Welcome to Gaia! ::

When the sun had gone red, Lokiari had remembered the old saying she had heard when she was younger about when the setting sun was red, blood had been spilled. Not quite believing in all the old sayings, she had merely shook her head and continued on her way having gotten it stuck in her head to track Shee down and find out about this mysterious garden Einar had been talking about. Ever since she'd spoken to her fellow Norwegian she had been interested in seeing this secret. There were few things that annoyed her more than a secret, and so she had whiled her time away trying to devise a plan to find the garden - or get Shee to show it to her - and to find out what was going on with Moira and Shane. The two lovebirds that had all but disappeared from LOTUS as far as she could tell.

So caught up in her own imaginings and plottings, Lokiari had completely missed hearing the shattering scream or the cries for help. In fact, she was so wrapped up in what was going on in her own head that she didn't even really see the growing crowd until she nearly bumped into someone. Giving a small shake of her head as if to get rid of the jumbled up thoughts, she peered around her to find many of her fellow LOTUSians had already arrived and that someone was laying on the floor in a large pile of blood.

At first, her brain didn't register that it was Einar, but once it had she quickly stepped forward almost completely ignoring everyone around her before glancing around at everyone else, "Does anyone have any bandages?" The norwegian woman doubted anyone did, and so she added a second question quickly after the first, "Where is the wound at? We need to get it bandaged, even if to only slow the flow of the blood..." She did have the light blue bit of cloth on the front of her shirt, but she didn't think that would be enough - and she certainly didn't have the material to pull off her skirt without flashing everyone around her...where did they keep the first aid kit? And would that have enough bandages anyway?

"Does anyone have a lot of cloth they wouldn't mind me ripping up to make a makeshift bandage?"

There was always that, after all. Quick and easy so long as you didn't mind losing some clothing.

Archer turned beet red but soundlessly removed his long black jacket. Then he turned away his face so he would not have to see anybody else rip off articles of clothing. This was all highly improper, but needs must, he supposed. Face getting more flushed by the minute, he held the jacket out. "Ah... I have this... One co-could use..." he muttered. He refused to look at the other members around him as he said it. This was turning out to be a bad, bad occassion indeed.

Aletta, rubbing the sleep from her eyes, strolled through the building out of sheer boredom. Dancing was all and well but it was lonely to dance and the music would've most likely annoyed whoever was around. Thus, the tanned skinned girl skipped merrily throughout the corridors before hearing a voice. She couldn't put her finger on the emotion that was expressed, but it didn't sound anything like an eccentric one. Curious as she was, she made her way down to where the commotion had come from. There was a crowd by now at the scene of the crime, for the lack of a better word.

"is something the..." She whispered trying to figure out why there was a man on the floor. She saw what the others had and were helping with. A pool of crimson red. She didn't know the details but with what she saw, she could guess it wasn't a pretty sight. The man was one that she had known but hadn't spoken with in quite a long time. She swallowed hard and listened in on the conversation, trying not to cause any more trouble than what was going on.

A lady had spoken a bit before, asking for cloth. She knew it was needed for the wounds that the man had. She took off the cloth that wrapped around was wrapped around her head. She held it and stuck it out far enough to be accepted, if it even was and then stood by silently to see what was going to happen.

Okay, well, enough was enough. The people around him all needed to back up and seriously give him some space, at least enough to where he didn't feel like he was going to bite someone's toes to get them to shut up and stop squawking like hens.

His mood had gone from fairly calm to panicky the moment Lai had made his Russian way over to his side and started to lament, then he got upset when Hyo touched Lai (hey, the man was still possessive even on his deathbed - er, deathfloor), and when the harpies came bustling in he was all but ready to end his pain ahead of time by smashing his head against the hard ground.

To make it worse, more and more people were coming. And milling over him.

What the hell? Has all of LOTUS come out just to see me lying in my own blood? Don't they have anything better to do?

Apparently not, as a final man came up and offered advice about moving Einar from where he lay. That was probably the last straw for him, having to lay there and just listen to it all, and he winced heavily as he shrugged himself up to where he was now at least off the ground and supported by his hands.

"Okay, first off, everyone back the hell up and shut up too. I can't straight with you guys going on and on, and I swear if someone touches me I'll break their fingers off."

His words were strong, though clearly pained, and he took a deep breath before he hoisted himself up to his knees before he shakily made his way to his feet. The front of his uniform was soaked red, probably from the blood he'd been laying in, and the color of his skin had paled enough to make him look ashen. Despite all that it was clear he was not pleased with the people gathering around him, and when he moved his hand over his left side to cover the original wound he glared around.

"Listen up, I'm fine and dandy and you all need to just go about your daily routine okay? I just messed up and got shot, that's all, so save your concern and medical advices for someone who really needs it. It'll all be over in about a day or so anyway and you'll all feel really...kinda..."

Einar swayed a bit on his feet as he felt another 'cough' come over him, and he turned his gaze to look at a certain Russian before he quickly moved and showed his back to everyone. Loud coughing sounds filled the air, followed by the clear sound of liquid hitting the ground.

From what they could see, standing behind him, it only appeared that a fountain of something wet and red splashed down in front of him and on to the floor. It smelt of metal and something else, something more machine grade, and as Einar continued to cough heavily. His whole body shook, and glad that the others couldn't see him unless they had moved - he felt tears run from his eye.

When the fit finally stopped he wiped his mouth and his face with an already overly bloodied sleeve, merely smearing it and giving him the appearance of a monster, and he turned back to face the group with a sheepish grin on his lips.

"Okay, so...maybe...I'm not so much. But it will still be over in just a day. The only difference is, I'll be dead by then, and there probably isn't anything any of you all can do about it."

Just as Einar spoke the little radio ( a scanner, it turned out to be ) that Archer had brought to him on request whined loudly as the frequency he had left it set to kicked on, the sounds of static replacing the whine before a little chuckle could be heard coming from the speaker attached to it. The sound was soft at first, almost like whoever was using the other end was far away, but soon it grew louder until all eyes were forced to look at it and wonder what could have been so funny.

"Oiyo~ Einar~ Did you make it home yet ~?"

The voice was clearly male and clearly teasing, their words hard to understand underneath the thick accent that plagued their words. It was a voice Einar knew too well, and he could only smirk as the radio whined on while the person continued to talk and taunt.

"Did you tell them yet ~ ? That you're slowly bleeding to death from the inside out ~ ? And there's no cure but the one you can't get because you wouldn't beg ~ ?"

This was what he'd had planned, after all, when he'd asked for the radio to come to him. He wanted this person to talk, to tell so he wouldn't have to.

"You know, I'm not entirely the bad guy here. I mean, I may have shot you and all, but you had it coming. You and your little League of Super People or whatever the hell you are pissed me off, what with you running away to join them and abandoning me and your country. But...I digress. I'm willing to make a deal with you Einar, and the rest of you people there."

The radio whined loudly, enough to cause everyone in the room to wince, and it finally settled down to where only the static played again.

"Either you people at LOTUS give Einar back to me and never bother us again, or you kill the person he's the closest to and bring him and the body to where I am. It's the only deal I'm offering, so keep that in mind. You've got time, I'm sure of it."

And with that, the radio whined one last time and shut off, the frequency now silent and unused.

"Well, there you have it. Sort of. Any further questions, or can I go back to accepting my fate?"

After the transmission from the radio was over, it took Del a while to comprehend he was the bad guy. And bad guys were bad, so she had to be upset and angry. "Meanie!" was the first thing for Del to spout under her breathe. Del turned her head to Archer, who spoke such a plethora of big words, it made her brain frizzle and sputter as if it was a malfunctioning telebox. But he apparently said and questioned the things Del would have asked, except it a much more intelligent way. "What he said." was the only thing Del had to say as she nudged her chin in the direction of Archer.

As soon as the man expressed his disapprovement, Hyo quickly moved back a bit. He didn't understand much of what he said, but he clearly didn't want them so close. They bothered him.
And a dying wish is something that has to be agreed to.

So now Hyo was standing in a bit bigger distance from him, But he definitely didn't want to go. The blood...the blood was making him feel a bit weird, a bit confused...a bit scared... But this man was a part of his family now, no matter what each of them wanted. They are all living under one roof, and he's not going to go away when he's dying.
If only there was away to make him not suffer this much...

And a moment later Hyo almost had a heart attack when the weird, metal box, known as the 'raajio', suddenly started speaking.
Demons! Demons everywhere!
His fists clench as he tried hard not to faint, for long enough to notice that most people didn't think much about the box speaking.
They were concentrating more on WHAT it was speaking.
But it was too late for Hyo already. He missed too much of the monologue, and the rest...he simply didn't understand most of the words.

But judging from the reactions...this wasn't anything good.

Even dying, Einar was annoying. Shee wondered how he had enough energy to snap at people while losing such large quantities of blood. But people had come, and for that she was thankful, even if Einar was not. That would give her time to gather supplies.

She was about to begin barking orders when Einar turned away and emptied another litre or so of blood onto the floor. And then the radio began to emit a sound. Standing, horrified at what she was hearing, she realized that what had happened to Einar was beyond her understanding, beyond her time. There was something different and eerily sinister about the infliction, and the voice's talk of a cure confirmed it.

Looking around at all the recruits that were there now, her head snapped back to Einar. "You," she said firmly, "shut up."

Lokiari was here; that was good. She had some experience and could look after Einar. She turned to the Norwegian woman and shook her head. "No bandages. We can't seal up a dirty wound." She motioned to the cloth that everyone had produced. "But keep that handy. To staunch the blood. Lokiari, you're in charge while I'm gone. Keep everyone calm and watch over Einar. Make sure he doesn't do anything else stupid." She was sure to punctuate this with a withering look in his direction. "Elevate the wound and apply very minor pressure if blood flow becomes uncontrollable. Use the cloth to staunch the flow."

Lai was not taking it well. They would have to do something about that. Revenge, in her experience, never worked out the way you wanted it to. "And someone make sure Lai is alright. Move him somewhere else if need be. But don't move Einar." Hopefully Einar would answer in a manner that would calm Lai down, instead of incensing him further. And not make any more stupid jokes. Shee tucked the loose fabric that was dangling behind her into that gathered at her waist, and looped up the trailing end to fix it as well. "I'll be right back." And she took off at a run.

She would need needles. Antiseptics, gauze... they could not afford to waste time. She searched in her mind for the locations of everything as she made her way to their makeshift infirmary. Maybe...

Wraith would have to informed, eventually. The voice couldn't be forgotten. But that would have to wait until the more pressing matter of Einar was dealt with.

God flippin da- Couldn't I even be allowed to die in peace?!

Einar oughed a little into his hand and looked out at the people who now just peppered him with questions instead of their previous concern, and while that irritated him he was pleased to see that Shee had finally gotten off her a** (after snapping at him as per her usual) and gone to get something. Hopefully she was bringing back the salt water like he asked. And blood.

Lord knows, he would need blood.

And now he needed to answer questions, so he went in order of the people speaking.

"Okay first off - Brit boy, I have no idea what the hell you're saying. Secondly? Harpy chicks? He says he wants me back, which means we were together before and I left him behind to fight the war. To answer you, Lai, that was Audun. All I have to say on that matter, and you'll be wise to stay the hell away from him."

Talking too much made his stomach hurt (or whatever was probably left of his stomach anyway), and winced as the bullet wound in his side ached too.

"Who's next? Oh yeah, the kiddo, well it's more or less I have to accept my fate. you see, I got shot with a bullet designed by my military to kill anyone and anything within thirty-six hours. I was shot fifteen hours ago, you do the math on how long I have left to live and you'll find how strong my will is."

Einar swayed a little on his feet before he slowly felt himself lower to the ground, his knees unable to really support him anymore. It didn't matter where he sat, the whole around was bloody and he was messy enough as it was, so he dropped himself down and merely stared forward for a moment.

"Anyone else feel like asking clearly open-ended questions of me?"