Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aryn turned the phone over, eying the stained cover with a hint of suspicion. He probably should have left it where it was, but the wall needed repairing and if this phone would help then why not? He approached the wall again, but just as he was about to seek out a spot to place it, it rang.

What? This thing still works?

Without even thinking, he flipped it open and answered it.

"Hey, I need you to come down to the labs, I've got a bit of mess here." On the other end of the line was a lighthearted and warm voice, though Aryn had no idea who it belonged to. But in spite of this, it sounded familiar. Clearly he didn't waste time, because when he lifted his head, he found himself already walking down the white, pristine halls that stretched out before him. His pace was swift, though slowed to a point where it wouldn't draw the attention of anyone else who happened to be in the same area. Though he wondered, what was down in the labs?

As if to answer his question, entering through the door, he found a blonde woman, kneeling down over the shredded remains of what he assumed was a body.

She looked up, a crooked smile on her face. "He found out. I can make a replacement, but I'll need some time and..." Who found out? Make a replacement for what? He wondered. She gave a wry laugh, disrupting his thoughts. "It really is a mess." Now he could see it. The long gashes across her face and torso. He reached for her, but as he did, he noted how the blood seeped back into the open wounds, which also began to close, until eventually her body was left without so much as a scar. Perfect under her now pristine white coat. "Thank you," She spoke again. Only now, Aryn was surprised to find, not the blonde woman, but the goddess in her place. Smiling at him in a hungry-eyed warmth.

Though his attention wasn't on her smile, but on her neck. There was something grey and twisting, growing along her skin. Consuming it. However he didn't mention a word of it. He didn't dare say anything.

The phone rang again and he answered again.

"Ryan you're supposed to be home right now. What time do you think it is?" Again, it was a new voice, but this one too was familiar. A woman's voice, whose tone was angry, but in that annoying motherly way.

It was night time now and he was outside. But it was quite, with no sign of anyone.

"I'll be home soon." He answered. He had been given a phone, but for emergency use only. Though he wondered sometimes, if it had been an excuse for her to nag him. It wasn't like he strayed too long before coming home either. It was just that, he saw something and one thing led to another and he got lost. He found his way back now, thankfully but... He was late. Very late. "Sorry."

"Sorry is not going to cut it? You shouldn't be out at this time of night. You know there have been reports of animal attacks." There was a pause on the other line. Muffled voices. Was she talking to someone? "Your cousin is coming to get you, where are you right now?"

"I'm just passing the convenience store. I'm fine." He answered, trying to assure her. It wasn't like he had never made the walk before by himself. Their house wasn't even that far outside of town. It was only about fifteen minute walk. He could easily go by himself. But just because there had been reports of wild dogs or something in the area and an attack or two, she had placed a strict curfew on them and as usual, she was having none of it.

"Okay, stay there, he's going to meet you there."

He sighed. Jeez. "Okay, fine." He hung up the phone

The memory faded and he found he was still standing in front of the wall. The Goddess was still here, now gently removing the phone, along with the memory of the call. "You understand don't you? Why it had to be done?" Her expression changed. No longer empty, but filled with terrible power as she gazed at him. "Yes, of course you do." Madness. This world was insanity and fog, but in her, he could only see madness.

He realized now, looking back up. There was no wall. Only the goddess, who stared inward and through him from a thousand eyes and avatars.

It was a strange find - the machine didn't work as well as it should have, and there was a rather large crack up the screen. But, it seemed like an unlikely thing she'd pick, liken to the flower. Walking along the wall, she heard it ring, the action making mis-matched eyes watch the machine for a moment, before tentatively picking it up.




She wished she could say more, her mouth opening to state something further, but at the moment she was going to talk, the phone rang again, making her look down at it, wondering if she should answer it again. It seemed like a silly question, and picking up again, she rested it on her head.

"I was so worried about you!" Chirped up from the phone, and she knew the voice, the statement, the time. It was her sister, the one she had found recently. Closing her eyes, she sunk in to the memory.

She could see her, glasses, a stiff pose, she her eyes shined with a happy hesitation, as if the woman before her was not who she seemed. "I did not think you would be here, I admit - I could not find any of my family after we found out the island fell, and expected the worse. . ."

The hesitation made her wince a little, Lifen had not expected to have been the child who survived the brunt of it also, nor did she expect to find her sisters again. Clearing her throat, she turned mismatched eyes down, looing at the ground. "Forgive me, if I was not what you expected."

"What do you mean? Just having you makes me so happy. Now, tell me everything that happened, I am sure you have some dirt. . ."


It wasn't a long conversation, but the feeling was strong still. She had been cherished, found, loved by someone even when all she could offer was herself, and little else. That love made her feel happy, and as she opened her eyes, she noticed that the wall was gone, and what only stood there was the Goddess.

Even if she lost the memory, she knew what she was supposed to know. The wall would never fully keep her safe.

She knew that, she would always have to depend on herself.

Ah yes, the wall. It was still there, and it still needed to be built. Marati nodded vacantly and turned, as she had twice before, to go and get something to do her part. As she searched she found something, and just before she touched the item it began to ring loudly. It shrieked in her ears, and it startled her awake.

She felt herself get up, look at the figure beside her, and after whispering a goodbye she felt herself leave. There was a test that had to be done, and it was the risky sort that could cost her more than she cared to admit if it failed. Yet there she was, trying it out for the greater good. The test went well, and suddenly she was in another body, looking down on her old self. Whatever possessed her to reach out was the same thing that made her snap her old neck; nothing happened. She didn't die. Her neck was broken and she was alive, in another body, safe and sound.

A risk was taken and overcome.

Victory.

She felt the tears fall down her cheeks, and the alarm rang again; this time it was something closer to home.

Amrita stood on the threshold of the forbidden forest, casting a cautious glance around to make sure she wasn't followed before moving further in. At the edge of a clearing she stopped, taking a moment of silence before shifting, twisting and popping limbs until her patchwork body fell unceremoniously into a heap on the ground. It was nothing more than an empty husk, an elaborate set of meaty clothing, to the figure that remained standing. Her true self. A Vetala, the ghost in the shell, so to speak.

She had never stood for so long in her true form, and she honestly felt a little naked...but she had an idea, a theory, and she had to test it.

Leaving her body behind and hoping for the best, the Vetala stalked out of the woods and onto school ground, looking for the hallway to the Haunted House...

The Memory faded quickly after that, leaving her with a lot of questions that needed many answers. Was it worth it? Will it be worth what you'll face? You've come so far, but...If you rise too high, you 'll be above my protection. The Goddess leaned and fawned over her, but the once gentle touches were becoming painful and intrusive. They pulled the memory from her, the painful feeling fading into a dull, sore throb.

She turned her gaze towards the wall, and came to a shocking revelation:

The Wall keeps all the terrible things at bay, but it also traps you within.

By building the wall, you're risking losing yourself in the name of safety.

Still, the wall needed more. She saw a phone. A cell phone. Rhryse picked it up. It was small, but it could help, even it would have a place on the wall.
She nearly dropped it when it rang, such things could be startling. Before the second ring had passed it was by her ear. Old habits she didn’t even know she had. The voice on the other end was almost happy. The memory she saw was anything but. A hall. Blood. Wounds. Smiles and healing flesh. The sight of gray, something wrong, something very, very wrong. Rhryse stared at the Goddess, unsure as to why this worried her so much.

The ringing of the phone knocked her out of her daze, and by habit she answered it again.

”Sh--ry?” The voice on the other end nearly choked it. The woman sounded far away, in a tunnel. “Honey, I have to tell you. It’s Beth. Beth is….” Another sob. “Beth is dead.” More choking sobs. It must have been difficult for the woman to even spit the words out.

“Dead?” Such a stupid question, but she had to ask it. The sobbing on the other end confirmed it. Pain settled into her heart. She hadn’t spoken to Bethany in over a year, but they had been close once. Once before they grew up and apart and Bethany hated her. They’d been best friends. Her first and only best friend was dead. Bethany’s mother was still sobbing on the other end of the call.

“How?” Another stupid question. She shouldn’t make this woman tell her these things, but she needed to know. For some reason, she needed to know.

“Car …accident. Two other friends… were with her… No one…” She couldn’t finish. She--- was surprised she’d said as much as she had.

“I see.” The tears were falling, and she almost forced a smile in an effort to sound pleasant. That would have been a terrible thing to do to Bethany’s mother though, so she didn’t even try to put on her fake happy. It wasn’t necessary now. “Thank you, for telling me. I’m so sorry, Aunt Martha.”

“Thank you.” The woman broke down crying again. She—y put the phone down, tears falling silently. She’d loved Beth. Her cousin, her best friend. But Beth had hated her. She was still sad, though. Sad and numb. What hurt her most, though, was how upset Beth’s mother was. Something deep down told her that her own mother would not be that sad. And that broke her heart.

The Goddess looked at her, taking the phone. Rhryse shivered. The fog, the madness. It was deep and it was real and it was here. There was no wall. The Goddess and her memories, that’s all it was. There was no wall. Only fear and insanity.

It was terrifying.

The goddess made a request and he had to answer it. He spent time searching for a thing to put on the wall, having done this before.

What he found was at first delightful. A friendship bracelet, surly it would be strong. It would somehow ward off the evil things. He didn’t know why he thought this. He found a place to put it, right on a mannequin’s arm.
Suddenly the hand sagged his own, holding it fast. The world changed, and there was nothing but blazing beautiful sunset. But more startling was the hands they were everywhere. Why? He shrank back from the hands bumping into one. He grabbed onto it and pulled, find that is shattered in his hand. He reached for another and another until finally there were no more hands. Each had shattered to dust… and he was alone in the dark. He reached into the darkness now searching… but nothing reached back.

Alone. He had gone over to a friend’s house, but missed his parents as the day grew later. He had insisted on walking home, lying and saying that they would meet him a little away. He had just gotten into a fight with his friend, (he had kept shoving his boat over the waterfall in the game they were playing), and just wanted to be home.

But it was dark, and despite his tail light… the trip took longer than he thought. A scuffle of feet seemed to follow him and he looked back. In the night he had gotten off track and it was that dog again, scenting at his trail. He ran hearing the hell hound take up the chase behind him. He ran down and alley trying to hide his tail, desperately. His young wings were not yet able to get him off the ground. But the dog followed him and he could do nothing but curl up in the alley.

He woke up, the goddess hovering over him. "You need rest, you give so much and still they would plague you." She caresses your brow and slides her hand over your eyes, closing them. "That's enough for now." .
He woke some time later… only to realize the wall was not enough. It would never be enough.