you know. It would be nice if you'd at least try to respond." The Siren moved past Rowan, strolling away to rejoin Ama, Aislin, and the others closer to the train. Rowan stared after her as she went, eventually slowly getting to his feet himself to go and stand, if not with the others, then at least closer to.

Ama, having finally rubbed the burnt afterimage of the train out of her no bloodshot eyes, didn't really say much, she just kept her eyes covered and boarded, "The sooner I don't have to see this thing again, the better off I'll be." finding a seat and plonking herself down, her brain registered Aislin saying something, "Great, keep hold of those for the time being, they're probably safer on someone else as it stands." once everyone was on board, the vehicle roared to life, and the vibrations caused by the temporal traversal were quite severe, ending up in some kind of workshop overlooking the crater of the now dead Volcano, she was swift to get off it and look up at the darkened sky, "Right, now we just need to find the other Stellar Stone and then we're done here, do what you want around here, just be civil and abide by generic common rules, we don't need a fracas up in here."