Welcome to Gaia! ::

{{Thank you very much, Chris!! I really appreciate it and it means a lot. smile }}

After talking with Marcus for a few more minutes, Amy finally went to close her new bag and leave. She was about to spend far too much time in this area. She tried not to stay in one area for more than 10 minutes if she didn't have to. Too easy to be recognized that way.

Amaranth put one of her hands on the flap of the bag that was hanging over the back. Before she closed it, though, she noticed something was now in her bag. It was silver.

Amy frowned in confusion and looked at Marcus. The hairs on the back of her neck rose and she became very suspicious. "Marcus... Did you put this in here?"

Marcus looked confused and then glanced in the bag. He made a small sound of surprise when he saw the film canister in there and pulled it out of the canvas bag. It was then that he noticed the sticky note on it.

"Play me? What the hell? Rose, I did not put this in here. I don't give away freebies. I'm sure a vendor around here has a projector, though, that you could use, believe it or not. As you know, we have the oddest and oldest stuff here."

Rose arched an eyebrow at Marcus and then looked at the canister again. "Right... I think I'll just check this out a little more first, though, before I open it. Thanks, Marcus. See ya later."

She grabbed the canister, put it in her bag, closed it, and then slung it over her shoulder. She had already paid Marcus, so she just walked off. She went into a nearby alley and looked around to make sure she was alone. There were a couple bums around, but they were so drunk and high that they didn't even notice her.

Amy crouched down on the ground, put her bag down, and opened it. She carefully put the film canister down on the ground. Then, she reached into her sock where she kept knives and a handy portable XRay device. She turned it on and then ran it over the canister. She looked at the small screen on the device and saw that it appeared to just be a simple reel of film. She looked at it for a few more moments to make sure and then turned off the XRay device. She put it back in her sock and then pulled out a small contraption out of the back of her waistband. It was a special device that worked like a miniature automatic set of the jaws of life. When she would turn it on and press a button, the two levers would start moving away from each other until it no longer felt any pressure, causing whatever it was pushing against to break. She kept this, along with a few other pair, with her at all times. She always wanted to be prepared in case she was caught and put away. These would break her out of any type of cell.

She reached in her waistband, pulled out another set, and then set them on the ground. She started to carefully move them toward the film canister. The devices also had clamps on them that a person could use to attach to something. She attached one clamp on both sets to the top of the canister and then the other clamp to the bottom of the canister. She made sure to adjust the levers so that they were wedged into the small space for the opening. Then, she pushed the buttons, grabbed her bag quickly, and jogged away from the canister a few feet.

A few moments later, a popping sound could be heard and the lid fell off of the canister. Amy sighed softly when there was no explosion that accompanied the removal of the top. At least the person who sent it didn't want to hurt her... not yet, anyway.

She went over to the canister, quickly grabbed the film out of it, picked up her opening devices, and put the film in her bag. She quickly walked out of the alley after that, leaving the film canister in the alley.

Amy spent the next 10 minutes looking for a vendor that indeed sell film projectors. When she found one, she paid the vendor for it and took it home. Well, her dwelling.

Once inside after putting in all the necessary codes, she wasted no time in setting up everything. Everything was ready to go in about 20 minutes and she had a white wall that served as the projection screen.

Flipping the on switch to the projector, Amy stood beside it and began to watch the images that appeared before her. She was quite confused at first as to what she was seeing. Why would someone give her this? It didn't mean anything. It was just a bunch of jumbled images put together. It made no sense.

She started to feel a weird tugging and bubbling sensation in her stomach moments later, though. And then, out of nowhere, she felt her feet lift off of the ground and her body surge forward. She grimaced but didn't cry out and threw her hands up in front of her to brace herself from the collision she knew was coming with the wall.

A few moments later, though, when she didn't feel herself hit the wall, she blinked a few times and then slowly lowered her hands. Her eyes widened slightly and she couldn't help but gasp as she saw her surroundings. She was now outside in broad daylight in what appeared to be a valley with mountains and a forest surrounding her.

"What... what the hell? Where am I?!"

{{Chris, did you want to play the Creator again meeting up with Amy or do you want me to post again? I'm not sure what to do next, but I can post again if you don't want the Creator to come in.}}

X x X x X x <3 X x X x X x Ŧ э ο ɗ ο я α . ₳ Ϯ α ɳ ί ί . Ɖ α ɳ α ο X x X x X x <3 X x X x X x <3 X x X x X x <3 X x X x X x

☽ "Welcome to the holy ground,
It's not what you're thinking.
This, is of a different nature than what you're believing.
This is not a place that can be ruled by democracy.
Held tight in the clutches of tyrannic hypocrisy,
This place is a lie, where demons run free..." ☾

“Have you calmed yourself?” The figure standing on the water asked her. Taddie looked at him with an odd expression, but responded all the same with a simple and somewhat bewildered nod. “Very good. Now welcome to this world. I am the Architect. I’m in charge of the structural solitude of this world. I am the one who erected the wall that you so easily slipped through the gate of.” He said it as if it were slightly irksome to him when, in fact, she’d required his aid to escape safely.

“Umm… Very nice to meet you. I’m—“

“Teodora Danao. Otherwise called Taddie.” He said her nickname as if it were strange and useless. “Yes. I know. I’m the one who called you here. I’ve decided to employ you.”

Taddie stared blankly for a moment then shook her head in amazement. This stranger was obviously crazy. But all the same, she took the bait. It wasn’t like she could walk away. She was stranded on a rock at the middle of a pond. “So what do you want?”

“Your aid. For the most part, you may do as you wish while in this world, but every now and then, I’ll come give you work to do.” He spoke it like a list. He seemed to have rehearsed this conversation.

“You speak like you’ll never let me return home.” Taddie said cautiously.

“You’ll be allowed to return once my goal is satisfied, or once you’ve outlived your usefulness. The downside is that your survival depends strictly on your own capabilities.” The irony in his voice was apparent. The underlying theme of her possible demise apparent, the girl hesitated as she observed the dark figure.

His dark red cloak seemed heavy and too hot for the weather, his hands peaked out from beneath it where they cradled a simple draftsman compass made from gold and copper, a yellowed piece of chalk took the place of a marking pencil. Beneath the cloak, his body seemed to disappear, so she assumed he wore black beneath the heavy garment. The hood hid every feature of his face in an almost unnatural way, but his lips and square shaped jaw that showed off the stubble of his very obvious six o’clock shadow. This man was oddly suspicious and she knew there was no way for her to trust him. In the meantime, he ignored her staring and continued to speak.

“Your first assignment is to meet your partner in crime. You won’t be traveling together, but the success of your missions will depend on the success of the other. So for your first mission, I’ll ask you to dive down there and free her from the ice. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” One of his large hands relinquished its grip on his tool and a long bony finger pointed into the depths of the pond.

“How did she end up down the—Gah!” Taddie asked glancing back up. When she did, his person was almost face to face with her, but since she was kneeling and he was standing, she got and eye sight full of robe and vaguely knobby shapes that could only be his knees.

“There? Well, I’d called her here much earlier, but the Creator got to her and trapped her down there. I can’t change the structure of his creation sadly, so I was forced to call you in much earlier than I’d originally planned.” His tone of voice as he spoke was beginning to get on her nerves. The attitude that she and this other girl were only pieces in his game didn’t help her like him more either. She looked back down at the girl beneath the water. ’How is the water so clear?’ She wondered.

“How am I—“ She began to ask, but he was already gone. She groaned in frustration and pulled off her shoes and other objects that she couldn’t afford to get wet. Setting it on the rock, she dove into the water without so much as a plan.

The girl she was supposed to help was deep under the water. How was she even alive? She should have drowned by the time the Architect had sent her down to get her. But it didn’t matter, if finishing his missions got her home, she wasn’t sure she cared.

The pond wasn’t as deep as she’d thought. The bottom of it was rocky and soft, so she picked up one of the rocks and moved forward to beat on the ice encasing the girl. Wasn’t such a large chunk of ice supposed to float? She glanced around and found the piece of ice that stuck deep into the mud. Perhaps that would be easier to break than the ice cage that held the sleeping girl.

Unable to break the ice and out of air, she was forced to go to the surface without succeeding. It took a moment for her to catch her breath again, as she thought about her next option. Perhaps she could wake the caged girl?

Diving again, she reached an arm between a gap in the ice and managed to tug a piece of the stranger’s hair. She frowned, but didn’t wake. Taddie tugged harder and was forced back by an electric charge and a rush of water as the girl woke up.

“And who are you to be tugging my hair?” The voice echoed through the water as Taddie’s vision went dark.

{{It's okay, Chris. smile I've been really sick this week, so I haven't been on at all until now. It's all good. smile }}

Amy frowned at her surroundings. This place was almost too bright, too cheery, too perfect. Something was going on here... as if being sucked into that movie wasn't proof enough. Wait. Maybe that was why everything here looked so perfect and cheery. Maybe it looked like this because of the fact that she was in a movie. Things could be this perfect in a film.

Upon hearing the voice behind her, Amy gasped, squatted down, grabbed a knife near her ankle, spun around, and stood back up with the blade pointed at the person's neck. All of this was done in a flash.

"Who the hell are you and where am I? What do you mean by sneaking up on me? You should never sneak up on a person."

Her heart was racing and adrenaline was coursing through her veins, but on the outside, she appeared calm and completely focused. Only her intense eyes gave away apprehensiveness.

{{Fox, do you want your characters to interact with others anytime in the near future? Just curious. Some people choose to RP with just themselves for awhile, which is totally fine. What were you wanting to do?}}

Masterson struck at Hiro, but Hiro swept out of the way and grabbed Masterson by the throat.

"I surely won't kill you Masterson like this, for if I did, it would be pointless. Even for a villain of my stature, it would be distasteful, despite it being temporary convenient. Besides, I can still rule the world and stop you, once I do this-"

His hand glowed crimson and a burst of vermilion light emulated like an aura around it. And from there, he penetrated Masterson's forehead and reached into his brain, drawing out what appeared to be a dark violet colored bubble.

He absorbed it into his own soul, and then threw Masterson into a set of trash cans.

Masterson tried to mentally throw Hiro into the wall once he was free, but all that happened was Hiro laughing.

"I always thought you had interesting powers and abilities Allen. So, if you're wondering what I took from you, it was that. You have completely lost all of your powers and abilities mental as well as physical. I dare you to try and stop me this time without them. That's the only reason why you were able to stop me from dominating the world the last time. Your skills and fearless leadership were what saved you from becoming just another smudge in this otherwise barren land.
"And if you don't believe me, let me show you something that I'm sure you're familiar with-"

At that point, he blasted Masterson into the wall with one of his own powerful energy blasts. Masterson crippled and fell onto the floor of the alleyway as Hiro curb stomped him repeatedly.
When he got tired of curb stomping him, Hiro spoke with sinister malice:
"See, you're nothing but a washed up excuse for a human being when you don't have your powers or abilities, and to think that I got defeated by a miserable piece of dogshit like you. You aren't fit to even be my slave.
"BEGONE!!!"

Episode 4: Awakening


Three Days Later. . .

Night had fallen. Masterson had finally woken up. He groaned when the aphrodisiac of sleep had passed and the pain had returned.

"Ah, I see you've finally woken up." spoke the elderly man.

"What the-who are you? Where am I? What time is it?"

Masterson saw that he was in what appeared to be a cottage room. The bed he was in reminded him of one that was in a medieval village, The room was lit by a single candle and the images cast on the wall were ghostly and flickered with the movement of the same said shadows.

"Woah friend, one thing at a time. You've been out for three days, my name is Levi ((Pronounced Lee-vi)), and it's nighttime about two thirty in the morning."

Masterson looked at himself and realized that he was almost naked and wrapped in bandages. He felt his teeth and realized that most of them were chipped, broken, and bleeding.

"Here bud, lucky for you, my grandfather was a dentist. I could repair your teeth, but I wanted to check with you first."

Masterson nodded. "For now, I'll trust you and have you fix my mouth. Just load up on the anethestic, I don't want want to feel nothin'-" he said weakly.

"I've tried to also bring down the fever that you developed from the infection of the wounds that's you sustained. You know you're lucky to be alive after being beaten like that."

"Pain don't hurt-It's just the mind that makes it hurt." said Masterson.

"Still though, you're not going to be moving as swiftly as you were for a while." he spoke.

Masterson groaned in pain.

"Hold on, this is going to hurt." spoke Levi, dabbing a cloth with a brown glass bottle of liquid.

"Is that. . . . .rubbing alcohol?" asked Masterson, his face contorting in horror.

There was no reply from Levi as Masterson shouted in pain that could be heard for miles from the old world hamlet house.

Ŧ э ο ɗ ο я α . ₳ Ϯ α ɳ ί ί . Ɖ α ɳ α ο

☽ "Welcome to the holy ground,
It's not what you're thinking.
This, is of a different nature than what you're believing.
This is not a place that can be ruled by democracy.
Held tight in the clutches of tyrannic hypocrisy,
This place is a lie, where demons run free..." ☾

After Taddie caught her breath and introduced herself and told her story, the other girl seemed to relax. She took the time to use her powers to help dry the younger girl off and then sat with her on the rock at the center of the pond where the Architect had dropped Taddie off.

“Enjoy the Journey?” Foxx scoffed and shook her head at the sound of the phrase. “What kind of ‘Down the Rabbit Hole’ load of bull—“ She paused at a look from Taddie made her stop. Foxx cleaned her throat and started again. “Well, we both seem to have fallen for it, so I guess I might as well introduce myself as well. I’m Foxxenne Diyesa. Call me Foxx because I prefer it to my full name.” Taddie nodded as she pulled on all the gear she’d taken off to go get the girl from her underwater prison.

“In any case, did the Architect leave any instructions for after you freed me?” She asked glancing around suspiciously as if expecting the strange specter to show up suddenly.

“No.” Was Taddie short and slightly annoyed answer.

“Right. Well, that hasn’t changed has it? He’ll show up eventually. But for the time being, let’s get out of the center of the pond.” Standing, she offered her hand to the other girl. “Come on then. It’s not that far of a walk.”

“Walk?” Taddie retorted back. “What do you mean—“ Then she stopped talking as Foxx took a couple steps out into the water, but didn’t sink. “Of course… What am I thinking? I’m talking to a girl who just tried to kill me with water and electricity.” She corrected herself sarcastically and rolled her eyes as she stood as well and took the other girl’s hand.

Without much other conversation Foxxenne helped her walk across the water of the pond to the banks then let the other girl go. Immediately, Taddie’s boots sank into the mud and she had to waddle her way out of it. “Thanks.” Was all she said as she stomped her feet to get some of the mess off.

“Good job ladies. You’re next job is in.” The Architect had appeared silently between the trees in front of them, surprising Taddie and making her jump. Foxx seemed used to the sudden appearances and just glared at the figure.

“How long was I stuck?” She asked with a frown.

“Just a few months, I tried sending others, but none of them were successful. Taddie here was the first to succeed.” The Architect seemed to think what he’d said was a compliment, but the way he’d said it didn’t make it seem that way. “In any case, your next assignment is to find the foreigners that the Creator has brought into the world. You each have the same list, but that doesn’t mean you should stick together. Divide and conquer. Cross off the names as you meet them and the names will be cross off both lists. Have fun.” Then with that, he popped out of existence again.

“Right… That was helpful. Who’s the Creator anyway?” Taddie said as she walked to the tree the Architect had indicated when he’d mentioned the lists. Tacked to the tree were two slips of paper. Pulling them down, she kept one for herself and gave the other to Foxx.

“He’s always like that. Just give up on asking questions for the time being. Let’s just get to work then.” Foxx folded her slip and stuck it in the pocket of a bag Taddie hadn’t noticed before.

“How are we supposed to find these people?” Taddie asked as she eyed the list in her hands.

“Ask them if they got sucked into a film, video, or DVD. You’ll probably be able to find who you’re looking for that way.” Foxx said as she began to walk into the woods. Taddie began to follow her. “In an case, head in a different direction. I’m headed this way. He told us to split up.”

Taddie was tempted to say, ’It’s a he?’ but didn’t as she found her destination to be more important at the moment. “Where is that supposed to lead me? I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t even have a map of this place.”

“You won’t need one. I’m being nice and sending you to a town first. I’m taking the stranger parts of the forest. I’m assuming you can walk in a relatively straight line right?” She paused long enough to look at the other girl, and then just responded with, “Right. Good bye then.”

☽ "Cruel everlasting fool, Free me…
from this idiocy you call LOVE.
How sad. How ONE SIDED." ☾

☽ "Should I help you off that ledge?
Down into that pathetic void of ignorant self-pity?
Let me burn this broken, hellish LOVE of yours." ☾

☽ "Cruel everlasting fool, Free me…
from this idiocy you call LOVE.
How sad. How ONE SIDED." ☾

“Let’s see… It seems that the Architect and the Creator like to bring people with strange abilities to this place, so perhaps I can follow rumors of strangers traveling around with strange abilities?” Foxx mumbled to herself as she fidgeted with a loose thread on her clothes. Pointing at it, a small spark burned the thread and released it from her clothing. Holding up the piece she’d just removed, she rolled it in her fingers as she stared at it. She’d purposely kept the clothes she’d arrived in and had continued to wear them from time to time expecting to run into others who’d suffered her fate, but maybe that wasn’t good enough for her to find people. The architect had given them a list…

She pulled out the list and let the loose thread dropped from her fingers and drift away on a breeze. Browsing down the list, she brushed her hand over the names. She knew her benefactor normally didn’t give her anything that was completely useless, but she wondered how it worked. He was always a little vague when giving proper information, but she’d usually been able to figure out the secrets behind his objects when the time finally came. But she really wished she’d at least have a direction to travel in. Curiously she turned the paper over in her hands and scrutinized it in every way possible. She rubbed her thumb over the names and wondered if it were really just a plain piece of paper when it seemed to do something as she pressed her finger to the last name in the list then lifted it away.

Though it was barely visible, she could see a fine little thread like a spider web come away with her finger. Pulling her thumb further back she watched the thread grow. She rubbed the bit that was stuck to her thumb between her fingers, but didn’t feel anything. Frowning, she wondered what she was supposed to do with it. Sighing, she reached yet another dead end. The paper was obviously meant to do something, but she didn’t know what. Folding the paper again, she continued walking. How long had she been going? The light in the trees seemed to be fading, she must have been walking for a while. But since she didn’t feel tired yet, she continued wandering the forest.

Perhaps she’d come across someone soon.

☽ "Should I help you off that ledge?
Down into that pathetic void of ignorant self-pity?
Let me burn this broken, hellish LOVE of yours." ☾

{{ Out.Of.Chocolate.: }}
X x X x X x X x X{{ People can somehow run into my characters, or make up some strange reaction for the strange reaction the paper gave off when Foxx touched the paper. Like a spot on your character's thumb changes color, or you feel a tickling sensation on your hand. Feel free to interpret it how ever you like. }}