Welcome to Gaia! ::

She would and she did. Aria said nothing more of it, her attention zeroing in and focusing on the monstrosity that came barreling towards them. "Ugh. Considering how many days we've been down in that underground?" Aria raised her gun and fired a brief spurt of fire, barely scorch-freezing the Insanity creature's side as it past. "It wouldn't surprise me if we are."

HP: 109/125
Charge: 3/3 - Ready!
Mobs Killed: 7

Damage:

Current Mob HP: 10/10
Auto Damage: 3 (hit or miss)
Modifier: N/A

Division Bonus: Death
Intermediate: subtract 3 from auto damage

"Bleh. I can't wait to get to my room," Aria said wistfully as the Insanity monster dissipated, "I'm going to pop into my personal shower for a moment just to clean up. I'm sick of the bunker's public ones." That and it was too much trouble to break into and use the Council member's private facilities. Aria did, honestly, stink. Hooray for being uncomfortable with other people!

The next comment brought a curious look from Aria. "Last one what? Shield getting low? We can stop for a bit."

While Aria felt like she was in need of a shower, she had yet to ever reach Rep levels of personal hygiene. Thankfully.

When Candace clarified, Aria nodded. "Sounds good, and so long as my room's still clear. I'd hate to get settled in only to have something ambush us." She couldn't exactly sweep her weapon under the bed to check for anything hiding there, either. Setting her own room on fire was one of the last things Aria wanted to do.

"It's easy to find," Aria replied as she lead the way up the stairs, stopping at the top to peek around the corner. "See that open door down there?" Aria used her flamethrower to point at it before she began to head towards it. "That's Allan's room. Mine's right next to it."

There was still fog present within the corridor.



"All clear," Aria murmured as she stepped into the hallway, moving towards her door. "Allan's not that bad of a neighbor. When he's not there," she added as an afterthought. "It tends to get a bit noisy when he's marathoning one of his shows or is hosting karaoke night though."

"Allan is a... firm believer in an open-door policy," Aria answered slowly, shrugging. "As over-excited as he can get, he's one of the best people to have at your back. Or have between you and everything else." Aria hesitated openly, before adding quietly, "Don't ever spar him. Very few people who take Allan on survive."

And that was why nobody messed with Allan's things. There was the chance that Allan wouldn't have minded in the first place, however his record concerning fatalities tended to make people second-guess themselves.

Her keys were already out of her pocket and were unlocking the door as Candace peeked into Allan's room. "Hopefully! I'm not too keen on discovering anything nesting in here," she replied, backing up after unlocking the door. Shamelessly, Aria kicked the door open and followed it up by dashing inside, flamethrower raised and searching for any opponent.



Aria crept into her room, the tip of her flamethrower moving from side to side. Aria's private rooms were dominated in tans, bringing a sleepy, comforting warmth to the place. Her entryway was clear. A doorway lead to a small kitchenette, and another lead further into the room where a thick fog could still be seen. "Stay alert," Aria warned.

Aria shuddered at Cabdace's joke. It was closer to the truth than the trainee probably realized. Truthfully, to Aria Allan was like a giant puppy. Harmless, but liable to accidentally bite and it would bite hard. Allan's assistant Simon was just as dangerous, byt without the harmless factor. The less she saw of either, the better she felt. Avoidance of other division leaders was a tried and true policy Aria stuck by.

The comment about her room earned a quick grin from Aria. "My cozy den. The color'sl left over from the previous leader. I kept meaning to change it, but it's grown on me."

Tne leader focused her attention on the room beyond, weapon raised and ready to strike. All clear. Bed? Clear. Closet? Same. Bathroom? Empty. Good.

She didn't let go of her weapon as she grabbed some clean clothes. "Food's in the kitchen, help yourself to whatever you like." Cupboards would contain a selection of dry goods, cans, and foods preserved in labled glass jars. There was even a cabinet that contained nothing but boxes of jerky.

Somewhere overhead, water began to flow as Aria took a shower.

As warm as Aria's quarters were, a majority of the furniture was dark in color. The couch Candace could see was plush and outfitted with a cover. A peek beneath it would show that its true color was a dark maroon. There wasn't much in terms of decor. A cream bookcase nearby was the most visually interesting thing present. The bookcase contained many books that covered a wide variety of topics. One shelf, however, was dedicated to a few photographs. Here is a younger-looking Aria, caught off-guard as someone took her picture. Here she was again with a crowd of hunters, each of them serious. An older Aria was balancing carefully atop the head of a dead-looking dragon with several other hunters. The next photograph held a serious-eyed stranger who was frowning disapprovingly at the camera. There were even a few pictures of Lance before his accident, along with even more unknown hunters. There wasn't much else on the shelf aside from a vase containing a couple dusty silk flowers.

"Mm-hm. I was a trainee too at one point," Aria said, shrugging. "It's strange. She was a hard woman, but I think she spent even less time than I do here." When she moved into her leader's old quarters, there wasn't much to throw out or donate into the mutual "take whatever you want" room on Deus.

Aria couldn't help but bite her lip as she stared at herself in front of her mirror. Thinking about her previous leader lead to several uncomfortable thoughts. Would things have been different if she stayed with them? If she tried to complete the mission. Symphony was quick to point out that she would have been killed. Dead on arrival.

What would have happened to the trainees? The Mist division would have closed. It wasn't a specialty division, or rather its specialty was in fitting all of the other divisions. It was a place for those that didn't fit into other divisions could go, either to stay or to find where they belonged. But without it... What would happen? Aria figured that the trainees would be best matched to their skills and stay there.

But what if the current Mists?

Before would have probably stayed in Life. Candace? Sun or Death. Cassandra? Moon, or Death. The rest... Aria tried to think as she cleaned herself, her mind scrambling for answers. She couldn't come up with anything. Despite being a leader for the Mists, Aria realized quite painfully that she didn't know her own trainees that well.

And yet there was a small voice that pointed out that she shouldn't. Trainees were replaceable. Short-lived. She shouldn't get attached to them, as at some point they'll ******** up. Or they'll transfer out. It wouldn't do her any good to get close to them and know them personally, only to have them move onto another division. That in and of itself would feel like a betrayal. Wouldn't it?

Or shouldn't she feel happy for someone who finds their way? Who finds a place they belong? Aria scrubbed her hair vigorously as if she could find the answer beneath the oil and grime that had accumulated within her brown locks. Aria felt like she should be happy, that she should be pleased, and yet... And yet she wanted to keep them. To get to know them better.

Trainees are expendable. There are always and will always be sleepers within the pods. It is easy enough to wake them and see if a weapon has responded to them. If not, there are always runic weapons for them to use. Her mentor's voice pointed out, her words thinly hiding a threat. If Aria failed, it would be too easy to send her to sleep in one of those pods and to awaken another to take her place. It was a motivation to meet and surpass her leader's expectations, no matter how painful they became.

Aria mentally slammed the door down before those memories rose to the surface. Now and never was there a time to think back to those days. They were long past. Symphony agreed.

Refreshed and revitalized, Aria didn't bother with a hairdryer as she threw on some clean clothes. A fresh, unadorned Mist coat was retrieved from her closet before Aria finally reappeared, pausing long enough to sniff appreciatively at the smells coming from the kitchen. "Ahh! That smells good," she complimented as she dumped her clothes into her hamper. She'll deal with throwing them into a washing machine later. "How much longer will it take?"

Aria helped herself to grabbing the dishes from the cupboard and setting the small, modest table that was present in her kitchenette. Unlike the rest of her room, the plates Aria had were white with squiggly black lines on them. The silverware were simple utensils that looked exactly like the same ones in the cafeteria. Then again, they probably came from the cafeteria in the first place.

Aria froze in her movements after Candace admitted that she didn't cook much. That was never a good sign in Aria's opinion. The lack of smoke allowed her to relax and continue setting the places. Candace was okay. Even though she didn't cook much it didn't mean she was going to burn it.

Maybe.

Symphony nudged,

Right. Right.

"Drink? Mostly water," Aria volunteered, turning and opening the refrigerator. While she did have alcohol, she made no move to offer it. It was far too early in the day for such activity. That and quite possibly Aria was stingy. Or she only drank when she felt like it or seemed to need a drink. Bottom line? Aria wasn't sharing.

Either way, two bottles of water made their way to the table and were placed next to the modern plates. "It's been a rough time for everyone, I think," Aria answered simply, dismissing off the compliment with a shrug. "It's not often that I have company over. Aside from Lance and a few other hunters, I usually eat alone." Excluding the times Allan barges in when he wants ramen noodles. After having him mess up some of her pots, Aria learned how to make said ramen for him in order to keep her pots and make sure he didn't start a fire.

Aria had turned away to embark on another small errand when Candace's observation made her freeze. She didn't answer immediately. Even when she sat down again and passed Candace a napkin she was still quiet. Finally Aria sighed, giving up an internal struggle with herself. "This is one of my spare coats. I also have a spare Moon and Death coat as well."