Welcome to Gaia! ::

She didn't know why she'd come back to the warehouse district. It had been a while since the incident with Pollux. Sure, the whole kidnapping thing had been planned, but being here... It gave Crux bad feelings. Still, she'd come back. Still, she was walking through the streets, alone, at night. Not the smartest thing to do for sure, but there were times when even Crux was sentimental.

Crux picked her way through the dark alleys with caution. She felt a few small pulses of energy. Auras the knight had called it. If she wanted to survive, she'd need to learn to recognize them. Being able to tell the difference between a hostile and non-hostile target made a lot of difference. It was easy enough, this aura thing was mostly about following your gut feeling. So far, nothing suspicious or dangerous. The girl let out a sigh. Whatever Crux was looking for, she didn't find it. She turned on her heel and started to make her way out of the maze.

Suddenly, she was aware of something dark. Like a youma, only stronger. Ten, no a hundred times stronger. It was unlike anything she'd felt before. Every fiber in her body screamed danger, but the aura seemed to be everywhere. It was almost as if Crux could not escape, no matter which direction she ran in. She stood tense, taunt and stiff. And though she appeared alert and on-guard, she could not deny there was a factor of fear too. If she weren't so prideful, Crux was sure she'd be quivering in her boots.

Overhead, a lamp flickered.

She was rooted in one place and it was all that Crux could do to turn around and look for the source of the voice. The malevolence, the playful tone sent shivers down her spin, trailed fear in its wake. She felt, all too clearly, the icy touch of air when the nape of her neck was exposed, the soft movement of her hair as the man swiped at it.

Monsters.
Monsters.

That thought jolted her. Crux recalled, vividly, a recurring dream she'd had before her awakening. Of the glaring white room, the soft voice, the blood and the screaming and the foreboding feeling she'd had when the man in her dream had said starseed. It was the same feeling she felt now, not only because this man was strong, but because there was a touch of something else there. A touch of sadism that told her this man was not like Howlite. She'd forgotten Marlo's warnings, dismissed them even. That was her mistake.

She jumped backwards, tried to put distance between them. Her head spun with different trains of thought. She wanted to escape, needed to run, didn't want to die. But there was a understanding, beneath it all, that there was no way to escape. Not yet. She had to calm down, had to banish this fear and panic from herself. Crux drew her mind back in. Breathe. Calm down. Think.

Crux let out a shaky breath and stared directly at the red-haired man. Now was not the time to hesitate, not to panic or fear. She was alert, knees bent and ready to react if need be. Something told her that there would be a lot of running if she wanted to survive.