Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Alice :: Castle That Never Was :: Where Nothing Gathers]

Auburn eyes glanced upwards as Ajora strode over to her, his hand out in offering. Alice smiled, and were she not in the present company. it might have looked genuine to any passerby who did not know her nature. She placed a bare hand in Ajora's, as she had yet to dispel the fabric that kept her from destroying the pristine white floors with every step. Her fingers gently touched his palm, long enough to get to her feet and not appear rude for declining someone's hand of invitation but short enough that the poison was only a slight sting.

The animator returned Ajora's question with a look of mild surprise as she turned her gaze upon the Replicas as they began to spin. "Surely, you must grant me a little more credit than that~ " She briefly saw her original, face utterly expressionless; hair slightly lighter and eyes marginally darker. Alice's eyes narrowed and for a second she contemplated the gratification that might come with absorbing her original's replica before realizing that there was none. Not in destroying something that Jenny would push herself away from.

Without a bat of an eye, Alice's telekinesis stopped the table's rotation on Kyle or his second replica at least. Had she been another person, she might have felt pity but instead, she felt nothing as the body floated to her with the beckoning of her mind. She smiled a traced a finger down the chest, watching as the poison trailed after her. Then, with no warning Alice pierced Repli-Kyle's chest with her hand and before the poison could even begin to work its malicious ways Alice was already absorbing the life force. She felt the powers weave through the very fibers of her body until there was nothing left.

[ Permanent +1 to Endurance ]

[Noelle ~ Red Rose ~ Ladies Bathing Chambers]

The small blonde flipped over in her tub and grabbed onto the rim at the far end of it, just barely peering over the edge at John after he returned. She felt a little more comfortable this way due to the fact that, in the event there was any way someone could see past the large masses of bubbles in her tub, all that could be seen was her rear. Such a case wouldn't be too embarrassing, so Noelle concealed her front in this way for the time being. Having overcome her initial shock she didn't feel quite so bashful and was able to laugh a little at John's apologies.

"Oh, don't worry, don't worry." She assured him, hanging her arms over the edge of the tub while staying concealed. "If anything, I should be apologizing, I hadn't meant to scream at you. It was a surprise to see . . . well, you guys. And if you feel the need to make it up to us the least you could do is get all hot and soapy and nekkid with us." Noelle said the last bit in a light-hearted, flirtatious manner, hoping to make John relax a little (and secretly hoping to make him blush more).

[Jenny :: Red Rose :: Hallways > Ladies Bathing Chamber]

There was no doubt that the splendor of the Red Rose took Jenny by surprise, it was even more glorious than she remembered... and that memory would be a pixelated version flickering on her Playstation. She wanted to explore the hallways and the rooms but she knew that even with her magical clothing, she felt icky from the last battle.

So after a few questions as to the location of the bathing room, the time mage found her standing at the door. She bundled up her fluffy towel closer to her chest and stepped in; the sweet scents of soaps and the tickling sensation of mist up her nose welcomed her.

Then-

She blinked once, and she blinked twice. Was she mistaken? She clearly saw not only John but also Demyx... who, if she recalled correctly, were men. But then, she also heard Noelle, and saw her head peeking out from a tub. "Uhmmm..." Jenny started and stuttered on the words, taking a quick step back, poking her head out the door just to make sure she was in the right bath. The men's bathing room was right there... meaning, she had to be in the right one. But then, how-?

"Right, haaiiiii," Jenny greeted the others rather sheepishly, feeling a faint blush work its way up her cheeks despite being fully clothed.

[ Ajora ; James ; Replica Procession : Castle That Never Was : Where Nothing Gathers ]

The acidic burn seemed to almost be ignored by Ajora, though it wasn't cancelled out; the light pink burns that remained were evidence of that. He merely smiled in response to Alice before she moved on to the Enslaved Replicas. There was a moment's pause before, finally, she picked...

Kyle?

Ajora couldn't help but snicker in surprise as he watched his form-- essentially, himself-- get absorbed into the Avatar of Impurity. As his form vanished, the Slave Crown began to fall-- and Ajora caught it in his hand.

"Well, curiouser and curiouser," he mused, nodding to Alice before once again spinning the table. "Next up, ladies again-- Elleon, if you please?"

[Dani :: Red Rose :: Bathing Chambers ]
As soon as Dani managed to finally calm down from her screaming and panic attacking, anger quickly set in, in its place. "Well thank you for ignoring me guys and letting me go through a panic attack." Dani shouted with anger and splashed water out of her tub.

"I thought you guys wanted me to try and use mist, and you guys were entirely rude and ignored me as I panicked by myself. You guys also didn't say whether or not you guys even had an ether to spare. Thanks a lot." Dani said as she rubbed her fingers against her temples to try and calm down before she started saying things that she would regret.

Dani then poked her head out of the curtain around her and noticed that Jenny had also joined the group in the ladies room. "Oh um... hi Jenny.... I do not direct my anger at you. Really sorry you heard me like this." Dani then quickly stuck her head back in after she saw Pie come back into the Ladies room from outside with Demyx.

[Matthew :-: Red Rose :-: Training Room]

As irritated with Joe as Matt was, he couldn't very well leave him on the floor. He noticed Dawn walking in and nodded at her. "Hey lady, we were just f-" was all he could say before Joe lurched forward and broke down. Matt stood still in surprise and listened to him, his irritation giving away as he found out how Joe felt.

Matt knelt down behind Joe, then drew him into a bear hug. "Jojo, you won't lose me. I promise you that." He took one of the sleeves of his hoodie and dabbed at his friend's cheeks, slowly rocking him back and forth.

[[Louis : Castle That Never Was : Where Nothing Gathers]]

Louis' lip curled up in disgust, He's treating this like some sort of game. Louis watched as the replicas spun rapidly in the center of the room. Finally stopping as Kyle's second replica was absorbed into Jenny's replica.

"Even I have to agree with your notions. His playful treatment of these... sacrifices is distasteful," Mateus' voice chimed in after Louis' thoughts along with a small wave of malcontent and disgust.

"Amazing that Ajora is okay essentially putting himself up on the pedestal to be absorbed though. He should realize the kind of subliminal messaging this sends to the others... not that they'd need it."

"I agree... no mercy, even for himself. That much at least is impressive."

"I imagine another Ajora would only prove to be another rival for power. No room for two... there can only be one. No pun intended."

"What I don't understand is why he chose to share this power... if he's gained the assets needed to create replicas of his own, why stop at these? He could just create an endless supply, absorb them all over time... and from that gain immeasurable power."

"The replication process is incredibly delicate, requires enormous amounts of time, and countless specific factors that make it unreliable in terms of power sources. On top of that, I doubt absorbing countless replicas would do anything for him after however many. Replica or not, he's still in a mortal body... there's a limit to how much his body can handle before it would simply break apart from within."

"Like your foolishness not long ago..."

"Precisely." Louis let out a steady breath from his mouth as the spinning resumed, "But... more importantly, is this what he had in mind? This was what he considered so urgent?" The Devil's Vangaurd crossed his arms in front of him and dragged his crystal claw lightly across the armor on the opposite. It made no noise, but the tactile motion took his mind off of his anxiety.

"To a replica, this probably is urgent. You heard what he said before... he wishes to make an offering of peace. To a replica, where power is everything, being given more power is just about the only thing you could give that could earn the respect of another."

"I'd agree with you if not for the fact they do not know gratitude... or if they do... not the kind you or I could likely ever understand," Louis shifted once more and rested his chin on his fist as he leaned forward and placed his elbow on his knee. His free arm stayed crossed over his chest, continuing the endless cycle of tap, scrape, lift, repeat.

"Then will you turn down his offering?"

Thee was a silence at this point as Louis retreated from the question into deep thought, a process similar to the circular motion of the replicas, thoughts going round-and-round in his head.