@Zombehs@Click This

That bright flash took them somewhere else, all things considered it felt a lot more abrupt this time around compared to when she first was whisked away. Rena didn't move for what felt like forever, but what she noticed almost imminently was the much welcomed warmth, guess this meant they weren't gonna freeze to death after all. Then came the sensation of the grass, considering before their surroundings were only cold, hard rock, well again she found herself massively approving this change. Rena allowed herself a little longer to just lie there, to just enjoy the moment, yet at the time she had little idea what sort of condition Valair was in.

Finally Rena pushed herself off the grass, she was grinning, clearly happy about their new surroundings. "Hey guys! I guess-" This is when she noticed Valair and the blood... his face was really bloody. Her smile dropped, in its place was an expression that mixed both shock and concern. Rena crouched over the groaning Valair, hands outstretched and she absolutely no idea what to do, his nose was bleeding, that wasn't the issue, but blood was gushing from his eye... clearly that wasn't okay. "Valair! Uh... Jesus Christ what happened to you!? I-... what the hell can I do here?"

Next up was another unexpected development, a new person. In her panicked state Rena didn't notice the girl approach them, and it wasn't until she spoke that Rena even learned of her presence. The accountant cocked her head to the side in confusion, and honestly a bit of disgust, here she was trying, and failing, to save her friend, then here came waltzing in a teenager who was nonchalant as could be. Rena had no words, goddammit she thought she was getting used to this world, but suppose that wasn't really the case. In the end she decided to ignore the girl and refocused her attention on Valair... what the hell should she do?

@Click This@Damiann47
Valair was sure he would have been happy as well to be free from that frozen hellhole, but Rena’s excitement only sent a fresh wave of pain through his head. He twitched even as she expressed her concern and unable to help it, he grunted out, “Sh-shut up… please.” His entire body stilled at that and he grimaced as he managed to realize what he had just said. ‘Fuck…’ Unfamiliar voice aside, there was blessed silence for a moment where he tried to relax his body as best as he could, uncurling himself.

He rolled over onto his back, both hands still covering his way, and exhaled shakily as the pain began to subside little by little. The blessed silence, broken only by soft wind for the moment, really did help and he was able to mutter, “Sorry Rena, just re-really need the silence.” Even saying that much seemed to take quite a bit as he grimaced and sighed heavily. His breathing slowly evened out after a few more moments, but he remained unmoving for a while longer after that.

Eventually his arms wiped away the wetness he felt on his face, but the sticky sensation and metallic scent of blood remained behind. He didn’t feel like opening his eyes at all, already feeling the sting from behind closed eyelids. “I look like shit don’t I?” he asked in a hoarse voice, sighing afterwards as his throat felt like shit. ‘Shouldn’t have drank all my water…’ he thought regretfully as he wiped his bloody hands on the grass next to him.

@Grey Star@kapuchu


It was a rather dramatic change in tone, really. One moment, it seemed like the only thing Fiona needed to worry about was being swarmed by overly-friendly woodland critters... Chloe and Tamaki had both seemed really nice, and the man-faced deerosaurus didn't seem threatening at all anymore; really, aside from suddenly being torn from her home world this seemed rather pleasant. She wouldn't have minded being here for a little longer; it was just so peaceful, really...

...And the next moment, the peace was on the brink of shattering. From off in the distance, a swarm approached, a battalion of metal men heading straight for them. And as she looked on at this, Fiona couldn't help but tremble. They didn't look friendly at all, and... And there was no way she could escape. Tamaki and Chloe probably could; they both seemed so strong, after all, not like her. She was just... Weak, and defenceless. There was no way they'd be able to get away fast enough with her dragging them down...

_{"...R-run... P-please..."} she mumbled, her head layed low, her breath ragged, her hands damp with sweat. _{"J-just... I'll only... Hold you back... Please, j-just... Just leave me behind..."}

@Rin@kapuchu


Tamaki pretty much slid down the trunk like it was a fire pole, making use of her newly found strength to duck and drop on the ground. "Right then, we have to get going!" Speaking loud enough for the other two to hear but not enough to be picked up by the droning things in the distance, she then hopped on over to where Fiona's wheelchair was whilst grabbing the handles. "And who do you think I am?! A person who leaves behind a friend is worse than trash! I, Tamaki, am a person who won't abandon my friends!" With that rather hotblooded declaration out of the way, the girl then pushed off and dashed through the flattest areas she could while pushing the handicapped Fiona. "Raaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" Her strengthened body shot off like a dart, achieving speeds a marathon cyclist could achieve. "Kami-san, you should leave too!" Eyes darting about, the energetic girl put her body to good use and tried to look for a place that seemed safe.

@chukklehed @ProfessorNV

Aarne felt the tightness around his chest ease when he heard a response coming from somewhere from distance in the dark via bouncing echo.
"Y-yes there is! If you could get to me, that would be relief!"

pushing himself up from the damp floor in the dark, anxiously waiting the source of voice to find him. He felt like he just kicked something on the stone floor but was unable to see what it was until he would receive some light if there ever was something coming. Soon enough a blue ball of light arrived into his view, the bright light gave his eyes ache after standing around in the dark too long. Lifting his other hand to lessen the direct light into his eyes. Assuming it was a flashlight.

"Mind lowering the light? Can't see that well after standing in dark so long."

Just as Dominic had heard the voice calling back to him, the shine of a blue orb entered his field of vision. He flinched from the sudden increase in light, as his pupils had been dilated in their attempt at trying to accustom to the pitch black that he was wandering in. Soon enough his vision cleared and he saw what must have been one of the more curious things he had seen since coming here. Though his immediate thought to the orb was just some hocus pocus trick, a quick inspection of the light cleared any doubts that this was indeed not a trick. It began to move and Dominic followed, giving a glance back to see if Free was still there before pressing onward.

He had no idea what this thing was leading him to, but as of right now, he had two options, follow his now lighted path and see where he was lead, or stumble around in the darkness until he killed over from hunger. He chose the first option and continued to follow the light until it came to a stop in a hallway with many strange hieroglyphs. The light intensified slightly and his attention was drawn to the source of the voice that was calling out. He gave a dry grunt as he said bluntly, "Not my light. Just gotta get used to it."

@Zombehs @Damiann47

Right… perhaps that was not the best greeting to give to strangers lying in a field, and bloody bloodied ones at that. She wasn’t a doctor, but honestly, the man’s injuries looked no worse than a rather runny nosebleed. She was going to say that it didn’t look like the bloke was dying, but Shannon supposed that might earn her her very own crimson dyed face depending on how temperamental the woman was, so she backed off.

Having been defeated in making any overtures, Shannon simply walked away and sat down on the grass, still dazed in a state of utter disorientation. It was only after the two strangers began to talk again did she get up and approach them again. This time she was a tad blunter, having the opportunity to gather her marbles and get her bearings of the (immediate) situation.

“My apologies if that was an inopportune moment, but can somebody please tell me what is going on?” Having said this, she finally noticed that the man was bleeding from the eye, something that certainly wasn’t normal. So like any bystander completely ignorant of the world’s state of affairs, she offered to call 999.

@Rin @Grey Star @kapuchu



She wasn't going to pretend she knew what was going on. That'd be ridiculous. She wasn't going to pretend she even thought this was real at all. There were all the weird as hell animal things, the two girls, one of them pushing another girl incredibly fast on a wheelchair, and what the weird robot thing with the big weapon was doing was a mystery to her. But it did have some kind of huge weapon and it was forming some kind of big ball on its finger or something like that. And, you know, that was pretty crappy. Even in the dream world it was pretty crappy. You're some big damn robot and you're going to go attacking a bunch of girls, one of them in a wheelchair? ... And a bunch of really damn weird animals but hey, it still seemed pretty crappy to her.

Tsubaki's bat clanged against the floor.

"Oi oi oi," she began, raising the bat to her shoulder. Why should she be scared? It was only a dream, after all, so it'd be pretty cowardly if she didn't step forward to defend the girls in a damn dream. "I dunno what's going on, I'm not going to pretend to know where the hell I am. But even in a dream, attacking a bunch of defenseless girls is pretty damn shitty, right?"

Tsubaki didn't have anything but a bat on her, and this was some kind of big robot with energy balls and a huge weapon. But hey, this was a dream, right?

So that didn't mean a damn thing.

@Grey Star@VitaVitaAR@Rin
Chloe watched as Tamaki came rushing down from the tree she'd been in, speeding towards them faster than she would have expected. She grabbed the wheelchair bound girl, pushing her forwards and down a barely cleared path. She glanced back towards where the booms from the forest being levelled came from, and the buzzing of engines... just the sound of engines in thise place felt off. She was in a world where magic seemed to be commonplace, and there were engines? The fact that those engines seemed to be part of--or be the very driving force of--whatever those creatures were didn't make it better whatsoever.

She turned on her heel, her back to the sound of engines and explosions, and took off in a sprint, following Tamaki and Fiona. Tsubaki would have to take care of herself if she didn't follow. "Come on!" She shouted as she passed her.

It took hardly a second before she was under the canopy again, feet pounding on the ground with each step. She struggled with keeping up with Tamaki, something which was at once both a shock and a pleasant surprise. Judging by appearances alone she would have expected herself to be both the fastest and the quickest, but evidently that was not the case. Unless... It's because of that? She could apparently change her appearance, or shape, in some way. If she could rearrange her molecular structure, and her DNA, then it wouldn't be too far fetched to think that Tamaki had similar abilities. Or maybe she's just faster than you, she thought, chastising herself. Looks could be deceiving, and that might very well be the case at this very moment.

Even then, the cause for Tamaki's apparent strength and speed did not matter much at this moment. Getting away did. And they had to do that quickly.

The Blue Scion simply tilted its head as Tsubaki decided to step towards it a bit and give off a few remarks. The 'slits' of its eyes began to glow bright as waved its hand and decided to fire off the little orb that flew like a bullet off in a random direction in the forest... before exploding like a massive energy bomb. Perhaps the term 'bomb' wasn't quite correct, for the orb that flew off as soon as it made contact with something just expanded to about fifty meters and retracted within itself... leaving nothing in its wake. The trees, animals, and even the ground itself just disappeared as if the atoms themselves were absolved and destroyed in an instant.

Lifting up its weapon, the Blue Scion proceeded to walk towards Tsubaki nonchalantly and in a very symmetric pattern until he stood directly before her. Suddenly, Tsubaki would hear her own voice coming from the Scion before her, repeating the very words that she had just said. "I dunno what's going on, I'm not going to pretend to know where the hell I am. But even in a dream, attacking a bunch of defenseless girls is pretty damn shitty, right?"

"Your location is on the Primal Titan of Life, Gorlock within the world of Aurora. Whether you are defenseless or not is irrelevant, you will eventually pose a threat and must be thoroughly subjugated by breaking of will by the showing of the difference of our power... if you cannot comprehend that you will be eliminated."

The Blue Scion then waved his hand as the lesser Scions proceeded to chase after Tamaki, Fiona, and Chloe with their own weapons drawn. After giving out his apparent order, the Scion then returned his attention to Tsubaki.

"Status:..." its eyes flashed a peculiar color once more as it promptly scanned the vital signs of Tsubaki, before speaking once more, "Awake. Human. Body temperature 97.8 degrees. Heart rate... accelerating. Chances of this encounter ending in confrontation: 79%." The Blue Scion gave off what seemed like... a sigh before continuing, "Chances of your victory; scanning: 2%. Optimal situation is for you to surrender."

Hitting the butt of its weapon against the ground, it glared directly at Tsubaki as the sounds of the other Scions started to get closer and closer to the others. "What shall it be?"

---

"Now, now... this wont do... What kind of game of cat and mouse will this be if the cats are so blind and the mouses are so hidden?" smiling a bit, the Elf snapped his fingers and decided to let loose a couple of his familiars out into the streets. Normally, the Sentinels have poor eyesight, but with the special pets being released into the city, they are capable of seeing things that they normally wouldn't be able to.

The Watchers; little devious floating one-eyed critters with grinning mouths that love to stalk their targets from afar and from hidden areas. Capable of phasing through physical matter, they are the perfect scouting tools for any mage. Thanks to his research, however, the elf was able to link their sights with the Sentinels in order to further the security in Kael'valtar in dire situations... along with some entertainment purposes here and there.

Looking from corners, rooftops, alleyways, windows, and even peeking through walls themselves; the Watchers promptly kept their glowing eyes focused on the three humans- and the Sentinels promptly began to hasten their movements and move towards them now that they literally had 'eyes' all over the place.

---

Ironbeard simply glared a bit, before sighing and taking a step forward. Despite what his companions might do in this situation, there really wasn't time for fighting and these folks didn't seem like they were all that bad either. Gripping Shill's hand and giving a hefty shake, the Dwarf nodded and looked towards Filip. "Humans, you are inside of Kormog, The Primal Titan of Earth. He's a living massive being that allows my kin to live in him as long as we clean out the parasites that dare to fester in him. Valeosh and his tribe have also recently moved in and decided to give us a hand, so they have been quite handy... though, he is still a bit wet behind the ears. We were on our way to awaken Doroth, The Primal Titan of Fire and enlist his aid before... uh, well, bring ye here so it seems."

"Ironbeard, how can you be so certain that they are the ones that the maiden and her master were to summon?" murmured the Orc as he walked forward and sniffed Shill.

"Call it a Dwarf's intuition, lad! Anyway, this, er, world, so to speak is probably a shocker to yer. This world be the wonderful Aurora... the land once ruled by the Six Saints and the great Maker themselves. Based on yer clothes I'd say this world is probably fairly different from your own."

"To have such luxurious and feeble things on one's personnel is rather-"

"Valeosh!"

"-interesting. Anyway, humans, we don't really have time for many explanations," the orc turned and pointed towards the ladder, "if you are who we assume you to be, take the ladder upwards till you reach the very top where the Maiden does her research. Once you meet her, she'll probably fill you in more than we possibly ever could."

---

The gathering of the new trio on the plains that had the freshest of air was strange, yet they would feel as if they were not alone. Behind Shannon, stood a tall and almost ethereal figure... actually, to be more precise, calling him anything but would be hard to describe.



This... 'man' stood tall and proud over Shannon's shoulder, looking over the girl and her cellphone before pressing a few buttons on it with his long slender fingers. Despite his efforts, it was clear that there was no signal in this new world. Folding his arms and raising one hand to his face as if he was thinking, the man quickly leapt over Shannon in a very acrobatic fashion towards Rina and Valair only land before them.

Clasping his hands together he quickly reached into his pocket and took out what seemed to be a white and ornate conductor's baton. With a swift flick of his wrist, the strange man or creature formed a rune in the air that produced a cup, before quickly forming another rune where a small globe of water began to form. The globe of water then poured itself into the glass magically as if in response to the man's order. Taking a hold of the glass of water, he handed it off to Valair before placing his baton back into his tiny pocket... how it fit there was completely unknown.

The strange man then took a standing role before the three of them, before bowing slightly and standing upright, as if waiting to see what they would do... What a peculiar individual you three seem to have come across...

@Zombehs@Click This

Valair was probably in a great deal of pain, and honestly this made Rena feel even worse, especially given how she wasn't helping rather she was actually doing more harm apparently. "Yeah... uh sorry..." Rena fell quiet, he asked for silence and that's what he was going to get. They really were in a bad position... lost in the middle of a field with no supplies, and certainly no one with any medical training, at least far as she knew.

The teenager approached them again, right she was a newcomer to all of this... or well a newer newcomer. When the girl offered to call an abundance Rena tried to suppress a laugh, more out of respect for Valair than anything. Rena shook her head, then spoke softly, again wanting to keep the volume low. "No... you're not going to call 911 or anyone else for that matter. If you check for phone I guarantee you won't have a signal." She paused, this was the part she had to explain their situation, clearly this girl was still clueless. "How should I say this... you're a far way from home, like really really far from home, and I don't think we are gonna find a way back anytime soon."

Rena sighed and then motioned to Valair. "I can fill you in later, first he needs help... don't suppose you carry a first aid kit or anything? She then added "Oh and by the way before you ask, I'm Rena, and my friend here is Valair." Hopefully this little information was enough for now, probably not honestly.

Floating eyes, there were floating eyes now! Just where the hell was he? 'I never heard about anything like this before, just what is going on!? Why are they looking for us, we didn't do anything. Or at least I know I didn't do anything. They can't be working for the men from the mines, because I don't recognize any of this. So why?' As good as these questions were, Joel didn't have time to think on them, as the strange humanoids were moving faster in his direction if the sounds that had started around the time the eye appeared were any indication. Joel didn't have any problems avoiding them before, but now that they knew where he was, it was completely different. 'I can't give up. Not when I'm so close!'

The castle was within sight now, and with it safety...probably. However with the strange creatures aware of his location, he didn't have time to stop and think, or to catch his breath, he had to move. There was no longer any point in stealth, all he needed was speed. With just one of those strange things between him and his goal, he sprinted towards it, his entire body feeling like it was burning from overexertion. When the thing tried to grab him, he dove to it's side and rolled back to his feet. Now there was nothing left in his way, but there were a lot of things behind him that wanted him, so he still couldn't rest. Calling up upon the last stores of strength he had inside of him, he forced his body to move forward as he ran to the castle door. He pushed open the door and crumbled to the floor in a heap, panting and coughing. He was a mess...but he made it.

---

As Darius continued to push through the crowds, the Sentinels didn’t even notice him. That was good. He could advance with little worry, even if his travelling was a little on the slow side of things. There were too many people in the way, and while they shielded him well, he was beginning to tire of all this stealthing. The castle was already in sight, and hopefully, that meant that he could just sprint for it soon.

Then, suddenly, something that looked like an eye practically popped up right in front of him. Darius skidded to a stop, looking back at the Watcher. He was unsure of what to make of it…until the Sentinels suddenly began to make their moves, converging onto his location. The brunette glared and punched that flying eye monster…only for his fist to phase through and for him to release a string of curses to that elf-mage. Bastard was literally sabotaging the trial, huh? And in such a crowded location, his ‘stealth’ was finally working against him.

Pushing his way through disgruntled non-humans, Darius broke off into a dash as soon as he made it out of the meandering marketplace. The Sentinels were, despite their impressive armor, much faster than he is, and it didn’t help that the Watchers never lost sight of the young man. The castle gates were getting closer though, even as his legs screamed for him to stop. He was hoping that the Sentinels wouldn’t get to him before then, and that they couldn’t intrude on castle property or whatever. If he could get in there, he’ll be safe.

Then, his mind screamed at him to stop as well.

For one of the others had reached the castle before him, and now, the Sentinels that chased that person was turning around to go after him.

“SHIT!”

Darius ignored his fears and doubts, running headlong even harder, his bare feet pounding painfully against the uneven floor. They were definitely getting blisters. Probably getting cuts as well. That fucking elf shit better heal him up and get him shoes after this. Right as the Sentinel was about to embrace him with its armored arms, the boy dove to the side, grazing by the magical familiar and rolling onto the hard floor. The impact jarred his vision, but he knew the general direction he needed to run so, without missing a beat, he continued onwards, attaining safety only after smashing through the door.

He definitely had seen better days. His clothes were torn in some places, and his body was bruised all over from that reckless dive. His feet were cut and bleeding, but he could kill the pain for at least a few more minutes. Turning to the crazy drill kid, Darius stated flatly, spontaneously, “Fuck you.”

Then, he fell on the floor, breathing heavily. At this point, it was probably a good idea to rest and regain his breath while the seaweed girl arrived, huh?

Being what the situation was, it would be natural to an informed observer that Shannon’s phone was indeed out of range. Of course, this was not unusual in itself; not every place was within range of a cell tower or telecommunications transmitter. She raised an eyebrow as the older girl mentioned 911; she must be an American. Shannon was more perturbed though, that ‘she was really far away from home.’ That was incredibly vague, to say the least. But before she peppered them with questions, she introduced herself. “I’m Shannon Forsyth. Nice to meet you.” Normally she’d make mention of her family or some relation for social points, but she’d realized quickly enough that connections wouldn’t matter in the middle of nowhere.

Shaking her head, she replied no; all she had that was anything significant was a hunk of metal and plastic, and a clipboard with some paper on it, which she sheepishly offered in lieu of a handkerchief. With the silly formalities aside, she resumed her quest of discovery. “So… far away as in, ‘I sleepwalked all the way Waterloo far’, or ‘somebody clocked me on the head and flew me to Williamsburg far’?” She paused for a moment, considering the absurd. “’Or I’ve fallen into a closet and appeared in Narnia far?’”

Conveniently enough, the appearance of a new figure did much to answer this question. She nearly jumped when the tall, slenderman-like entity appeared behind her and tapped at the phone. Rooted to the ground, she watched as the thing jumped away towards the two others after fruitlessly pressing a few icons. Despite the near jump-scare entry, it didn’t seem to be immediately malicious; rather, it seemed to try to help Valair. Shannon watched incredulously as it created a glass of water out of thin air and handed it to the injured man.

“Who… are you?”

@Damiann47@Click This
He didn't mind the small conversation that the two of them had as he simply continued to focus on keeping his breathing even and under control. Eventually the pain receded until it was bearable and with a grimace Valair forced himself to sit upright and opened his eyes slowly. A quiet hiss of discomfort at the light that seemed to bright aside, he wiped at his face again and sighed slowly when he felt the bleeding had stopped. A glance at his shirt revealed more than enough bloodstains to normally consider it ruined, but it wasn't like he could just go home and grab another from the closet. No... even if it made him look like a criminal, he would have to live with his current attire. At least he seemed to be recovering if his thoughts could wander like that.

"This ain't Kansas far," he muttered quietly as he finally looked up at the new girl who had apparently been dropped in with their group. Looked to be around the age where she would still be in school, though high school or university/college was questionable. Any further considerations were put off until a later moment when an ethereal figure behind the girl suddenly appeared to him.

It wasn't like the indistinct figure swirled into existence or anything, he simply noticed the being behind her in between a blink of the eye. His heart rate spiked, and a grimace marred his expression as the hint of panic set his headache straight back into migraine status. Yet Valair refused to drop his eyes away from this odd being that had appeared. A few moments passed as it toyed with Shannon's phone, and he could feel his heart rate begin to settle and the pain dull once again. It was certainly odd, even with its humanoid form, but he did not, almost couldn't, feel threatened by it. Its mannerisms certainly had something to do with it, but it had more to do with the fact that it seemed incomplete? Not whole? It was hard to describe and his current state of mind and body didn't make it any easier.

He flinched when the creature landed before him with nary a sound, and watched warily at first and then curiously as it manifested glass, than water, and handed it to him. He accepted it with a bit of hesitation, and drank slowly as he watched the odd being bow towards the three of them. It was a welcome relief for his sore throat, though he forced himself to move the glass away from his lips when the glass was half full. Coughing to clear his throat, even if it was a bit painful, Valair tipped his head forward in a polite bow to the creature and tried to say, as clearly as he could, "Thank you."

Mana continued sticking to the wall, making it past the Sentinel barely, but then she noticed something on the top of a roof. An eye? And it's looking directly at me? Mana thought to herself gritting her teeth, letting the hood hang over her face. But then she heard stomps coming from behind her, it was the Sentinel from before coming right at her! "This is just my luck!" Mana said as she got her knuckled knives out from her hoodies pocket, she put them on her knuckles as she held them up in defense. She seriously didn't want to die throughout this entire mess, so what she had to do was fight. At least until she gets some time to run off from the monster.

The Sentinel had ran fast towards Mana, which surprised her despite the massive armor that this guy had on. She got hit in the gut with a hard punch and was sent flying back, Mana had started to cough up small amounts of blood to start off with. "Damn it... you monster!" Mana yelled out to the sentinel as he walked towards her, she had started to get up from the cold ground for an attempt to run again. But instead she was picked up by the throat and pushed against a wall, which made it hard for Mana to breathe as her eyes went wide.

"Bastard...! I won't... allow myself to die...!" Mana had yelled out to the sentinel, who did not respond, but just remained to choke Mana. Mana's grips on her knuckled knives were getting slightly weaker, so Mana closed her eyes and accepted her fate. But when she opened them she had realized that her body felt incredibly light. She realized that she was in the wall that the sentinel had choked her on, she saw that her body was darkness. It was just all pure darkness.

"Is this what he meant? What happened to my body?" Mana had said to herself, but then narrowed her eyes as she jumped out of the wall and ran up the street, her body going back to it's original form. I understand now, but now it's the time to make a strategy. Mana had thought to herself, she decided if she were tired from running on land, she would turn into her weird shadow body to recover some of her energy. The Sentinel from before continued to chase Mana, so she decided to use the quickest way for herself to get to that castle, and fast.

The Sentinels were throwing debris at her, but she would have turn into her shadow body to render their physical attack useless. Mana had arrived in the road that lead up to the castle, she could have seen the freckled boy run into the castle, but she noticed a Sentinel standing at the gate waiting for her. Mana grit her teeth as the other one from before had continued to chase her, she narrowed her eyes at the both of them as she stood there.

"Let's make you two run into each other." Mana whispered to herself as the two sentinels had ran towards her quickly, when they were close enough to her, she jumped to the side so that the two could run into each other. You can't stop such a massive weight quickly. Mana thought to herself as she ran into the castle, and then running into the room that the others were in. Her robe had been ripped at the collar and around the stomach area, she panted as she rested against one of the walls in the room. There were also bruises in her neck and stomach from the damage that she received from the sentinel.

"Those eyes. They screwed it all up." Mana panted to them all.

@Click This@Zombehs

Shannon was a nice name actually, although unfortunately like themselves she wasn't carrying anything too useful, which reminded Rena of something... she left her briefcase back in the statue's chamber. Opps. Well on the bright side she probably wouldn't need to worry about any sort of punishment from corporate, it's not like she fully expected to return home as is. Now depressing thoughts aside it wasn't like they were in any real danger as is, well the expectation being Valair's condition. Speaking about Valair it looked he had recovered somewhat, he was able to sit up which was a good sign, didn't change the guy looked like hell, and more importantly his injury still hasn't been looked at.

With her back turned to Shannon, Rena felt the group's reaction before even seeing the weird creature. It took no time at all for her to spin around, obviously she wanted to figure out what everyone was looking at, and well... Rena had no idea what to think, so nothing different from the norm there. Obviously it was some kind of humanoid, had a head that lacked any visible mouth, although otherwise it looked normal enough, if she were to ignore it's strange body shape and deep black skin. The thing is Rena didn't feel at all that threaten by appearances alone, but that wasn't the problem. Whatever this creature was they did not know it's intentions, they literately knew nothing about it, so naturally Rena felt inclined to stay wary.

After it messed around with Shannon's phone, then materialized the glass out of thin air, Rena almost wanted to scream at Valair for accepting the drink without a fuss. It looked like water, but what if that was poison he just drank? While trying to keep some distance from... it, Rena then walked forward to grasp the glass, but not to take it, she only wanted to touch it. The glass turned out to be glass, no surprises there, besides she was after the liquid itself. All she did was dip a finger into the water, then breathed a fairly audible sigh of relief, two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen; water. Rena backed off from Valair, now she knew he wasn't about to die she felt a little more comfortable. "So... now what guys?

@Grey Star@VitaVitaAR@Rin
Chloe ran like she'd never had before in her life, mind and body screaming at her that this situation they were in was dangerous, and one that might very well in their mortality coming to show. That was one thing she didn't want to happen; she liked life far too much to just die lying down. She grit her teeth and sped up, following Fiona and Tamaki. That japanese girl sure was quick, she noted, impressed.

She glanced backwards, spotting the last girl of their group facing off against the biggest of these machines. It faced her down, towering over her menacingly. Whatever was happening... was that girl's responsibility. For as fate would have it they had their own things to deal with, in the form of several humanoid-sized machines speeding towards them, weapons drawn.

If something or someone doesn't stop them, then... She glanced forward to Tamaki and Fiona again, their wild sprint to get away. These things, half human half machine, or whatever they are, are gaining on us. If they're not stopped. She groaned, resigning herself to what had to be done. It was more annoying than anything, but if it was what she had to do...

She stopped and turned around, drawing her sword from its sheath and holding it up in a challenge. If Fiona and Tamaki had to get away, someone had to stop them, and right now she was the only one currently there. Even as she stood her ground, the scions came into focus, becoming clearer to her eyes, even the sound of them became clearer. Her muscles tensed, preparing her for what was inevitably to come. She needed to be faster, faster than any human, if she were to get out of this alive.

And while her senses grew stronger and more focused, she didn't notice her magic and body responded, changing to accommodate the situation; her legs changing to become digitigrade, paws instead of feet, large claws capable of rending flesh with ease following. A tail grew from above her rear, long and thick; powerful. Additionally her eyes became slitted, and her ears moved to the top of her head, becoming the triangle shape of any and growing brown fur as her legs and tail had.

She grit her teeth, revealing elongated canines, and faced what was surely to become a fight to the death. I will not let you past this spot!

"Tamaki, Fiona! Keep going, I'll hold them back!" She shouted, throwing the scabbard of her sword to the side. Time was up.

The strange ethereal man simply tilted his head as he looked towards Shannon, trying to figure out how best to answer her question. Even if he did know what to answer with, not having a mouth was quite difficult for the poor thing. Though, he would find a way to make do. Taking out his baton once more, the tall man conducted some sort of strange tempo before a small arrangement of notes appeared before him.

The notes swirled around a bit and began to dance as the flowers and even the grass began to move softly. The air filled with a soft melody, one that was pleasing to the ears and also energetic as well. The man simply continued to move and motion his arms as if he was truly before a orchestra, only for a harmony of sounds to fill the landscape before them. Everything felt as if it was going to be alright and that there was a coming peace with the wave of music despite there being no players or instruments in sight.

As the sounds started to become nothing more than a whisper on the winds and fade away, the man bowed before producing a small note card from his pocket which read:

A Musician is what I am. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.

Not stopping there, the man looked towards Rena and placed one of his long fingers against the side of his head in thought. Having produced an idea, he hopped without making a sound over the group and landed gracefully onto the meadow and pointed towards the road nearby heading towards god knows where.

Pointing at the three of them and clasping his hands together and resting against them as if pretending to sleep, it would seem the man was saying that they all surely looked tired. Moving towards the three of them, he extended a hand towards Valair and Rena as if to help them get up, while tilting his head at Shannon, still wondering what the three thought of him.

No matter, it didn't matter to him much, for he had an audience to listen to his music once again!

---

The mage let out a small laugh as he grinned with delight, it had been a while since he had been this entertained with guests in his city. Still, if he went out of his way and had too much fun then he might just end up killing them. Looking towards Kuel'Dalas within the mirror he folded his arms and let out a sigh, before rubbing his fingertips and producing a white stellar light.



For a moment, the thought of laying down more tasks and trials for the mortals seemed appealing. The idea of making them work to prove themselves and show their worth and value just as he had for hundreds of years sounded oh so appetizing. He hated the idea that humans, weaklings who had resorted to such atrocities and cheap tactics to obtain power and had killed so many of his kind... were now their very saviors.

To top it all off, he was to be their teachers... and the very idea of it was revolting.

Standing from his chair and heading downstairs to where his guests had arrived, the idea of setting them ablaze with a spell or two was knocking on the back of his head like a constant hammer. A single flick of his wrist was all it would take and he could simply brush it off as an attempt at his life.

He reached the bottom of the stairs and appeared before Mana, Darius, and Joel... and simply glared at them along with the door that they were supposed to use the master key that he gave Mana on... although, if it was already open then that means he would have to punish his guards later. It was in pieces, probably due to the fact that one of them rammed into it full force. Looking back at the warriors- no, kids to be precise, he looked carefully and noticed that they were all pretty exhausted and bruised, some more than others.

"Impudent children..." he murmured towards the trio as he flicked his wrist and cast his spell.

Immediately, the door that had been battered fixed itself upon the hinges and closed itself.

"You do know that you simply could have used the key I gave you to open the door, yes? There was no need to break my things and force your way in here..." he said as he walked towards Darius and Joel, looking them over a bit. "You both look relatively fine, minus a few cuts and raw skin. If you cannot handle that then I suppose you aren't real men. As for you," the elf glanced towards Mana, "I'll take a look at your wounds or have someone take a look. My Sentinels were not supposed to cause any real harm... but it seems they went a bit overboard."

I'm still too nice to harm kids it seems... plus they're too naive and foolish to take responsibility for anything that has been done here...

"Come, I'll get you all some change of clothes and a warm bed to rest in along with something to eat," murmured the elf as he began heading up the stairs, before pausing. "Ah, I almost forgot... My name is Prince Kael’valtar, and welcome to Aurora," he said with a smile before shooting a tiny lightning bolt at Joel from the tip of his fingertip, signaling that this was no dream. "From hence forth, you all will be studying under my tutelage and will have my protection... Now," snapping his fingers Prince Kael'valtar produced three keys- each landing before Mana, Joel, and Darius; with the emerald gemmed key in front of Mana, the ruby gemmed key in front of Joel, and the Topaz gemmed key in front of Darius, "come and head to your rooms which are marked by the color of the gem within your key."

With that, Kael'valtar made his way up the stairs wondering what to do next, and what to do with the weapon in the mirror.

@Ashifili@WaddleDaisy

'A...prince?' The idea of running into royalty here was very surprising...wherever here was. Sure he said they were in Aurora, but Joel had no idea where that was in relation to the mines. Then there was that small jolt of electricity that he had shot out of his finger at him. It didn't hurt too much, but the sight of someone shooting out electricity was mind blowing for him. 'Just where on Earth is this place?' Had Joel any memories of life outside the mines, he might have wondered if he was even still on earth...however, he didn't. Those mines had been his entire world, so anything other then them would be wondrous. If he had been dropped in New York City, or somewhere else in either America or England, his reactions would be identical to what they were now. So no, Joel had no idea that he was no longer on the same planet as those mines that were once his prison.

Joel had questions, oh so many questions. However he also had no idea how to ask them. The only people here with him were a boy who seemed to hate him, an honest to god girl, and a prince. The former he knew he couldn't deal with, while the later two he had never even seen before. 'Still...no one seems to want to kill me...so, there's that.' Too worried about offending the older man, Joel wasted no time in following him, after picking up the key he had given him. By this point; Joel's mind had been blown so much, that it still being in one piece should have been a physical impossibility, yet it was. The very notion of something like a 'change of clothes' was almost too much for him to wrap his mind around. Joel had only ever owned one set of clothes (which had initial been too big for him, but he had grown into), so being told that he was going to get different clothes to put on sounded as crazy as being told that he was getting a replacement head. While the idea of something to take the edge off his hunger sounded nice, there was another thought on his mind; 'what's a bed?'