Welcome to Gaia! ::

There were a lot of things to consider when inviting Chaos in to one's home. Of course, Hawara had carefully assessed and weighed the risks. In the end he had to trust that the protection afforded to him and his wonder by his transcendence would be enough if things went sideways. Neither side was immune from traps. Just as he had considered something going wrong on his wonder, Versailles no doubt had just as much a reason to worry, and behave. Hawara's wonder was nice and all, but he doubted the Senshi would like being stranded there, or worse. So, figuring that this was pretty much check, he wasn't all that worried about taking Versailles there.

And if Versailles was fed up with the wind here, well, clearly this would be his first trip to Uranus - planet of wind and freedom. Hawara hoped others could find the keys to their freedom from the chains that bound them to chaos there, at his wonder.

"Yeah, it always did seem like a poor cosmic style choice. That and the gaping holes. But it's not like we get much of a choice. The Cosmic Tailor has a vision I guess."

Was there a Cosmic Tailor? Hell if he knew. Wouldn't doubt it though. Something had to come up with these designs, and honestly with all this magic, and ancient beings, deep space and aliens...

"Still, one reason is always a good start."

But making sure it was what one really wanted was better. He would begrudge no one if they found themselves better suited to the leash and chains of Chaos, or Control, as he preferred.

Order and Chaos were misnomers, in his mind. Freedom and Control were more apt. For some, freedom could be overwhelming, with no direction to tell them which way to go, and to be Controlled, told what to do and what to fight for was comforting. All Hawara wanted was for people to be able to make an informed decision on which they pursued. If it was Control they chose, then so be it. He could dispatch them of this life with a little less guilt - send their starseed back to the cauldron, so they could try again in another life.

"If you're ready, then let's go."

While Hawara himself couldn't purify Versailles if that was their final decision he had made assurances that he could point him to those who could. He may not have had a lot of connections himself, but he at least could offer a couple options.

Hawara nodded and with a thought, they were gone, far far away from earth, and reappearing again on Uranus, in the entry hall to Hawara's wonder.



The breeze wafted through the tall, numerous, windows of the structure, ruffling sheer curtains and strings of beads. It picked up the cool surface of the oasis pool that sat before them in the center courtyard, and through the building, like some sort of natural air conditioner. In a warm desert world like Uranus, it was really pretty novel. The surface of the pool seemed to shimmer with the colors of an oil-slick rainbow - Hawara would have to skim the little bugs that were the source of that shimmer while Versailles was busy. Against one wall was already a couple 5-gallon buckets full of a shimmery powder - all that was left of the little mites after they met their watery death.

To their left would have been a hallway with various rooms, comfortable enough to be called bedroom size, and a bathing area. To their right, a room with a large table, and beyond that a kitchen area. Across from the courtyard was the entry point to the labyrinth. But first....

"It's sure something, isn't it?" Hawara looked around proudly at the pale structure, with its sheer blue curtains and their beads and macrame adornments. "It wasn't much when I first came here, but with time and hard work, it has become this~"

Hawara took a step towards a set of stairs, "This way, we need to hit the library first. Well, I call it a library. There aren't really any books, and I don't know what it used to be called, but it's the best I've got for the time being," he said with a bit of an amused grin on his face, gesturing for Versailles to follow him.

"It's a sad thought that those worlds and wonders are lost.. But I have to believe that in the end it will be for the better. Sometimes you have to lose something to gain even more - like the memories you'd be losing when you purify, should that be the path you choose."

Things had a way of working out, and as much of a control freak as he could be - thank you anxiety - sometimes just taking a breath and reminding himself that there were mysterious and magical powers out there beyond his knowledge was a comfort. Sometimes a dark comfort - they could all just be living some weird omnipotent being's dreamed up world, or maybe they were all just playing out a part in some predetermined game. In the end he as doing what he could with what he was given.

The stairs lead up to a large open floor of pillars and waist-high walls, allowing the wind to flow through the structure. to their benefit though, the wind seemed to pick up temperatures the super-cooled pool below and distribute it, like some sort of air conditioner, making it pleasant throughout.

Oh! Well, maybe to say it was only walls and pillars was wrong - there were succulents. Lots and lots of them in various containers on seemingly randomly placed tables. Hawara only had so much room for his plant children at home, and now they were slowly taking over his wonder.

But that wasn't really significant here. Soon they were at the doorway to the only closed off part of this floor.

"I call it the library. Not that you'll find any books. I don't know what it was really called - that part hasn't come back to me yet."

Hawara had explained previously about fragments of past memories that some knights could get, if they weren't so 'lucky' as to have been descended, and have the ghost of their ancestor there to guide them. Though he'd heard not all ancestors were so kind and helpful.

He pushed open the door and the room beyond was revealed. I very much looked like a library, with rows and rows of shelves, but on them were not books, but oddly shaped lockboxes. A real feature point in the room was the large glass window on the far wall, dead center, casting it's light into the room, and projecting the symbol of Uranus on the floor - right side up, as opposed to Hawara's upside-down symbols, which marked him as having started off on the opposing side.

"Okay, so I'm not quite sure how it's decided which one of these boxes is gonna light up, but I think, you need to stand here-" Hawara lead Versailles to the symbol projected on the floor, "-and look into yourself, thinking about what you want, any questions, doubts, of fears that are troubling you about the decision you've got to make. At least...that sounds right.."

It's how it worked for him. At least, when the library wasn't practically throwing the boxes at him. It had kinda stopped doing that after he had transcended.

Hawara gave a half-huff of a laugh in amusement, "Well, I've certainly tested it on myself enough times. But you get to have the honors of being the first person other than me to do this. I mean, I offered to let my partner have a go, but for whatever reason-" oh he absolutely knew why, "-he declined." the knight replied with amusement in his voice.

Of course before-hand Hawara had explained what the 'trials' were like - a virtual reality of all your psychological problems brought to life in a dreamy, or rather nightmarish, hellscape of your own making. It always started out deceptively normal enough, but when things took a hard left turn, boy did they turn.

Honestly it probably wasn't the best endorsement for getting people here, but he wasn't going to trick people either. That wasn't conducive to getting them to join Order, if that was their final decision.

It took a moment, as Versailles meditated on things, but eventually a glow came from one of the aisles of shelves. Hawara went to assess the glow, returning with the pentagonal lockbox.

"Alright, it looks like we're ready to go back down stairs. This can take a lot out of you, so while you're in there I'll get a room ready so you have somewhere to sit and recover afterwards."

"The war of the heart and mind are some of the hardest to face, but the reward - win or lose - is revelation. Resolution."

Hawara believed whole-heartedly in what his wonder had to offer. It wasn't always kind, sometimes it was raw and traumatic, but in the end he always found an answer.

They were soon down stairs and in the entry chamber for the Trials that would await the senshi. Before Hawara placed the lockbox on the altar he again explained the basics to Versailles;

"Once you begin, and I leave, this room will turn in to a safe room, and a door will appear on that far wall," he made a gesture, "you'll end up back here once you have completed a step in the trial. Place the key, rinse and repeat. It gets harder with each one. As far as I know there is no time limit on how long you can spend in the safe room between trials. I'll be out there doing my usual knight wonder-upkeep s**t, so don't worry about how long it takes. You won't notice the time anyway. It kinda gets... timey-wimey wierd anyway."

With that, he placed the lockbox on the altar - geometric lines of energy went from the box, down the altar, and all about th room before coalescing in a large glowing door on the wall he had gestured to earlier.

"Good luck."

ANd with that, Hawara exited, leaving Versailles to their demons.