Welcome to Gaia! ::

”Esteemed guests of the assembly,” called out a voice, clear as a bell.

A young woman stood at the top of the stairs, maskless and dressed in white. She began to walk slowly down the stair, effortless and light. Her hair was an immaculate curly bob, coral pink and vibrant, and a smile glowed under her orange eyes. All of her glowed, really, the edges of her softened by the light in the room and an undeniable translucence to her body. A small number of people might recognize a face made for missing person’s posters, or one of the portraits at the end of the hall. An even smaller number of people might recognize the face of Cosmos Page Degrasse, who had been very small, and very brave.

She cleared her voice and began to speak.

“Thank you one and all for joining us on the occasion of a new Chauvet squire. My name is Genevieve Degrasse, and I will be your master of ceremonies for this evening. May I just say that all of you look simply ravishing.” She gave the crowd a knowing smile. “Before we introduce the guest of honor, I’d like to take a moment to explain the purpose of our grand little gallerie and...elucidate the purpose of our marble halls.”

Genevieve took another step, light as air and halfway down the stairs.

“As part of the grand tradition of those chosen to wander the Cosmos, Chauvet was historically a symbol of peace and goodwill. But perhaps most importantly, it was the task of the stationed knight to protect and preserve culture as it may be found, to carry the wisdom of the past forward where it may be appreciated by the future--by you. It was my life’s work to curate the finest artifacts and relics of the Silver Millenium, and it is to you I that bequeath these gifts, so that you may understand where you came from and where you could return to again, for those are our words: Memores acti prudentes futuri.”

“The artifacts curated for your enjoyment this evening were collected from the vast sweeps of the cosmos and every walk of life with the intent to bring them forward in a safe environment where they may be viewed today,” Genevieve explained. She paused at the bottom of the stairs, then fluffed her hair. “I ask that you not touch any of the relics in the next room, as many of them are quite old, but please--look to your heart’s content, mingle with your peers, make friends of strangers. It is through art that we know what it is to be human, after all.” She touched her cheek and sighed. “Ah, but I’m getting ahead of myself when I could just let the pieces speak for themselves. Squire Chauvet, could you do the honors?”

Across the hall, double doors clicked and swung inward. A tall, statuesque woman framed herself at the threshold, draped in an iridescent fur cloak and wearing a half mask made of solid gold. Expressionless, she looked at Genevieve and then to the crowd assembled, squaring her shoulders, then after a moment, she offered a stilted bow.

“Welcome to Chauvet,” she greeted, her voice stiff, and she motioned vaguely to the Gallery within. Then, with another doleful look at the ghost, she whirled on her heels and slipped back inside, awaiting the slow trickle of guests.

Genevieve did not seem to be perturbed in the slightest. “Go forth and be merry, esteemed guests! Be sure to meet with the Barkeep, he’ll be by with glasses of champagne from my personal stores--only the finest, and sure to enhance your connection to the works within.” She gave another knowing wink. “Now, in keeping with Gala traditions, the foyer will be made into a dance floor, for those seeking to take a partner and participate in the dances of your modern culture. With the assistance of the squire attendant, we have prepared a selection of Earth folk tunes from your century for your listening pleasure.” She nodded up to the Astrarium, where the Barkeep fiddled with a speaker and set it over the balcony. A moment later, music poured into the foyer below, a distinctive and screechy strings riff that may be familiar to the cultured.

La Cadenza
La Cadenza turned at the sound of the voice and watched the ghostly figure move towards them, her eyes wide. She had never seen a ghost before. Of all the strange things this young woman had seen in recent years, for some reason, a ghost felt the strangest and she had no idea how to handle this. She listened to the various words the other woman spoke, but she was a little too caught up, perhaps, in the fact that this was a ghost she was looking at. This was utterly impossible, part of her brain told her. The other part reminded her of a talking cat. The first part immediately screamed that at least HE WAS NOT DEAD.

All of the information washed over her, really, but when the double doors clicked, she turned to face them, curious as to what would be revealed to them. The sight of another young woman, but living, breathing and as solid as La Cadenza herself was, made her feel better. Maybe it was a foolish feeling, that, but it did, and she did not argue with herself over it. Instead, she watched the new woman, this Squire Chauvet, who seemed so unhappy to be here.

What was wrong? La Cadenza wondered if the deceased girl had been her lover or close friend or a family member, given how many times the new Squire looked dolefully at her, but it was odd to the Senshi-as-opera character. She pursed her lips, for a long moment, then she shrugged, and decided to head for the Gallery, curiously.

In Step (Adorea)

She was late of course; as she was often known to be. That being said this wasn't entirely her fault. Given the circumstances the young woman had been distracted by her own work and it was only at a belated stage that she had inspected the invite and found herself whisked away for want of a better word.

...One might say she'd been kidnapped.

This was the first time she had ever been 'off world' as it were and she had been a little lost as she gazed around the Foyer with a combination of confusion and wonder. It looked superb, utterly stunning to say the least, and yet she hadn't the slightest idea how she'd gotten here or how she might be able to get back. Food for thought perhaps, but for now she had the opportunity to observe her surroundings and even some of the costumed individuals.

Suffice to say that she recognised no one and would have to take several breaths before she introduced herself. She wasn't the shy sort but how did one approach another and start a conversation beyond 'neat mask'?

Her musing were at least temporarily delayed as Genevieve spoke; if there was ever someone to command attention it was her.

So this was what the invitation was for? A celebration of sorts, but also an opportunity to explore something deeper. The mauvian she had met had said there was more to her story than she could remember, so perhaps this was what he was referring to. This was an opportunity for her to potentially pursue knowledge of her origins if she felt she was ready.

Unsurprisingly she hesitated as she glanced in to the Gallery - no one else seemed to be unsure though. A hint perhaps, that it was perfectly safe to explore within these four walls...

Splendor couldn't help but smile as the woman that he offered his hand to, looked as though she had never seen a hand offered for a shake before. He was about to take it back, she gave his hand a soft shake and immediately retreated again. He chuckled at the action. "Perhaps they did. Though I would have appreciated more than pizza for the 'main' dish. But... I can't complain. I'm not the one hosting this Gala after all, and I wasn't given any input as to the food, so we have what we have." And if he had to, he would eat some, his stomach just wouldn't appreciate it later.

"Thank you. Ah, no, I don't. Or at least to anything like this. I often go to... "rich" parties though at the request of my family." He meant his mother of course, and he wouldn't go otherwise if he still wasn't living with her. But alas, that's how things were.

He was about to ask herself, but then they were addressed by... well he didn't know, but they were told about the Gallery and about how the Foyer would now be changed into a dance room. He sighed. "Well, I was hoping to avoid that." He muttered to himself. As good as he was at dancing, it didn't mean that he liked to do it. He turned to his companion. "I'm not one for dancing that much. Are you wanting to go to the Gallery to see what they have?" Even if she said no, he would be going there himself anyway. The music that was chosen for this event was just awful in his opinion.

Sonic (Austin)

He was here because the rhino had requested it of him. What that had meant exactly, the giant had no idea, but he was here nonetheless because he'd touched the invitation as he'd been instructed to and next thing he knew he was in a very unfamiliar place. It was far fancier than anything he'd ever seen his ginger gay own and that in itself was enough to make his eyebrows lift and nose wrinkle.

His pizza crusading bro had a lot of explaining to do later, after all it was over. If he remembered or actually cared to ask, that was.

Long, thick fingers reached up to tug at the collar of the too-fancy duds he found himself wearing. There was even a tie, what the ********, he wasn't the suit and tie wearing type of guy and yet-- here he was dressed to the nines. Hell, even his normally unruly curls seemed to be tamed and there was a pretty basic mask on his face.

Right it was one of those fancy mask parties.

Great.

Well, at least that'd make hitting on girls more fun if he didn't know if they'd hooked up before.

Saint

What. The. Ever. Loving. ******** knew he looked good in a suit but this -- whatever the ******** it was, was over the top to the extreme. A mask, on top of all of this bullshit? A giant mansion...castle... thing that they'd been ported to for some goddamn party where they were playing goddamn teenybop music with an introduction that left him feeling as equally confused as when he'd first arrived.

Thank Christ that Sinner was there.

The redhead at his side seemed equally as perturbed to be there as he did, which was honestly almost a shame, considering how well the ginger seemed to fit in to such a lavish looking gala. Leave it to the smarmy, handsome p***k to look right at home with all this fancy s**t, leaving the big ape of a man at his side.

Promise of alcohol immediately lifted his spirits, however and Sinner had to do very little cajoling to get Saint to follow right behind him, broad shoulders bumping against others in passing as they beelined it for the drinking area.

"Suits me."

He paused, amused with himself at the pun but knowing better than to actually point it out to his volatile other half.

Bright Girl (Ara)

Oh were they supposed to use code names, Ara loved code names. "Umm you can call me bright girl." Maybe it wasn't the most creative but it was the first thing she could come up with on the spot.

She watch the two grown up talk to each other, girl kept glancing around. "You look nervous, you shouldn't be." She said definitively. "Its a party and even if you're shy thats what masks are for. You should have fun." She stated in a matter of fact manner. She did a twirl as if to demonstrate.

Then another lady began to speak. She had to check this out. besides it seemed like the two adults wanted to speak to each other. "Bye mr Cypher bye miss nervous lady. I'm gonna go check that out" She said as she made her way toward the gallery as fast as she could in her long dress.

[ Exit to the Gallery ]