Welcome to Gaia! ::

Thankfully for Nuk in some odd way in Sammy's mind, the number came up her own. She didn't flinch she simply closed her eyes and nodded leaning over to collect the simple black ring before slipping it on her ring finger. Not a moment after she felt G's hand squeezing her shoulder. She turned to look at him a small smile on her face, "Told you I wouldn't let you go alone big guy." She reached up placing a hand over his own returning the squeeze till he finally lost composure.

Where G cried, Sammy looked tired, she finally seemed truly sleepy for once and something about it seemed good to her. She looked around taking in everyone. Lingering on Rep, Jordan and Candace. Moving to Nuk and everyone in between. She wouldn't see them again, but the knowledge they might live a bit longer, still have a king to guide them to make it right, somehow comforted her.

"C'mon big guy, no reason to cry man. I'll get your back when we get there." She offered him another squeeze. "Like I said, it's going to be... nice, to finally get some sleep. Never really did to begin with so... yeah. It'll be quiet for once, just like the Silver Kingdom was... I think I could do with a few years of that after a life of noise and chaos." It was then a single tear rolled down her cheek, hot, heavy, and wet, it was funny.

She couldn't recall the last time she had actually cried.

It was heart rending to see the big man break down.

Just a figment.

He'd seemed like a good bloke, and had only wanted to earn the other him's loyalty and trust. It was all he'd asked.

Just a figment.

And Sammy, twinkies couldn't cheer up everything.

Just a figment

Rep moved to place a hand on G's arm.

"C'mon man. You are family now. Both of you"

It was a bittersweet moment. The wheel was spun, and each time a breath of relief was exhaled, a feeling of having your life cut by years. And at the end of that, JIng was able to look to the side and still see his sister.

His sweet, silly, rebellious idiotic sister. The cascaded over him in waves as the tenseness of his suddenly free shoulders melted and went away, only to be replaced by the sorrow of losing someone else, it wasn't as deep, but a loss was aloos.

Sammy and G were the reasons why he could still stand and pursue his goals in life. It still hurt. looking around after giving his sister one heck of a hug an a bump on the noggin' for going against his wishes, everyone else pain was just as visible.

The weeping from the gentle giant was far too much for him to bear. as he stiffened his fists and will his heart to calm down. The look on the skinwalker's face was just as horrible as he put an arm around the guy, if anything to keep him grounded before he flew off the handle. And to keep himself occupied and not rushing in to become a martyr in place of one.

They all needed some consoling right now. protection... he had to wonder what it even meant.

JIng sincerely hoped it meant to bash the voices face in for causing the rift in their tentative family. "You two won't die." he said softly. "you'll be with us." It was all he trusted himself to say.


He just wanted to hug G one more time. 20 more times, he never even got to say hello to sammy, but now was forced to say goodbye.

Serafina had been awful disinclined to volunteer herself, but something of a morbid fascination made her eyes roll over to the way they were drawing lots to figure out who would die at the casino, that night, to protect their King from being in the danger of battle.

Something seemed awfully poetic about it. Gambling for their lives. Wasn't this whole thing really a gamble? Only one kingdom could win, the rest being left for ruin. And while she was absolutely certain her Blue Kingdom would be the one to stand at the end, it was undeniably a gamble with short, small chances. There were eight kingdoms, seven then, six now, which only left a one in six chance of anyone really coming out the winner of any of this.

Still, she watched the whole situation with curiosity rather than upset, interest rather than confusion, and fascination instead of terror, unable to tear her eyes away as B0nez rolled out the first ... loser.

Winner?

Hard to say.

Serafina choked on her drink when the answer came out, dropping her drink on the counter. There was nothing she could find herself to say, find herself to think. Her brain stuttered out, her mind reeling from the results.

Gargantuan.

No.

Everything in her screamed at the injustice this was. Someone so pure and innocent should not die for this crowd. They shouldn't die ever. That saying about The Good Dying Young always seemed to ring so accurately, but it never rang so accurately as it did right now, her heart dropping through the floor as her eyes welled up in a way she didn't know they were capable.

She missed the second sacrificial lamb. To be honest, she wasn't fully paying attention anymore, her hands shaking and her vision blurring. How could she let him sacrifice himself? Could she, in good conscious, let one of her most shining people let himself throw himself into this, killing himself before anyone would get to see him as a true hero? He'd only be seen as a martyr, at the best. At the worst, he would be wiped from history, never even mentioned by whichever kingdom won, only another casualty in what was no doubt going to be hundreds of thousands.

If they must do things this way, Serafina refused to let him go without saying goodbye.

She lept from her seat, running over to Sammy and G and taking them into what might have been a rather difficult hug, her body rather small in comparison to theirs, squeezing her eyes shut to stop the tears from flowing any more than they already were. Senator Arai, the overemotional that could not accept when disastrous actions needed to be taken. Senator Arai, the one who did not support the idea of the few for the many. Senator Arai, who would let their king die. She knew. But yet...

"I barely got to know either of you, but do know this," murmured Serafina, thickly, "the two of you are some of the best we have to offer, willing to face something that none of us really ever understand. Death is ... hard. It's unknown. It's something we don't really understand and likely never will. But you two are brave, and ... G." She turned to him, reaching up and patting him on the shoulder. "The time I got to talk to you made me realize that maybe not everyone is evil in this world, and that there's something to admire still in us, The Family. We'll live." She turned to Sammy. "And honor your sacrifice."

She stepped away, attempting to bite down the urge to offer herself in their sted.

It was hard.

The first sacrifice’s tears let him know all he needed to know. That he didn’t want to die. Well, who did. Still, he took some comfort that his choice was not because of suicide, but because of true loyalty, something he never had, and may not have the chance to learn. The second one joined him in the tears and Harrison sent them to the back. He turned away, not wanting to see them anymore. It was too late, their faces were burned into his mind.

It didn’t sit well with him that he was joining to survive as others were dying.


"I'll join. It's better then fighting alone." he tried not to glance at the sacrifices.

Jordan kept his expression calm, kept the smothered feeling in his chest from showing in his face or posture. His other - no, the other would still have felt the pain of this sacrifice. He would not have shown it.

Into the moment of quiet after Serafina had said her piece, Jordan said simply, "Thank you."

It had been a long time since Roar's expressions were outwardly visible, let alone his words. He braced himself as things passed, hovering as he did, wishing Jerry would hurry it the hell up. "We're all gonna' see action by the end," He said simple, lips pursing for a moment. "They're part of The Watch. I'm less worried about you two coming back than I am how you're gonna' ******** up the other guys." The tears, ultimately were a testament to people's faiths in their abilities. Sammy- the Sammy Roger knew here in the Blue kingdom was a tough as nails mercenary. And G was a big guy he had been wanting to fight himself for a long time, if only for the challenge of it. He may not have know G outside of the illusion, but Sammy was quite familiar, and if she Popped a punch like she Talked her Talks, she would be fine.

Jerry was slightly more disheveled as he hurried back in, his expression solemn, if a bit spooked- or at least a lot more solemn and spooked than a man's expression should be after walking away from what he just walked away from.

"Did anyone else see the... the rip?" He hissed frantically to his partner and the woken Hunters nearby.

"Somewhere sunny and tropical sounds--" nice, Taima was going to say when she was interrupted by the Voice. Her good humor faded as it delivered its edict, replaced by irritation at its demands. Who the hell was it to make these kind of demands on them? There had been peace between the kingdoms once; why couldn't the Voice get over its hissy fit and leave them all be?

Taima watched the mirth drain out of G with the Voice's pronouncement, could see the wheels turn in his head. "Don't--" she said as he made his decision and walked away to talk to their King. Her fingers curled into fists as she resisted the urge to pull him back. She knew what he was planning to do, and she didn't approve.

It wasn't her place to talk him out of it. This cause was what he had chosen to dedicate himself to--this protection of people who didn't deserve it--and maybe...maybe it was better this way. He had believed so much that the kingdom was going to come out of this whole and unscathed, but Taima knew how these things worked. The odds were stacked against them. No one was just going to walk away from this. Maybe it would be better for him to die here and now believing he was protecting them than to die with the rest of them on the battlefield believing he'd failed.

She looked on as G walked to the throne, watched as the King accepted his offer to be the first lamb to the slaughter. The anger of having failed to reach the top of the tower, the warmth of the conversation that had abruptly ended, all of it faded. Taima sat a little straighter, her features falling naturally into vague apathy as she internalized the rage she felt at the cruel whims of the Voice. She fought down the hope that threatened to rise as others stepped forward to offer themselves as sacrifice. She wouldn't. It wasn't in her nature to fall upon the sword; she was most likely the one who left the sword lying around in the first place, waiting for someone to trip. She followed the group to the roulette table, holding herself off to the side and watching those willing to fight put their marks on the table.

It wasn't a surprise when G's number was most decidedly rolled. It was a struggle to remain dispassionate, especially when the big man broke down. All she wanted to do was scream at the injustice of it all, that the best of them should die defending the worst, but there was nothing to be done about it. The die had been cast, such as it was, and Taima had no idea how to begin to help him now. All she could do--all she would do--was what she did best: watch and learn.