Welcome to Gaia! ::

Her head was pounding and she felt ill and confused. Yet that anger was still boiling within her. And she didn't like it. Hated it. Hated what her so called teammates were saying! That she'd fallen victim to her anger and hit Eva! What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she here?

"Let go of me!" Fini tried to shout at Bix, but it came out in a hoarse whisper. And then there was Molly, smacking into Bix and Fini felt herself stumble as her arm was tugged free. But the moment sent her down to a knee and she cursed. At least Molly had assisted her in getting free of Bix's hold...

Was this how they all really were? Had she truly made such a huge mistake in calling some of them 'friends'?

Alone. Like usual.

Maybe they were all right. She was pathetic.

:: N-NO! You...are not pathetic... :: That sinister voice that promised danger was like a sweet candy melting in her mouth.

:: VASHI! ::

A deep rumble surrounded her mind, though there was something...almost painful in it. But she could feel her connection with her weapon again! Knew he hadn't left her.

Vashi managed to chuckle low. :: I would...never leave you, precious. I'm...here...for you. ::

Something deep inside of her eased. She didn't know what it was, but hearing Vashi's voice in her mind had caused it. Good timing, too. Everything seemed to just shatter around them. And that sky they'd seen before briefly peeked out. Then a shrieking dull roar that made her ears feel as if too much pressure was on them. Her hands rose to protect them, eyes wide as she looked around for the source. Then she just stared.

"What...the hell...?" Fuuuck what was that?! Better yet, where the hell was her other sai! Glancing around frantically, she spotted it and snatched it up, stumbling as the ugly-thingy just about knocked her over.

:: Careful...precious. Please... ::

:: Vashi are you alright? ::

She didn't get a response. At least not from her weapon. The thing screeched again, and Fini let that anger inside her bubble up and ran towards the beast. She went for the back legs, while it was preoccupied with...actually she wasn't sure who it was. Fini slashed at it's hindquarters, lunging to the side to avoid the swipe of a paw that came at her. She didn't quite move fast enough and felt pain flare along her shoulder blade.

"Damnit!" She hissed out. Crap, where were the others? "Eva? Molly?! Bix!" Wait. Wait she could hear someone.

"GALE!" Oh thank god one of her teammates was still alright. "Gale, are you alright?" Stupid question really. But she couldn't help but ask.



HP: 33/40
Target: ??? thingy
Damage: 4
Charge: 1/3

BOSS HP: 37/50

He could hear the voices of Molly and Fini somewhere to his left and to his right, catching glimpses of Bix and Eva as Gale moved. These were his friends. His friends. He needed to protect them, needed to make sure they were all right, that they weren't hurt, that they weren't -

He spun the rifle around, lifting it again and firing off several more shots, but his hands felt weak and he did not like the odd strain on the connection he felt with Jinhai.

Jinhai? Talk to me.

<< ...I'm fine... >>

That is nowhere near the truth.

Silence.



[ HP: 38/50
Target: Manticore?thingy 8|a
Damage: GJ GALE GJ
Charge: 1/3 ]

BOSS HP: 31/50

Okay she'd caught glimpses of the others and heard the shouts from some. Fini was so ready for this ugly thing to go down. So they could go back. And apologize to one another. Because, damnit! They were her friends. She had friends! Screw whatever the ugly thing and this place tried to make her think.

:: Now that you...have that all...figured out, can we attack now? ::

Yes. He was right. Fini scowled and dove back in, slashing with her sais at any part of the beast she could catch.



HP: 27/40
Target: ??? thingy
Damage: 3
Charge: 1/3

BOSS HP: 17/50

His back was aching, and his legs felt heavy, like he was walking through water, but Gale pulled the rifle up, gritting his teeth. He hadn't heard anything from Bix or Eva yet, but he could see them moving around, which reassured him, at least a little.

Something cracked, the sound reverberating in Gale's head. He took an involuntary step backwards, away from the creature, his eyes following the path that the grey made. The monster was solidifying, turning into stone, the fog that twisted and undulated around its paws, over its mane, through its mouth turning a heavy, unyielding stone grey and then -

It was gone.

It was gone, but the cave was not. Something was whispering, stirring, beckoning him, something he could not see. Gale pressed his lips together, his fingers tightening around the barrel of the rifle, the gun resting at his side.

...Jinhai.

<< ...I don't know. >> The dragon sounded tired, wary. << I don't know what's going on. >>

As though he could not quite help himself, Gale lifted his foot and took a step forward, his eyes fixed on the cave in front of him.

...Jinhai..?

<< I am here, Gale. I'm back. >>

White.

He could see white.

White, and red. A deep, dark, scarlet red that covered the white. It was not a bright white, but rather a white tinged with grey, dusted with brown, dulled by time and the elements.

Gold, curving upwards, around in a steady arc, forming an all-too-familiar symbol, a tear ripping through it, marring the other half of the scythe. Gold, melting into the red that bled across the white.

Wordless images flashed through his mind - a voice -

- silence.

He had forgotten that the others were there, everything around him slowing, seeming to melt away until it was just him, inside the cave, the sounds of his friends a lost echo in his mind. Even Jinhai remained silent, saying nothing as Gale took another step forward, and then another, each one slow, hesitant, almost as if he were afraid of what lay ahead.

It was a coat, though.

Just a coat.

His fingers stretched out, stopping just before they touched it. Gale's heart beat a slow, steady rhythm against his ribcage, his hand extended, frozen in place, raised in front of what hung there.

Just a coat. Gale felt a swell of something in his chest - pain, perhaps, or maybe shame - filling his mind, blocking out the rest of his senses.

His fingertips touched the material, slid over it. He closed his eyes.

"...I'm sorry, Ben."

He knew there would be nothing there when he touched the coat - the occupant of it was long dead, dead and gone, never to return again, and to believe otherwise would have been foolish.

But somehow it was almost okay anyway.

Gale's fingers brushed over the coat again, sliding down the material as it dissipated beneath his hand, dissolving into nothingness, disappearing along with everything else. The walls of the cave, the fog, the tangy, coppery tang of the blood, the heavy feeling of sadness constantly weighing down on his shoulders -

Everything disappeared; and with it, something else, something not entirely visible.

"IS ANYONE ALIVE OVER THERE?"

The sound of Mark's voice crackled loudly - and unexpectedly - through the headset, making Gale jump involuntary. He was still standing with his hand outstretched, and for a moment after he didn't move, still frozen in the same spot, as though stuck in time.

But then, after a minute or so, he lowered his hand, slowly, moving his other almost automatically to the headset pressed against his ear.

"Yeah," said Gale quietly, as he took a step back, staring at the space where Ben's coat had been. Instinctively he knew the answer to that question without having to look around to make sure.

"Yeah, we're here. We're alive."

He closed his eyes again.

"We're still alive."

Bix was shoved by Molly and was wrenched free from the other girls but he landed on his back, twisting uncomfortably from the impact. He was about to yell, ask why they were all being like this, tell them he was trying to help. But the world broke as he stared upwards from the ground. The sky simply cracked and shattered.

Snowflake..

Suddenly the laughing and the mocking broke into a scream, the twisted faces and cruel smiles exploded and dissolved away and his rage just disappeared. Bix's body sagged.

Snowflake..

Mina's voice struggle to him through the whirl of sound and noise and the shattering of reality.

Mina?
BIX! It'sssssss... ssssss...... Mina's words seemed to hurt, she resorted to bestial hissing. Bix knew there was something wrong with her.... she never called him Bix.

He sat up, like he was stuck underwater when he heard his name yelled several times. He sat up in time to see the beast crumbling and cracking and disappearing. Things wiped clean and the real world rushed back around him. Bix gasped, loudly, as if he was taking a fresh breath for the first time.

It was as if he was himself finally, and everything that had happened was just a cruel vision but it didn't make the words disappear, it didn't get rid of the lingering thoughts and doubts. His own fears thrown back into his face. But truly like himself he immediately turned his thoughts away. He immediately pushed himself to his feet and looked to others.

"Gale? Molly?" They were there, standing. "Eva.. Fini.. I..." Whatever he was going to say was interupted by the crackle and a blasting voice through his headset.

Bix winced at the blast of sound. "I'm.. alive." Not fine. Alive.

A pause. "Did you hear that?" Mark, assuming to be talking to someone over the headset, seemed to be super proud. "The trainees made it. It must have been the Insanity disruptor I made, and my awesome navigational instructional skills, if I don't say so myself."
There was a noise that sounded perhaps like some sort of odd chest thumping or patting on the back. "Anyway, I'll have to get direct samples from you so head back to me, there should be a portal set up to return at if you follow your cell phone radars, just northeast...." Mark continue to ramble on and on about his personal theories, not even asking a single question about exactly how the trainees had survived or exactly what had transpired.

It felt oddly like he had already known what was there.

The portal back, other than the thick wind and sand, was uneventful, numb even, giving trainees plenty of time to remember exactly what had happened. To remember the doubt and insecurity in themselves, the hatred they had harboured for each other, the voices that whispered to them, and continuously the thought: had the others really said those words?

And what exactly had Gale seen in the cave that was so important? Even the trek up to Caelius's office seemed extremely quiet and solemn. The two were still pouring over the computer inside, though the Runic printer underneath seemed about ready to explode as it continued to spew what seemed like a giant roll of paper continuously vomiting oddly charted out scans. It was actually something of a task to navigate around it as it continued to print and print and print.

"Oh you're back!" Excitedly, Mark, nearly tripping over his own in-print-process material, extended both arms for a hug for Gale, and then paused halfway, suddenly remember how awkward that would be, and instead, did a quick one-eighty and coughed lightly into his fist, nearly clocking the Death trainee-to-be-promoted in the nose. "Well um, I lied, we managed to process most of the scans and I was right! Basically the-"

Caelius may or may not have shot Mark a glare.

- "Things... happened." The Hunter concluded, giving a vague sort of nod. "And oh, the weapons tab- er the um, well, great job, I'm sure you did it, hooray, pat on the back." Awkwardly and gingerly, he made his way to poke the printer a few times, watching it cough and sputter awkwardly, as it flashed a sign that said print cartridge low, please replace K cartridge.

Silence again, well, for the most part, other than the spluttering of the printer, which actually made it all the more awkward as the trainees simply stood there.

"Gale." And then the Death Division lead, who gave the trainee that odd neutral expression devoid of the usual snark or really, intense burning hatred. Maybe it was just a lightly burning hatred. "I would like to hear a mission report summary from you."