Welcome to Gaia! ::

Hel yawned, and she yawned loudly.

The reaper was currently propped against a tree near the reaper dorms, blinking sleepily as she stared down at the leather strips she was braiding together for future projects. She had slowed down considerably, suddenly overwhelmed by this urge to just sleep. She’d been awfully busy as of late! Between getting her room settled, training, and even starting her first class, it was enough to even wear the valkyrie out. A dark hand came up to rub at her eyes, followed by another yawn, as she examined the area around her.

Hmmm…maybe a little nap here wouldn’t hurt? She pondered this for a moment.

Maybe she could get away with napping here…getting up and climbing the stairs to go back to her room seemed too troublesome right now.

The reaper was pulled from her musing by the sound of her name, and she blinked, turning her head in the direction of the voice. Hel squinted, taking a moment to recognize the Baku she’d been running into here and there around campus. A light hand came up to wave at the ghoul lazily. “Xiu!” She greeted back, followed by another yawn. “Oh, pardon me. How are you, friend?” Her hand stopped its waving motion then to turn into a ‘come on over’ motion.

Hel seemed a bit more awake when Xiu trotted over then crouched near her. Having company was always a nice thing! “I’m doing well, thank you for asking!” At Xiu’s statement about settling, the reaper gave a short laugh. “No, I’m settled for the most part. I arranged my room within days of arriving, but thank you for the offer friend, it’s much appreciated.”

She nodded her head in response to the question, looking down at the leather strips she was braiding before placing it off to the side. Hel laced her fingers behind her head as she regarded Xiu now. “It’s just been busy, but I’m enjoying it immensely.” She grinned to emphasize her statement. “Has it been hectic for you as well?” From the way the reaper was conversing with the ghoul, it was apparent that she wasn’t going to let sleep get in the way of interacting with her. The more Hel stared at this adorable ghoul; she couldn’t help but wonder something, something she had thought about since she first laid eyes on her. “Say there friend…what exactly are your abilities?”

“I’m loving it here.” Hel replied with grin, and gave a nod of her head in regards to the statement about homework. Ah yes, homework and assignments. The reaper briefly thought back to her troubles with actually sitting down to study before shrugging them off for now. “That’s good to hear! Just make sure to stay on top of it, so that way you can be the best of the class!” Hel uttered to encourage the Baku.

She tilted her head intently towards Xiu when she spoke about her abilities, and Hel’s eyes couldn’t help but widen a tad as she looked at the Baku a bit…skeptically. What? She really could…go into people’s dreams? The valkyrie never heard about an ability like this before! She stared at the ghoul silently for another long moment before a dark brow slowly rose. “So…if I fell asleep, you could…go into my dreams right now…?”

Was Hel plotting something? Possibly. A test. To see if Xiu could really do as she claimed.

Honestly, Hel didn’t care about any limitations the Baku talked about!

The reaper was still pretty hung up on the claim that she could enter her dreams, and she grinned at Xiu excitedly. Permission huh? Easily granted! “Alright!” Hel cheered, a hand come out to clap the shy ghoul on the shoulder. “Don’t look so down friend!” She further encouraged when the ghoul’s ears started to droop. “Let’s try this out right now!” Hel absolutely had no problem with this. As of late, a lot of her dreams were surface thoughts and musings…nothing dark or personal! She felt as if she didn’t have anything to worry about with someone seeing them, and besides, the desire to see if Xiu could really do this or not was overwhelming.

“So…I just need to fall asleep now, yes?” Hel questioned, looking to reaffirm this before actually trying to fall asleep.

Hel cracked a blue eye open at Xiu as the Baku seemed to protest, and just grinned up at her. “Of course I’m certain!” She reaffirmed. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t offer!” She then closed her eyes and settled, and in no time at all Hel had fallen asleep.

After the reaper had fallen asleep, and after Xiu took the path into her dream, the Baku would find herself at the start of another path, but no worries, this one was part of the reaper’s dream. The environment the ghoul would find herself in seemed to just like the deepest depths of a cave, though there seemed to be no ceiling in sight and it seemed to stretch out endless into an eternity. In this realm it was a bit chilly as well, but at least the Baku had something to follow! Where the ghoul would find herself start would be at the end of a long bridge gilded with gold, and after crossing that bridge she’d come to a large, imposing gate deemed the ‘Gate of Hel’.

Standing at this gate were two rather large golems, bearing furs and horned helmets, wielding spears that were even taller then they were. They stared down at the Baku threateningly, but after tapping the end of their spears into the ground the gate would open for her, to reveal a large, grand hall.

“Ah…welcome!” A voice echoed from the other end of the hall. It seemed yet again the ghoul would have a walk ahead of her to see who this voice belonged to, but it was rather familiar. “Please, come in…”

“Come in, come in!” The voice beckoned, and after walking down the long, grand hall, Xiu would be rewarded with a familiar sight! Seated upon a tall throne that was made out of dark, polished wood carved with intricate patterns of death and souls, would be Hel. Though the reaper wasn’t as she usually appeared! Instead of her two braided pig tailsl, her hair was down, and swept past her shoulders, and she wore a rather nice robe that seemed to be fit for a…queen? Possible the most startling aspect of this dream Hel though, was that while her skin still had its usual split, the dark side of her appeared to be decaying in some areas, revealing bone underneath.

The ruler of this realm interlocked her fingers and peered down at the Baku with great interest. “I am so pleased to see you have arrived after my summons. We have a very important matter to discuss…”

“Come now, Little one.” The reaper ruler cooed to the Baku, rising from her throne and trailing down the steps to stand before her. “No need to be frightened. This was a good summon yes…a very good summon indeed.” Hel grinned, her hands coming out to firmly rest on Xiu’s shoulders as she peered down at her.

“You see, Little one, I am…building an army!” The ghoul announced this to the Baku with the utmost seriousness and conviction. “And only the best may have the honor of joining my ranks! I will have the greatest army in existence! To crush all those who stand before me.” At this she squeezed Xiu’s shoulders a bit before wrapping a skeletal arm around them. “This is where you come in…I have been told that you possess a most…peculiar ability…”