Welcome to Gaia! ::

Autumn had been quiet immediately following their teleportation to Heliodora, knowing Chris needed to talk to his former student. And it seemed some of the older folks in the crowd had questions- a lot of them seemed to recognize the new girl, and everything else that was going on here. When Heliodora offered to send them home, finally Autumn spoke up.

"I'm glad you're okay. Or. Okay as can be," she offered a weak smile and a shrug.

"Don't know how much comfort it is, but. I'm glad we found you. And you have a really nice..." She gestured to Pax and Smol(smol? That was a name, she supposed.)

"I uh. I guess I just wanted to say, now that we've met, I won't be forgetting you. And I hope you're safe and happy here."

Olivia watched the news. His sister would have known who Heliodora was right away, but Rabbit most certainly did not. All he saw when he opened his eyes were a pair of maybe-teenagers, Pax, and a talking dogbird, and his discomfort increased with every shift of his focus. Enough of the people around him and these newcomers shared nasty glares and spoke to each other as if they were already acquainted that he felt as though he had just strolled naked into a stranger's wedding.

As one of the girls rose to her... foot, Rabbit's mouth puckered in a small, silent 'o' of recognition. That one. Yup. There she was. Which made the other girl Sunny. Good to know.

He had so many questions, but when Heliodora mentioned home, it was all he could care about. Rabbit hoped she meant all of them, not just the guy who'd called himself Chris. He needed to find Liv, to make sure that she was all right, and this seemed his best chance.

When the bird confirmed that, yes, it wanted them all gone, Rabbit nodded shallowly, standing a little taller. Excellent.

Through all the strange and miraculous things that had happened and were still taking place, Leila was gaping (quite rudely, to be honest) at the non-bloodied and healed over stump of Heliodora's leg.

Wrenching her eyes up in an attempt to make some eye contact, she offered, "I'm guessing you don't want your foot back, then."

The thing was that Jeremiah still planned on it. Planned on bringing them home even if he thought back to what he had read, the conversation Algie had shared, that they were more like Sunny now than them.

His lips were pressed to a thin line, especially when he saw the place where her foot had been. It was too healed. Not red and fresh, but old. This place was not theirs and all he could think was ...

A cage. This place is a cage.

Had Heliodora found herself a gilded cage? Now stuck with whatever it was? His gaze shifted from Heliodora to Sunny and back again when she spoke.

"Sunny is right. My deal was easily made because I planned on it anyway." He glanced to Zac briefly, then Leila at the mention of the foot. The woman had caught the same thing he had - that that injury was healed, not fresh. It was out of place. Everyone else, those that thought this was a dream, seemed so ... accepting.

Jeremiah not so much.

"This wasn't Heliodora's place." He looked to the changed young woman then. She did, in fact, seem more woman now than the teen she had been. The detective remembered the pictures well. "Not originally, nor her home." Blue-green eyes glanced to Smol and then back to Heliodora. This was more than his promise to Sunny. This was about the fact he did not think this was at all good. This was someone playing in the playground of whatever the it was.

They weren't supposed to be caged too.

"This place," he spoke evenly, "is a pretty cage." A breath. "One I think you need to get out of."

Page dropped what was left of their coffee drink and embraced their friend with their free arm, squishing poor Quixote between them. They were incredibly relieved to see a familiar face, and especially a friendly one, even if she nearly tripped on her way over. "Kalisha! I'm glad to see you, honestly," they said with a sigh, and pulled back slightly, leaving just enough space between them to free the cat.

"I have no idea why we're here, and especially why Quixote is here too. Maybe cats are just able to cross over to this place too?" They could see Zac's cat, but they hadn't really seen any other animals. Well, besides um. Whatever was going on here, with the big black deer and the small bird thing.

"Are you okay though?" they asked. They seemed to have missed a lot, but Kalisha could fill them in once they made sure she wasn't hurt in this weird place.

Zero Dream

Brie was pretty sure she was starting to lose it mentally. Like 100000000000% sure she was in some like...really ******** up dreamworld and she couldn't escape because here she was, stuck with a bunch of other people and rain was still hitting her umbrella and Tory's hug had been real and she made a face at Rabbit who gave them a back glance because well...the man had been downright quiet about the whole thing besides a few outburst.

Tory seemed friendly enough and perhaps thats why she was still just...here.

But the creature teleported them, and they were looking at the one they cared for and Brie just lowered her umbrella to keep the eye contact to minimal.

"Are we in a dream?" She looked over at Tory, "Is that why I can't just...leave?"

Of the people assembled, Autumn was probably the most content with Heliodora's choices. She'd left home, found a new one. Maybe it wasn't the healthiest home, but considering she wasn't cracked out in a hovel somewhere, Autumn wasn't going to question it. Instead, she quietly offered,

"I've been forgotten, too. You gotta make your own home somet--" But whatever she was going to add died in her throat. Pax, sweet Pax, had been set off by the chief. And he'd emptied his gun in the last clearing they'd been in.

"N-no, stop it! Don't hurt him!" She shrieked, scrambling over to the deer monster. Even in this ******** up dream, she didn't want to see the dude- Jeremiah?- die. He seemed pretty okay for someone on the law's side. So, with the sense of bravery tied to being in a fantasy land, Autumn threw herself at Pax in an attempt to hug and pacify the monster.

"Think about your name, Pax! You're the peaceful one! He's just worried about Heliodora, that's all!"