Welcome to Gaia! ::

The red ink swirled around her body like an incoming tide. It surged against her and mimicked waves beating against the shoreline. The girl gasped shallowly for breath and fought against the current holding her in place. She flapped her wings mightily and a spray of red misted onto the wall behind her.

As she rose up, the first things to resurface were her arms. It was immediately apparent that they were no longer a mucky mess of black ooze. Instead, they had reformed back into two solid appendages that looked remarkably like her natural arms. Not a trace of black was left on them except for a delicate line work of roses embellishing her skin.

The tattooed flowers continued past her restructured arms and contoured over her entire chest and abdomen. The black borders shifted slowly with her movements and crept over her muscles languidly as they flexed. She continued to pull herself up with renewed strength. It felt like she was getting her second wind – though it was more likely her fourth wind at this point in the fight.

The sheer wall of ink surrounding her took on the qualities of a billowing fabric as it draped over her exposed torso. LuLu finished standing upward in one smooth motion. Her wings snapped open wide and she breathed a sigh of relief. Then, realization dawned upon the girl.

She was standing.

Though LuLu would still be dwarfed by many others, she had risen to a height that surpassed anything she had achieved before. She soared at around 5’2” upon her two newly formed legs. The two appendages planted her firmly to the ground. She looked down in awe. The petals tattooed onto her skin were cascading down her curvy thighs and calves. The valsaros gave her toes a tentative wiggle to test them. She was delighted by the movement.

But, she was not the only one who was pleased by this transformation. Samuel’s voice erupted from overhead. “You have weathered a tremendous storm, my dearest.” He emerged from a corner of the room, safely tucked away from the fight. His cold eyes were focused entirely on her. The man was enraptured and was busily taking in her whole form with his hungry gaze. The curtain had fallen on her performance and it was a spectacle for the century. The man would have thrown her a flood of roses at the conclusion of its final act. However, it looked like the girl had supplied her own floral arrangement. The man approached her with his arms outstretched.

She was gorgeous. And, she was all his.

Samuel broke his stride midstep. Though, his expression was weighted with indifference, he had stilled for now. He was sizing up the basilisk - determining if she was truly the threat she was making herself out to be.

Judging her performance, the snake had been outshined by his star. The man decided she was of little concern. With a click on his tongue, he continued. "I was not speaking to you." A steady hand slicked over his hair. "I only have business with Scarlet. You can disappear now. You have exhausted your purpose." His icy eyes fell on the frei's now billowing form, trying to make out her eyes in the dense mass and call her bluff. He also wanted to see the valsaros again, his treasure.

"I said begone!" Samuel bellowed. His tone was piercing and direct.

LuLu shifted within the bitter smelling haze. Her honeyed voice tolled softly to Delia, "It is ok now. I can handle him." She reassured her companion. The rabbit had conquered the Hulk and Eloise. It was now time for her to overcome her final test.

The idea of running away was always tempting, but LuLu had come to realise it was not a viable option. It would only delay the inevitable. She could evade Samuel for an instant, but he would just conjure up another plan to turn her into his plaything and harm those she loved. Hiding from her problems was a habit she had adopted as a frei and had fallen back into as a sigel.

She was a valsaros, and things would have to be different. If Franco and Selene had taught her anything, it was how to fight. And - now - it was time to fight.

She would end this once and for all.

LuLu had observed the same as Cordelia and had come to a similar conclusion. Samuel was a puppet master, well versed at pulling everyone's strings. However, his greatest strength was also his weakness. The man believed he was powerful, but this power came from whom he surrounded himself with and emotional warfare. That strength dissipated in a one on one battle. Now, with his henchmen put down, there was a chance that he could be conquered.

The rabbit steadied the basilisk as she regained a solid form. An ink coated hand pressed at the space between her bladed wings with care. There was tension. The frei was nervous. LuLu offered Delia a sly quirk of her lips before her face slipped back into a neutral guise.

Her eyes gleamed, though, with something deep inside. Whatever it was - it was resolute.

The rabbit stepped forward. Though her feet were inexperienced, she handled walking with grace. Not a single stumble as she closed the distance between herself and Samuel. She left a trail of inky footprints that led back to Cordelia.

Samuel sighed contentedly when he was able to lay eyes on her once more. He was almost eager to be near her. LuLu certainly did not miss the extra beat in his step as he approached. His cold mask was finally split by a broad smile. His canines practically gleamed in the low light. "My dearest Scarlet, look at what my influence has done for you. Can't you see that you are perfect now?" One of his hands threaded through the loose curls at the side of her head. The pad of his thumb swiped over her lips. "All our pain and suffering, it was for a just cause." He leaned in closer. His icy blue eyes bore into hers. "It was all for love." His breath ghosted over her soft pout, "I know you can feel it, too."

And, then, it happened in an instant.

As quick as lightning.

As powerful as a thunderclap.

It resounded around them.

Samuel had not been expecting the fierce punch that landed squarely into his face.

LuLu bit out, "Not interested."

That punch had been the cherry on top of an otherwise crappy day. It was jarring, and Samuel had managed to lose his footing as a result. The man went down in a clumsy tumble and broke the fall with his butt. LuLu snorted seeing him like this. As a man who defined himself by his tact, seeing Samuel covered in dust with limbs tangled together, it was hilarious.

Samuel sat up from the ground with a huff. The man look uncharacteristically disheveled. He groomed over his hair, but the white-blond locks were not cooperating – like many things that day. He pulled out a sigh from deep within his chest. It was drawn out to a point that it was almost painful to listen to. He began, “After all I have done for you, Scarl-”

“You did this all for yourself.” LuLu corrected him.

Samuel’s stopped fussing over his hair. Still, it never quite fell into place. A few messy strands still framed his squared jawline. His hand dropped to his side. LuLu could see it was trembling. The man clenched and unclenched his fingers.

He appeared to be finding his words, the right mix of sweet nothings that could smooth over the situation. Samuel adjusted his broad shoulders into one straight, powerful line before he began, again. “Please, Scarlet, do not put words into my mouth.” He offered her a thin smile that deepened the wrinkles around his eyes in an unpleasant way. It felt artificial. “You know I care for you so deeply. I only want what is best for you.”

“Liar.” LuLu was tired of this man spouting bullshit about love. So what if he wanted them to be together? He never stood a chance of being with her. A lasting relationship was not built on a foundation of lies and manipulation. “You do not know what real love is.” The man had probably never had the chance to experience it, always too busy isolating himself from the world and clutching at the memory of Scarlet.

Samuel released a cloying chuckle. It made LuLu’s skin crawl the way it stuck to her like molasses. Absolutely disgusting. The man spoke through his laugher, “And, I suppose, that idiot Franco knew what real love is?” He sat up onto his knees, poised before the valsaros like a man in worship. “How are his feelings more real than mine? Tell me?!” The man sought out LuLu. His eyes never left hers. “All I want is for us to be together forever, Scarlet. I will have it, even if I must destroy everything and everyone else around us.”

“That is obsession” LuLu growled out. Her fingers found her way around his neck and enclosed like talons. “I want no further part in your fantasy.” She yanked Samuel forward with one inhumanly strong pull. His knees drug on the ground noisily. “Scarlet is gone. Get over it.”

LuLu felt disturbed. Not necessarily by Samuel’s neurotic behavior, but, rather, by the fact that they had something in common. This would have been easier if she could dehumanize him. She could have told herself that this was all the act of a monster. But, it was the opposite. Samuel was painfully human.

He was a lonely and pitiful man who had seen something in Scarlet that he desired. Everyone did. That was the magic behind Selene’s act.

LuLu had also placed Scarlet on a pedestal some time ago – for her confidence and strength. But, the raevan had also learned how to separate the two, the legend from the truth. She understood that Scarlet was actually an act that had played the audience all too well.

She had accepted that Scarlet was not meant to come back.

Samuel had not.

The man’s eyes finally broke away from hers. He was solemn, almost pensive, as he replied. “Of all the things I was prepared to destroy, I never thought one of them would need to be you, Scarlet.” Samuel began to reach into the breast pocket of his suit. He continued, “But, I will break you. Over and over again if I have to. I will not stop until you are mine.” She could see his smile twisting.

In a flash, Cordelia had taken the situation into her own hands and was on the offensive. Even LuLu was not quick enough to stop the basilisk's mighty strike against Samuel. The man was not prepared either. Whatever he had been reaching for and whichever plot he had been exacting in that moment, it was soon forgotten by everyone. The item was useless to him anyway - being he was now without functioning arms, that is. The man fainted from the shock. His appendages were set in crooked bends that gave the valsaros a feeling of unease.

If anyone was deserving of this treatment it was Samuel. Still, there was a fine line between making him suffer and something far, far worse. LuLu watched her friend's wicked grin grow wider, ill fitted onto her narrow face. She recognized the loss of control instantly. It was bloodlust. Cardelia was about to do something she would regret, and LuLu could not let that happen to her friend.

The rabbit was fully prepared to fight the frei away from her 'prey'. Fortunately, clarity had quickly returned to the other girl's expression. Cordelia still seemed shaken, but she was nowhere near as feral appearing. LuLu hesitated only for a moment before she clasped a hand over the other's shoulder. She then pulled her in closer and bumped her forehead against the other's shoulder. It was a silent 'thank you' for everything Cordelia had done for her, and and apology for everything she had put her through.

They had won the war, but their freedom was still not secure.

LuLu's attention was drawn back to their escape. There was only one way out of the building, the front doors. The same ones that had been locked early on in this endeavor. To add to their dismal circumstances, both were now enveloped in dense flames. LuLu could only hope it had weakened the metal locks and hinges.

The rabbit grabbed a tarp from the floor, one of the few yet to be turned into ash from the raging fires in the warehouse. Without Delia consuming it, the smoke was starting to become unbearably thick again. The building would become uninhabitable within minutes.

LuLu recalled that Samuel and his henchmen were also still trapped inside. But, their lives were more important. The other's would have to find their own way out.

Part of her hoped they would not find a way out.

LuLu wrapped the musty cloth tighter around herself in a last ditch effort to protect her exposed skin from the heat. She threaded her fingers tightly around Cordelia's. She looked over to her counterpart, "On the count of three, follow me."

On three, the rabbit made a full on sprint for the door. With only a few feet separating them from the flames, she swung out her newly formed leg and it connected solidly with an accompanying clatter of hinges being torn apart. The doors exploded outward in a burst of fire and metal. LuLu could feel the stinging heat at her nape as they passed through the threshold, and it felt like they were truly escaping hell.