Welcome to Gaia! ::

For as unwelcoming as the Hall of the Ancients was inside, outside was worse. Made of sleek black stones, the fortress was an ominous figure. It was tall and imposing, and each spire and sharp curve looked like it was ready to slice through the sky. It could have been considered beautiful, once you got past how intimidating it was. From the outside, it was difficult to make out the stained glass. Once, gold and gemstones decorated it. Now, what the lightning hadn’t charred, the storm had battered and chipped away.

The clouds were knit tightly across the sky, and while the lightning occasionally flashed in the distance, the thunder was only a quiet mumble. When it echoed, it sounded like whispers. Scheming. Preparing.

The ground was saturated with water and every step felt like standing on a sponge. The grass was brittle, but it wasn’t slippery. A great stone wall encircled the Hall, with plenty of room to spare. Watchtowers lined the wall at regular intervals, and though they didn’t offer much defense, their primary purpose was to protect the lights he’d installed. Fire burned brightly behind thick glass to protect against wind and rain and shadow, but spotlights had been installed. They looked out of place, but they were practical.

Outside, the clouds hung low; they were dark and it was difficult to make out what time of day it was on Alastor.

Within the walls, towards the North, was a grassy field. In the center of it, a massive oak tree with black bark, and specks of gold inlaid. It had no leaves, but that wasn’t surprising given the weather. To the East, a waterlogged, withered garden, and a wall that looked like it had been recently damaged. The sound of the rushing river was loudest there. To the South, an underground storage chamber. To the West, the front of the Hall, and the path to the gates that led outside. The forest, distant and dark and the greatest source of Chaos, was just past here.

But, there were other locations, radiating chaotic waves.

A grove of trees to the southwest seemed to be a stronghold for it, something underground near the southern storage chamber in the Hall, to the East, directly across the river, and another to the SouthEast, where there seemed to be some obstruction to the flowing river. Further up the river, lurking in some ruins, another one.

Eternal Sailor Maia, Transcended Senshi of Song, Shangri-La, Knight of Pluto, Chibi Sailor Shedir, Senshi of Mummies, Sailor Meissa, Senshi of Bobcats have been tasked with guarding the Garden. From here they can see The East Wall and can hear the rushing of the river from a bit beyond it. The garden consists of two large plots where plants used to grow, but now there is only oily, slippery mud. There are plants, withered and dead, with a strange black rot to them. The ground here seems to sink into the ground a bit, and there was a weird Chaos reading in the area.

Vines plants like pumpkins are shriveled and rock-like, but sometimes something seems to move under the mud. A reading here indicated that something might be lurking here and, judging by the large crack in the East Wall, something might have gotten in.

Something in the Hall could be catastrophic; the group has been given floodlights to deter any potential Chaos, but they need to find out what exactly is going on here–if they can.

The clouds swirled around them and the storm seemed like it might break again soon. They’d been sent with packs of waterproof lights, but the sky is darkening–quickly.

They didn’t have much time to prepare.

Chibi Shedir, Senshi of Mummies

This crazy walk from the hall of ancients to the next location of the adventure. Was something her little feet had never encountered before. These sandals she wore were definitely built for different terrain as they sunk into the ground with each step, but no matter what she refused to stop her trek.

As she observed her path she realized the clouds were tightly knit like a blanket across this world sky. The lightning that flashed around her actually brought her comfort, since she would breathe calmly with every strike she saw. Then she heard the whispers, she wasn't sure where it was coming from, but they were preparing. She knew with each whisper as soon as they reached their location they needed to prepare and quickly. Otherwise, they might not be ready for what came next.

She had no idea even what time it was here, and that made it really difficult to realize even how long they had walked to this new location.

That was when she finally saw their location, The East Wall, it looked waterlogged. Like a garden someone had forgotten about over time, but yet it was determined to survive even with the recent damage she noticed on it.

Shedir listened as one of her team members spoke, "I think you're right, but honestly I don't think we were ever alone here." As she said that she listened to the sky and even with the loud sound of water she swore she could still hear voices preparing for something. regardless, she knew they could do this. After all, they had a team and weren't alone in numbers.

With a smile, she said aloud positioning her feet on the wet ground, "Well, I'm ready for whatever comes our way!"

Lightning struck nearby, in a flash of blinding light. It might have sent the shadows scattering, but instead it seemed to draw something dark closer to them. The thunder was loud and sudden, and there was a strange pressure in the atmosphere. It pressed down on them, down on the ground.

Something squirmed again under the mud. Only, this time, it was visible–strange, wiggling black worms slowly began to emerge. There was no telling how long they were, but there was something distinctively shadowy about them, and though they were scattered throughout the garden, they seemed to be squirming–towards the new arrivals.

They avoided the lights as best they could, and a direct beam sent them wiggling back into the mud. They could still see them moving, though. Closer. With more force.

Chaos was unpredictable, and this world was saturated with it.

The clouds churned above them and the wind picked up; a few drops of rain fell, but the clouds were holding out for a moment longer.

Something pulsed from the center of the garden–a clear, chaotic signature. But, the only visible things were the petrified, half-rotted pumpkins.

And, in all of this movement, something started to stink. Sulfurous, invisible, it was a pungent aroma.

Maybe the rain could wash it away, but then–maybe it would just uncover whatever was lurking beneath the garden.

Meissa, Senshi of Bobcats

The sudden flash of lightning had caught Meissa unaware. But even with the closeness of the strike the instantaneous crack of thunder that accompanied the brilliant flash did she feel herself flinch. That motion in itself spoke of how nervous she felt. The sense of immense pressure in the atmosphere caused the teen to back away from the petrified pumpkins to stand nearer to the younger senshi that was in the group (Shedir). With a reassuring gesture the bobcat senshi stared at the ground as it seemingly roiled and shifted to reveal: worms?

But if worms were present how did this garden get to looking like this? It made no sense at all. Although she had to admit these didn't look like your typical style earthworms that one found on Earth.

"It's okay. Worms shouldn't be something to worry about. They help with creating good soil to grow things in," but Meissa had to wonder then who she was trying to reassure more: herself or Shedir. The worms shied away as she panned her floodlight around the garden as she kept her stance behind the younger senshi. Even as Shedir protested that problems were cropping up did the teen have to admit that there was truth in the chibi's words. Trouble was starting to surround them all.

The stench that began to fill the air around them had Meissa gagging at first before she opened her mouth in an attempt to at least limit what it was that she was breathing in. It was a method of limiting exposure to strong scents and she followed Shedir's movements with her eyes before exhaling deeply. Worms that didn't act like worms and a stench of rotting eggs. Something clearly was affecting the area. "Shedir, I don't think it's wise to move around so much."

Turning to face the other pair in their group, Maia and Shangri-La, Meissa nodded at both, "I like to think myself an expert at gardening but even I'm at a loss to explain what could be going on here. Even if these pumpkins could smell as they decomposed they wouldn't give off a rotten egg smell. I'm frankly at a loss. But I feel as if Shedir has a point: we seem to have issues cropping up faster than we know what to do about them."

Fat, cold drops of water started falling from the sky, and thunder rumbled again, echoing within the walls of the Hall. The storm clouds moved like a river in the sky, in a strange, circling pattern. It almost looked as though it might have been the beginning of a tornado, but there was too much stability. It was difficult to look at the sky when the water started coming down–and their attention was better spent elsewhere.

The more the rain fell, the more the mud was washed from the wriggling worms. Where there was once solid ground, now most of it was moving. The ground was covered in the little black creatures, and then–

They melted. One into another. The spread across the entire area in one giant, black puddle, and then–

It swallowed them up.

There was a sudden, strange sensation of falling. It felt like they were caught in black waves, carried off in a current that stretched beyond what any of them could see. They had their floodlights, but the shadows that swallowed them up seemed unaffected. Each of them was surrounded by darkness–alone, chest deep in what felt like sticky mud.

It was cold. It was horrifying. It was isolating.

Below the surface, it wriggled.

Shedir must have hit her head; as she tumbled backwards, the vision of Alastor disappeared entirely. When she hit the ground, she landed back in Destiny City–or, so it seemed. It felt like she had walked from one dream to another but it felt so real.

Sirens blared in the distance–far away, not quite there yet.

She sat on the asphalt just in front of her family’s hotel. Large cracks drifted up the side of the building, and fire lit up the windows. A plume of smoke drifted to the sky–maybe that was why everything in the distance looked so foggy. An explosion blew out the glass window–someone screamed.

Metal crunched. Her mother screamed again. Her father’s voice, but she couldn’t make out what he said. She couldn’t see them.

Someone called help--and, could she even? She was here, on Alastor. Was this happening in Destiny City? Maybe she’d made it back? –Was that Bellalunae in the window? –Could she save them? The ceiling made a brittle, crinkling sound; the left half of it came down.

Meissa had been close to the Chibi, but the shadows gave them no chance to stay together; she was washed away. If she looked up, she could make out the skies of Alastor, darkening still.

Someone was calling her name. The chaos was so smothering, it was impossible to feel any energy signatures. Itsuki appeared above her, reaching out his tiny little paw as if he was going to try and pull her up. “Meissa!” he called. The rotten vines from the pumpkin uncoiled, like something was puppetting it; he bit into it and tried to feed it down to her so she could pull herself up.

“You have to get up here, quickly! It’s–help!” he cried; another vine coiled behind him. The smell of sulfur was still thick in the air, and a strange, black liquid oozed down the–down the wall?

She’d just fallen down. She could see the sides of the hole she’d fallen through. She was just stuck in this mud pit. She could get out! She just needed to pull herself up, and–

Save Itsuki. Something wrapped around his leg, around his torso–squeezing. Twisting. He batted at it, but it was obvious that he was quickly being overcome.

Maia and Shangri-La had been separated, trapped in a dark bubble. Voices from the outside were muffled, and it was like the Earth had swallowed them up and was holding tight.

They might not have been together–but they weren’t alone.

Shedir had felt the rain fall onto her face it felt like the water droplets were trying to blind her. She continued to try and keep her ground, that was until the ground was not wanting her there anymore. It felt like seconds as more rain came and the wriggly worms were everywhere.

She tried not to scream, but before she even could the ground started to move with all those disgusting creatures. She tried to move her feet and kick them away from her. They were not getting to her if she could help it. "Take that," she yelled as she kicked.

Suddenly it seemed to work, or so she thought as she watched them disappear into the ground. or as she looked closer the ground actually seemed to turn into one giant black puddle.

She leaned down to touch the puddle when all of the sudden she felt the ground before her give way. She began to fall and fall into the darkness that had swallowed her.

As she finally landed, she felt the sticky mud up to her chest, and it was so cold. She tried her best to wriggle out of the mud, but the second she did she fell backward and felt her head hit something. "oww," she said as she rubbed her head in pain.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw... destiny city..? When did she get home? and how? This can't be real she thought to herself, but before she could question it more she heard sirens in the distance.

Quickly she chased the sirens, after all a Senshi was supposed to protect. Somehow before she knew it she was sitting in front of her family's hotel.
She watched as her home began to crumble and crunch, she could her mother and father's voices but she couldn't see them. She stood up and tried to fight her way into the building.

"MOM DAD WHERE ARE YOU?" she screamed with tears exploding from her eyes. She didn't know how this all was happening, but real or not she had to save them. Her family was important after all, it was all she had. That was when she saw Bellalunae in a third-story window.

"Bellalunae jump it's not safe!" she yelled hoping she could get her kitty to safety. Then she watched as more of the building crumbled. Why ... why couldn't she do anything... what was this nightmare she was living...

Kyuseisha no Hikari

Someone screamed again from inside. It was haunting, agonizing. It might have been her mother or her father or both of them; their screams blended into one single, horrifying cacophony. The back of the hotel must have collapsed; a pile of smoke and rubble tumbled from the sides.

The fire trucks weren’t there yet–why weren’t they there yet?–but there was Bellalunae!

She was pacing the window frantically.

“I can’t!” she called, but smoke filled her lungs and she choked. The building grumbled, and one floor slammed into the next. It was caving in on itself.

“Shedir! Help! I can’t!”

The shadows scattered as she eviscerated them, and the haze around her swirled quickly, desperately. Itsuki backed away from it warily. His ears folded back and his tail was upright and tense as the Chaos seemed to close in on them.

“Why do you say that? Just because you’re not ready for a promotion? You rescued me. I think that’s strong. You’ve fought so hard. It’s my job to see all the good in you, isn’t it? So you can’t argue with me.”

But something in her expression seemed to resonate with him, and a frown settled on his face.

“...But then, I guess if you were strong, you would be ready for an upgrade. Instead, after all this time, you’re still just a basic Senshi. What’s wrong with you?”