[center][h1][color=6ecff6]Sophia[/color] & [color=silver]Belladonna[/color][/h1] [I][color=6ecff6]Skills: N/A[/color] [color=silver]Skills: Zephyration[/color] Location: Ville au Camp -> Lost City of the Tairona, Central America, Eighth Century[/I] [hr][hr][/center] Belladonna stood by the tree. If one wasn't careful they might not recognize her. The womans skin was darker, her hair wavy, no make up, no corset, no dress. Tan natural clothing, it looked rough. She looked at her nails and scowled. They were no longer long and no longer painted. A bag hung containing similar clothing. Looked like something out of a an old western movie or like something someone would have worn during an archeological dig. [color=silver]"The things I do when I come home,"[/color] she said to herself before glancing around for her trainee this time. [color=silver]"Time to change my dear, today we visit the dead."[/color] Sophia started to get up that morning and stretched slightly it was like the other training sessions with the other Emendators she however was curious and interested in working with Belladonna. She looked at the location on the letter they would be meeting at Peter's grave, she started to get changed and made her way out of the main building and over towards where Peter's grave was. She stopped for a moment seeing Belladonna she didn't recognize the woman at first. [color=6ecff6]"Good morning, I didn't even recognize you for a moment."[/color] Sophia said giving the woman a slight smile seeing the bag of clothes there. [color=6ecff6]"Whats the plan for the day anyway?"[/color] Sophia asked as she accepted the clothes and started to get changed into them. There was a slight smile tugging at the corner of the womans lips as she motioned for Sophia to follow her once she was changed. [color=silver]"My job is self discovery. I find the best way to do that is to face ones fears,"[/color] she said as she reached the portal and then stepped through. When they came out the heat was sweltering and the air was thick. Insects buzzed around and somewhere deep in the jungle they were now standing in, one could hear screams. Belladonna glanced around. [color=silver]"Central America in the summer, completely hellish."[/color] Sophia gave Belladonna a friendly smile and nod, before following shortly behind the woman to the portal and stepped through the moment she stepped out into the other end she was bombarded with the sweltering heat. She ran a hand through her hair as she shifted uncomfortably where she stood. Sophia jumped slightly when she heard a distant scream, which didn't sound all that good at all they were in Central America and in the summer. When the woman said that she would be facing her fears she felt a little bit nervous she had three major fears that instantly came to mind right away. Being abandoned, spiders and ghosts, she hated all three and would be scared if any of it if that was what she was facing. [color=6ecff6]"The heat and humidity certainly doesn't do wonders here.."[/color] Sophia said towards Belladonna as she looked around the jungle. Belladonna nodded slightly and started pushing through the thick growth of the jungle. It wasn't too far but it felt like a long travel before it finally gave way to an road of sorts. At least it seemed as if it had once been a road. Ancient in making, as it was just stones that had been cut and laid into the ground, they were shifted this way and that from vines and roots growing through them. Sharp walls came up on either side further down. Everything was over grown but it looked to be an abandoned city deep in the jungle. Every so often as they walked, there would be a rush of wind or a chill in the air, a scream that sounded hollow before it went back to heat and humidity. Sophia followed shortly behind Belladonna as they pushed through the thick jungle, eventually they made it to an old looking road of some kind. She shifted slightly as she started to look around seeing the vines overgrown and then hearing the occasional scream and the small gust of wind every now and then. [color=6ecff6]"So what year are we in right now exactly?"[/color] Sophia asked as she lightly kicked a small rock here and there, then looking at the Paradox. [color=silver]"Oh eighth century, roughly."[/color] To one side there was a set of stairs that led far into the jungle and down deep into the mountain side. They reached a terrace of sorts and Belladonna looked around. Then she kept moving and started pushing into the actual side of the mountain this area had been built into, or at least it seemed it was. The air was thick and stagnate and the way began becoming darker. Stopping Belladonna reached into a bag she had and pulled out two torches. Lighting them and then handing Sophia one before moving further in to where there was no more sunlight. [color=silver]"This is the Lost City of the Tairona, it's abandoned now,"[/color] she said as she kept walking, being careful on the overgrown floor slick with moss. Sophia nodded slightly as Belladonna answered her question as she looked among some of the stone structures until they were in front of the main structure that was in the side of the mountain. As they entered Sophia would take the torch that Belladonna had handed her as they walked deeper. [color=6ecff6]"Thanks for the light."[/color] Sophia said, as she suddenly turned around feeling her skin starting to crawl as she heard voices coming from some of the hallways and rooms that were there. [color=6ecff6]"Is this place haunted at all or something?"[/color] Sophia asked rubbing her arms a bit as she started to get nervous. Other than the flickering of the flames the place was dark but one could hear the storm setting in outside, beating at the entrance and echoing through the abandoned city built into the side of the mountain. Belladonna stopped and turned, looking at Sophia and quirking a brow. [color=silver]"Now, don't tell me that a Paradox is scared of ghosts."[/color] A smile started to creep across her lips as a crack of thunder shook the place and a wind pushed through, causing the torches to nearly flicker out fully before righting themselves. Problem was, between light, no light, and light again. Belladonna had vanished, her torch hit the ground, and a thick fog rolled over the stone floor. [color=6ecff6]"Well everyone is scared of something, I just happen to be scared of anything to do with ghosts."[/color] Sophia said she could hear a storm now starting outside as she looked up at Belladonna. Then she jumped slightly when she heard a loud crash of thunder and then a gust of wind as it came through nearly taking out the torches that they held. When she turned around to look she couldn't see Belladonna anywhere, and knelt down to look at the torch that Belladonna had dropped feeling even more panicked now. [color=6ecff6]"Bella are you okay?"[/color] Sophia yelled out. There was no answer from Belladonna, the fog rolling over Sophias feet was all. Behind her, the way they had come from suddenly shifted and a wall dropped to block the path back. It sealing Sophia within the abandoned city with nothing more than torches to show the way. They flickered and grew in size slightly, lighting the hallway. There were other torches there, hanging from the wall, unused. Or were they torches? They looked like it but they were oddly connected somehow on the wall, a line on the wall ran between each of them as they dripped with a thick substance. Letting out a sigh as she started to look down at her feet seeing the strange fog going over her feet, she was starting to get worried seeing that Belladonna was nowhere to be seen at all anywhere. She then started to hear the entrance closing behind her, as she went to try and find a way to open it again. Sophia wasn't able to, taking a few deep breathes as the hallways started to light up, she wasn't sure what to do exactly it seemed that they wanted her to move forward and headed down the hallway noticing the strange thick substance occasionally dropping from the torches. The fog came up to Sophias wrist. It thickened and wrapped around it, pulling the arm with the torch over to the ones lining the wall and forcing one to collide with the other. It held there until the wall torch burned brightly. As it pulled away the wall torch set off the black substance, it shooting both ways down the hallway. As it did other torches lit until the place was illuminated. This was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because one would see. Bad because... one could see - that the whole place was encased in spider webs and large spiders scurrying about. Sophia felt the fog coming up to her wrist that held the torch letting out a yelp as she was suddenly dragged over towards the nearby wall. She was now abandoned by Belladonna and now she was being held down by spiderwebs as she watched the hallways starting to light up even more seeing giant spiders. As she started to hyperventilate and started to shake a bit as Sophia tried to get her wrist free, she wanted to get out now or find a way out as soon as possible. The webs caught on fire as a murder of crows broke out of the fog. Their claws digging into Sophia's clothing and hair, grabbing her and lifting her off the ground. They seemed to wrap around her as the webs burned and the spiders burst into flames. They were moving so quickly one couldn't tell what was happening. That was until they broke from around her and dropped her on the ground. It wasn't a far fall but a fall onto her back nonetheless. It was a soft landing though, on grass with the sun beating down on her face. Slowly the crows came together and melded until Belladonna was standing there. [color=silver]"Breathe my child, your safe,"[/color] she said as she knelt down next to her and wrapped her arms around the young Paradox. She closed her eyes as she tried not to look at the various spiders as they seemed to come over towards her, that's when she could hear a bunch of crows. And then felt them all grabbing her by either her hair or her clothes, feeling herself being lifted up and quickly dragged out of the Lost City. Sophia laid down on her back as she tried to calm herself down, then Belladonna finally appeared in front of her as the crows came back. Sophia quickly sat up and returned the hug, nothing more than she hated was a bunch of ghosts, spiders and being left alone. [color=6ecff6]"Thank you.."[/color] Sophia said breathing heavily, as she calmed down. Belladonna held her closely and rocked her gently like she would a child. [color=silver]"It's okay, you were never in any real danger. I was there, you were never alone."[/color] Her voice was gentle as she spoke. Pulling away she helped Sophia up and wrapped an arm around her as they started to walk back to the portal. [color=silver]"Training is never easy but we have to push you. So you can handle yourself when we can't be there. We will keep working, one day those fears will be a distant memory. Sadly new fears will come. They always do. There isn't a one of us that doesn't have them. Even The Dice has fears, deep ones. We face them, together."[/color] Sophia just stayed still a little bit longer as she started to finally calm herself down now that they were out of the creepy abandoned city, she dusted herself off slightly as Belladonna helped her back up to her feet. She nodded slightly as she understood the lesson and would have to get over them at some point as well. [color=6ecff6]"I understand that, just wondering though, what are you scared of then?"[/color] She asked, since she knew her own fears rather easily as they walked back towards the portal. Taking a breath Belladonna kept walking. [color=silver]"Losing my beloved daughter for one."[/color] Her voice was quiet as she spoke. The thought of losing Mercurial always made her heart ache and not in a sweet way. There were not many things that Belladonna feared but that was at the top of the list. Coming to the portal she stopped and looked over at Sophia. [color=silver]"And Debbie."[/color] With that she stepped back through the portal so they could return home. Sophia looked towards Belladonna when she told her one of her fears, she thought she wouldn't be able to get that bit of information out of her. She could understand losing a daughter would be the absolutely worse thing that could happen, then they were at the portal and watched her step through first. [color=6ecff6]"Thank you for telling me."[/color] She said as she stepped through the portal as well shortly after Belladonna did.