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~.~Thales~.~

”You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it…
But even the gods cannot change the Truth.”

[Traverse Town ~.~ First District ~.~ Baitos' Repair Shop]

The man's mannerisms and movements were rather... frightening. The way he carved the wooden lid, then dropped the knife, which stuck to the wooden deck, were almost as if they were taken straight out of a horror film, especially once he began to shift his eyes before letting him know about the explosions that came from the second district. However, regardless of how eerie the man came off, he bore good news!

"That would be great!" Thales shouted in response, taking a step forward and performing a fist pump out of excitment. "I'd appreciate the help! I'm new in town and I have no idea where anything is," the boy said, slightly laughing. "My names Thales! I'm assuming you're Baitos," Thales said, extending his right hand out to shake the other man's hand.

Kuropo Guroko

{Judge me not by my size; For I am much more than meets the eyes.}

{Traverse Town : Second District Alley}

With Suzuran's help, Kuropo finally managed to get back on his feet, though he had to use his staff to support himself until his head stopped spinning. As he tried to regain his senses Suzaran and Alexandra were talking to Soryuju, trying to persuade him not to leave the group. Eventually he gave in and agreed to stay.

"I agree, we should all get some rest. After a day like this, that would be for the best." He chimed in with a light chuckle.

With that settled, he continued to head down the alleyway, heading back towards the hotel. He noted the Moogle that had rolled out of the trashcan, but paid her no real mind. He couldn't say he cared for Moggie... especially after she tried to throw a fireball at him.

~.~Thales~.~

”You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it…
But even the gods cannot change the Truth.”

[Traverse Town ~.~ First District ~.~ Baitos' Repair Shop]

Thales squinted his eyes in suspicion as the man suddenly cut himself off while introducing himself. There was something definitely off about this man; however, he shrugged it off seeing as how the man had agreed to help him.

"Tucker Theodore Cherenkov... what a mouthful," the Hellene thought to himself.

Thales stared at the man who turned and poked at his hand as if he had never seen one. He was definitely... strange that's for sure. At first, Thales was reluctant as Tucker approached him with arms wide open, awaiting a hug. He shifted his eyes as he rubbed his arm nervously, then glanced about to see if anyone was watching. Figuring it would be rude to deny the man a hug, Thales approached him and wrapped his arms around him, squeezing as tight as he could.

"It's great to meet ya, Tucker Theodore Cherenkov!" Thales finally said. "Though... do you mind if I just call your Tucker? To be honest, you name is quite long..."

[ Ϩ Ѳ Ʀ ¥ Ʉ ϑ Ʉ ]

{Ignorance is bliss... until reality throws a Heartless siege at you.}

[Traverse Town : Second District Alleyways]

"You know, you're not too smart for a Moogle," Soryuju said, cutting in after hearing the explanation she provided. He had a mixed look of exasperation and boredom. "Do you happen to set anything that annoys you on fire? Because if so, you're not really going to mesh well with everyone else, I can practically guarantee that here and now."

The statement was blunt, though it could be seen that he was hoping maybe she'd learn a lesson from her past mistakes. Rolling his eyes and patting Suzuran on the shoulder, he turned to look at Alexandra. "I'm going with Kuropo to get some rooms. Would you and Kuumaru share one, or would you want a private one?"

Solaris

Sorry...

...I'll be taking my leave now.

{Traverse Town : Third District: Merlin's House}

Solaris was currently in a state of shock, his mind still reeling from what he had just done. He was mentally berating himself as he sat and stared at the table, his hands gripping his staff and twisting tightly, his knuckles white. Why did I do that!? That was such an old greeting! Nobody uses it anymore, especially not after the Heartless came...I really shouldn't have done that. They'll think I'm an idiot now. And worse, I introduced myself as a prince...even if my world did return...I still wouldn't be a prince...I was forgotten.... Too busy lost in his own self-pity and, feeling rather like a fool, he barely registered that Merlin had disappeared. He had somewhat realized it, but it had been pushed to the back of his mind. And he still hadn't quite come back to reality when Window and Aerith began their talk.

Finally, he came out of his self-pity and decided that, while he did enjoy the atmosphere of the house, he would rather be outside. There were getting to be too many people inside the house for his comfort zone. "I'm going to step outside for a bit." He said quietly to Aerith, before standing up and walking outside. As he pushed aside the curtain, he tried to be silent so as not to wake Nalo, then wandered a bit away so that he was facing the rock wall.

Sitting down, he leaned against the wall and laid his staff across his legs and closed his eyes. If one had stumbled upon him, they might have thought that he was sleeping, but his breathing was much too shallow for sleep to have occurred. Resting one hand atop the orb that ended his staff, he felt the magic that was sealed inside of it. With his eyes closed, he felt it as a great and powerful amount of magic, and it glowed in what seemed to be every sort of color. Some colors he'd never even seen before, all mixing harmoniously, just as his robes did. It reminded him of what he had been taught about magic from birth, something that was carried on by his master.

"Magic is something that must always be in harmony," His master would begin, most often after Solaris had messed up a spell, "or it will backfire and harm the caster. Or the caster's allies. Magic is not to be taken lightly, for it is a powerful force and can be difficult to control and use properly. Some magic can be used to raze entire cities to the ground, decimate forests, destroy castles with a single spell. And yet, others still can heal wounds, remove the poison from a man's body, and some, some very rare and powerful magic has even been said to be able to raise a man from the dead, with his life and soul intact." Here he would pause, as if thinking about his next words, yet having spoken them many times. "Think of magic in terms of colors. Think of the offensive, Black magic as the bolder colors, colors that seem to explode with energy. Contrarily, the softer colors that have a quieter, more restrained energy, yet just as powerful, as White magic. A powerful mage can utilize either one or the other, excelling far at their chosen field. But there are few, very very few that are skilled at using both of these fields of magic. For their magic, if described in terms of color, would combine and create beautiful colors, never-before-seen colors that would astonish and amaze all those who looked upon them." And now he would lock eyes with Solaris before he asked a question. "Do you wish to follow the bolder colors as they stride forth, destroying what their caster commands? Or will you follow the softer colors, becoming one who heals all those who are injured?" And Solaris would reply, as always, "I want to be someone who can create the most beautiful of colors. I want to create never-before-seen colors that would astonish and amaze all those who saw them." And then his master would smile and say, "Then perfect that spell. That is the first step on that path." And then he would walk away, leaving Solaris to ponder how to make the spell work.

Releasing the staff, he opened his eyes and looked down as several tears began to fall down his face. However, he didn't stay that way for long before he heard a strange noise. A noise he had heard before, it echoed across the water, reaching him. "...Enyb...?" He softly said to himself as he stood up and walked back towards the door, looking for the source of the sound.

☼~Ƞѳɱaa βli†ʓ ~☼

{Queen of the Spanish Main.}

[Traverse Town : Second District Streets]

Nomaa reclined against a wall in the second district, raven hair cascading over her shoulders. Her arms were crossed over her chest, eyes downcast as her head swam with questions. She was wondering what her crew were doing, how they were faring against those creatures called the heartless that she had just learned about not too long ago. For a moment, she had considered staying with the group from the cafe, but wasn't sure if she should be getting involved with them if their objectives weren't the same as hers. All she wanted to do was get back to Port Royal, but every lead she tracked down since then turned out to be nothing. There was no getting off this rock without one of those gummy ships she had heard about, and while she knew there was no captain that could pilot a ship better than she could in the Spanish Main, these ships were different. It was difficult for her to accept that she needed to find help if this was ever going to work -- so far she wasn't sure she had met anyone really competent since she'd been stranded here.

The sounds of someone in an adjacent alleyway caught her attention, her head turning in their direction as he pushed off from the wall. They said something about getting rooms, which she already had at the hotel courtesy of some stupid natives that didn't watch their purses well enough. Heading in that direction, she happened upon Soryuju and Alexandra from the cafe, along with some strange creature she had never seen before. Her eyebrow raised slightly as she approached them, keeping a wary eye on the strange creature. She thought she remembered him saying something about having one of those ships of his own, or at least knowing how to pilot one. If she were going to get back to Port Royal and reclaim her ship, there was only one thing to do -- play nice with him and his little friends. God, this was going to be harder than she thought.

"Well well well, what favorable winds brought us back together again, eh? I heard you were going to get rooms, and I'd like to accompany you back to the hotel."

~.~Thales~.~

”You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it…
But even the gods cannot change the Truth.”

[Traverse Town ~.~ First District ~.~ Baitos' Repair Shop]

The hug, surprisingly, was rather pleasant at first, until Thales found himself airborne and caught tightly in Tucker Theodore Cherenkov's arms! He began to squirm and flail in the man's arms as his back began to crack and pop from the sudden pressure. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh," Thales managed to repeat as he struggled to break free.

Finally, he was released and fell to the ground, afraid to move as to prevent any further damage to his back. "Ow...," was all the boy was able to mutter at the time. Slowly, Thales managed to get back onto his feet, then placed his hands on his lower back, leaning as far back as he could, then stretched down to his toes. "Note to self: avoid hugs from Tucker in the future," the Hellene thought to himself.

"Baitos?" Thales said, confused given the man had called Baitos a "previous accident." As he stood there, trying to make sense of the names, the man, now asked to be called Baitos, sprinted off into the opposite direction. "Hey, wait up!" Thales shouted as he took chase! Usually he wouldn't chase a complete stranger into some shady alleyway; however, this situation was different. They had hugged, making them friends... or at least acquaintances. Suddenly, there was a large crash up ahead. Once Thales turned the corner, he found that his new friend had tripped and fallen into some rubble in the alleyway. "Are you alright?" Thales asked, rushing over to Baitos' side to help him back onto his feet.

~.~Thales~.~

”You can bend it and twist it… You can misuse and abuse it…
But even the gods cannot change the Truth.”

[Traverse Town ~.~ First District ~.~ Alleyway]

Thales walked alongside Baitos, attempting to walk in-step with him at his hurried pace. "This guy is... quite odd...," he thought to himself as the man spoke. It was true, though. Baitos was very odd... When they had first met, he seemed more frightening, like a deranged serial killer from some horror flick, but now he was more clumsy and goofy, like a character from a cartoon. His words, which sounded serious and confident when they had first met, now sounded unsure and doubtful.

As the man spoke, Thales didn't say much mostly because he didn't know how to respond or react to an explosion in the Second District. However, once he began to speak about Traverse Town and how it serves as a residence of refugees from destroyed worlds, Thales finally had something to contribute to the conversation. "Yeah!" he shouted, excited to have some knowledge of what Baitos was talking about. "The group of travelers I came here with mentioned something about these creatures called Heartless that destroyed worlds before we left the Olympus Coliseum!" The boy was barely able to contain his excitement about the subject as he was very interested in the idea of other worlds! "Isn't it amazing?!" he asked, looking and sounding rather crazy as he smiled, baring as many teeth as he could! "I mean, it's not amazing that people died and whatnot. That's rather sad, actually... But the idea of other worlds! Other people! I didn't think there was anything else out there passed the starry sky that surrounded Olympus! Can you imagine the endless possibilities that's out there, waiting to be discovered?!"

Thales took a moment to pause and think about how exciting the whole thing was, his body somewhat shaking from the excitement building up inside of him. He then turned to Baitos and asked, "What about you? What do you think about all this?