Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Alan :: LoD :: Throne Room]

For his part, Alan was genuinely embarrassed when he realized that this person wasn't hostile. Certainly not pleasant, but not immediately in the process of attacking anyone. "Sorry for attacking you," he said, "I was startled by your sudden appearance."

Despite his apology, Alan's eyes were still dangerous, almost daring someone to attack him. He glanced between Seymour and the strange man. Again it struck him that he did not know the political situation here. Having played Final Fantasy X, Alan instinctively distrusted Seymour, but at the same time he didn't want to make a mistake based on such a bias.

For now, Alan decided to stand back. His first step should be to verify if he had actually been thrust into the Kingdom Hearts universe and learn as much of the current situation as he could. Before that, there was no sense in making enemies.

[Amy : Land of Dragons : Throne Room]

As the man in armor landed, Amy snapped back to attention. She was still tired as all get out, and she had assumed the fight was over. Her weapons had been dismissed, and instinct was pulling her to summon them again while another side of her instinct was telling her to lay down. Just lay down right there. Take a nap. That little piece of rubble? The one that doesn't have so many jaggedy edges? It would make a terrific pillow.

In the end, she did not summon her weapons back, just stayed out of the way while things went down.

She noted with interest the entrance of the new fella, and how he seemed to know Jon, and the awesome water attack that would have been oh so useful mere moments before. Irony.

One thing she knew for certain, she wasn't any match for 'armor man'. He encased John in ice like it was nothing, effectively using Alan's attack against him. She was glad she hadn't listened to that instinct of shoot first and talk later.

But she hated -oh, how she hated!- when Seymour stood up for them. She also found herself grudgingly thankful that he had explained who the heck Ultima was, as that question was on the tip of her tongue.

So, in conclusion, she was too tired to do much, and contradicting herself in her own feelings. Attack: Fall Asleep. Hate Seymour: Be Thankful for Seymour.

Curaja couldn't take away her fatigue, and she was in no condition to make an intelligent reply to 'armor man's' demand.

[Alan :: Land of Dragons :: Throne Room]

Alan began walking towards the armored man and the man frozen in ice, calmly so as to not convey any threat. He was afraid that the mysterious intruder would smite him if he got too close, but he also wanted to help John. He looked at the armored man, explaining himself with a level voice: "I'm going to melt this ice."

Then he conjured a small flame, and proceeded at the aforementioned task.

[ Kuja ; Zexion : Dining Car ]

"'E be in da Trainin' Car wit Zexien," Silver said with a curious look in his eye as Jenny came running in, shouting and looking downright distraught. "What be dah problem, lassie, did ye not get ta save de Enchantress-"

"No, it's not that," Zexion muttered, strolling into the Dining Car, Kuja following shortly after, both of them with knowing looks on their faces. "I smelled it the moment we got out. The Replicas have been by, haven't they?"

"Ugh, I can't get a moment's rest these days, can I?" Kuja complained, his eyes rolling slightly as he walked forward, looking toward Jenny. "Alright, ma petit, what happened? Is everyone okay, or does Kuja need to save the day yet again?"

Both Silver and Zexion snorted somewhat at the comment, which Kuja seemed to ignore.

[Nicholas :: Jadis' Castle]

Staring at the Guados was a hard thing not to do. They moved with an insane speed that most, if not all, humans couldn't nearly keep up with. Was it genetic? Or fueled by magic? He'd have to ask one of them...Perhaps Seymour would know.

At the cloaked woman's question, the Lanista turned towards her, pulling off his freakish hood and mask. "I cannot say for certain that this is the right path. I cannot judge what is right or wrong, either. What one person finds reasonable and just, another could see as insane and tyrannical. I'm not going to choose, teacher, because I don't know enough to choose. But." He paused, popping open the vial and sniffing it. It was oddly odorless, but then again...Does magic have an odor? He took a long swig, feeling a warm sensation flow through his body, and his eye felt odd for a few moments before the sensation went away. "As I was saying, this is the path that I've chosen. I just hope that it leads me away from something that would conflict with my beliefs. What about you...Are you glad you've chosen this path?"

[Timmy : "The Gorge" -> Hook's Ship]

"I'm in no mood for your lies or games," he said not even giving the girl any eye contact. "I have no business with that group of strangers either. I'm heading back to the ship, what you do is none of my business anyways." He opened up his own portal back to the ship and jumped right on through.

After ending on the other side of the portal he murmured to himself, "I've always been better doing things alone..." he continued on into his cabin to where he could be alone and think things through.

[ Kuja ; Kyle ; Sora ]

Kuja hovered through the Lounge Car, stopping for a moment at Rae and Joseph, his face having transitioned to one of cold, stoic anger. There she lay, lifeless; Joseph was sitting beside her, absolutely numb.

Without a word, he hovered out of the car, passing the others and glancing around. The crater was an obvious after-effect of battle, but... the Replicas were no longer here.

"Why didn't you fools come and get me sooner?" Kuja seethed, glaring around- everyone seemed particularly stunned, all just trying to get in the car.

"There wasn't any time," Sora muttered from behind him, standing beside the entrance to the Lounge Car as he motioned for the others to come in; he felt absolutely useless. "We got back, we were attacked by two... the Rae that was in the train was a Replica to begin with.

"What?" Kuja seethed, turning to glare at Sora before making a 'Tch' sound, glancing at the rest. "She was...? Hmph. I don't like that plot twist..."

"Kuja, can you just come over here?" Kyle called, still struggling with the vines; they seemed to hold tight, not budging even once as he struggled- it was no wonder Cory was stuck under the ground.

"What?" he muttered, hovering over to the holy dragoon before raising his eyebrow, a frown on his face. "Him again? What's he doing here?"

"Noelle's replica sucked him under after he insulted-"

"I don't care about that; why is he here?" he asked, glaring at Kyle. "At the train to begin with? He ambushed me just a little while ago, while you were saving the Enchantress."

"... you're joking," Kyle muttered, stopping for a moment with the vines to glance at Kuja with frustrated glance. "Of course you're not. Did he even say why?"

"He muttered some nonsense about how I was an 'end game boss' or something of the sort, but nothing else. Brought that Timmy along with him," he muttered, glancing down at Cory with what could only be described as a smirk at his current situation. "Come on, let's just get on the train."

"No, I need you to help me get him out. I can't manage it on my own."

"And why don't we just leave him here?" Kuja asked, immediately raising his eyebrows at the spear wielder; he found some pleasure in the fact that Cory could still hear everything. "After everything he's done, why on earth get him out of there?"

"The Replicas may still be around," Kyle explained, standing up and dusting himself off lightly. Everyone else had, mostly made their way to the train, just leaving a few stragglers.

"My point still stands," Kuja retorted, rolling his eyes before glancing back at the paladin. There was a silence as Kyle raised his eyebrow at Kuja, as if daring the Genome to continue with his thoughts. "Oh, right. Morality, right thing to do, et cetera. Sure sure, stand back."

With that, Kuja knelt down, touching the vines for a moment before making a brief 'hmph'. "No wonder he couldn't move. The roots from these vines were ensnaring his entire body. Even that undead samurai couldn't have budged with this little plant trapping him underground."

"Can you get him out or not?" Kyle asked, his tone having slipped into something more... apathetic, now that he knew what Cory had done before hand.

"But of course~! Don't you know who I am?" Kuja responded arrogantly, readying a brief spell. "I'll simply have to burn the entire root system. The ground will loosen up after that, and he'll be free to cower away like he always does."

"I'd still prefer you didn't hurt him," Kyle muttered, though by this point he'd begun walking back toward the train- his way of washing his hands of whatever was about to happen.

"Oh, you'll be fine. After all, you're Cory, right?" Kuja muttered, an obvious touch of spite in his voice. With a brief Fira incantation, the vines immediately burst into flame, only to be snuffed out a split-second later. The burns would hurt, but would leave no permanent scarring or marks that required healing.

[[Louis : LoD : Throne Room]]

Louis glanced at Seymour then nodded to Alan, "Good to see someone has some de-" Louis spun around, a sheet of ice conveniently shaped like a sword growing from the shape of his pointed gauntlet extending from the wrist and stopping only a hair's breath from John's throat, "It's easy to see you have no clue as to whom you are speaking, so I'll let you off easy this once, but don't expect mercy the next time you decide to mouth off to me." Louis drew the blade away in a flash, at first appearing harmless, but a second later leaving a paper thin line of blood along one side of John's neck, "Let that remind you next time who you're dealing with."

Louis returned with his expressionless gaze behind ruby eyes to Kichi, "Silly boy. Are you blind to the obvious? What fate does anyone offer his enemies? One must know the terms before his salvation or demise. So, do you choose Salvation... or Betrayal? Be quick, my patience grows thin."