Welcome to Gaia! ::

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Lucian had been on a run, travelling to the next city over just to get away from the stress of things as of late. Morrad, a good place to just get lost for a couple days and be back before the parley. He had offered to Zaku to go somewhere with him, but was turned down. Zaku had been intent on staying at the base in Aldas to further plan out the details of the parley with Kate and Michael. He didn't figure he needed to say where he was going, only that he'd' be back in a couple days, well in time for the meeting.

It didn't take Lucian long to get to the next city, running came easily, and when he grew a bit tired of that, his wings would take him the rest of the way. Landing just out the outskirts of the city, it was getting dark. He'd have to find some lodging for the night. He rented a small cabin at the edge of town, he paid for two nights and set his things in the small home. Lucian debated on just resting for a while, maybe make food, even sleep but his mind was racing about the upcoming events. Shaking his head, making an audible noise of frustration, he looked at his phone to note the time, dismissing a few questioning text messages from Kate and Cordelia. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and then left the cabin. Running, that always cleared his mind and made him feel better. He stretched his legs just a bit, took in a deep breath, and took off into a brisk run down the sidewalks, keeping to the edges of town for now. Thankfully he wasn't in a place like Iss-banor, else this would have been a horrible idea running through the streets this late in the day. He kept his focus ahead, trying to think of anything else at the moment, regulating his breathing as he ran.

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Lucian normally drowned out the voices of humans easily, not caring to read their minds either way. It was a hassle. He took a turn down another street and came to a sudden stop, a gut-wretching scream echoed through his mind as his heart sank hard and he instinctively put his hands over his ears which did absolutely nothing. "..a.. meta?.." he lowered his hands, eyes wide as his head whipped back and forth to look for where it had come from. It rang out again as his vision fell to the floor. "..below?!.." his breath quickened as his eyes traced the ground.

/Hey, can you hear me? Where are you? I'm coming!!/

He placed a hand on the ground. Metal. Lots of it. He focused hard as he pulled at the metal hard, he tried with all he could to shape it, to pull it apart as he felt the metal unhinge and slam against whatever ceiling was below him. [Magnetism]

/Run if you can! I'm trying to find the entrance!/

He then tried to concentrate on the thoughts of the humans below him. Guards, they were moving down a hall, as his eyes followed their paths, running down an alley between two buildings. On the other side, a research facility. "..no no no no..." he was beginning to panic. He'd heard stories from Zaku about how bad some facilities could get. He darted toward the entrance as fast as his legs would let him, building up fire around his fists already, ready to start fighting if he needed to [Flame]. He had to save whoever was crying out. He couldn't let her go unanswered.

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He heard her voice respond to him, a slight wave of relief fell over him followed by a deep anguish for her question. The devastating truth that she wasn't even sure if his voice was real, a sign of desperation and isolation.

/Yes, I'm real. My name is Lucian and I'm coming to save you. Just keep talking to me./

He just wanted to keep her thinking, a sign she was still alive as he burst through the front doors and was met with two guards as they drew their guns on him, "Sorry, didn't hear you! Too busy disobeying orders!" he shouted. Most of the time, he'd smile at his own rebelliousness but he was on a mission. He kicked off the ground lightly as he came into a slide to knock one guard down and spun on his hands to swing a leg around to knock the other guard down as well. The flames around his hands dulled from realizing there was not as much security as there would be nearer to whoever was in distress. The sirens were blaring and he knew without a doubt this is where she'd be. He pushed himself to a stand, took a quick look around for any other guards then turned on his heel and took off down a hall toward where the concentration of thoughts were, running past guards, illuminating his hands brightly as he blinded guards as he ran [Glow].He used magnetism to remove guns from their hands, moving as fast as he could to get to her [Magnetism]. He hadn't even thought of how he'd get her out, only that he had to get to her. Lucian assumed he'd figure it all out once he got there.

/I think I'm getting closer. Are you okay?/

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He was distracted from responding to her at the moment as he dodged attacks from an onslaught of guards. Concentrating on running as fast as he could, doing anything he could to keep his momentum as he ran against walls briefly in tight corridors and slid underneath people with ease. There were gun shots and he tried his best to move guns with magnetism to prevent himself from being shot at.

He continued to listen though, her words so clear in his mind as he suddenly realizing her words as she thought. Her... arm?.. His chest pulled tight as he was beginning to realize the gravity of the situation she had been in, and just what they might have been doing here. Doing to her. His eyes darted as he thought, trying to think. Wait, a ring. Married. She had a loved one who wasn't with her. He felt himself swell with determination as he was about to say something back to her.

Yet, as he turned a corridor, there were three guards waiting for him as other guards ran past behind them to the room that held the girl that he had heard earlier. "s**t!" he cursed as he backed up in a slight panic as they opened fire suddenly, being very caught off guard in his own thoughts. A bullet grazed his face and another hit him in the shoulder, and a third grazed his hip. He let out a short cry of pain as he engulfed himself in flames to deflect the rest of the bullets as they unloaded their clips at him [Flame On]. He heard her scream again this time aloud, anger in her voice, and a large bang from down the ways. He then let out a scream himself as he sent out a wave that shoved back the guards against the walls and he growled as he took off into a run again, though not as fast this time, trying his best to ignore the pain [Psionics]. He turned the corner as he let out a blast of light from his body, blinding everyone in the hallway as he ran up to the door.

/I'm here! How do I get you out?/

He took a step back and held out his hands, pulling at the metal door with as much power as he could muster, straining hard as he tried to bend it off it's hinges, anything to help get the door off easier [Magnetism].

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He was pulling to no avail as her voice rang out behind the door. Compliantly and without question, he backed up and hugged the wall, knowing exactly why one would tell him to do so. After a few brief moments, something heavy slammed against the door, like a train had busted through as they door broke onto one hinge and hung there as the dust settled. He could see her outline, a muscular woman with a missing arm. As his vision settled over her, colors came to surface, mauve hair and her eyes were.... her face. Oh god, what had they been doing to her. His face was swept into a wave of pain and concern. His heart was pounding hard in frantic nervousness and adrenaline... And for a moment, just one brief moment, he thought maybe he had seen her somewhere, but before he could place the memory, he could hear more voices of distressed humans coming their way. He instinctively jolted forward and grabbed her hand, and pulled her to try to run. "Where would they keep your arm?" he asked hastily, trying to search the thoughts of humans in the area for anything that would point him in the right direction. His mind was racing. Why was she missing an arm, why would they take it? Where? Why did she look so familiar? Did he know her before? She... looks a lot like-... no, that's not possible. Could it? No, definitely not. His denial battled with the memories of his sister from the past, the one he cooked for, the one he play-fought with sometimes, the one that inevitably blamed him for their parents absence. So many feelings were building up as he just tried to concentrate on finding her arm and then getting the hell out of there. If he could just get her to the cabin, he could try to heal her of her fresh wounds. Then, and only then, could he allow himself to consider that maybe this was his favored sister, broken and enslaved by the humans he fought against daily to protect metas just like her.

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The morgue, right, where would that be. As they ran past some guards, he thought of a plan. "Where's the morgue?!" he shouted at them, forcing them to think about the morgue now as he gathered enough information from their surface thoughts to get a good idea of where it was. "This way!" he darted down another hallway away from guards as slowly, signs began to spring up for the morgue, having to go down to the floor below them, he winced as his hip began to soak warm blood into his pants and the wound on his shoulder had already caused him to bleed all the way down the side of his shirt. Luckily, the wound on his face wasn't too bad, as it bled down the side of his cheek lightly. He managed down the stairs, making sure to steady her in case she couldn't make it. As they made it to the next floor he continued his path down the corridor, as there was a lot less guards here. Then eventually, there were none as he kicked open the doors to the morgue. "Okay.. so a.. left arm... with a ring." he spoke idly, his own words chilling him right to the core. Had he not been involved in a brutal and bloody war for the last two decades, he wouldn't have been able to pretend to be as stoic as he was now. As he looked around, he hesitated in horror at the sheer amount of dead metas in the morgue, some of them missing limbs just like Moira was. He covered his mouth, almost about to vomit as he stumbled a bit, bumping into a prep table, knocking a tray of instruments onto the floor. Hunched over slightly, he tried to steady his breathing. Of course he had heard the stories, but he never imagined this. The mangled corpses of varying races of metas as he closed his eyes tightly, refusing to look at it any further.

W̸̤̯͉h̸̜̼̺̰̝̱eR̛̫͕̪ͅe҉ ̰̗h̟ͅA̼͞s̬̻̖̥͝ ̥̱̣̯̥͙̤e͇V͚͚̱̻͕̬͞e͔̗̹̘̝ͅr̵y̵͚͚̭̬͍ͅO͟n͇̼̖̝͙̹̹e̖͉̥̯̖ͅ ̹̯ͅG̖͔͉͔̘͕͚oN̵̹̗ͅe̠̫͉̯ ̝ͅt̞̦O̧͍̪̱͇̪?͘

A chilling female's voice rang out in the silent morgue. Movement, not foot steps, maybe hobbling, no, sliding. A body moved from the shadows, a massive collection of body parts as it fell to the ground and pulled itself, the head of the beast covered in long, matted silver hair.

W̮̘̗̼̱̥h͕̠͝e̢̪̬̟͉͎̱̹R̘̣̦̟̝͉e͔̠̦̣̗̳̜͠ ͖̙̪̰̳͇h͇A̡̬̪̙ͅv̢̙̦e͕̥̰͔͚̖̰ ̶̤̪͙T̠̗̜ḩ̭͇̱E̥ý̪̥̱ ̖̥̭̦̰̙͓t҉̖̯̮̬͕͇͚A͇̼̞̮̰͇k̢̤̹͙̞͖̞e͓̺͎̦̺̠n̪͠ ̵͙̰̲̥̱̦hI̛̼͉͕̞̖̣ͅm̧


Lucian opened his eyes wide with horror as the ghastly voice echoed through the room and he slid his vision ever so slowly to the abomination that lay on the ground. "..what... is that..." he whispered, watching it wretch and quiver as it moved in such a way that sent chills down his spine.

w̺̦͉͉͞H̘̮̯̩̰̭̳o̖ ̬͔͍̮͙̳͙́a͇͈̯̹̖͎r̲̭͇͙̝̺ͅE̷̜̝̯̞ ̟͇̮̣̱͟y̞̖͖͚͚̯̤O͖͕̹̖̥̤u̸.͕͜.͙̀.̯̳̣̫̻͙̞́.̙̞̥̰̝.̪̭

The haunting figure rose onto twisted hind legs, towering over both of them as the head lifted carefully, first a grin peeked out, then silver eyes shone through, blood still dripping from the orfices of her sight as she rolled them through her head and focused on the woman, then the man.

He was frozen in horror, he couldn't even say a word as it stood to it's full size. This was the thing of his worst nightmares as the eerie figure looked them over. Should he answer, should he run.

/Look for your arm, I'll.. distract it./

He slowly began to move around it, trying to keep its vision on him, turning the creature away from Moira. "My name is Lucian... What's... uhm... your name...?" his voice was nervous as he tried to stay as calm as possible.

S ͇̩̱̜̭ͅh̬̺̙͝ ̴̳ị̛͕ ̻̥̯O ̝̬̺r ̼͙̞͎I҉͉̫̗

Lucian blinked in confusion and terror. "...what?.." He didn't understand why it said it.. Was it related to... ? What in the world was this beast? Why did it seem to have different meta parts attached to it, and why was even there? Was this... what they had being doing here? Is this what they were trying to do the woman he had just saved. "...oh god.."

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Lucian moved slowly, giving Moira time to look for her missing ring, as he exhaled slowly, his breath visibly dissipating into the air around them. His breath. s**t. It had dawned on him that his quivering body wasn't out of fear, it was because of the temperature of the room, cold enough to surely start draining his energy the longer he stayed there.

The being watched him carefully, tilting its head to the side, swaying side to side as it lowered to a stance that resembled a young girl, folding its masses behind as the flesh pulsated and writhed.

d̪̣O̟̣͈̣̙̭̜n͇̩̠͓̹̣t̙̞̙ ̡̬̖̬̠t̥̳͉̹̥̯H̶͕̘i̦͖n̛͕̺̙̤͓͎K̛̪̟̝ ̼͓̩͔̬i͙̱̥̤̩̞͠ d͈̭̗͍̀Ọ͈̺̝͟n̙͙͈̦̹͝t͕̤͔̘̪̤ ̟̣K̠̩n̸ǫW̼̜̠

/ y͕̕o̺̥̘͎̕ͅÚ̫͕̣͕ͅ ̰͈͡k͍̰N̜͖̠̺̭̩o͖̟̣̠̘͕͜w̞̦̘̲̺̪͠ w̵H̫ͅe̟̥̫͖̼̗r͖̩̼̤͡ͅE̺ ҉͉h̺̤͔̖̩͔È̹͙̰ ͙̭I̵̲͓̹̮̫s͏̤͓̭̻ /

The last sentence rung out in his mind as his eyes widened in horror. A telepath. She knew he was distracting her and she was purposefully following him. He swallowed hard as his breath quicken and he backed up slowly. This wasn't good. It knew. It knew everything, didn't it. Panic was setting in quickly as he stared into the face of true monstrosity.

The creature stared deep into his eyes then pulled back only to rise up, it's eyes intense and focus.

W ̙̭̩̬͉̰́H̯͔ ͏̝̼̪͕͔̹E͈ ̩͔̝͢R̴̘͈̩̪ ̭̝̼̗É̪̟̖̗̮ ̻͉̥͡ ͍̲̝̱̥̫I̖ ͈͓͠Ș̹̺̲̘̩ ̭̼ ̗͖̥̻H̻̺͈̠ ̸̼̙͇̟̱͎ͅE

It reached back a clawed hand and hissed.

T̘̹͙̟̤͓ ̫̤͔̭͓̝E̛̫̘̮̘ ̡̯̞̣̗̲̹L̰̲͈̹̖̯ͅ Ļ͙͕̭̹ ̯͟ ͅM͉̣̻̗͈̤̲ ̥̮͉E̹̙̝͇͞ ̶͈͈̗̮̹̬ͅ ͍̣̬͕W̼̘̜͉ ͕̥̘H̱̠̥̰͙͕̯͝ ͍̻̀E ̧̱͉̠͇͎̖̜R҉͚͙̣̖̹̳͈ ͈̤͖̼E̻̮͜ ̩͟ͅ ̠̳̱S̸̱͇̮̤̲̞̭ ̯̺̞̘͖̦H ͈̀ͅI̫̖͙̭̙̫̻ ͟O̷̖͖͇͇ ͉̰͈̖̲͠Ṛ̮̝̯̩͙̰ ̤͚̥̹̞̪̙I̪͚ ͓͕̲ ̥̹̙̜͠ ̙̬͎̗̰̼I̠ ͎͔̖̝̪S̬͝

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An arm on the creature reached up to catch the detached limb thrown at it, but hadn't anticipated the strength behind the throw as it his the girl and threw her to the ground with a slight yelp.

f̵̞i̙̱G̤̦̪͜h̩̣̩̻̘t̪̱̠ ͔̘͓o͇̠͕̮͡R̵ ̲p̺U̡r̦̮s҉̞̙̯͚̜͚͖u̲̞̥̹͝E̤͚̲͡
̖̭̺
̗̘̞̠h͉͇͈̥̫̟̜Ow̫̻͕̘͖ ͎̟̰̗̻l͈̳̺͍o̧̥͙N͍g̰̭̝̣͖̝̙ ͚͓̖w҉̻̙̠I̲̯̺ĺ͚̙̥͇̤L̢͎̲ ̭͍̥̦͠y̵̻̹̻̦o̴͈͕U҉͉̘͇̭͇̗̤ ͍̮͚̠̺̟f̙̩͈̬̻̼͝ͅI͈̻͚g̶h͏̱̫̳̳T̵̯̺ ̧B̷̪̩̘̻̣e͚̪f̖͓̖̪̝͇̥͘O҉̮̲̞͍r̲͈̩̘͡e͎̜̦̕ ̸t͖̙̲̯H̭̺̰̮e̖̳Y͔̙͇̲ ̖̺̤̣͖c̺̫̞̤o̵̞͈͚M̟̖͎e̪̜͕͙̥̭͞ ̷a͍̮̗̤̤͉̩͞G̝̩̼̫͖̺̼a̻̦̫̹̗̬̦i̹͖̫͓n͙̜̝
̧̱̩̰͚ͅ
͏̭̩͇̰̦n̪̠̱͝O̭̼̘̦̯̤ ͏͖m̙̝͙͇̦̩̜a̝͚T̗͠c̲͔̹̹͕͉̬͟h̩̬
̵
̧̯̼m̘̮̣͖͚̼̣O̝̠͎i̩̫R̙͙a̳̥̯͓̰̠ ̩͓i̦ͅS͖̻̯ ͇͓̭͍̖̻̹t̛̞͚O̦͖̻͚̫o͇̠͕̮͡ s̠̼t̖͎̤̠R̤̺̪̜̗o̦͚͔̻̜̭n̩̲͍̭̱̗͖G̭
̨̻ͅ
̥̳̝w͎̲E ̶a̴̮̦̺̦r͔̳̻E͍͢ ̭̪̘̥s̘͇̜̼̮O̸̜r͎rY̤̯̻̘͇

The being slithered backward towards its hiding place as it wheezed and hissed quietly. Retracting to a corner, it hid its parts save for the girl it displayed earlier, silver hair draping over it's face as it paused, not looking up.

.....we are sorry...

It spoke clearly, like a normal girl as it twisted its neck to the side enough to crack as is attempted to stare at them, closing it's eyes, tears of blood dripped to the floor.

Y̮̗̦̜̖̺͢ͅǫ̭͍U̸̬͓̠̖ ́n̞̠̰̰̬͉ͅE̞̭͟ͅẹd̩ ̗̜t͕͇̝͚O̰̜̞͓̻̭ ͎͔̜̣͎̭L͓̘̮̖̺̙̻e̞͎̪̦̪͔͍a̸̞̣V̮̺͔̦̪̮̖e̸

It hissed again, it's voice back to something more other worldly, then retreated away.

Lucian had watched, immobilized by terror as it almost attacked him, then was hit by.. a detached arm?!... It quickly withdrew, but not before saying a bunch of gibberish. At one point, even sounding like an actual person before it disappeared from sight. Wait.. did she say...? No... He exhaled shakily, his whole body still trembling as he stared at the woman from the back. "...m-moira?.." he whispered, choking out the words as an overwhelming feeling of dread filled him. How could they do this to her?... How could this happen? How did she...? No, there was no time to think on these things, they needed to get out as soon as possible. He shook his head, trying to force himself to focus, "Did you.. find it?" he asked, blinking through his tiredness from being in the cold so long. He needed to move, to get out. "..It's right... we have to go... Now."