Welcome to Gaia! ::

Home to the great many followers of Omni, the island of Eden is completely withdrawn from the outside world. It refuses to trade with other nations and maintains a military power far greater than any nuclear weapon; mutants, great and small. Thousands of metahumans from all over the world inhabit this paradise, forsaking their former human culture and languages to embrace a new post-human culture established by the nation's leader; Omni, who many consider to be the most powerful (if not the most important) mutant of all time.

While most of the world believes Eden is an idyllic paradise, it's not quite as perfect as many believe. There is disent among Omni's followers over disputable elements of his teaching as core philosophies and minor doctrines clash against one another, causing schisms which Omni seems reluctant to mend. Especially pronouced is the tension between those who ascribe to violent removal of mankind as an evolutionary imperative and the mutants who believe that natural processes will see to the gradual extinction of mankind without the need for outright genocide.

The nation's ruler, despite his 4 wives, 17 sons, 14 daughters, and inumerable advisors, generals, and overseers has yet to name a successor to his throne. His public appearances have become less and less frequent, leading many to believe he is ill or possibly already dead. If and when the monarch of Eden dies, a civil war for control between heirs to the throne and purveyors of contradicting doctrine threatens to break out and consume the nation of metahumans in the same petty wars which have characterized the human cultures which they claim to be so distant from.

Clear blue skies with a hot sun burning down intensely. The sound of waves and smell of water was all around Asura even though none was in sight. The island of Eden was definitely different than the streets at ground zero. The chances were probably high that they would be at ground zero, but the chances of finding anyone there is next to impossible and Asura hoped that the same would hold true for Him. But even if the chance of finding one of them is higher here, Asura still had no idea where to look. How do you find someone who could be anywhere, especially someone who's in hiding?
Asura walked down the path he happened to be fallowing looking for someone to ask them if there was any place on this island that has records of the people living here and their powers. If this island has a place like that then it could make his searching go so much faster, and then he might be able to get to them before Him.

Ah, there's the beach, Asura thought seeing and feeling the waves laps closer only to draw away into solitude over and over again. He got so entranced by the rhythmic push and pull that he found himself swaying slightly side to side in time with the waves then he forced himself to stop as his eyes caught one, no two people ahead of him. They both were female by the look of it and had darker skin and appeared to be around his age, the closest one looked the most "normal" of the two so, not being used to this many mutants in one place, he approached her and introduced himself just as he practiced many times before "Hello," he said in a calm friendly voice, "My name is Junsui Sessurea and I was wondering if there was a place on this island that had listings of the residents living here; and maybe their powers as well" he added almost as an afterthought. I hope there is one, I don't know how I'll find them if there isn't. He shivered despite the burning sun overhead, then dug into his winter jacket and pulled out some hand warmers to replace the used ones hidden in his gloves

"Um, yah" Asura stumbled wondering what to say. He couldn't exactly say that he had already been there but didn't get the information because he wasn't exactly supposed to be here. Or maybe he could, "I just came from there but they wouldn't let me see anything without id, and I accidently lost mine so I was wondering if you would help me? I'm looking for someone very important to me and I'll pay you back, somehow... I don't have very much money but I might be able to help you out in some other ways, I mean my 'talent' has to be good for something" He looked up hopefully at the woman, this could become a very difficult if he didn't get any leads soon, he felt like he was just chasing after a wisp in the air, but he has to do it because He will come here and nothing will stop Him. This is why Asura needed find him first. "Please will you help me?"

Wither was doing her best to completely ignore Morrigan and the boy she was talking to. She'd worked with Morrigan before, and honestly, she scared the dark woman with her odd detatchment. Not that Wither was exactly a social butterfly herself, as illustrated by her marked disinterest in either of the pair that were talking.

This boy was sadly clueless. Wither supressed an amused smirk at his ignorance. Was he really so simpleminded that he knew niether where he was nor whose company he kept? This was fabulous. The stupid bumpkin on the beach with two female assassins, and he didn't suspect a thing. Wither was just eating it up, but she kept her face nuetral, pretending like she neither heard them, nor cared about their presence.

She thought about draining him, and teaching him a lesson, but if he was a mutant, she wasn't sure she wanted his powers, and if he wasn't he had no business on Eden, and would soon be caught and dealt with by others. She'd enjoyed herself in his exchange, anyway. Although, she thought she give him some useful advice.

Without changing her reclined position, she said out loud to the world in general, "You could get a tracker, you know." Trackers could find anything, and if whoever he was looking for happened to have powers, they would be just that much easier to find.

Oh dear, she'd acted a little rashly, hadn't she? Still, couldn't take her words back now, so it was best to rid herself of the boy, so she could continue her leisure. After all, she wasn't a tracker herself, so, if she told the boy what he asked, he'd go bother a tracker, wouldn't he?

She sighed as she sat up, the white sands of the beach clining somewhat to her bronze skin and black bikini. She took in the boy's appearance and was unwillingly and forcably reminded of Hani. Not the blue hair, of course, but there was some sort of character about him that called her brother to mind. She couldn't be quite as rude as she'd planned, but she still had to set him to rights.

"Okay, first of all, as long as you're on this island, Junsui is dead. No human names, got it? Your name should reflect your gift." She smiled wickedly and glanced pointedly at the wilted palm tree. "Mine's Wither. Secondly, I don't personally know of any trackers," she lied, "But if you go into town you can advertise for one, and hire them out."

Amber was lucky enough to have fallen asleep at some point during the night. Exhaustion from 20 hours of work in a day would do that. She couldn't complain about it. After all, she brought it on herself. She had to do something with all the time she didn't spend sleeping, and she was adamant that this time it would be more constructive than the new Guitar Hero game.

Normally she didn't set an alarm clock. Normally, she wouldn't need one. For the first time in a few months, Amber was so exhausted that she flat out ignored the last few times the vents kicked on to blow the air around. All that meant was that she was about an hour late for work, or she would be by the time she finished getting ready.

Amber's biggest problem with working at a beauty shop was the fact that she couldn't show up looking like crap, a big problem when she often went days without a good night's rest. After a 30 minute ritual, she could normally conceal the vicious signs of fatigue in her face. Her stride and attitude were another matter. Today, her looks required a little less than the standard maintenance, so she might not be as late after all.

Breakfast consisted of a box of pop-tarts, and a few handfuls of some super-sugary cereal, and most of a jug of orange juice. She quickly gathered a few snacks to hold her over until lunch and then rushed out the door.

The sun was way too bright. Amber squinted and mentally flicked off the sun for being too bright. Eden was a paradise, yes, but only if you had sunglasses capable of stopping the lasers the sun rained down on you all day. Amber left her sunglasses at her night job in the restaurant, so she was left squinting as she made her way to the salon.

It wasn't all that uncommon for Amber to be late, so Katie, better known as Mag, at the front counter made some comment that was promptly ignored. "When's my first appointment?"

Mag turned away from the computer and down at a little touch screen organizer. After pressing a few buttons she looks back to Amber and said, "Your first is at 11:30."

"I'm glad I got here on time then," Amber said scoffing with the attitude typical of any girl her age. "I'd be sitting on my a** with nothing to do for an hour and a half."

Mag knew better than to argue. Amber had a way with words, and it was usually sharp and painful. "I guess you're right," she said with a shrug. "Since you've got a little time, you could organize your stencils and nail polish."

Amber knew better than to think it was just something Mag would mention on some off-chance. This was planned, and they were waiting for a chance to spring it on her. She almost started to say that it was organized, but she coughed a little before she did, choking back her own lie. "Fine. I don't know why it's such a big deal."

When Amber got to the little corner seat she took her "clients" she realized what everyone else was complaining about. A box full of nail polish bottles had spilled out onto the counter, and there were little nail sized templates scattered like confetti. The only thing that looked organized was her box of brushes- fine artist brushes that looked out of place in a beauty shop.

Amber reached into her pocket and started chewing on a candy bar as she worked. A few minutes later Mag came back to pester her again. "You really do look good today." Amber mumbled something that should have been unintelligible considering the amount of chocolate and nougat in her mouth. Somehow Mag understood it and responded. "It's supposed to mean what it sounds like. Did you get a some sleep for once?"

After a hard swallow, Amber looks over her shoulder at the inquisitive girl. Amber wasn't used to compassion, and Mag was always the first one to give her a hard time about looking like crud in the morning. What did she say today? Good morning. You're looking good today. Did Amber immediately consider it sarcastic? It wasn't very hard to twist a compliment into something double-edged, but maybe every once in a while what was being said was what the person really meant.

"Yeah, I actually slept in a little today. That's why I was late." Amber shoved a few more nail polish bottles into a little box labeled "blue".

"Well then I'm glad you came in late. It's probably better that way anyway." Mag quickly rushed back to the front counter and got back to playing around on the computer.

"What the hell was that all about?" Amber shook her head and got back to sorting the nail polish. The stencils would need to be saved for another day.