Welcome to Gaia! ::

Ace had walked around the campus seeing if anything was different, a little sad that nothing really was. He then headed back to where Ace had told him their dorm room was and got to the door thinking what he should do. Noticing the room next to his he yawns and knocks on it knowing Ace from this universe had to know him and decided to interact on behalf of Ace.

(This is going to be between Palian and the other dimension Ace. I figured that since the real Ace wants to be friends and isn't really afraid enough to back away from Palian, this one was going to be deathly afraid of him. XD)

"Hey, time keeper."

A trickle of sweat ran down the side of Ace's face, a twinge of fear lacing his nerves as he heard the deep voice. He should have known that he was in this dimension. It only made sense. Ace wondered why God granted him the luck of crossing paths with the one person he would rather avoid.

Poised before the door, the time carrier looked hesitantly out of the corner of his eye. Fear made his eyes widen as the demon got to his feet and walked purposefully over to him.

Propping Tsukiko against the wall, he patted her arm gently to reassure her that he would return. Palian wanted to know how the investigation was going on why his master and Ace had been kidnapped. He thought it would make sense to ask since Ace was on the student council and knew a certain member of the student guard squads.

But as he drew nearer, a most familiar and tantalizing scent invaded his lungs. The distinct pungent scent of fear. This was odd, because he didn't smell things with the air, but with his ability to connect to others and their dreams. A dark smile crept across his face, a dangerous split that twisted his normal appearance to a closer semblance of his namesake. The dream demon let go the question he was going to ask, wanting to further explore this most interesting development.

""Have you been having nightmares about me?" he purred as he drew closer.

"Oh s**t," Ace yelled as the demon posed his question. Before Palian could get within touching distance, the boy bolted back down the hallway and into the stairwell where he would go three or four steps before diving down the rest on each flight.

Palian stood there dumbfounded for half a second before following. An interesting development indeed, he thought. A chase he had been waiting for, and maybe a fight that would be most enjoyable. He laughed darkly as he began the first and thought on the many ways the second might occur. Oh joy.

It had been a few days since all the drama occurred. After the kidnapping and the witching hour, the fighting and the sudden snow, it was nice for things to finally settle down. Who knew how long it would last, but it didn't matter. Everyone was safe for the time being and time was moving on as it often does.

Nothing had seemed to change much in Tsukiko's opinion. Hearing her alarm clock go off, she pressed the button to silence it's already irritating racket. The witch had been out of bed for a while now so at least the clock hadn't been thrown as was sometimes the case when she didn't want to get up. Tsukiko was working on stuff for her art class, even though she hadn't gone to them in a few days. It was just a sudden urge to draw that took over so early today. Not bothering to cover her work, she went to get ready for the day. Creeping out into the hallway she banged on Fyte's door. She didn't want the girl to oversleep. After all they had to get ready for tonight's performance. Going back to her own room to grab a towel, she went to the girl's humongous group bathroom to finish getting ready.

After a quick shower, Tsukiko slipped back into her room so she could dress in private. Donning a simple gray sweater and some blue jeans, the witch placed her hair loosely about her shoulders, favoring the casual look for the day. Gazing back at the picture she had been working on all night, it made her smile. Made her want to run her hand over it. Yet she didn't, knowing the colors had to set. A camera didn't work, but her paper and pens did.

Looking out her window, she wasn't surprised by the snow anymore. It wasn't surprising considering how much power she had to expel earlier. Or maybe that was part of how the region worked in mid autumn? Pulling on a pair of boots, she sat on her bed thinking about her current predicament. The boy from her Latin class never gave up on asking her to the dance. Wanting to be left alone, she caved. Not happy about the idea, she had yet to tell the dream demon. Worse then that, she had yet to speak to Ryo. Tsukiko knew her friend knew what was going on, yet she couldn't muster the courage to tell him and confirm what he already knew.

Sighing, she laid back and looked at the ceiling of her room. Everything was a jumbled mess since witching hour. The only person she hadn't avoided was Fyte whom she had convinced to sing with her at the dance. She hadn't even asked the girl if she had a date. After all the dance lasted all night since it was boarding school. Still the girl was happy some what. She was 18 now, and she didn't have to worry about her inner witch ever again. However, her connection with Ryo had also broken that fateful night. One set of problems was being turned in for a whole new set. Oh, the dramas of high school.

♪ Fyte Ancell ♪

♪ Looking up into the sky, looking for the reason Why I'm here and why you can't be here ♪

A moan could be heard from inside the room, which sounded vaguely like "Five more minutes…". Within the said bedroom, a bundle of blankets moved on the bed, revealing a very sleepy girl as she sat up. Yawning wide, she tumbled out of bed on her way to get her toothbrush. In a sleepy daze, she left her dorm for the bathroom, washing up for the morning. Afterwards, she headed back to get dressed and ready for the day.

Yawning, she flopped back onto her comfy bed, fully dressed and ready for the day to begin. The past couple of days had been quite hectic. She'd been upset that she'd missed the snow day due to getting a concussion, but she had her chance to go out and play in the snow after she'd been released. She was a bit upset that she had yet to have a snowball fight with her friends, but it didn't look like the snow was going anywhere. They'd have plenty of time for that later, right? Fyte certainly hoped so. It seemed like while everything had gone back to normal, there was a rift between her and her small band of friends. She was giving them their space, but it still upset her on how things changed so fast. Curling up, she hugged a random plush she had just grabbed.

Speaking of changing really fast, Fyte never really expected her to be… well, not that popular, but she hadn't expected the amount of guys asking her out to the dance. Naturally, she awkwardly turned them down, the alter Ace included. Why is he insisting that he go out with me? Doesn't he have the other me to return to? While he was… sweet, Fyte thought he was getting a tad overbearing. Besides, the one she really wanted to go to the dance with, she hadn't seen in what seemed like ages. It wasn't like she had the courage to go and ask him out, even to the dance. Which reminded her, she had to practice one last time. She'd let Tsukiko talk her into singing with the brunette, not that she had really minded. Singing was one of her passions; anyone would be able to tell that about her.

Sighing, Fyte rolled off her bed, grabbing her bag as she left her room. Might as well grab some breakfast before class started. Maybe Tsukiko would want to go with her. Knocking on her friend's door, she called out. "Hey, Tsuki-chan. You want to get breakfast with me now?

♪ If you loose me somewhere, and your tears are in the air I will ring a bell until you feel me by your side ♪

(Yay, catchup posts!)

Nemo yawned as he was apt to doing as he opened his window to left the brusque morning air in. The snow still blanketed the campus, though well worn tracks wormed through as the students packed it down, or shoveled it to the side. Eyes straining from the sudden light change, he blink blinked a few times to clear them of sleep.

"Another day. Let's hope nothing terrible happens to dampen it," he murmured as he pulled back to dress. Pulling an ash gray hoodie on, he then buckled on his jeans and stuffed his feet into his sneakers.

The last few days had been such a mixture of emotion for the boy that he truly felt spent. Too much to handle, he had slept for almost a full day. Now, with a clear head he managed to strike a deal, one that would make things somewhat easier for them both. As long as he kept the other dream demon away and as long as he didn't kill anyone, Nemo would sleep normally and let the demon out to do as he would. But if either should occur, he would bind him so tight it would kill them both if Palian tried to get out. His demon had played it cool enough, holding his eagerness inside til after the boy agreed. Nemo hoped to god that he wouldn't regret it. For now though, it was his time. Palian could come out later.

He had been recluse for the last few days, trying to get used to sleeping again. His cycles still weren't normal and he couldn't sleep for more than an hour or so at a time, but it was better than before. The boy would rather never see that angelic figure again. Keeping to his dorm had left a few problems, one being the awkward meeting with the headmaster. The old man had suddenly appeared one morning and had a little chat with him. But all was well and the headmaster encouraged him to take his time. Everyone goes through changes, so he had said with a chuckle.

Another was the guilt that built inside him with all the time that passed and he hadn't talked to the others. Fyte, he surely missed. A twinge of guilt laced with jealousy made him want to talk to her, but stop just short of doing so.

"She probably thinks your a quack anyway," he murmured sourly. "Not that she'd be far from the mark." His attitude as of late hadn't improved much, but with no one around his venomous words were spent harmlessly at the walls. Nemo knew he had to work on that.

His dorm floor was bustling with activity as boys readied for some big event, though he refused to show enough interest to investigate. Big crowds weren't his thing, and being kidnapped hadn't really helped him feel safe around others understandably.

After he dressed, Nemo went back to his open window. Sitting in his small chair, he rested his chin on his arms as they folded over the edge of the sill. Stormy eyes gazed out at the icicles that swayed on the bare branches of the trees nearby.

She let out a yelp, dropping her sword in surprise as Ace lifted her up. "P-put me down, you idiot!" she shouted, struggling to get out of his grasp. When he started to squeeze her though, she actually began to gasp for air. "Okay okay okay okay I'll go with you!! Just put me down so I can breathe!" She finally caved in, still struggling against his grip. It was no use though; he'd gotten her in a good bear-hug and she doubted he was about to let go. Not that she'd admit out loud, here in the middle of the campus grounds, but she enjoyed the way he held her. Not only was he warm, but it felt so… safe and comforting in his arms.

Fyte eyed the passes incredulously. "They actually gave you passes to get out of class? Wow… And no worries!! You know I love to sing! It's gonna be my first time singing in front of a crowd though… kinda nervous." Fyte grinned at her friend. Though she wondered how she had done it, it didn't bother her much. School could be a drag, after all. Exhaling a big puff of smoke, her smile widened at the childish act. It made her happy that there was snow. In her opinion, it wasn't worth it to have cold weather without snow.

When Tsukiko mentioned her date, Fyte blushed. "A-a-actually… truth is… I-I… I don't have a date…" she replied, her voice getting smaller and smaller as her embarrassment grew. The one she wanted to go with… well, it seemed like he wasn't there around the school at all. She heaved a sigh, thinking of her crush. Thinking about it now's not gonna help, y'know. her conscious told her, which she had to agree with. Still… going to the dance alone wouldn't be too bad, right? This was also her first school dance, so she was looking forward to it. Wearing a nice dress wasn't something she did often, and since the orphanage didn't have that much spare money, most of her clothes had been pretty casual. Speaking of which… did Tsuki just say she designed a dress for me?! Whipping her head towards her friend, she gave her another shocked stare.

"Y-you designed a dress for me?? Tsuki, you really didn't need to do that!" Fyte said, a bit embarrassed but still happy that her friend had done that for her. No one had ever done something like that for her before. Still, her girly-girl side was wondering what the dress looked like… Oh, I hope it's really pretty! Oh, who am I kidding, Tsuki would never make something that would look bad on me! she thought to herself, feeling giddy about the day already.