Welcome to Gaia! ::

.:Lost House:.

"Who are they?" Anise was sitting at the kitchen table devouring a bowl of pumpkin soup. It was warm and savory and made her feel comforted. Comfort was something much sought after by Anise, her world was changing and she was doing her best to change with it, but sometimes it was hard. Sometimes living with Test was confusing. Times like now.

The masked and cloaked figures had been coming in and out of the house for several days now, whispering amongst themselves and dissapearing into the basement. Sometimes people would come out of the basement that Anise didn't remember seeing go down there in the first place. But it was hard to tell, they all wore cloaks with deep hoods and strange ambiguous masks.

"They're just visitors." Church said mildly. He visited Test's house often, though he didn't live there and the angel and the little girl had formed a sort of bond. This was helpful; since Touda had grown he had become moody and melancholy and spent most of his time out wandering the streets. Sometimes he didn't come back for days and he wouldn't always tell Anise where he'd been or what he'd been doing. They were still close, though. They still slept in the same bed when he was there, face to face and breathing each other's air, warm brown hair mingling tangled with flame colored hair.

Nevertheless, Anise needed a friend. Church seemed happy to oblige. "Why do they all wear masks and cloaks?"

"It's complicated, Anise." Church cut her a worried glance.

"For god's sake, you could at least tell me. I'm not stupid." She shook her pigtails out in irritation. Sure, she was young. Sure, she was naive. But she wasn't as naive as they all thought.

"Okay." The angel sighed, running a hand through his hair. "You remember what I told you, about where I come from?"

"Yes. The city of the lost. Because the other angels tricked God into forgetting about you." It was a wonderful story, Anise had thought when he'd told her. Tragic and beautiful. The angel who had been most beloved had been forgotten and now he lived in a place where all the forgotten souls lived. He and Test rescued them. It had definitely kindled Anise's interest in her quiet housemates to know that most of them had come from that city, snuck out beneath the watchful eyes of the evil Solarin.

"Well, these visitors are mostly members of the underground. Like Test and I. But they have to remain quiet about it. We dont want people to know that we have ways in and out of the city." He gave her a look.

"I wont tell anybody." Anise breathed, her eyes bright with excitement. "Is there a reason they're here now, though?"

"Halloween." Church responded. "There are dangerous things stirring in Gaia and in many other realms this year." His tone was somber. "We think something is going to happen in the city, but we don't know what yet. It could be a great opportunity for us. Or it could be a great tragedy."

"So they're spies." Anise whispered gleefully. "Oh, how exciting!"

The angel's lips quirked in a faint smile. "Yes, I suppose you could call them spies. Now that you know, please leave them alone. They don't take well to being approached by strangers."

Anise pouted, but she agreed to obey. At least, she seemed to agree to obey. The thought of this lost city intrigued her. And really, what would it hurt if she snuck down to the basement to see what was going on? Church didn't have to know about it.

.:RP Log:.

Protective Charms - Antony gives Touda and Anise protective necklaces

.:Gone, baby:.

Touda woke up, a heavy feeling in his chest and a knot in his stomach. Something was wrong. He couldn't pinpoint what it was, but he knew. He just knew deep in his gut that there was something amiss. His arm reached across the bed to the side Anise usually slept on and came up empty. The boy sat bolt upright, eyes wide. Anise was gone? Where? Taking a deep breath, Touda reassured himself that she was just in the kitchen, stealing a midnight snack. Or something.

But even as he got out of bed and slid his feet into a pair of unlikely bunny slippers, he knew that it wasn't true. She was in trouble, he could feel it. Dilligently he crept to the kitchen, and the bathroom and the living room, but there was no sign of her. It was as he was walking back down the hallway that he noticed there was a glow coming from under the door to the basement. He opened the door just in time to hear his sister shrieking "No!" Quickly followed by "Help!"

In a bound he was down the stairs, looking for the source of the light. There! There she was, and there was a hand reaching out of seeming nothingness to grasp her. To pull her away. "No! Anise!" Touda shouted, but it was too late. She was gone, dissapeared. He walked up to the mirror whose jeweled light was glowing dimmer now, the pulses slowing. A shudder of revulsion trickled across his skin as he carefully inspected the carvings.

"What are you doing there?" Came a sharp voice. Touda turned to see Test standing at the base of the stairs in her bath robe, her hair tousled. She looked angry and troubled. "You aren't supposed to be down here, Touda. You know that."

"It's Anise!" He said, eyes wide with fear from what he had seen. "She wasn't in bed so I went looking for her. And there was a light coming from the basement. And then this... hand... came out of the mirror and grabbed her!"

Test's eyes immediately narrowed, her focus coming razor sharp despite the hour and her lack of sleep. "You're sure?" She asked tensley. The boy nodded solemnly. "What did the arm look like?"

Touda shuddered again at the memory. "It was... red. And wet looking." He gagged a little at the memory. "Like it had no skin."

Test's jaw clenched and she went forward to inspect the carvings of the mirror, murmuring something softly under her breath. He couldn't quite make it out, but the lines of her body were eloquent with anger and concern.

"Damn." The woman said, shaking her head. "Touda, theres nothing you can do about it right now. Go wake up Church and tell him to call the others, to meet me down here."

Touda flew up the stairs obediently, leaving Test staring at her reflection in what now seemed to be a perfectly harmless mirror. "What games are you playing now, Solarin?" She asked under her breath, reaching out to touch one of the carved cherubs. "You're not supposed to be able to see through this portal." Shaking her head in perplexion and irritation, Test waited for the others to arrive. It seemed to her that even the reflection in the mirror was mocking her.

. biggrin esperate Decisions:.

Touda stood staring at the giant mirror, now shrouded in black cloth. He felt a burning emptiness in his chest - Anise was gone. His beloved sister had been pulled through the mirror by some fleshless monster. He felt rather than heard the soft footsteps and rustle of silken wings.

"I have to bring her back." The boy stated flatly.

"We're working on that, Touda." The angel replied.

"I have to bring her back NOW. You're not working fast enough."

"She shouldn't have been able to get through that mirror in the first place." Church said with a frown. "Which means someone reached out for her from the other side." He shifted his wings, frown deepening. "But we don't know who, or why. We don't know where she is in the lost city. It's too dangerous to just plow forward, don't you see? If we're not careful we may all be lost."

"She's my sister!" Touda shouted, "she's all that I have! I wont lose her." This last was said quietly, but the defiance and determination in his voice spoke volumes.

The angel shook his head. How was he supposed to explain their suspicions to the boy? Anise had been kidnapped and Church was certain that she was meant to be bait. He had the sinking feeling she was meant to lure Touda to the other side. He couldn't be certain, but Church was sure he recognized the binding circlet the boy wore around his head. If Touda truly was a summon-demon or worse: a summon-god, it was for the boy's own protection that he never find out who or what he truly was. And if Solarin shared the angel's suspicions it would explain everything. The lord of the City would go to a great deal of trouble to have a being like Touda under his power.

"You'll have to trust us, Touda." Church said mildly. "The mirror no longer works." He added, nipping that idea in the bud. They'd had to shatter it and then shroud it to prevent it being acessed again by the wrong people. "We will have to get to her another way."

"But you'll go there? And bring her back?"

"We will."

"When?"

As soon as it is time."

Touda sighed, running his hand through his flame colored hair. The answer wasn't good enough for him. She was in danger NOW. She needed help NOW. If the angel and his friends couldn't understand the necessary urgency then he'd just have to go and get her himself. Oddly enough the prospect didn't strike fear into his heart. Instead he felt the burning heat of righteous conviction spreading through his body, honing his thoughts to a fine point.

Church felt his sense of unease rising as the young boydquared his shoulders. His hair and the tips of his fingers seemed to spark with fire.

"Touda..." The angel began, "promise me you wont try to find her on your own. Promise you wont do anything stupid."

"I promise." Touda muttered, crossing his fingers behind his back. "I'm going for a walk." He added, slouching his way up the stairs in a parody of his usual insouciant manner.

.:The board is set:.

It was a confusing and disorienting journey through a city that seemed to be perpetually smouldering in it's own ashes. Anise pressed her face to the window of the spindly black carriage pulled by four of the strange shadow-like creatures. Sometimes she could see the places where it looked their skin had come off. Other times they seemed cloaked in darkness and she could hardly make them out at all. There was something eerily fascinating in this dystopic place. She remembered the stories Church had told her, about the City and it's Master. Church had been God's most beloved angel, and jealous Solarin had contrived to bring Church to the City of the Lost. The place where forgotten souls lived: Not heaven nor hell nor limbo, a different thing entirely. There were no gods here, no devils. Nobody but Solarin and the souls he tricked away from heaven and hell and sometimes purgatory. Once you were in the city you were lost to the eyes of divinity. You were simply... forgotten.

The girl gave a little shudder and clutched Tok closer to her body. "What do we do?" She whispered to the stuffed toy. "What have I done?"

Just wait. Tok advised. If they wanted you dead you'd probably already be dead. They probably just want to torture and rape you.

At this macabre statement Anise let out a sobbing moan. "Don't be cruel, Tok! You don't really think they'll do that to me?"

No. The toy responded, I don't. Not really. But I don't think they have anything very nice planned.

The conversation was cut off as the carriage rounded a corner and started up a steep drive. Peering out the window, Anise gasped. They were riding up a long and winding drive that led to what had probably once been a castle. Though it was black as night, vivid red showed through the cracks in the stonework, pulsing as if there was a living being trapped under the walls. It was the most horrible place Anise had ever seen.

"No! Please!" She begged when two of the creatures who had been drawing the carriage came to help her out. "Don't make me go in there!" Her fear of the place was instinctual. There was something malicious and vile about it, though she wasn't sure what. The creatures ignored her of course and dragged her, screaming, through the door and down a long hallway. Anise was so frightened that she didn't notice the inside of the palace was pristine and beautiful and almost entirely white marble. They paused outside of a large door that was partially open. A woman's voice could be heard within, high with excitement.

"She's a lovely tidbit, Lord." The lady Morwen was saying. "And she comes from the very household of Church. Imagine! He wont like it that we've stolen one of his little pets. Have I done well?" She was like a dog, anxious for the praise of her master.

"You've done well, Morwen." A man's voice, like a knife sheathed in silk. Like a golden bullet. "Anise. I've been waiting for you."

Thus summoned, she didn't need the escort into the chamber where the Lady Morwen waited, kneeling before a high blackwood throne. When Anise saw the man sitting on that throne she almost kneeled herself. He was magnificent. Where Church was sunlight and warmth this man was midnight shadows. His hair was the color of a raven's wing and his massive feathered wings were so dark that all light seemed swallowed by them. He smiled at her and she felt her knees turn into water, though she couldn't really tell wether it was fear or something else.

"Yes indeed, I've been calling to you for a long time, girl." The man said, beckoning her with a finger. Unwillingly Anise found herself moving forward. "Although my Lady here seems to wish to take the credit for finding you. Very presumptous of her, isn't it?"

Morwen's head snapped upwards, her beautiful face contorted in fear. "My Lord! I only brought her to you. Of course you were the one who called her through the gateway! You are a mighty ruler."

Solarin's dark eyes crinkled as he smiled. It was a wolf's smile. "Yes indeed, I did call her through the gateway." He turned his smile to Anise. "Now, see the price of pride and disobedience." His eyes flashed red, briefly, and from her place on the floor Morwen let out a desolate scream. Then it was as if a hot wind blew through the room and afterward a shadowy creature looking as if it had been skinned alive crouched where the lady had been, whimpering.

Anise whimpered too, and took a step back. She shook her head, but couldn't seem to find words to say.

"Don't worry, my dear. You're here for a reason." He leaned forward and took her chin in his hand, forcing her gaze to meet his. "You're here to be rescued."

This didn't make any sense. Here to be rescued? Anise was too paralyzed by fright to open her mouth, though. Solarin kindly continued.

"He'll come for you. Precious Touda. And I'll give you some words to say and a pretty robe to wear when he shows up. Thats all, you just say what I tell you to say when he comes to rescue you and then it's over. In the meantime, you'll stay in my seraglio where I can keep an eye on you."

She was given no chance to respond, not that she could have said something if she'd wanted to. Things were happening too fast, things she didn't understand. Touda? He wanted Touda? That didn't make any sense either, Touda was just an irritating spirit-boy. She loved him, he was her brother, but he wasn't anything really special. Plenty of people could change shape and Anise was certain there were loads of ghosts running around. There wasn't time, though, to puzzle out the hidden meaning in Solarin's words. She was dragged through more hallway to a heavily barred door and there she was surrendered to the seraglio. The lost harem.