Welcome to Gaia! ::

Fiasco looked to the poor rabbit that had the misfortune of grabbing Khyn's shirt. He mouthed the word sorry while Khyn had her back turned, and then, Ani disapeared. Cute. Fiasco shook his head and ran after Khyn and Traci. They proceded up the stairs they had previosly descended back to the room with the strange dog-man. Fiasco shared a brief look with the creature before he moved on past. They followed a rabbit through long passageways before they ultimately ended at very ornate double doors. To say they were large would be an understatement. Fiasco could drive two tanks through them. Granted he would have to find tanks, but they certainly would have fit. The doors swung inward at their aproach, and their ears were imediately assaulted by overly loud words. The room beyond the doors could have fit many more tanks. It was circular and housed many rows of seats. Most of said seats happened to be filled at this moment by every kind of animal-man hybrid.

"Even as we speak the Queen's Midnight Guard do their work silently behind our lines! We need assemble a counter force to this!" An angry turtle-man declared.

A stork from across the room adressed this statement with an even tone. "Leave her Majesty's Midnight Guard to me. I've dealt with their likes before. Our main concern should be the uprising in the East. We have enough to worry about with Nightmares without having to concern ourselves with fights from within."

"Agreed." said a Lion. "I'd rather the kingdom not tear itself apart."

"But the supply lines!" interupted a rabbit. "We must first repair the rails to keep our soldiers in fighting form!"

The room went silent as they npticed the group of humans standing in the impossibly large center of the room. No one spoke as they took stock of them.

"I see," an old voice broke the silence "that you have been hard at work, my dear Cat." It was an owl. It stood perched tree branches that occupied a seat. It looked like only an owl. Not a hybrid. "Our plane has no doubt collided with another yet again. You only found the four? You normally bring forth at least a dozen."

"My apologies, her Majesty's dark subconcious desires to subjigate more worlds than just her own. My time was limited." The Cat's voice echoed around the room.

The Owl's eyes peirced the humans. "They must enter the tower."

The Cat turned to his human charges. "Entering the tower costs nothing. But once inside, to become more, one must first become less." His voice was low and solemn.

Fiasco spared a glance up at the owl whom he decided was female. He wasn't sure why. He looke back to the rabbit. "What tower?"

"The Tower of Change." He replied, sorrow deep in his voice. "No one ever comes out the same as they entered. It will prepare you, though. Your only chance to get home lies in the hands of the Red Queen."

( this will have to do for now XD )

Khyn stared around at the room's occupants, eyes wide with awe. Such strange creatures in this world, and yet all so familiar in shape to the creatures of her own world. At the Owl's words, Khyn turned sharply towards the animal.

"Wait, what do you mean by that? Dozens... of others... like us?! How many others have there been? What happened to them? Are we all being brought here like lambs to the slaughter, trying to wake this Queen of yours?" If there had been others who'd not succeeded in waking the Queen, then their own "mission" was doomed for failure. What could a very small bunch of high schoolers do. She turned eyes filled with horror to look at Cat.

"You'd better explain everything, Cat. Including whatever they mean about a tower." Her hands clenched tightly, nails biting into the fleshy pads. She was scared and angry at the same time.

((Sorry about that short hiatus.. :3 ))

Traci snapped out of her daze and tried to get back in the conversation.

When they had first entered the room, the political, warfare-y-ish talk had daunted her, and made her despair of ever getting a proper explanation. But as the group had been noticed, things were made just a tiny bit clearer.

And it made her nervous. Particularly the part about that Tower thing of Change. She didn't really like change. She liked herself just the way she was, mostly, thank you very much. And besides, if she changed one thing for the better, there were still all the other good things you would lose...well, it didn't really make any sense the way she verbalized it in her head, but she knew what she meant. And though it sounded a lot better than any direct combat, it still didn't sound very fun.

Maybe she was just overreacting. Maybe it was just something stupid, like...she didn't know...uh, hair color or something. Or maybe it was just some gobbledegook they made up to scare them. Or it was some kind of bizarre character-building thing.

Traci was all ready to ask questions. But there was so much she didn't know, it was hard to tell where to start. "Um..." she attempted, knowing that if she didn't try she'd be in the dark for good, "who's the Queen?"

Khyn walked along with the others, making their slow journey. She took in the words of the Cat and added them to all of the other new information they'd been told since arriving here... where ever here was.

"So if we actually survive what the Tower holds for us, then what? Are we to battle against those Mind Slaves.. or do we just go skipping up to the Queens bed chambers and say 'Wake up, Your Majesty!'? What's expected of us? And what if we fail the test of the Tower... will we ever go home?" Khyn had felt fear as the others must surely feel, yet she showed nothing of that emotion. Instead, she let fury for their situation and the desire to understand and conquer the hurdles be what the others saw. She briefly brushed a hand over the hidden pocket of her skirt and felt the hard object it held. This slight touch made the knots in her stomach ease.

Though Fiasco awaited the Cat's words with eager ears, he felt strrangely compelled to aleviate Khyn's worries. "Take it easy," he said as calm as he could muster. "Everything will work out. The Cat won't willingly lead us to our deaths."

"Won't I?" The Cat asked Fiasco.

"No." He stated flatly. "You won't." He wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Khyn, the Cat, or himself. It was best he didn't mention it though.

"To my knowledge," The Cat spoke after a moment. "No one has ever been killed within the Tower. Their is no failing. You'll simply remain inside until you pass. Until you become the person you need to be." They walked on in silence, picking up speed to keep pace with Traci. "Waking the Queen will require more than just entering her bedchambers and shaking her. What it will require, I'm hopeing you'll learn yourselves within the confines of the tower." He then let silence descend over the group. Their footsteps were the only noise heard for miles, barring the wind. "Fiasco however, is correct." elation bleeding into his words as he bolstered thier confidence. "My lot in life is a strange one I'll confess. Being the herald to other worlds is quite taxing on the phsyce. Transcending dimensions tends to leave holes in my personality, so I fill them. I fill them with the parts of the people I meet." He paused while a butterfly flew in front of his vision. He wavered slightly, almost as if the cat in him wanted to chase the insect. "Fiasco's streak of nobility won't allow me to bring harm to you."

Fiasco's face suddenly showed alarm of the greatest magnitude, or maybe it's how one would looked when they realize that they just ate a frog. "Damnit." Fiasco's word's seemd to be carried by the wind. "I forgot my tool bag."

The Cat laughed, a noise the group of humans were not to familiar with(at least not coming from the Cat). "No going back for it now. We're here."

The Tower of change might have been two floors, but even then, You would be hard pressed to call it a tower. It was old. Centuries by the look of the stonework. It was, however, very unimpressive.

"This," said Fiasco, "Is The Tower of Change? It's..." He paused to look for the right word. "Ten different kinds of not a tower. I could fall of the roof, land on my head, and be ok." An incredulous look stained his face. "I mean of course, that it's quite lovely." He looked at the Cat to see if he hurt his feelings, but the creature didn't even blink, but he smiled. It was almost terrifying. It was a smile that screamed I know something that you don't.

"Wel," said the Cat, "Whenever your ready."

"What a tiresome turn things seem to have taken," Ani muttered to himself as he turned the hardened glass doorknob and opened the umpteenth door, only to walk back into the very same room he'd begun. He frowned and turned around, to find that the door had disappeared, melting back into the wood paneled walls surrounding him. He sighed and folded his arms; this was unfamiliar territory, annoying one as well, and it seemed rather ironic to note that he'd managed to spend more time in this one room than all the time he'd spent in any one place at a time to date. It seemed that whatever apparition had dumped him here now proved powerless to extricate him from this awkwardness.

"However shall I explain myself if and when I'm found here?" Getting into more trouble within the rabbits' keep was not a prospect he looked forward to, especially since it was well past time for tea and he couldn't remember even having breakfast. A gloved hand rubbed Ani's chin as he slowly moved backward to lean against the wall, but he yelped and turned around when his back came in contact with something cold and smooth.

"Lark! What do we have here?"

It was a mirror, materialized out of ...well thin air. Ani leaned closer, thinking it must be quite old because no one favored polished obsidian around these parts; few people could afford luxury items of such great value. Then, to his surprise, the still surface of the mirror rippled from the center, as though it had been touched by an invisible hand. He raised a curious eyebrow and then hesitantly brought the tip of his left index finger over the center of the mirror but instead of touching stone or even liquid, his finger seemed to pass through until his whole hand was embedded into the mirror. Ani watched, stupefied, as the ripples became stronger and more violent, pieces of hitherto unseen images appearing in random sequence until....

"Now, this is an unexpected development."

He blinked at his reflection and the latter blinked back. He could almost believe it was him...had his irises always been such a dark, bloody...red? Their smile spread from eye to eye, like a nice swathe cut into a bowl of cream...

"Yes, an unexpected development indeed."

His reflection replied in a honey smooth voice as their hands clasped. Ani flinched as a cold wave washed over him, followed immediately by a flash of light. He blinked and frowned at the mirror he was foolishly pointing to, hand slowly falling back to his side. Must be the hunger pangs...He reached up to brush his hair back and looked around, surprised and relieved to turn around and find that the mirror had disappeared. It was once again replaced by the door with the glass knob. "Honestly," He sighed and shook his head, steeling himself for another walk through the labyrinth.

"As am I." Said an all too familiar voice from behind Fiasco.

Fiasco turned to look at another variation of himself. The copy wore black from head to toe, including black boots and a black bandana just barely covering the tip of his chin. They then started to come out of the woodworks like roaches. First one, then two, then five, then ten. Each one was dressed diferently. Each appeared to be a year or two older than the Fiasco of now. "This is insane." He said to his selves.

"Is it?" inquired one that was at the back of the gang of Fiascos. He sat upon a throne of bone. He stood and walked towards Fiasco. "Have you given it any thought?"

"To what?" Fiasco asked.

The dark copy walking towards him smiled. He looked pale in comparison to the others. HIs arcaic armor seemd to glow black in the small room. The other Fiascos gave him a wide berth. "As to wich of these possible futures you will choose. Will you be the Silver Tounged Pirate? The Bandit King? The Knight? Or perhaps you will sucumb to the desire for power? Be tainted by what you fear? Will you become... Me?" His smile broadened.

Fiasco saw something dark pulsate underneath the pale skin of his tainted counterpart. "What are you?" His voice trembled as he spoke his question.

"I am the you that gets the job done. The you that puts victory before everything else. The you that fails. The you that trades his conscience for another chance."

"What did I fail to do?" fear bleeding into the question even more now.

The dark copy shakes his head. "Telling you would alter the course. I'm just here as a visual repersentation of a future that can be yours." The copy watched Fiasco's face turn into a scowl. "Don't let fear and anger cloud your judgement. I know you see me and asociate me with evil. It's not that black and white." He shook his head. "Good and evil masquerade as many things. Your mind will help them shroud themselves in lies that you yourself weave."

Fiasco's scow turned into confusion. "What?"

"See for yourself." And the copy pointed towards the pool that the pirate came from. "Look. Don't fear me, boy. I wouldn't dream of hurting myself and jeopordizing the existence of at least one of us."

Fiasco watched the dark copy closely before taking a short walk to the pool of water. He slowly peered into it's depths, then his mind went blank. Pictures suddenly poped into being, a slideshow against the backround of a mind taxed beyond it;s capacity for rational thought. He watched picture after picture. Tracy, Siegard, and Ani he recognized imediately. He too saw the picture of the Dog swordsman that he saw in the Rabbit's Warren, The Cat, a man that appeared to be made of tin, a human woman wearing a green dress, three mice wearing black glasses, a sword, an outline of a woman made of leaves hanging in the air, the one human that was sitting in on the council, a turnip that had a face and wielded a sword, a man wearing magician robes, and finally a beautiful woman wearing a red and white gown. His mind came back to him searing with the heat of the sun. He fell away form the pool of water, stumbling to the ground grasping his head, screaming in pain.

And then the pain was gone. He opened his eyes anf ound himself in an elabortely decorated bedroom. Sitting in the center of the room was the beautiful woman in red and white. Her hair was covered by a red veil, but you could see her pretty green eyes set above pretty facial features. She sat alone in the only chair in the room.

Her eyes focused intently on Fiasco. "A visitor? How splendid!" Her excitement was barely contained. "Please," She said while getting up, "You must share a cup of tea with me." She then reached over to an empty table and pulled two cups atop two saucers and placed them on to the empty air between her and Fiasco. Instead of falling to the floor and shattering into pieces like Fiasco expected, a table appeared right underneath them along with a chair for Fiasco to sit in opposite of her. "Do have a seat." She said, prim and proper.

Fiasco looked around the room and threw his arms up into the air with open resignation. "Why the hell not. I'll share tea with yet another figment of my imagination." and he ploped into the offered chair. His voice carried a hint of mental instability. He was at his wits end.

"Figment? I think not, my exausted friend." and a pot of tea appeared in her hands which she promptly poured for the two of them. "Welcom to the only safe corner of my mind. Do you take sugar?" She asked sweetly.

"No," Fiasco began "I mean yes, two lumps, or spoons or what have you." He tried to shake the confusion from his head. "Corner of your mind?"

"Safe corner." she corrected while giving Fiasco the appropriate amount of sugar.

"Right, safe corner. Who are you?" It appeared that poor Fiasco's confusion was not to be lifted even by a crane capable of lifting an elaphant. Somehow, his confusion weighed more.

"Don't be silly, you know quite well who I am. Milk?"

"No thankyou, and no. I don't know who you are. Enlighten me."

She then looked him in the eyes, and then he knew.

"Your the Red Queen." He saw power behin her eyes. He knew that if she commanded the walls to fall, they would do so.

"Drink your tea, you haven't very long here. The tower knows your mind has gone elsewhere and will no doubt come looking for you." She sipped at her tea.

Fiasco looked into his cup, he then took a sip. It was fantastic. He had never had a tea so delicious. He gulped the rest down with just enough pauses to not scald his throat. "Why am here?" he asked upon finishing the cup.

She smiled sweetly at him. "How should I know? You came to me. More?"

"Please." He placed the cup on the saucer and pushed it towards her. H noticed his hands weren't shaking.

She poured him a second cup and put two spoonfuls of sugar into it. "You'll have to figure out the hows and the whys for yourself I'm afraid."

He picked up the cup and sipped. It was just the right temperature.

She motioned her hand around the room. "Take a good look at my prison. Perhaps theirs something here you need to see?"

Fiasco glanced around the room and tried to take in as much as he could.

The Red Queen smiled. "Fare well, Fiasco."

He then blinked, and she was gone. Fiasco stood alone in the circular room with the doors and the pool of water in the center. No more did he see copys of himself in the room with him. He looke around the room and noticed above each door were pictures.One was of crossed swords, another of a skull and and cross bones. One stood out among the many pictures. It was that of a wolf. Fiasco stared into the stone work. It didn't stare back. Fiasco then shrugged, closed the distance to the door that the wolf guarded. He then pushed open the door. Inside was a square room with a strait blade sword hanging at the other end. It's red wraped grip and ringed pommel beckoned him close. It was tucked neatly into a sheath of unextraordinary make. Next to it were two curved daggers. He picked them up, turned, and walked out of the room into the blaring daylight right outside the Tower.

The Cat flicked it's tale back and forth. "It's about damn time."