Welcome to Gaia! ::

The arrival of the battered yellow liferaft on the coast of the strange island did not go unnoticed. Even though Thina lay unconscious in the liferaft as the waters lapped at its corners, she received a bigger fanfare than she likely had at any point previous in her lifetime: warning bells and commands were being issued from the laboratories that crouched in the shell of the mountain at the center of the island. A jeep was re-routed to the beach before her little raft had even touched the sands.

So it wasn't long before four armed guards were tentatively approaching her still form, poking her to make sure she was really unconscious, and then giving her a quick dose of a strong tranquilizer to make sure that she stayed that way. Her raft was mangled to ensure that it would never float again, its sorry remains tucked into the jeep along with her lyre and her unconscious form.

She was carried dutifully to the laboratories where the doctors looked her over and replenished some of the nutrients and liquid to her system... before she was injected.... chipped.... and then delivered to the village.

Without an explanation, without a note, Thina and her lyre were left in duplex 6. The only signs of thought to the poor woman's health was a pitcher of water left on her nightstand.

RP is HERE
Participants: Joliette
Overview: Looking for the cafeteria for the first time, Thina ran into Joli, who she assumed was a horrible monster. Never really trusting her, she let the komodo take her to the cafeteria where she could grab something to eat for the first time in, well, days!

Thina walked back from the cafeteria. She was especially content, as the nice woman there let her cook along for her meal. Ever since arriving, Thina was a little uncomfortable with a stranger cooking her food, so it was a nice -if minor- comfort.

Many of her good feelings was overshadowed by the weather. The day could be considered a bad day for an island. There was a low overcast of clouds with interspersals of clear sunlight. The effect was daunting for Thina, for the shadows whispered that at any moment another of the human-turned monster inhabitants might spring out and maybe attack. What if that Jamal-character that Cody warned her about was watching her?

A slight breeze caused a bush to russle especially loud, and Thina jumped at the sound with a slight squeak. The older woman held her chest as she forced herself to calm down.

There was a crash from down the road towards the cafeteria, like the sound of one of the waste buckets that lined the village had been overturned, and a streak of green fled from the loud shouts of one of the guards on duty. "I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO GET OUT OF THERE!" He bellowed, hurling a rock in the general direction of the fleeing, hopping... thing coming straight for the woman.

Thina about had a heart attack -in with her ample body and years of existence that was a threat, though she didn't know it- when she heard the crash. She spun around, her tattered underdress hem clinging to her shin, and gave a deer-in-the-headlights look at the 'thing' that hopped towards her.

Her mouth hung in a large 'O' as the only thought that went through her mind was: /Is that a frog?/

At the sight of the path cut off by the larger woman, Newt scrambled in mid-hop, tumbling head over heals to land in a dirty, amphibious heap in front of her. Whent he guard shouted again from a distance, He gave another frightened croak and hauled his legs around to get back up into a crouch, looking ready to spring into the underbrush.

It was hard for Thina to laugh, or even smile, at the humouress sight of a giant tumbling frog, but culture was deep and her people just did not show that relaxed expression often. Instead, she looked at the crouching creature with a quizzical expression, "Frog, yes?"

Before he could answer, she nodded her head at the yelling guard in the distance, "Philos - a friend?" Thina almost winced at the thought, doubting that friends would ever be so vocally abusive.

"Aaah...?" Newt flinched, bouncing on his haunches as he coiled back to jump, stopped himself and then resettled again, glancing from the strange woman- ANOTHER human! his third in a week! There must have recently been a new... shipment of subjects or something. THe thought made the frog man's stomach cringe. Frog? Judging by her expression, she had already been breifed. Good. Good. Right. Just one less stresser. The sounds of the guard shouting were dying away, and the frog's trembling began to slow, "Ah... er... y-yes.. er.. I m-mean no- I m-mean.. um... Y-yes... F-frog... er... KrrKIT! Ah... N-no to... er... his b-being my friend... I m-mean... um."

As if Thina didn't have enough troubles with English.... the stuttering words of the frog - or so, she thought he was a frog but his broken speech - made it much more difficult to translate. Just so she knew, the woman repeated for clarification, "You, frog. Him, not friend?" If that was right, she was relieved the yelling voice was no friend of his. Thina absently wondered what animal the loud voice belonged to.

"Thina," she pointed to herself in an introduction. Looking to him, she cocked her head to the side, "You are...?"

Thina was still having some belief-issues, so she reached forward to touch the frog, to see if he was real. At that moment, the woman recalled a tale some of the tourists joked about... something about frogs and kisses...

As she reached out, Newt flinched away, giving a little hop to land more in the taller grass. His green skin made it easier to blend in, rather than standing out on the path like a traffic light in the desert. "Ah... ah... N-new-new-newton, M-miss... er... Thina..." He murmured, glancing back up the hill as he huddled in the grass, as though terrified the guard might come after him still.

Thina stayed on the path, choosing to risk what was on the figure rather than the wildness that may be hidden in the grass. She watched him carefully, though, following with her eyes. Nodding her head in a greeting, Thina decided to question what he was so frightened from. Surely, the shadows of the grass was more scary than what the path and it's less numerous shades might hold. "Why are you..." she visibly searched for the word, "...afraid, Newton?"

"Ah... I... er... I'm in a... a... a sp-sp-spot of... of tr-trouble. Um. W-with... you know... them," Newt glanced back over, enormous eyes quivering as he looked her over for the first time closely. The sight of her ragged face made the frog man flinch with a startled croak.

"No, I don't know them," she shook her head. Thina knew about the island but none of the specifics. She thought Cody tried to explain them to her, but as he used words she did not know, the woman remained lost with the subject.

Thina knew the exact moment when Newton looked at her face by his reaction. She had lived with it for as long as she could remember, so it was easy to know what brought out that sort of response. Without thinking, her hand went to her hair, where she smoothed out some of the long graying hair to cover up the scars. It restricted her vision, and made the shadows worse, but hopefully it would make both of them a little more comfortable.

"What you do? To be such trouble?" she asked, trying to keep the conversation from her own disfiguring scars.

Newt bobbed, swallowing as he glanced up the path and down again and around for any sort of cameras, but if there were any, they were hidden even from his enormous eyes. "I... I... ah..." He looked up again, but felt embarassed by making her have to cover her face because of his flinch, but he forced himself to keep eye contact for as long as he could. He straightened just a bit, throat inflating a little in an attempt to look impressive. "I... I attacked... a cou-cou-couple of... of guards."

Thina's eyes got large and worried. The woman took a step back, as if he was going to attack her as well. She couldn't imagine why anyone would attack a guard, as they usually had more power than you -usually in the form of guns- and only protected things. "What did... the guards do?" Thina asked, her voice quiet with concern. She wasn't sure she could successfully run away from him... he hopped along at a very quick speed.

"Ah.. w-well... th-they um... h-hit me a f-few t-times I th-think while I was... er... unconcious and th-then... w-well... er... I'm... um... it's.... " He floundered, having tried to impress but had obviously miscalculated. "W-well... I m-mean... it... it s-served them right!" He stammered, straightening again with a loud croak.

Thina listened, but took another step back. Out of the corner of her non-covered eye she tried to see if there was an escape route available for her. So, he attacked then because they beat him.... but why did they beat him? It was obvious Newton felt justified; would he feel justified in beating up a 'poor old woman' all alone and unprotected on an empty street? She didn't want to take the chance.

She was already more than a few steps away when Thina asked again, "Why they beated you?"

"B-be... because... " He deflated, huddling back in the grass, unsure of how to explain. It was evident now the woman's english wasn't very good, and between his stutter and accent he was sure he wasn't the easiest to understand. "Ah... I m-mean... I w-wasn't... it w-wasn't... I'm n-not... er..."

When Newton crouched, Thina jerked into action. She heard his words, but was already running away, obviously scared. The woman didn't scream for help, it was only the sound of her thick-soled shoes clicking on the ground that was Newton's answer.

Thina was really worried. She didn't know why the guards beat him up, but with her limited training about those situations she assumed the worse: that Newton had done something terrible to warrant the abuse... and she wasn't going to stick around to give him another chance at it.

Thina looked around the room. What was it Cody said? Oh yes, something about a telephone. The woman ransacked the room... and found absolutely no telephone. It didn't take her long, what with her incredibly sparse posessions. She aimed higher in her search, checking the ceiling and walls. Thina found lights, switched, door handles..... what's that?

She went to investigate. It was like a small box, with buttons and little circles. Thina scratched at her scars. "I wonder if this is the telephone..." she said to herself in Greek.

Well, no harm in trying. Thina poked at random buttons in quick succession. "Which one is zero!?" she yelled at it in frustration. Things beeped, others gave static, and other things. Finally, Thina started pounding on them, many of them at a time.

Sabin, at the moment, happened to be sitting on one of his now rarer instances of moniter duty. A small red light started flashing as the numbers in Thina's duplex began being punched at random - a very low priority draw for attention. However, at the moment nothing else seemed to be particularly interesting on the island affairs and so Sabin keyed up Thina's duplex to the primary screen to see the Greek woman punching in frustration at the variety of numbers on the intercom keypad. It was an entertaining visage to be sure, and the elderly, ethnic woman had provided Sabin no small amount of entertainment as it was - especially some of the notes on her file regarding her behavior. They had known very little about her when she washed up on the beach, but it quickly became apparent from the background research and her interactions that she spoke little English, and was very traditional, to the point of being unfamiliar with many Western customs. She was Greek, and was even familiar with the classic deities... which was positively delicious to Sabin. She had reached for her traditional ethnic folk beliefs in such a strange scenario - a textbook anthropological case.

And so, when she punched around in frustration, Sabin decided to take the opportunity to initate conversation.

"Miss Pavlidis." Sabin's voice came through clearly on the intercom. "You seem to be trobled." He continued with no small amount of amusement in his voice.

Thina literally jumped back from the small box and landed on her well-cushioned bum. She yelled out in Greek, trying to get answers. What was that? Who was that? What happened? Finally, it registered that this voice also spoke in English. So, maybe she should answer in the same language, "Who are you? Where?"

Thina looked around, and did another search around the room. She checked behind, under, around; even looked out the window and checked the other side of the door. Meanwhile, she kept repeating her questions... in English and Greek. "What happen?"

In the end, Thina went back to the intercom when she didn't hear or see anything. Maybe she had to hit buttons to hear the voice again? Again, she started beating on it and repeating the questions... trial and error, the foundation of life.

A disembodied chuckle carried itself through the room (through hidden speakers) at Thina's frustrated actions agains the machine. "You do not need to rail against the box, Thina. You can speak to me as normal and I will hear you." The conversation sparked a devious idea in Sabin's mind and he settled into a more comfotable position. He needed a fun distraction like this with the ohter... problems.

"And you should know me, Thina." He grinned to himself, steepling his fingers.

Thina stared, her cheeks reddening in something between embarassment and frustration. She rested her hands on each side of the box and leaned onto the wall. The little exercise had taken much of her energy. "How..." her voice shook with worry. "How you know name?" As her hand instinctively went to the scarred side of her face she almost slammed her head into the wall when she became unbalanced.

The woman caught herself just in time, and took a step back only to find herself swaying on her feet. She took her free hand to regain her balance. "Who are you?" Thina asked, her head swivelling as she looked around the room, expecting someone to walk in dramatically.

"I know many things. Your name being only one of them, Thina." Sabin repeated with confidence. "And as to who I am.... both an old friend and a stranger. A distant memory and a presence throughout your life." Sabin was enjoying being cryptic far too much.

For one thing, Thina had never been good with riddles. Not good at all. Her breathing started again, as she started to relax. She thought he was going to say something about being a demon.... one that had taken over her body and was thenceforth going to be enslaved. Her christianity took that rational.

But... he said an old friend and a stranger, what did that mean? Thina scratched her scars harder, contemplating the riddle. "Ya-ya" she asked. She had never met her father's mother, but as she was her namesick she always felt that the dead woman was around, watching her like a guardian angel.

A tone of annoyance and patronization tinted his voice. "No, I am not Ya-ya." He huffed and crossed his arms. Well, he supposed that he might as well go ahead and say what he wanted to.
"Well, I suppose it should not surprise me that much. Not many have remembered us in a very, very long time. Although I Had hope for you, Thina, that you are knowledgable in the old ways. "

Now he had to make a decision. None of them leapt to him immediately as being entirely appropraite for the situation... or his personality. At least any of the male deities. Well, he'd have to just pick on. A pity.

"I would probably be most recognizable to you by the name of Dionysus."


Thina's brows pulled in at her confusion. Well, maybe she should have known not Ya-ya, as the voice was obviously male... but it was the only person she could think of.

When he said 'us', a shiver went down her spine... there were /more/ of... whatever he was? And then, the term he used... 'old way'... what could he possibly mean? Thina's head was definately starting to hurt by now, as she literally went around in circles trying to find the meaning and truth.

The pause felt like a lifetime, and then he finally said it, he was... no, that cannot be right, could it? A god, one of the Ancient gods... here? Her rational denied it, but the stories of her grandmother came back to her. She had seen the signs... the monsters, the animals... Cody... Cody! The voice confirmed what she had first thought when she spoke with the boy. "Dionysus?"

Her vision blackened in disbelief. Thina's body crumbled beneath her as she fainted.

Sabin was almost disappointed with himself that it was the best he could think of on short notice. He had been very tempted to say Deimos, just because it would have tickled his fancy... but would have been less appropriate for the scenario on the island. But it was too late now regardless.

He cleared his throat over the intercom, almost disappointed that she had passed out. Hopefully the scenario would right itself soon.

She didn't know how long she was out, but Thina came to, her lungs screaming for air as she had forgotten to breathe before. Holding her head, the woman shifted to her knees and crawled to a plush chair. She didn't know if Dionysus was still around, but she was going to take comfort over due respect right now.

Thina held her head in hands as she thought it over. She knew, she just knew it! Hadn't she been thinking it every since she met the komodo-monster? The gods were not gone and actually were thriving on this Island. But then the question was why... why did they abandon the Greeks? What had happened? Why were they -or at least Dionysus, but he had said 'us' so maybe the others as well- here? Why were they changing humans into animals on whims? Usually, it was for punishment or mercy. What had she done to arrive here, or was she a mistake, due to being thrown overboard? Was this a punishment, or an act of mercy, for her.

She was, for the most part, quiet as her mind tried to work her way through the problems. Occasionally, she mumbled something in Greek before her mind went to another issue.

Sabin waited and watched as she came to and dealt with the implications that he knew that she must be. Quite entertaining. But not much for conversation. Should he interrupt, or just leave her to her revelation and see how it played out. If he spoke, he risked giving away the fact that Sabin knew only a smattering of Greek terms from his studies.

So, Sabin decided to keep quiet. He muted his side of the intercom but kept listening in case she addressed him further.

Thina finally lifted her head and looked from the box to the rest of the room. She sat straight and squared her shoulders. All the myths were true..... as a child this news would have been more than welcome. Now, she felt almost, abandoned, allowed to live a lie.

"Dionysus..." was that okay? Should she call him lord? He was always the more... adventurous of the gods.... also, slightly insane from Hera's intervention. Thina would have to be careful not to offend him... though, maybe she was lucky. Dionysus was one of the more-accepting gods. Thankfully it was Artemis.... she most likely would have shot her down with an arrow by now.

"Why here... you and other gods? Why leave Greece?" Thina didn't know quite where to direct her question, so instead chose to focus on the small box. "Why turn people into animals?" She was holding her breath again, nervous as to the answer. What if she really had done something wrong -and didn't know it?

Well, she was still addressing him. And Sabin's ego inflated just a liiitle bit more as Thina bit the lie and started calling him by that name. Which put him in a bit of a better mood as well.

"We have our reasons." Sabin responded cryptically. "Let it suffice to say that not all of us have taken residence here. But for some.. it has been appropriate. And for each individual, we have our reasons. Even for you." He was reaching, but he knew that "Search in yourself and I think that it should be obvious." He said with the barest hint of sternness in his voice.
"As for why animals... well, it is an appropriate means of teaching a lesson while levvying a punishment. It is an old technique."

Thina wasn't one for questioning a god, but her confusion deepened. It seemed more questions came up before the first were answered.

She thought about his reasoning for herself, and took an sharp intake of breath. "But... I not done bad! I a good woman; respect, polite, pious. I not pride like people in stories. I not offend the gods, and mindful of actions. I was good daughter, wife, sister. Follow the rules..." Thina's English was getting worse as her emotions took hold. She truly didn't know the lesson she was learning. And not only that, how did the gods know she was going to be thrown off the ship? They usually watched and then act, not put things into motion... well, at least not the gods... some of the goddess played on making people say what they want, but it was usually something already said. Making people throw her off the ship seemed a bit extreme, even for the gods.

Immediately, Thina chastised herself. It wasn't good to question the gods, didn't she just tell herself that?

Indeed, Sabin's frown creased as she demanded to know more. "The answers shall come to you in time." Damn, almost everyone had something that they were ashamed of. Something they regreted. He was sure that this woman could be no exception. "Perhaps you do not want to admit to me what shadows your heart, but it makes no difference." Sabin huffed.

Thina thought about that.... in time. "I..." the woman stared in horror at the box, "when I leave? Go home, back to Greece. Back to family?" No one had told her that minor detail. She only knew that everyone was turning into animals. Even if she were an animal, she'd want to return to her family. Not like the saw her a whole lot differently than one. Sure, she was a well-to-do woman, but she was cursed and childless. Her scars screamed that to all that saw her.

The shadows of her heart.... what were they? The only thing she had ever done 'wrong' was not having a child, but that was hardly her own fault. She could not possibly be held accountable for what her heart wanted but body refused.

Which brought up the next thought. It made no difference... "What animal me be?" Thina asked. Again, she held her breath with anxiety. Her lungs were not pleased.

"Perhaps. It would not do to lay out your fate to you now, Thina. The answers shall come in time. I am not one of the fates." He evaded the answer that it was very likely that she would not see her familiy again.

"And your animal?" Well, perhaps that he could answer. After all, looking at her file, he doubted it would be something she would recognise. "The blue sea slug.... or Glaucus atlanticus..."

Her mouth opened and shut with a clack. He may not be a Fate, but surely he could take her home if he wanted? Maybe one of the other gods would be more willing to return her.

"Blue sea slug," Thina repeated. Nope, she had no idea what that was. The other words he said held some meaning, but the two together were confusing. Glaucus was a man turned into a merman... much like Cody only blue-green. Did that mean she was turning into a nereid of some kind? Even the other word seemed to confirm that... only her mind immediately shortened it to 'Atlantis'... but what did a city swallowed by the sea have to do with a man turned into a half-fish?

"What blue - sea - slug?" Maybe it had something to do with a snail? Making it a land animal made more sense, Poseidon was more associated with the sea creatures and not Dionysus.

"It is a creature of the deeps. Although eventually, the lakes that cross this island will be more home to you than the open oceans. It is a small, colorful creature with striking blues and silvers. But... you shall see in time for yourself." He said with a smug tone.

First hand, she almost wanted to add. That was not encouraging.... Thina shivered. "I no want to live in lake..." she said quietly. Sure, she could swim, and that was fun... but being restricted to water seemed like a horror. The woman looked at her hands, and twisted her fingers together. "I will look Cody?" she asked, still looking at her hands.

She probably could have dealt with a more common animal more... a dear, or cow... or even a dog like Jordan... but some creature from the deep ocean -which she had gotten to know so /well/ during those long days of floating.... could she survive that.

"Why that?" she asked, her head lifting and her voice cracking, "why not something else?" Her eyes misted, but who knew if Dionysus saw that, or even cared.

"You will not look quite like Cody. But we will see how the magics craft your form and reshape it to something different. And we will see how perhaps your opinions will change. You arrived to us from the ocean, and your form will take that of the ocean. Bearing the colors of your nation." Sabin reached for an explanation that sounded significant. But his voice was becoming more clipped.

Thina scratched her scars thoughtfully, breathing again to try and curb her aching lungs. It was just then that she realized the colors the god mentioned. White and Blue, and bright blue. Her eyes widened, and fingers froze, "White, blue? Animals come such colors?" Thina said the words more for herself, shocked that it was true. The most outrageous color she thought animals came in were maybe the bright red-browns of squirrels..... well, and bugs, but bugs weren't really animals.

She realized from his tone that he was probably becoming bored with her. Dionysus was well-known for his eccentric nature and partying, not for his patient teaching and chiding of nosy women. "Efharisto - Thank you for your time, Dionysus," the words were more forced, obvious that the woman was more concentrating on what he told her than the fact that it was indeed him that gave the knowledge.

Well, if nothing else, Thina's entertaining perspective should serve to make some interesting interactions in the future. He wondered how long she would keep her perspective. If she would be dissuaded that the serums were nothing more than the science that they were... the doctors just that.

Well, time would tell. And in the meantime, Sabin could maintain the facade of godhood. "We shall be watching." He merely answered to her thanks cryptically.

Thina was rubbing her scars raw. She really should stop playing with them. In order to occupy her fingers, the woman reached over and grabbed her lyre. One-handed, she plucked the strings at random intervals. It wasn't a song she knew, just that was impromptu and not even very melodous at that point. But, at least it gave her face relief.

"How encouraging..." Thina mumbled in response. She wasn't sure she liked have gods watching her every move. Surely, they will sleep and miss something...probably at the point where she might actually need them, like when Newton was around. Under her breath, thina also added a formal 'goodbye' in Greek. It's probably disrespectful to dismiss a god rather than the other way around, but she needed time to think.

After awhile, her strumming slowed more and more, until finally Thina was snoozing in the chair; her head slouched forward, her fingers lazing across her lyre. She dreamed of the ocean again, and her torturous time on the waves.

Thina rolled out of bed. Her stomach continued to roll even after her feet were solid on the floor. The woman waited, taking deep breaths to settle her arguing tummy. It never went away, but after awhile Thina decided to just... deal with it.

The first thing she did was go to the cafeteria. Her walking was slower than usual, decided to go at a lesser pace to prevent her senses from tumbling. Finally, she made it, and ate her fill. Usually, when she was sick, Thina could eat hardly anything... restricted to bread and soup. This time, she wanted normal foods, maybe more so meat and fish products. Filled to the core, she made some snacks and then went on her way back to her duplex where she planned to spend the rest of the day getting over this sickness.

After opening the door and scooting inside, Thina first saw her aching hands. She looked at them, and the white that had splashed on them. With a grumble and a few choice words she went to her bathroom where she tried to wash the lack-of-color away. It wouldn't come off, and after scratching it and finding that it didn't seem to have anything there figured it was just a trick of the light and her droopy, ill eyes.

That left one thig.... time for a nap.