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 Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:17 am
It seemed to cause no pain to Talonfaust, but the strain on Julius's face indicated that the opposite was not true. Julius spat out his lower lip to avoid biting it off and ground his teeth together, struggling against some internal demon as the blindfold's glow increased, brighter and then still brighter--
The light stopped just short of blinding and blinked out suddenly in protest against the length of time it took to appear. Julius cried out and practically threw Talonfaust's hand away, turning so sharply his wings nearly collided with Talonfaust's body. The Ancient went crashing to the ground, or table, as the case was. His trio of wings pressed down against the table protectively.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:22 am
Talonfaust recoiled, startled by the violent reaction. What in the name of the gods had THAT been all about...?? He made no move to touch Julius, but knelt nearby where he'd fallen, his movements slow and careful.
"What happened?" he questioned softly, deciding the question 'are you all right' was trite in this case as the ancient clearly was not.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:25 am
Julius slowly pushed himself up, one hand against his head to stave off the beginnings of a throbbing headache. "It was slightly more than I expected," he gasped out. He sat silently then, taking deep breaths and massaging his temples.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:32 am
The white-winged feien's brow furrowed itself. More of WHAT than you expected? he wanted to ask, but refrained and fell silent as he waited for the elder feien to recover himself, wondering if he had found what he was looking for or not.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:35 am
At last, Julius spoke with a dry, halting voice. "I know what has happened, and what now must be done, but I will require help." He fell silent again.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:43 am
Talon's green-tipped ears perked a bit at this. Despite the fact he had just gotten home after being gone for such a long stint and the fact he had sworn he was never leaving again after that fiasco, he felt a certain pull of obligation.
Julius had assisted Talon in his merging with someone who had once been a friend of his without knowing who he was, where he'd come from, or if he would use Josephus's lended power for evil or not. The ancient had simply done so through no necessity of his own. For that, Talon felt he had no place questioning the nature of the presented situation.
"If my assistance would be of any help to you, you certainly have it." he offered sincerely.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:48 am
Julius lifted his hand into the air. "Then might you begin by helping me up?"
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 10:57 am
*****************SCENE BREAK********************
As it was still fairly early (for a Sunday, anyway), Barton was thankfully not as congested as it usually was and allowed for easy movement with minimal snags. Julius had said that their destination was near the meetingplace and registration building for the many guilds Gaia housed. This was, thankfully, an area Talon knew somewhat as Karma travelled here frequently.
The ancient had failed to mention WHY they were going...it seemed 'why' and 'what' were not things Julius cared to waste his time on, which bothered Talon on a deeper level than it likely should have.
When they arrived, the windows of the registration building were alight and, nearby, a small crowd of gaians filtered up and down the front steps of the meeting halls.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:09 am
Julius seemed to have some sort of vague idea of what he was doing. It was clear he had never been in the area himself and regarded all the humans and assorted non-human Gaians with some suspicion. "We go inside," said Julius, and led the way.
Inside it was something of labyrinth, with directions to about a thousand different places, many of which required membership to enter. Julius rubbed his hands together in distress as he studied the area with great care, ignoring the many criers who waved pamphlets around and screamed statements like "JOIN THE FF GUILD, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT" and "WE R LOOKING 4 SOLDIRS 4 R ARMY!!1" How these folk managed to speak aloud such statements and still convey gross typographical errors was a bit of a mystery, but that was part of the magic of Gaia.
One wall showed banners and welcome notices for various guilds, rather like the license plate display at the Department of Motor Vehicles, only several times more crowded and constantly changing. There was some organization to it, and after a few minutes spent searching the wall Julius seemed to find what he was looking for. "This way," he announced, as eager as Talon to escape this Gaian hell hole.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:16 am
"Right." Talon nodded and said nothing else as he trailed after Julius, staying close and hoping that wherever they were going was quiet, at the very least.
The shouts of the pamphlet wavers jangled in his sensitive ears and made his temples throb. Just how many slave bars and houses of kitsune and neko love did Gaia -need-, anyway?
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:19 am
Julius spent a good deal of his concentration on following whatever instructions he had procured from the wall of Too Much Stuff and they were soon next to a door bearing a flag of green, white, and red. A depressingly familiar flag.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:26 am
A spark of recognition instantly resounded through Talon's head at the sight of the flag. He'd seen that somewhere. Where had he seen---
And then he remembered. During his haphazard travelling in hopes to catch up with Irisa after they'd been separated, it was this flag that had marked passage into Italy and at random points thereafter like an obnoxious reminder.
Despite the fact that the bottom felt as though it had dropped out of his stomach in utter chagrin of the thought of going back, he likewise gave himself a swift inward kick in aggravation. They'd gone through the ******** of taking a plane when there was a portal they could have used??
He did his best to quell the swarm of frustration and looked to Julius, awaiting confirmation of whether they were, indeed, where he'd intended them to go.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:31 am
Being so far away from what was familiar, Julius seemed confused for a moment. Then a Gaian stepped up to the door, seemingly oblivious to the two fairies floating over his head, and threw it open.
The other side of the door was definitely Italy, and as the Gaian stepped through, he disappeared. That made vague sense. On the other side of this portal, that Gaian did not exist. Whereas Julius and Talonfaust...
If Julius was worried, it was hard to tell. He went straight through the door without hesitation and seemed to disappear just as the Gaian had.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:37 am
Talon had been staring after the gaian who had casually vanished through the portal and turned his head just in time to see Julius doing the same. As the door began swing shut, the white-winged feien shot forward with as much speed as he possessed, determined not to be left behind.
He was aware of the latch snicking shut bare millimeters behind him, a brief pulling sensation....
....and then he was assaulted by humidity, the monotonous cooing of pigeons, and the familiar dank smell of wet pavement as the scenery around him changed itself entirely. How lovely to be back HERE again, he thought dismally.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 11:41 am
Julius suddenly appeared again, floating just to Talon's left, and looking perhaps a tad more disheveled than before. "I'm afraid I am not sure where to proceed from here. In which direction is the Vatican?"
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