Welcome to Gaia! ::

The brightly dressed lieutenant kept to himself as they made their way down the dark, narrow corridor. Mouth shut and arms folded, he stayed close to the middle of the line. He didn't raise his voice or make a move to get closer to their navigator and leader at the front of the line. Keeping the pace, he only broke his stance occasionally to reach out and softly press a hand to the ancient crystal walls. The dark figures seemed so far from where he stood now, though the only real thing separating the two was the crystal barrier. Their eyes gleaming back at him and that was all he could recognize as they made their way down the narrow stairwell.

Oddly, Tanzanite's words struck a chord with Esperite. Though still fighting the urge to reveal any emotion physically, he did allow his mind to pay its respects to these fallen warriors. Their history and now his history as well, resonated with the crimson eyed lieutenant. Part of him wanted to chime in that the current team was in a similar state to these brave figures, now trapped in the foreboding cavern. They too were fighting what seemed like impossible odds as they faced an army that not only rapidly grew in number, but also power. This was probably why he felt such a connection to the shadowy figures behind the glass as he never possessed a youma of his own and their current state seemed so far where he aspired to be in their organization. Respect and pity welled up inside him as he was inspired by their actions, yet fearful of their fate. Esperite would be lying if he said he envied their current state and he was certainly going to do everything in his power to avoid falling victim to such a life. No, these dark figures served as a reminder and a warning to the lieutenant. He wasn't going to allow himself to spend the rest of eternity in such a sad state.

Esperite's eyes widened at the sight before him. Their arrival into the city threw him greatly and he was left standing there in awe as he did his best to take in the magnificent ruins before him. Similar to the events earlier at the cavern door, some seemed a little too eager while others banded together. Good to see some congruity, he thought to himself. Though he had a great deal of trouble holding back his own desire to unearth the secrets this sacred tomb held. This didn't keep him from turning up his nose at the more zealous officers, but he tried to keep these judgments to a minimal given his own desires. Hard to blame them when such an amazing puzzle lay before them, ready to be solved. Crimson eyes continued to dart about and take in the scenery as he tried to begin putting together a blueprint of the castle.

Hoping to break his gaze and return to a more controlled state, he looked around at his fellow officers in search of a familiar face. Esperite hoped a little personal interaction would be the remedy to his childish notions to run out and explore the ruins before him, especially when danger lurked in every nook and cranny of this place.

“She would have done much worse to them if she'd had the power,” Tanzanite said, reappearing quietly among them, Wolframite in tow. A smear of black blood stretched from just above her heart to the edge of her armor, but there was no wound to see. She left the Captain behind as she strode confidently forward, clearly eager to move on from the entryway and whatever had just passed between the two of them.

While others might be apprehensive about the city – wisely so, for they had yet to fully comprehend the dangers that lay within – Tanzanite walked as though she simply... belonged there. She stepped forward, across the winding path that lead into the small, secondary entrance to the crumble palace's primary tower. The small orb that had lit their way tumbled from her hand and was swept up by the rushing river of energy below.

Beyond that entryway, the paths were narrow but well-lit by small chunks of softly glowing crystal.

“Until the door was reopened, the city was dark. Cold. Every bit of energy we've gathered over the past year is here now, but before...? There was nothing. They've been down here for centuries, alone, so you can understand why they may be... apprehensive.”

And apprehensive they most certainly were. The officers could hear the low growls of youma trailing behind them, and those who made up the back of the line might have even felt the occasional snap at their heels or rush of hot breath down the back of their neck. While tolerant, each one would have to prove their worth to the Rift's native citizens.

For the corrupted senshi, doubly so.

The tunnel wound beneath the tower, branching out here and there into dark corridors, and emerged deep within the city. As far as the eye could see, towers rose up around them, broken bridges floating between them. Occasionally, the silhouette of flying youma would pass through the nebulous, bleeding skies. Youma of every kind, shape, and color could be seen. There were buglike youma, small as ladybugs, and in the distance the massive spines of a slumbering colossus could just barely be seen. Like the humans they had once been, the youma were a diverse group. Their temperaments could be just as sweet, or just as deadly.

At the heart of the city, the skeletal remains of what might have once been a stadium rose up from the smooth bedrock. Here and there the stone steps had crumbled, but many were intact. It could have been mistaken for some kind of town center if not for the wide archway at one end, leading away into darkness. The things that had come through that gate once upon a time were lost now even to her memory, but its purpose was clear.

“This,” Tanzanite spoke, unable to keep a soft smile from her lips as she slowly descended the stairs, her heels clicking against the marble steps, “is the Arena. Earth's greatest warriors once trained here, and so will each of you. From now on, combat training is no longer optional, with few exceptions.” She granted Scheelite a quiet, meaningful smile, “We've lost enough soldiers due to their incompetence. The senshi are organizing. Training. They are growing stronger, and your weapons will no longer be enough to keep you alive.”

Tanzanite stopped at the center of the amphitheater, and turned to face them.

“Generals, I will be personally overseeing your combat training. Lieutenants, Captains,” she glanced to each of them in turn, “stand here with a starseed in hand, and I'm sure you will attract something willing to try to kill you for it. If things get too rough, hand it over and they will take their prize and go. If you defeat them... well," Tanzanite smiled, and it was not a comforting expression, "there are creatures here that could make short work of a General. If you defeat the first, I assure you the second will push you to your limit. The more powerful the starseed, the more powerful the attraction. Do not bring a senshi starseed into this city unless you are willing to hand it over or very eager to die."

Just because the youma had once been human did not mean they were any longer, and with that transformation came the undeniable hunger for energy. And nothing was more appealing to them than the same raw, pure energy that had damned them in the first place.

Scheelite was thankful to be on the move again. While simply staring in awe at the place had been enough to satisfy his curiosity and energy for a little bit, the more they had stood around the more restless he grew. With Tanzanite's reappearance (...what had happened?), the General quickly broke his gaze from their new home and moved to head down the path right behind the General Queen.

Still, his mood seemed quite high. It didn't matter that they were in some crazy sunken city, past a hallway full of former humans and the tales of old. Hell it didn't even matter that there were youma pressing in from all sides, seemingly rather displeased at their presence.

No, the only thing that seemed to dampen his mood was the next stop on the little tour. Tanzanite seemed rather proud of the arena, and he had to admit it was quite the spectacular place. But arenas and combat training meant fighting, blood, death if one wasn't careful. Scheelite could already feel himself freezing up, and the only thing that saved him was that brief but very meaningful smile from the General Queen.

Few exceptions? That meant him. With that he fought the urge to let out a huge sigh of relief and gave the arena another lookover. It would do well to have their army actually train (in his day, training had meant being kicked in the a** by Obsidian. Quite literally).

He just wanted nothing to do with it.

Wolframite appeared behind the General Queen looking back to the shy, bashful boy that had usually kept his head down and tone in check. It seemed whatever had transpired, things were set back in order and the line of authority drawn once more. Every part of him said he had either been put in check or had been reminded where he stood. The seething, temperamental hatred he sparked out at that rare time was extinguished in it's entirety, and he only felt completely embarrassed about his conduct and self-conscious of the others who were all present for his flare up. Worst of all, he had worn out loud. Very unbecoming. Everyone would probably thinking he was some loose cannon without any manners and that was anything but the truth. What little image he felt he had was now ruined, going from 0 to the negatives, and he knew there was little to repair it.

Still, he knew he had been in the wrong, and as such, knew to take responsibility. He was raised that well after all. Anything else made him a coward and a hoodlum.

When Tanzanite allowed a break in her talk before leading them out, Wolframite moved to the group which was far more scattered than it had been when he was teleported away and took a breath. "I'm sorry everyone. I acted poorly. I'm sorry for causing a scene and losing my temper. I was really out of line." Of course, he knew that they could outright reject his apology, and he accepted that too. As for the youma, he heard a bit too many growls in his direction to think that he was forgiven. It really did send chills up his back.

Standing behind in the back had been his best option at first, wanting to stay as unnoticeable as he could after his outburst, but the back of the group seemed THE WORST place to be in in his case. The snapping of jaws had nipped one heel of his boots, and he actually turned once when a youma had brushed up too closely to see that his bow had been ripped off. He looked back in time to see something walking that looked like a alligator with crystals jutting out of it's back racing into the dark. That was too close. FAR too close.

Worried that he might lose a limb next, he picked up his pace and moved more into the group to be protected by other officers who the youma were more tolerant of. At last, they arrived to a great Arena, and he looked about. Training here seemed like a bad idea, but at least it might be monitored. His eyes looked back to the many corners of darkness around him and various red eyes. He wondered if just letting go of a starseed would keep the youma from biting his head off. Why did he have to be so stupid?

She eyed the arena, biting her lip once more. Her attention, as much as she tried, kept drifting back to the youma. She was thankfully not near an edge, keeping close with those she trusted. Smiling momentarily, she waved a hand at Carnelian before attention was elsewhere.

As Alunite had voiced how he was upset over what the senshi had done, Lyra had chosen to keep silent... mostly. No, later on she would weep. If what Tanzanite was saying as true.... it would be bad to show weakness here.

Doubally so because she was senshi.

"General queen." She spoke out, once the purple haired woman seemed to be finished. "Does... that. Well." She hated to be tooting her own horn, her face turned a shade of red. She was technically the same power level as the generals, but no where near the rank. "...Does that include me?" She asked, trying to keep the shiver out of her voice. Would she be trained with the other generals, or with the youma? It was a question if it was just rank, or power levels now.

Though her question was cut short, as she took a step back wide eyed as the woman appeared, looking at Ilmenite now that attention was drawn to him. She watched, open mouthed.

“Especially you, Lyra,” Tanzanite spoke softly, so as not interrupt or distract from what was happening in the ring. “Ares will not stop hunting you until you are dead, nor will the rest of the Blood Moon Court. A corrupted senshi is an open wound for them.

It definitely had nothing at all to do with having a free pass to release what little pent up aggression remained due to Lyra's actions in her previous life.

Certainly not.

"They will stop at nothing to either kill you or take you back.”

Tanzanite turned her eyes back to the center of the ring, and her expression grew hard. Lips pressed into a thin line, and there was little doubt as to what memory filled her thoughts. Her features might as well have been stone for all the emotion she displayed as she spoke the name.

“As they did to Linarite.”

The creature was pried free enough for Ilmenite to draw in several deep breaths, smoke still escaping as he found the start of words, of something protesting and concerned:

"It was just a -- General queen -- " But then Tanz let go of the youma and it clutched back toward him again, smoky limbs tangling strangely in around Ilmenite and silencing the rest of the protest. They didn't work like human limbs: strangely noodly and winding, they shifted like smoke, the form of a man only mostly formed in the solid grey mess of smoke.

He had, apparently, instigated the first battle, and all it had taken was the spark from a lighter. A small energy, and one that called like to like a smoke youma that went after this snack and its bearer at the same time. The fact that all of Ilmenite's clothing was soaked through with the scent of cigarettes...

Panicked and struggling to catch his breath, Ilmenite's instinctive reaction was that he was being punished for lighting up. Tanzanite was going to let it kill him due to a sense of disrespect: consequences for actions, military justice. Had he been prepared, the Captain wouldn't have been able to drive off this threat, he didn't think. It shifted around the thrash of an arm, split to allow him to pass through, even if doing so seemed to dissipate it like a breath of wind.

It was thinning, and thinning, and as it did, Ilmenite went paler. Hands came up toward his face, his chest too still. No, not thinning, but filling his lungs, the youma fading out as it took him over.

Let the crowd of onlookers realize that, for a painfully long couple of seconds, the Captain's chest was definitely not rising and falling as it should have. The General Queen held them at bay while the youma stole his breath, a hungry invasion hunting after the scent and flavor of smoke through every inch of him, driving him to his knees --

And then it was over. His expression relaxed, he hung in balance for one last long moment before he coughed. His youma reemerged in bits and pieces, slowly solidifying and taking on a more human form. Grey on grey on grey, there were no eyes, no ears, its limbs still shifted in an unnatural way, but where its face sat, a gap opened into a wide grin that much matched the expression Ilmenite usually wore.

While the Officer it had claimed kneeled and coughed, retching and struggling to recover his breath, the youma stooped to snatch up his dropped lighter and toy with it absently in one long hand.