Welcome to Gaia! ::

His alarm was going off. It hummed at the end of his senses at first, like those first few tentative 'beeps', the warning shots before it grew to a howling scream. At first, Ever just ignored it. He was good at that; there was no reason for him to be on time to work, and no other requirements that would force him up and out of bed when he was a bit hung over anyway. A hand, in his sleep, reached out to swat at the clock, and came up empty.

His eyes opened and he came to just before the summons hauled him fully into the Negaverse subspace.

For about ten seconds, there he was in all his glory: blue boxers with little yellow ducks on them, all ribs and elbows and sleepy eyes and he hadn't even had time to shower.

Then instincts clicked in and he hurried into uniform, only the bags under his eyes marking him as so recently out of bed, the ruffled mess of white hair, the way echoing footsteps made him flinch and twitch and drape a hand over his eyes. He'd recover, slowly, wishing that he had a cup of hot tea and a piece of white toast to drive away the headache and the rumbling of his stomach both -- but that didn't matter. He'd live.

And he'd follow, if only to see what it was, out of a dangerous sort of blind curiosity.

Something stirred in Tanzanite's heart as each stepped forward. It was a rare, genuine feeling, and the Youma Queen held fast to it, for she knew it to be fleeting. It was a feeling that told her this was worth fighting for. Worth dying for. Those who stepped forward represented far more than Beryl's Negaverse. They were a new generation. Lieutenants and Captains that had never known Charonite or Nealite. Young soldiers who had never known what it had been like when the Negaverse was less than a dozen children and one angry General-King.

Now, this new generation had their own cause. Their own purpose. They did not fight for a name or a figurehead. They fought for their planet. Their families. They fought for their very right to exist, and as they stepped forward, Tanzanite's black heart filled with pride.

Indeed, this had been worth dying for.

“I suppose not,” Tanzanite smiled at Serandite. Old friends... it was an unfamiliar feeling. They'd been friends back when Crystal Academy had been a part of both of their lives, and the pink-haired General was a reminder of the world they'd both largely been forced to leave behind. Tanzanite held out her palm, and a small orb of energy flickered into existence to light the way. She turned, and led them into the darkness.

"General Scheelite, please stay towards the front, just behind me. Try not to blind anyone."

This was, of course, a nearly impossible task.

The moment they crossed the threshold, the difference was noticeable. The air cooled significantly, enough that those with bare skin would feel goosebumps within moments. More striking, though, was the change in energy. While the Negaverse had always been a place of power, there was a difference between the power on one side of that door and that on the other. On the outside, it was that familiar hum of dark energy, the power that was associated with the Queen through whom Metallia's exerted her own will. Within, it was as though there was simply... an absence.

Beyond the door, the walkway narrowed, forcing them to walk one by one. There was no warmth or light, save where Tanzanite touched her hand to the walls here and there. Where her fingertips touched, a faint glow sprang up. The walls were a dark, murky crystal, and those who bothered to look closely would see shadowy shapes moving slowly within, pressing flat against the crystal wall.

Upon closer inspection, the horrifying truth would present itself; they were hands. Very distinctly human hands.



Hundreds and hundreds of hands that pressed against the crystal as though trying to get out, their movements slow and erratic as though they had been raised from the dead. They were attached to shadowy figures, vaguely human in their shape, extraordinarily human in the way they pressed their twisted, scarred faces to the glass and screamed silently. More suspicious was the way in which they seemed to writhe as the corrupted senshi passed, clawing slowly at the wall. From top to bottom, the glass was scratched and worn, as though they had been there for eternity.

Trying futilely to escape.

Tanzanite paused, and for a brief moment pressed her hand to the glass. On the other side, a figure lurched slowly forward, and mimicked the action with such slow, sad movement that there was no doubting that it must have once been human. It's gaping mouth pressed against the glass, and worked in a soundless scream of agony. Even without a sound, the pain it felt was evident.

“Senshi, please find a General and stay close to them. Your presence here is... troubling for them.”

There was a sad tone to the General-Queens voice, but there was nothing to be done for those unfortunate souls. The emotion passed before she spoke again, moving forward.

“Have you ever wondered why we call ourselves corrupt?” She said to the lot of them, knowing that it was a question she had often asked herself before. She had even tried to change it once, but to no avail. The monicker had stuck, and now she understood why.

“Why, if we are truly righteous and our cause truly just, we would refer to ourselves with such a name?”

To be perfectly honest, there should have been no excuse for Tantalite's prolonged absence. She felt there was absolutely no excuse either, at least in the eyes of the higher ups who could have spent their time showing her disapproval for her absence, if it hadn't been for two factors:

1) The violin would always get more of her effort than any other civilian task, and if she had suddenly given up the tour she had been sent on by her parents, they would have grown suspicious of her suddenly declining and improper behavior.

2) She had kept herself busy in her absence. Not just with that violin that her fingers danced across from years of practice that had caught ears beyond what she ever would have suspected it to, but she had done well to keep on top of starseed collecting while on the road.

Though she was sure the elders would have done far better than herself; so she hadn't allowed herself to relent in her practices. She had been busy, indeed.

So much that a glance among those who were assembling, noting, without surprise, that she was not as familiar with any of them as she could have been. However, she was not ashamed by her lack of familiarity with these people. She had time.

She had all of the time in the world. Well, as much time as she wasn't willing to waste; wasting time would serve her no purpose.

Tantalite did not gravitate towards any others, simply forward;

"I will pass." she spoke delicately, not bothering with any sort of introduction. She was here, she had returned as promptly as she could despite having missed much of the events of the previous months, and she had reported without a doubt to her form.

That should have been enough for anybody, and she had lost time to make up for.

Painite looked around at the gathered Negaverse soldiers, feeling a surge of pride in everyone. This was exactly what she fought for, all these people and their united purpose. As a team, they walked, and as a team they would emerge victorious. True enough, they all had their own goals, their own methods, their own stories, and that what made watching each one agree to this new unknown even more exciting and compelling.

She saw and heard Zanazziite, nodding her head and grinning at her partner in crime. Scheelite, Zinkenite, Ilmenite, Sassolite and many others she knew were all there. Made sense, of course, it felt like everyone was.

She saw, of course, Negas she hadn't met yet, but in her mind she emphasized the yet. She saw the corrupted senshi, gathered in their few numbers but strong. While some might not consider them with the greatest of good feelings, Painite adored them. Ammolite and Alunite were two of her dearest friends. She smiled when she heard Lyra, though a stab of worry came with it. When she heard Alunite she looked to see him, not too far away but near enough to be heard. She watched him for a moment with a fond expression, then drew herself out of her daze and looked around to eventually spot Hematite.

Looking very different. A grin split her face at that, but she didn't have time to congratulate him on the promotion beyond giving him a thumbs up and hoping he'd see it. She was just taking a moment to look around, bask in the feeling each voice instilled in her, and in the air of the room at large.

And more would keep coming, agreeing, offering themselves up. Whatever happened next, they were ready for it, together, of that she was certain. More and more voices spoke up, and Painite couldn't keep up after a time. Her eyes shifted anyway as they followed.

Well this was creepy.

"I bet the answer has something to do with these guys," she hummed to herself. Sure, she had killed humans in her time, but she didn't like to see them suffer unless it was for a purpose. Her own purpose, but she didn't have to justify her concept of morals to anyone but herself. Regardless, she joined the negaverse after the shift to energy and had never once taken a starseed.

Anyway, she never had a problem being called corrupt. She had no problem being the bad guy the senshi and the civilians saw her as. She liked it, in fact, and did more than enough to encourage it. If there was one thing she never wondered about, it was why they used that word.

But now she was interested. They were the heroes of their own stories, whether they chose to play that role or not. The answer to Tanzanite's loaded question, then, was something the Captain now very much wanted to know.

Bismuthite looked at the figures with a practiced stoicism, although there might have been a flinch - okay, a small jump - when one near by seemed to suddenly appear against the wall beside him. That only made him resigned to appear even more stone-like in his composure. Glower at these humanoid creatures. He didn't think much of other humans anyway. these being got neither pity, nor respect for whatever they might have endured to win this fate. Of course, that story might change if he knew...

And now the question was raised - why were they called 'corrupt?'

Bismuthite hadn't cared. Good, bad, he was in this for the glory. He was in this war to make his mark in the world, and be known. Fame. Notoriety. There was nothing glorious about war, though. That didn't mean he knew that. Bismuthite....was selfish. Incredibly so. Now he simply waited for Tanzanite to supply the answer. The question itself had seemed rhetorical, so he idn't see any sense replying. Not that he had a reply to give.

Alkaid moved forward as Tanzanite did, as the crowd around her sprang to motion and moved as one unit behind their General-Queen. It didn't have the precise organization of a marching army, but that was what they were despite all their confusion. Alkaid, for one, was glad that she was not going through alone.

She walked in pace with Hematite as they crossed the threshold, though immediately her demeanor changed. She had simply been unnerved and hesitant before, despite the way her feet followed Tazanite's lead, but as the emptiness and chill settled over her she became more rigid and uncomfortable. Without that humming power of the Negaverse she felt blind - she could feel nothing. For someone that was used to judging a situation with those abilities, it was almost painful to be thrust into the darkness.

If only that was the worst of what was around her.

Her eyes did not miss the creatures swarming and squirming behind the walls that Tanzanite touched so delicately and before she ever spoke out her warning, the Corrupt was gravitating towards the general at her side. She was in his personal space within seconds, so close that her gloved arm brushed lightly against his armor as they walked in unison. When Tanzanite actually confirmed her sudden fear, the rigidness in Alkaid multiplied until she was almost a simple robot, following through with motions that felt unnatural. Her mind wanted her to leave, but her feet kept on marching.

"Hema," it was one low word, meant for the general alone. She glanced away from Tanzanite's guiding light very briefly, just long enough to raise her bright eyes up to the dark face next to her. She wasn't going to make a scene out of her fear, not in the middle of the crowd of soldiers, but she needed Hematite to be aware for the both of them now.

Then her eyes fell and her attention was back on Tanzanite, as if she might lose sight of her and their only light if she was too concentrated on something else. At Tanzanite's question, Alkaid had no answer, even if it was something she asked herself every day as a Corrupt Senshi. Maybe the General-Queen had found the answers.

The voiced chimed out one by one, all swearing oaths to folllow their general queen in to the door. After all, one of their leaders would never lead them astray.

Even before the warning from Tanzanite... she found herself scooting closer to Zink and Alunite when the door opened. She looped a arm originally as they started to walk... only letting go once the pathway became single lined.

Keeping silent the entire time, the corrupted senshi tried her best to stay calm and not worried. When the faces started to appear.... she could not help it. She let out a rather undignified squeak of fear. Eternal or not, these things scared the CRAP out of her.


...As such, she found herself pressing closer to her comrades... and reached out to hold on to the back of zinks uniform.