Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was one thing to meet new people that were not zombies, but he felt cheated in that there were normal human beings. The comfort he had now of just feeling that there was no hope here and it was pointless to think of anything better was crushed by the fact that there were normal students who were not robbed of their life just wandering around. WHAT THE HELL?! Why did THEY get to live? What happened to the school? Why were there no cops if this was the real world? If this WAS the real world, why was the sky doing some ******** s**t that didn’t make sense? Remi wasn’t a meteorologist, but he was pretty sure the sky didn’t normally turn that color without the world coming to the end.

To add to the confusion, Sue was sniffing the air and then called Gray a Zodiac guard by the name of Leo. “A what?! I think you got hit on the head there, bright eyes. Can you believe this guy?” Turning, he saw that Grayson was eating it all up. Not only that, but he seemed to be repeating the name Leo as if it was not only a great name, but his name all along. Oh great. Leave it to him to be the zombie and yet being the most sane person around here. “You can’t be serious? You’re buying this?!”

As Gray pushed himself up, Remi went over and offered his arm, lifting him up as best as Gray’s injured spine would allow. “Woah, man. You shouldn’t be standing up.” Still, Gray seemed bent on rising to this new title. Crazy people. Remi was surrounded by crazy people.

“What the hell are you all talking about?!” Whatever it was, he couldn’t help but feel like the uninformed third wheel of this party. That wasn't new.

Probably? Understatement, total understatement. Sue wasn't drained out yet, but he was certainly cursing himself for all the times he'd walked that mile jog in gym, or taken the elevator instead of the stairs. He'd always thought himself as being so damned tough, but when it came to the long haul, it seemed like he was always getting left behind, gasping for air.

He wasn't used up just yet, though. And while Gray still had that look of wonder and understanding on his face, Sue bent his head to the next task.

Now, you wouldn't think that Leo's would be a very difficult pen to track down. It was a roughly cat-like Zodiac sign, after all; there must have been a million and one connections between Sue's brain and anything resembling the feline shape of his best friends.

But maybe it was because he didn't know Grayson so well, or maybe there were things still forgotten, from Zue's life, that complicated the path. Whatever the reason, Sue found himself having to pour more and more focus into the search. This one was seeming almost labyrinth-like in his mind; something like walls kept blocking him, forcing him back a few thoughts, as though he'd picked the wrong page in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure book.

At last, though, Sue'd found the door he was looking for. He was somewhat pale-faced by the time he'd stumbled through it, and his hands weren't exactly steady when they finally started to glow - but for all his efforts, a small pen leaped into his hands from nothing.

Sue did his best to suppress a tired groan, wiped his forehead on the back of a sleeve, and delivered the pen directly to Grayson. No words of advice, no explanations of what he was giving. Frankly, even if Sue could think of something worth saying, he was too busy blinking away fuzzy spots in his vision to bother with it.

It was a little startling, to suddenly feel his heart hammering in his chest when he hadn't even known he'd been scared, or excited, or even strained. His legs felt a little unsteady beneath him, mostly because of the awkward pose he'd been holding, but he quickly straightened himself. He did not, however, let go of Remi; the touch was a comfort, the contact much needed in the midst of everything that was going on. Without - thank God - without the distraction of mind-numbing hunger, his thoughts were rushing by at a million miles a minute.

Did he know what was going on? Absolutely not. All he knew at that moment was, he was human again, he had a strange pen in his hand, and he could stand by his own strength. For that, he was more grateful than he'd been for everything.

Eyes reverent, he whispered, "Thank you." to the woman; no questions, no further words. Just heartfelt, awe-filled gratitude.

Then, to Sue, though he didn't know where or how he'd manifested the pen, he understood the significance of it. Even if he had no idea how to use it, having it tucked safely in the palm of his hand felt important and right, and so he smiled, a small smile, that grew to ridiculous proportions. "Thank you as well."

Everything inside of him was happy. Sue looked like he might pass out, and maybe if Gray had been paying more attention, he would have been concerned. As it was, he felt like he'd been slapped with the biggest, vaguest book known to mankind, and he was still trying to puzzle it out, even though he didn't know where to begin.

All he had to go on were feelings, really. The good feelings he got from holding the pen, hearing someone call him Sailor Leo, having his stomach rumble and not instantly desire flesh. No, he wasn't sure what was going on, but he did know one thing: They said everyone was gathering in the gym.

More survivors? More Sailors? Everyone. Maybe Alease was there, or Cam, or Ignacio or - Benny?

Eyes wide, he broke free from Remi's grip, giving the group one more grateful smile. "We'll get going, then. See you in the gym?"

But before waiting for an answer, he was already striding off, one hand gripping Remi's wrist firmly as he dragged him along. No more questions, he'd decided; they needed to get where they were going and see who else had made it out alive.

For a lazy guy, he could really get moving when he needed to. Apparently.