Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Hot springs...Oooooh~" The little demoness answered, surprised all the same at the obvious information her companion had given. But wait...Hadn't they been in some other room before this? "This place is really strange. It keeps changing. I don't like it." Nym pouted, shifting lightly on her place, the water rippling. It was only then that magenta colored pools noticed the change of attire, some thin cloth covering her. Eyebrows furrowed in confusion and innocent curiosity as fingers touched the fabric, pulling at it just slightly. Rosy, freckled skin showed just above her bust, and the curious eyes widened just slightly, before shifting into a confused gaze. "Oh..." Nym shifted closer to Yuuya, pointing at the towel around her. "Yuuya...do you usually wear these things in a place like this? It's a bit constricting...and it's all wet and it keeps plastering into my bre- What's that?"

Her eyes shifted to the wooden fence, noises on the other side attracting her attention. Unlike the other girls, Nym didn't seem to blush or shift her gaze away, uncomfortable...instead her head tilted to one side as she listened to the voices, eyebrows knitting together. "No peeking... Alright! Though, Yuuya... are they wrestling in there?" Her gaze shifted to her companion once again, noticing the slight frown and pink cheeks. Somehow he looked...uncomfortable? She pouted as well...once again turning to the fence, and then back to the other girls. "What's wrong?"

"Hn. Just as I expected..." When the wall was destroyed, the voices from before vanished as if swept away in a gust of wind. What lay beyond the wall was not the awkward menagerie of boys in compromising situations, but instead another simple hot spring with many men sitting along the edge, feet dipped in the water, chanting lowly and in unison. The sight brought to mind rituals or strange clandestine meetings, but nothing like what the girls had heard before...and on the far side of the Hot Spring stood one man in full clothing, who stared straight back at the intrusive bunch. "All it took was a little temptation, and you came bursting through yourselves. Always the unfair bunch, attempting to control your male counterparts, scumming around to ensure your grasp on them isn't severed." His speech was a little off considering the one who'd ripped the wall down happened to be Yuuya, but he paid less than no heed to the one male intruder, instead giving an icy glance at the girls. He didn't smile, even in his courtly approach, a sign of how truly bitter he was towards the fairer gender.

"Does the view not please you? So many dogs tethered to my leash. Normally I wouldn't even speak to your kind, but this is a special occasion. Come, make an offering and I may even relinquish a few into your hand." His knuckles pressed against his cheek, resting a lazy gaze on them all. It must have seemed odd to here the lives of others talked about in such an objective manner, but somehow the tension never rose. Instead, each girl's eyes were clouded with a sense of wonton interest, as each man there seemed...unnaturally attractive. The thought of having one at their beck and call, waiting on them like princesses and queens, forced itself into their minds like a prowler in an unlocked home. When put like that, was there reason to doubt the host, as standoffish as he may have seemed? "It makes your wicked blood boil, doesn't it? You pretend to put on an honest face, but you secretly wish only to take what you desire. Then have it, so long as you leave us to our isolation." It seemed he truly was content to simply allow the women to take what they desired, so long as they ceased their intrusion upon his world. All the while the men continued their chanting, as if a moment's breath might bring about unavoidable destruction; as if they were under an order, absolute, and one which they would faithfully obey.

The figure finally glanced towards Yuuya, and at once he glared, before finally changing his unerring expression of agitated repose to one of interest. A small smile, the likes he'd never shown those women even once appeared, and he seemed for the first time a bit less hostile. "Ah, but you may stay here if you choose. This place is sacred ground, where their kind may never trample under normal circumstances. I can see you're one who comes from similar circumstances to mine...surrounded by these lascivious vixens, forcing yourself to dredge through the muck of their false motivations. You are...an artist? You will find peace here, if you wish. You may write music, and perform to your heart's desires, without their shrill interruptions. Your friends are welcome as well, of course." His reception of the others paled in comparison to the offer of Yuuya; while the group was spurned in a moment's passing, the individual man amongst them quickly received a proper greeting and a welcoming offer. It was almost too good to be true, in the reverse of the others...and the chances Yuuya felt the underpinned influence emanating from the creature, trying to lure him into staying, were already far too low for the band member's liking.

"Yuuya...you are awfully red."

The little demoness blinked as she looked at her companion with big, curious eyes, her head tilted to the side cutely. The situation in hand looked completely strange and ridiculous to Nym; the girls were panicking and Yuuya was still as a statue, his gaze averted. That was...until he moved suddenly and tore the fence off the ground. She didn't question when he extended her hand to help her over to the other side, as confused as she was. Still she giggled and went with it without hesitation. Until she saw the man standing on the other side, accompanied by that row of strange looking black...silhouette things. Eyebrows furrowed as he began speaking... There was something about him she didn't like...her shoulders tensing, her hair bristling in a way that would make Studio Ghibli proud. Her grip on Yuuya's hand tightened, a pout on her lips as her gaze turned to her companion, a worried expression showing.

"You are not taking Yuuya! You...you bully!" The petite demoness stood in front of her companion, as if to protect the much taller young man from the Shadow, as ridiculous as the picture looked. Though, there was still a fierceness in Nym's eyes that wasn't common... She wouldn't let Yuuya be in danger!

"Bully?" Nym's words were echoed back at her, in a voice that sounded utterly dumbfounded. He'd offered them whatever they wanted, a literal King's Ransom if they merely admitted that they were all adulterous wenches and went on their way...and he was the bully The pale face contorted into an appalling expression as he placed a hand over his eye and tried to force the bile back down his throat. Memories began to flash in his head of another girl, one who would have jumped at this proposal just as they all must have secretly been doing. They were simply trying to make a fool out of him so they could ridicule him later, a game that sluts like them loved to play to torture honest men. "I'm the bully...? You speak in quite a haughty tone for an arrogant b**ch. Admit it, you just want me to leave him alone so you can play with him, tease him with hopes and dreams, and then spit in his face and grind it into dust. You shut your mouth you contemptuous wh*re."

Just like that, a switch was flipped. Suddenly the figure's demeanor changed. He spoke with the same condescending tone, but his eyes began to glow a bright gold and his voice echoed now...there was no hesitation in the change. He wanted this, and as he raised an open palm the chanting around him grew louder, as all the figures seemed agitated. The illusion that had been cast over the eyes of the girls began to fade like dust, and the men became Shadows, the sound an ominous hymn. "I would have given you anything. I did give you anything, a place where you could treat to your ebbing desires and drink in whatever lustrous concoction your ravenous desires called for. I promised you I'd make you happy, and you still refused me; you went to throw yourself at others like it was nothing and made sure I bathed in every second of your raunchy indecency. You understand how devastating that was? Right? The feeling of being broken into pieces, shattering apart like a thousand shards of broken mirror reflecting only your happy f**king face? Of having your soul torn apart? Right? RIGHT?" A mad, anguished grin was on his face as he yammered on about something that made little sense to the girls. It seemed they'd stepped on a proverbial "landmine", and whatever had driven the man...if it could be called that...over the edge was now displayed in all it's full trauma on his face.

A gasp left his lips as he raised both hands to his face, clawing at the skin as he began to sweat profusely, shaking his head a few times to finally calm down. "I'm...sorry you saw me like that. It seems I was a bit confused...none of you are her." A cool grin returned, as whatever drove him before faded away, as if there were two faces changing back and forth. "You're not even close to the unpolished diamond she was. And I'm afraid I can't expect women like you to understand...rather, I shouldn't have expected anything from you to begin with." Despite the backhanded apology, it was clear he did regret the things he'd said. For a moment he looked over them, as if recalling a particular memory by drawing on their faces, but finally he let out a small laugh, smiling at them. For the first time, at that...as he'd noticeably refused to turn his gaze on them before. "Even if I had let you leave, would you have really returned home? Sluts like you would prefer a brothel, wouldn't you? And so, in order to make you forget me...please forgive me. But I must eliminate you, and the stain you've left upon my world."

A sense of vertigo washed over everyone as the floor suddenly began to change and warp, lights moving along the walls as the entire realm changed in a disorienting fashion. The very size of the room seemed to change as if the walls were creeping in on them, and the lights disappeared entirely. Suddenly a door swung wide behind the man, but elegant silver haired man from before was gone, and light streamed in from behind to reveal a new silhouette. In the distance beyond the door was the silhouette of a woman, but the room itself was dark and dank, reeking of stagnation, moisture and isolation. It seemed like the only hope for salvation lay behind the strange group, but what faced the team now were not people, but monsters...Shadows, with one sitting amidst them all, drumming his fingers on a throne readily. The throne appeared to be stone near the top, but melted into water as it neared his feet, clearly the source of the Hot Spring from before. It seemed the world truly was a paradise that he'd made for isolation, and now their feet had dirtied the kingdom he'd worked so hard to form.