Re: Thought Dispersion (A SuvixMasq RP)

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun shook his head. You couldn’t be afraid of what you couldn’t see. “As long as there’s not a bit chance I’ll fall off, like a mountain trail or something,” he answered gruffly. No way in hell was he going on any tiny trail next to a cliff. That was too risky to be worth it. He put his hand on his belt, where there were many assorted objects strapped to it, including a drained water bottle and a sheathed knife, his callused fingers gently patting a worn looking key.

With all the people around, he kept remembering home, before the Storm. This was ridiculous. He hadn’t felt homesick for a while, but these people... A sigh escaped his lips as he hobbled forward, feeling like a bit of a freak. Even if he couldn’t see them, he was sure these other people were normal.

Quin suppressed a snort, thinking that it was a good thing she wasn’t afraid of heights. She did live in a tower, after all. “No, I’m fine...” she murmured, though a small smile still played on her face. Noticing the mountains loom over them made her feel a bit more at home, as she usually had skyscrapers looking down at her.

[Masquerade]

"I'd be out of the job if I were afraid of heights," Kazu put bluntly. An assassin that was afraid of heights? Preposterous. The sorcerer would have kicked his useless ass out of the castle a long time ago if that were the case, not to mention he'd be ridiculed by his fellow assassins. His thoughts drifted to the nights were he sat atop the castle towers, gazing at the stars with Erimonia. All of those moments spent with her would never have happened if he were scared of heights. For not having that fear, he thanked his lucky stars, even if it didn't mean anything now that she was dead. The memories in and of themselves would suffice though. He noted that Rien didn't answer the question herself. She seemed to be happy about something. Go figure.

"Well, that's good because we'll have to get over the mountains to get to Paradise," Grace replied and continued walking. "There won't be any narrow mountain paths, so you won't have to worry about that," she said, hoping to comfort Jun with that thought. "Just give us a bit more time and you'll see for yourselves." And so they continued to walk a bit farther and eventually came to a stop what had to be a few miles from the base of the mountain range. A small building made of cinder blocks painted white with a red tin roof atop of it rested quaintly surrounded by forest on nearly all sides except for the side where the path continued past it. Two huge poles shot out of the ground nearby, high up into the sky where two thick black cables could be seen forming a huge elliptical circle that stretched up to the mountainside where two other tall poles could be seen. A quaint little lift car sat on the ground, unattached to the cables. It had a white body and red roof, similar to the building.

Grace spun around to face the others. "Well, here we are!" she exclaimed more loudly than what was probably necessary. "Welcome to The Lift. We'll be taking the lift car up to the mountain passage that leads into Paradise." She took a moment to gesture to the mountains. From their vantage point, the tops of the buildings could be seen rather clearly. They were made of something that reflected light really well, whatever it was. If viewed from the wrong angle, it would definitely prove to be an annoyance, though it seemed Grace could look at the stuff all day along with anyone else who lived in there. "Are we ready to go up? I'll go let Mikael know we're heading to the city," Grace chirped and rushed into the building, not waiting for an answer from anyone.

Kazu shrugged his shoulders and tried to lighten up his expression a bit. "Anyone else feel like total tourists yet?" he inquired of the others in a lighthearted tone. To him, he was the tourist and Grace was the completely and unnecessarily cheerful, enthusiastic tour guide.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Quin examined the tiny building, it had never occurred to her that buildings could be small. “How peculiar...” she murmured, her intelligent red eyes taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. This place just kept surprising her more and more. It was like it had just popped out of one of the illegal fairytale books. Hearing Kazu’s question, she looked over at him. “Tourist? What’s that?” she asked, the unfamiliar word feeling sluggish on her tongue.

Jun simply faced the sky, smiling happily at the warm rays hitting his face. The sun here felt different than that of the wasteland. Back home, the sun was dangerous, a killer, but here, its warmth felt relaxing. “Tourists,” he chuckled to himself. “This certainly does feel like a vacation.” Like a tourist, he also felt rather out of place.

“The city should be fun, though. I used to live in a city, though I would hope that a place named Paradise would be a bit different,” he commented, absentmindedly wriggling his extra toe in his shoe. While he thoroughly enjoyed his childhood, any place named Paradise shouldn’t be suffering from poverty and radioactive everything. “Maybe I can get a hair cut in the city. City, city, city...” he repeated, his excitement showing. Three years without any large civilization tended to make one excited about finding things like this.

[Masquerade]

Rien raised a finger, closing her eyes as if to recall something. "A tourist is someone who goes off to stay in a land that is not their homeland for a while, making it their goal to see the sights and have fun--essentially, a vacation. So I think that fits us only partially since we're actually here because of a reason we don't know," she exclaimed and let out a loud laugh. "I don't see a problem with seeing the sights and having fun while we're here of course," she added with a cheery smile. Granted, she did mean 'see the sights' in a metaphorical manner when it came to Jun. That still wouldn't stop him from enjoying the possible fun that Paradise had to offer. How many people can honestly say that they've been to Paradise? Not very many, to be sure.

"With a city as big as I think it is, I'm sure they've got a barber around there somewhere," Kazu mentioned at Jun's last comment about a haircut. He was definitely in need of one. And a nice shave for that matter. It was hard to imagine the fellow being all nice and groomed. "Maybe Grace can hook you up once we get into Paradise, eh? She'd probably want us to look our best for this almighty Council or whatever." He had a smile on his face, even if it was slightly disconcerted. The only person he had met in this realm was Grace, and she seemed pretty carefree. The people...they couldn't be oppressed. To dominate a civilization by fear and then call your city 'Paradise' is sheer hypocrisy. It wouldn't be farther from the truth. His head snapped towards Quin. "You mentioned something earlier about scary soldiers on posters," he said to her, trying to sound casual. "What exactly is the deal with that, exactly? Like, specifically?"

Through the windows of the building, Grace seemed to be quite engrossed in conversation with a gentleman standing behind a sort of counter like it were a store of some sort. His clothes, a nice dress shirt from what could be seen and maybe matching pants, were just as white as hers, but his hair was jet black and his eyes were actually a light green in color. Both had huge smiles on their faces, talking and living it up in there while the others were left to wait in the meantime.

[quackers are yummylicious]

“Specifically?” Quin sighed, as if Kazu was asking her to explain some long and complicated story. A moment of silence passed, as she peered at Grace and the other man, wondering what they could possibly be talking about. “Baiyu, the country where I live, and Bing, another country, are at war. Have been for...” Here she trailed off, seemingly counting back the years, before finally settling on an answer. “Eighty years? More if you don’t count the peace treaty. It’s just propaganda, nothing special.” She stopped here, seeming to be satisfied by her answer.

Jun hummed quietly in acknowledgement, listening to Quin’s tale. He opened his mouth, as if about to say something profound, before simply stating, “That’s a long war.” He didn’t really like fighting, himself, and he couldn’t imagine constantly being in this seemingly serious of a war.

[Masquerade]

"I'm with Jun on this one. The two countries must have a pretty deep-seated hatred for each other," Kazu commented. Her answer was enough to satisfy him. Even if he wanted to inquire about it more, it seemed that Grace had finally tied things up with her little buddy in the building and was heading out towards them. The assassin couldn't explain it, but he had a feeling of...unease, and it only seemed to get stronger the closer they grew to the city of Paradise. He questioned the Council's ability to get them home, thinking it would probably wind up being harder than what it seemed. Kazu sighed as Grace got behind them and started ushering them towards the cart. He still hadn't figured out how it was going to connect to the cable. He opened the door and let everyone else in first. The cart was small, but the seats were large enough to easily fit three people. It reminded Kazu of a train car with the seats facing each other. He hopped in and closed the door behind him.

"Well now, hold onto your seats because the ride is sure to be fabulous," Grace chimed in her melodic voice as the car was suddenly thrust into the air, rising higher and higher. It had obviously been resting on some sort of elevating device operated by the guy in the building. There was a snapping noise from above as the cart that signified the connection to the cable. Soon enough, the feeling of being held up was replaced by a feeling of just dangling about. Slowly, the cart began to travel up the cable. Through the car windows, the entire grove could be seen. The trees were as tall and healthy as can be, their leaves such a pure green in hue that it was surreal. Specks of color could be seen from the blossoms upon the ground, and beyond the land rested the expansive sea of white clouds. What lie beyond the clouds remained to be unseen and unknown. In the other direction, nothing but the mountainside could be see, getting closer and closer. Grace had mentioned something about having to go through some mountain passage to reach the actual city itself.

Rien wondered if the ground beyond the mountains was higher or if the city was built into the mountains themselves. She couldn't wait to rest her eyes on what rested beyond the peaks. The cart had sped up a bit and eventually came to a halt on a metal platform. Grace clumsily made her way to the door and opened it, holding it open so everyone could exit, and closing it once everyone had done so. It was definitely a bit colder up upon the platform, and the winds were a bit more constant. Grace kept fidgeting with her hair, but it refused to stay in the position that she wanted it. Giving it all up, she walked forward, waving a hand to gesture for everyone to follow. A huge gaping tunnel had been drilled through the side of the mountain to form a huge passageway. Fluorescent lights had been used to line the top of the passage making it very well-lit. Not much else could be found in the passage though. Not a lot of people must travel in the direction of the grove. Eventually the group made it out of the passage and instantly found themselves standing on a street...made of pure gold. The gold had been formed into bricks and then used as mere pavement. All around them stood rather large buildings made of the somewhat reflective material. It turned out that the ground was higher on this side of the mountains and formed a valley that sloped downwards at a slow pace all the way out to another sea of clouds where there appeared to be another town stationed along with some docks and large wooden ships.

Farther down the main thoroughfare they were now standing on, there appeared to be a sort of square with a magnificent jade statue of an angel in mid-dance, spewing pure sparkling water from her castanets and mouth. There were actually people on the street and congregated in the square. They were all wearing white clothes, just like grace, and their skin seemed to be mostly white as snow as well, though the colors of their eyes and hair differed, along with the shapes of their faces and the sharpness of their features. White smoke billowed out of a few of the buildings, these made of white-painted cinder blocks like the one back at the bottom of The Lift. Only the really tall skyscrapers were made of the reflective material. At the far end of the city sat an enormous dome-like building with huge white marble obelisks fused onto the corners, though the entire building was made of white marble itself. An elegant courtyard could be made out from their high vantage point--trees had been planted there, and there were actually more trees placed aesthetically around the city as well, accentuating its artificial beauty with the purity of nature.

Grace whirled around with the hugest grin she could muster. Her teeth were perfectly straight and astonishingly white. "So, my darling outsiders, welcome to Paradise!" she exclaimed, nearly jumping for joy. "What do you think of our humble abode?"

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun hadn’t stopped to listen to Grace, and had just kept going towards the fountain, nearly running into a few people along the way. He quickly filled his water bottle, before stepping away from the fountain so he could hear better and wildly clicking his tongue. So many new structures. His sense were starting to get confused, but it didn’t really matter at this point. Instead he just kept stumbling around, appearing to be in some sort of awed stupor. This was just too unreal to him.

Quin raised an eyebrow at Grace’s reaction, before reluctantly nodding. “It’s nice,” she murmured. The city was quite beautiful, and it didn’t stink of sewage and rotting flesh. It had already one-upped her home and she hadn’t even been here for more than a few minutes. The trees were a nice touch, and this made her wish that Capitol City kept some trees as well.

[Masquerade]

"I'm with Quin on this one," Kazu stated kindly, noticing the rather displeased look on Grace's face which greatly contrasted with the smile she had just given them. "You'll have to forgive us if we're not jumping for joy at the sight of it; not everyone is like that," he said in a teasing tone, for he didn't want it to sound mean. There was no doubt Grace was aware of her eccentricity, so it was an easy button to push. "It certainly doesn't remind me of Amber City, that's for sure. Looks like something out of a fairy tale book, to be honest--something adventurers search for their entire lives but never find." It was typical lore. Lost cities with tons of treasure. Adventurers would have a field day here, uprooting the pavement and making off with as many valuables as possible. Seeing such a peaceful civilization, he was kind of glad that all their efforts came to naught.

Taking off after Jun, Rien rushed by Grace and down the street leaving the others behind. Along the roadside, she could see the white-dressed people talking to each other and making merry. She slowed down her pace as she reached the square. A lot of the natives were looking at join in curiosity instead of fear or disgust. The blonde waved to them all, and they looked at her waving back as they did so with smiles. There was a group of people singing a beautiful song to some soft acoustic guitar music. She couldn't recognize the words and wondered if they were in a different language. Regardless, it was such a peaceful thing to sing on such a wonderful day. "You might want to be careful, Jun," she said to the guy playfully as she approached him. "This place is huge. So many buildings. If you wander around, you might get lost. I know I would," she tacked on the last statement with a blush. She had never really had a good sense of direction, and it was something she oftentimes found herself embarrassed about.

Back at the top, Grace just clucked her tongue at Kazu and turned back around, walking down the golden street expecting the other two to follow. Kazu decided to pick on Quin now. "How old are you, Quin, if you don't mind me asking? I know it's rude to ask a lady her age, but indulge me this once," he inquired, making sure to apologize for his brashness.

"So disrespectful," Grace scolded.

"No one was talking to you, Grace," Kazu shot back at her, trying to hold back the urge to laugh.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun puffed out his chest proudly upon hearing Rien’s voice. “I’m good at not getting lost. I used to live in a city a lot more crowded than this, and I’m not missing any fingers or toes, I just have extra ones,” he laughed, clicking his tongue a few more times anyway, to get a sense of where he was. It wouldn’t be good if he got lost right after bragging to Rien. The shaggy looking man closed his water bottle and attached it back onto his belt, before cupping his hands and drinking directly out of the fountain. “The water’s good here, haven’t you tried any yet?” he asked.

Quin shrugged, rather indifferent to people knowing her age. She wasn’t really aware of what all the fuss was about. “I’m fifteen,” she answered simply, a look of curiosity flitting across her face. “Why?” She didn’t understand why Kazu would care. After all, it didn’t seem like they would be together much longer.

[Masquerade]

"Extra ones?" Rien questioned mainly to herself, trying to keep her voice low. Well, that would be certainly unique. She decided not to make a big deal about it and got closer to the fountain where he was drinking. It was only when he mentioned it did she realize that she was rather thirsty. They had done quite a bit of hiking. Her legs were pretty tired matter. It seemed all the excitement and adrenaline had been keeping her going, but now she was exhausted. "I'm afraid I haven't tasted it yet. But I am parched, so I think I'll help myself," she spoke confidently, cupping her own hands to scoop up some of the crystal clear water. Bringing her hands to her lips quickly, she allowed herself to gulp down all she had collected, a little bit dribbling out the side of her mouth. "Mmm, my word. This water is amazing!" she exclaimed, letting out a contented sigh, and also ignoring the bit of water that had escaped her mouth. "I can't even fathom how it can be so clean and refreshing. It's like magic," she quipped with a slight giggle.

"You just seem rather reserved for one so young as yourself," Kazu responded in the same tone he had used before, putting his hands on the back of his head as he walked, still taking in the sights himself. "I was about to say I expected you to be running around like a maniac in glee at seeing this place before I realized you've been pretty calm since we woke up. Heh, I do recognize a certain wariness about you though. I see it a lot back on my home world. When you live in a dangerous place, it's be aware or be dead." The subject may have been a bit dark despite it being Kazu's idea of light conversation. He put his words out there rather matter-of-factly. They were things that happened. Worlds conquered by powerful sorcerers, or worlds with countries at constant war with each other. "Even if the time was short-lived, I gotta say it was nice meeting you, Quin, even if you're not much of a talker. Kinda nice to know there are others out there struggling like me and the people back home. It'd be nice if our struggles led to something like this, eh? All our kind ever longs for is peace. Wonder if we'll ever find it."

Grace didn't butt in this time, but only listened to Kazu's words with a genuinely solemn look on her face. She didn't want either of them to see it, so she continued walking straight forward, never once turning to look behind her.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Quin chuckled, her voice hollow. While she wanted a home like this, she doubted it would ever be perfect. There was always one person who was a bit too greedy, or one person who had just a little more power than everyone else. “It would be nice, though it will never happen. Humans are...selfish creatures. There’s always one who’s a little more selfish than the others, and then you get worlds like ours. All you can do is keep struggling and hoping.”

For someone so young, she seemed to have quite the negative image of the world. Even this place, she figured, even this place couldn’t be perfect. There had to be some darker side. Complete peace was an unattainable goal. “It was nice meeting you as well,” she murmured after a few moments.

Jun grinned widely at Rien’s reaction. To him, there wasn’t anything better than being happy. “Yeah, magic,” he agreed, his smile unwavering. “Does your world have magic?” he then asked curiously, thinking about Flow, wondering if she’d be impressed with his own magic trick.

[Masquerade]

Rien nodded her head enthusiastically with a large smile. "There's tons of different types of magic on Alidaire. We all use the essence of life known as mana to execute it," she explained. "My sister uses an ability called 'aquakinesis' to manipulate water. She can even create water when she needs it by using mana." She avoided stating whether or not she could use magic herself. Instead, she reflected the question back upon Jun since his answer was one she couldn't predict. "How about your world? Does it have magic as well?"

Kazu came to a stop in the square where the fountain was when Grace stopped. He thought about Quin's words and how much of a realistic perspective she held. Living in a country at war with another country for 80 years or so would do that to a young girl, he surmised. It was wrong of those who were fighting. Did they not realize what kind of hardships that brought upon the people? Of course they did. They're only in it for themselves, he thought with a sigh. [color=red]Selfish, just like she said. Us humans. Such despicable creatures. He felt himself slipping away from the present to revisit the past, but the sound of singing brought him out of it, not to mention Grace had turned on them, a soft smile on her snow white face.

"It's not impossible, you know," the gardener said, her tone sincere. "Near impossible, yes, but not fully. With enough motivation and power, but with the will to sustain the power without succumbing to bloodlust, you can turn a world into a paradise." She paused and placed a single hand over her heart. "It might even not be able to be done in one lifetime, but...you just have to keep trying. Like this young girl here said. Struggle and hope. If you do enough of it, you'll find yourself rewarded, maybe not in this life, but in the lives of those who succeed you and inherit the wonderful world you helped to create. Such a selfless ambition will give rise to paradise one day."

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun nodded, sort of understanding. “So...like video games,” he concluded, trying to relate it to something familiar. “Well, after the Storm, we got Flow, though people can’t control all of it, just certain parts. Like your sister, there’s people who can control water, but that’s all they can control, there’s no other option,” he paused for a moment in thought, chewing the inside of his cheek, before continuing. “Actually, I guess raw Flow is an option, too.” As if to give an example, he held out his callused hand, forming a black glowing orb in his palm. It gave off a bit of an eery feel, but the feeling disappeared as Jun crushed it in his hand and the orb was no more. “Raw Flow takes a bit more effort to use, though,” he shrugged. That was a bit of an understatement. He was feeling a little parched just from creating the tiny orb.

Quin didn’t bother arguing with Grace. She was too much like the average citizen of her own world: completely brainwashed. It seemed like no one had a complaint about this place. No one had any complaints about her home either, besides the resistance. That wasn’t a lot of people. The longer she stayed in this “Paradise,” the more uneasy she felt. She felt like she herself had been brainwashed by the Dictator to ignore the smells of rotting flesh and pollution.

[Masquerade]

Rien gazed upon Jun's display of the usage of Flow in awe. When he crushed it, she shrunk back just a bit. "Seeing it, it's not all that different from mana at all. The only thing that seems to keep the two apart is the versatility. Maybe if the people of your world studied the Flow a bit more, they could find a practical use for it?" she posed as a question. If they had the Flow for a while, they might have already thought of that. And it also looked like it was a struggle to control the raw Flow, just as Jun had said. Maybe in the end it would just have to be what it was. Rien looked over to where Grace and the others were. They seemed to be moving closer now.

"We gotcha, Grace," Kazu said, flashing a quick glance to Quin. He was in the same boat she was when it came to not wanting to argue with the gardener. He wondered if this world had always been the way that it was. Did they perhaps have a dark past that was erased upon attaining the paradise realm they had now?

Grace sighed. "Come on, the Council is in the building at the other end of the city. It's a straight shot," she said, pointing to the massive white marble dome in the distance. She walked ahead with the others in tow until she reached the fountain, giving Jun and Rien a look that indicated for them to follow.

"Guess we better get going. We get to go back to our own worlds soon, hopefully," Rien said to Jun halfheartedly. Should she approach him about coming to Alidaire with her now? She seemed hesitant to follow the others, but eventually, she decided to wait a bit longer. Taking a sharp breath, she started walking behind Kazu and Quin.

"So what do we do if this almighty Council of yours can't get us back to where we need to go, eh?" Kazu shot towards Grace at the front of their little procession.

"I'm....I'm not sure..."

Kazu turned his head to Quin, giving her a disconcerted look while pretending he didn't ask the question or hear Grace's answer. "So what are you going to do when you get back to Baiyu? Forget this ever happened?" he asked. To be honest, he didn't know what he was going to do with the information that other worlds were out there himself. He'd probably get his revenge and finish living his life, and as time went on, this little episode would seem like nothing but a dream to him.

[quackers are yummylicious]

“Oh, well, lot’s of people use theirs for hunting, or fighting. There’s lot’s of practical uses if you have a good one,” Jun laughed care-freely as he followed Rien’s voice, gently touching his third eye through his bandana. Rien was a good person. I bet she’s pretty, too, he thought, before realizing what had just passed through his mind, his tanned face turning a bit pink, though it quickly passed. He did want to take a look at everyone before they all went their separate ways, though. It’d be a shame if he didn’t even know what this wonderful group of people looked like. Then again, he didn’t want their final memories of him to be tainted with his monstrosity of a face.

Quin shrugged. “Assuming that this isn’t some sort of test that the Dictator put out, in which case I’d probably be dead, I suppose I’ll simply continue on with my life. My parents run the resistance against the Dictator, so...it’s not like this has changed what I want. In time, I suppose I’ll forget it, though I don’t see myself living that long, anyway,” she laughed bitterly, before looking at Kazu with a questioning look. “What about you?”

[Masquerade]

"I see. I think I expected as much," Kazu said, tossing his own indifferent laugh into the mix. "As for me, I've got a sorcerer to kill. After he's gone, I'll let the rebel forces do what they want with the government. I'll probably wind up helping undo all the damage the sorcerer has done to our world. I might let the rebels know of this place. Maybe they'll strive to get things to this level of peace, granted that'll take a long time," he explained, looking up at the bright blue sky. It was odd not seeing long strands of dark energy surging from the realm up into the sky to keep the sky tethered to the planet. This will be my sky one day... He nearly scoffed at how hopeful he had sounded, but it was nice to have hope. It wound up feeling that things could change.

Grace led them along the golden thoroughfare until they reached the elegant courtyard in front of the enormous dome building where the Council resided. Quite a few more Paradise denizens were lounging about on stone benches, talking to each other happily or reading books. Some were putting instruments together in preparation to play. They all seemed so carefree. Kazu couldn't help feeling how nice it must be. Upon reaching the large glass doors that constituted the entrance to the building, Grace tapped her foot lightly on the ground causing them to slide open. The group proceeded into the building and the doors closed behind them. Inside, the floor was made of smooth white marble tile. There was a huge circulation desk with a few attendants standing behind it. They bowed their heads to Grace as she passed by with the others. A few other denizens of Paradise were standing around, either waiting to be assisted or just admiring the beauty of the building itself. There were large paintings on the walls: one of a ship cruising along a sea of clouds, another of an angel that looked like the one portrayed by the jade statue at the fountain in the square, and then one more showing a picture of Grace and some other guy standing under the hedge archway that made up the entrance to Tranquil Grove. Behind the circulation desk was another door made of steel. Grace tapped her foot against the floor seven times before the thing surged upwards allowing them to pass, only to close quickly once they reached the next room.

The room they had entered was also circular with only a short narrow path leading to the main body. For the most part, the room was rather dark with only iridescent green lights wavering about casting an eery glow on everything. Seven people sat seated at a large circular table. From the looks of it, they all had white robes on with gold words embroidered upon them like "Patience" and "Diligence." The people seemed to be in the midst of conversation and didn't notice the group enter...

"What account does that make for this week?" a male's voice rang out, rather low and homely but not to the point of sounding meek. There was an odd strength behind it.

"The thirteenth instance, I'm afraid...," a female's voice responded. It possessed such a note of control, despite the solemnity behind it.

"HEY! And don't forget about this!" another woman shouted, bursting out of her chair. The word "Chastity" could be seen embroidered on her robes. She reached down and picked up something, holding it out for the others to see. It was a pornographic magazine. Various gasping came from all around the table. "Whoever the fuck is doing this is targeting me, I don't like it!" the woman fumed.

"Claire, please don't use profanity. We abandoned such vain and vulgar language long ago," a very soft male voice reprimanded.

"You know, it's so easy for you to patient, isn't is, Paul? But I don't see anyone making a target out of you! We're dealing with a sick bastard who isn't even from this realm." She waved the magazine around flagrantly for them all to see, trying to emphasize her displeasure. It was then that her eyes shot towards Grace and the group. "What are they doing in here? We're in the middle of a meeting."

Grace approached the table and bowed deeply. "My apologies, Claire, and the rest of the Council, but we have a bit of a problem." She whispered something to the two closest Council members and they whispered to their neighbors before the message made it to Claire at last and her eyes seemed to blaze with rage. They were a crimson color and her hair was a deep red as well.

"It's them, isn't it?! I bet THEY'RE the ones who are doing this to us!" She threw the naughty magazine at the group.

The thing seemed to be headed towards Quin, but Kazu easily stepped in the way, knocking the magazine aside with ease, watching as the pages flapped open to a picture of a nude woman posing on a couch. He was tempted to look, but he kept his gaze locked on the one who threw it. "My, these guys are pretty rowdy. You all right Quin?" he said before inquiring of the girl. Chances were that she could have handled it herself, but he figured he might as well.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Upon the magazine being thrown at Quin, a strong wind had picked up, at least strong enough to blow the magazine back. “...I’m fine,” she stated, raising an eyebrow at Kazu. He was protecting her...from a dirty magazine? How odd.

Jun meanwhile was looking very confused, all the different, unfamiliar voices throwing him off. Then, hearing Kazu ask if Quin was okay, he clenched his fist. “Don’t attack us, just ‘cuz you don’t know who we are!” he snapped, grabbing onto his blindfold threateningly. He didn’t want these people to hurt his new found friends, even if he didn’t know exactly where they were.

[Masquerade]

"Why you little..." Claire growled fiercely as she pushed aside her chair causing it to go crashing to the floor, but before she could take another step, another woman with long, wavy black hair and dark eyes grabbed hold of her arm. The word embroidered on her robes read 'Kindness.' "Karen, let...me...go." Claire's voice was suffused with an immense anger.

"Calm down," the woman spoke, her words so light that they seemed to float daintily through the air after they were spoken. The woman, Karen, watched as Claire's muscles ceased to be tense and all of the anger flushed right out of her face. Karen put her chair back up and sat the woman down in it, stroking her hair. Claire's crimson eyes were completely vacant. Not a word escaped her mouth.

A rather short man with thin white hair and hazel eyes came down to meet all of them with Grace behind him. His face seemed a bit more aged than most of the people's around. There were definitely creases around his eyes and mouth, and his skin wasn't as smooth and silky as Grace's was. He had a more gruff and weathered appearance, but there was a gentleness in his smile. He bowed as deeply to the group as Grace had bowed to the Council before. "I'm terribly sorry about Claire's outburst. My name is Howard, Representative of Humility. I welcome you all to Sanctuary formally, though you've come had a horrendous time."

Rien put a gentle hand upon Jun's shoulder before looking to Howard. "What exactly is going on here?" she asked with genuine concern.

"Well, lately, items not belonging to this realm have been showing up. They range from cigarettes, pornographic material, and alcohol to just plain junk food and video games. They are things we have abolished here for they increase the desire of sin," Howard explained, his expression becoming more weary and serious. "We are trying to keep the items away from the populace, but they just keep popping up. We think some otherworld prankster has been trying to make fools of us, but it's more than that. These things could cause the collapse of our very society."

[quackers are yummylicious]

The corners of Quin’s mouth twitched into a frown as she tapped her beige, plastic looking shoe on the tiled floor. “Perhaps that’s why we’re here? To bring the end to your society?” she mused aloud, brushing her dark hair out of her red eyes to examine the Council. There had to be something deeper than this. There always was. She didn’t like what Karen had done to Claire, not letting her speak out against the group. Perhaps this Karen was the ring leader?

“That would make sense,” Jun added in. He could probably bring this pristine civilization to its knees simply with his third eye. Not that he wanted to, but he could. Unlike Quin, he didn’t have any doubts in the Council or this society. A sad look crossed his weathered face at the thought of someone just wanting to use him as a weapon, before shaking his head. Rien had been sent here too, how could she lead to the destruction of this world? Sure he could see it for Quin, she was so emotionless, she’d probably do anything to survive; Kazu, well, he was an assassin after all; and himself, well...all he had to do was give into his own desires and take off his bandana. But Rien seemed almost as pure as Grace. “On second thought, no it doesn’t.”

[Masquerade]

"O-of course it doesn't!" Rien spoke out in agreement with Jun. She might not have known the people around her for very long, but they seemed to genuinely good...at least at heart. To her, that was all that mattered. They had been through troubled times and resorted to the only things they could, but they couldn't be blamed for that. Life had dealt them unfair hands, and they just played the cards how they were. Regardless of what sort of things they had done or could possibly do, the sanctity of their hearts would be untouched. It was this belief that Rien grasped so firmly and allowed her to trust the others so easily, going as far as to defend them.

"Nah, Quin might be on to something here," Kazu said in a manner that was as light as could be despite the intense situation that was presented before them. He nearly burst out laughing at the horrified look on Howard's face and the desperate look on Grace's. Kazu shrugged his shoulders. "We might be here to destroy this society, but that would make me a tool at someone else's disposal. I've been a tool before, but I'm through with letting others use me. I'm after my own ambitions now." He waved a clawed gauntlet through the air as if dismissing the possibility.

Howard and Grace definitely seemed to be a bit relieved to hear that.

Kazu cocked his head to the others. "Isn't that right now, guys? If we're here to destroy this society, are you gonna go through with it?"

[quackers are yummylicious]

Quin shrugged, seemingly indifferent to Howard and Grace’s horrified looks. “Perhaps. It depends on how pure this place really is. After all, that woman, Claire, I think? She was silenced, simply because she didn’t have an opinion that agreed with the rest of the group. That doesn’t make this much different than my world,” she answered Kazu, a thoughtful look on her face, though her red eyes were trained coldly on Karen.

The resistance was her home, after all. She believed that everyone should be free to have their own opinion, and with the Council filtering information and suppressing the people’s opinions, it just didn’t seem right. It was her job to destroy systems like this. While this place may have been pure, there seemed to be a horrible method to obtain that purity.

Jun looked rather horrified at the thought. “No way, not unless they attacked us. This doesn’t seem like a bad place, and well...” he trailed off, not really able to think of a good reason not to destroy it, or to destroy it, for that matter. He just didn’t like fighting. “Fighting is bad,” he concluded simply, remembering passing through old battle fields back in his world. The dry earth littered with bones, or even flesh, if the battle was fresh enough.

[Masquerade]

Howard was quick to speak up in the Council's own defense. "Claire just needed to be stopped before she did something she would regret later on," he explained calmly, though his tone then took on a scolding tone as he continued. "You don't know anything about her; we know her better than you do. You cannot simply come into this place and pass judgment like you're a god. The people chose this life for themselves. If they wanted to wallow in sin, they would be doing so right now. Why do you think people have been reporting the items as 'problems' to us? They could keep it a secret from us if they wanted, but they haven't." He sighed, carefully thinking about what he was about to say, but decided that it would be needed if he really wanted to prove the true sanctity of his realm. "And I could make you humble before me with my powers, but I haven't. And I won't. Though we have the power to impose our virtues on other people, we only do it in extreme cases as with Claire here. I can't even remembered the last time I used my power, and I'm sure the same goes for all of us."

"Hmm, pretty convincing tale you've woven there," Kazu said bemused. They were sure getting pretty bent out of shape over this. Then again, when the sorcerer in his world came to power and threatened to destroy their society, he remembered the seed of panic that spread throughout the populace like wildfire.

"K-Kazu, he's not lying!" Rien yelled at the assassin. "Or...he might be. But there's no reason to fight. We just want to go home..." She looked at Quin pretty fiercely. "Isn't that right? We can choose our own paths, you know..."

"Hey, it's not her fault. You don't have to glare at her," Kazu shot at Rien, holding back another laugh. This was surprisingly entertaining. At least, he hoped it would wind up to be a joke. "What do you make of this guy's story, Quin?"

[quackers are yummylicious]

“Completely true,” Quin laughed eerily, her red eyes glinting as wind started to pick up around her. “After all, people are easily manipulated. Children report their parents to the secret police for treason, fully knowing it will get their parents killed. Why not hand in these little trinkets if they think its for the good of all? Who needs special powers, when all you need are the right words?”

“You can choose your own path, Rien. I honestly don’t care what you do in the slightest. But at least while I’m here, I’m going to speak up for what I think is right.”

[Masquerade]

The other Council members had grown extremely quiet. Claire was still sitting calmly with her vacant stare. Grace glanced at Howard, hoping for some sort of resolution, and when he spoke, she felt at least a little relieved. "Speak out all you like. We're going to figure out how to get you back home starting first by how you got here," Howard said. He didn't sound desperate or afraid anymore. "Despite what you may or may not be here for on your own personal agendas, you're welcome to our hospitality. Grace here can show you to one of the hotels where you'll be given rooms to stay in for free while you're here. Grace, if you will. Just get them out of here," he explained, bowing his head slightly to Grace who bowed even more deeply in return as Howard went back up to the circular table.

Grace approached the steel door and tapped her foot seven times, watching as the door slid upwards. She watched as Kazu shrugged his shoulders and turned his back on the Council, giving Grace a weird smile as he passed by her to enter the circular lobby area. "The d-door won't stay open for long...," she told the others who hadn't budged yet.

Rien didn't understand the point of making trouble where it wasn't needed, especially since they would need these people to get back home. She was relieved to hear that the Council was planning on helping them out regardless despite Quin's rudeness and Kazu's nonchalance. It was as if he thought it were some grand game. It made her so mad, but she just sighed. The last thing she needed was more trouble. "Fine. I'm going to cooperate with these people so that I can get home. You can do whatever you want, but don't expect us to bail you out if you get in trouble...it would only be your own fault," she said halfheartedly. Could she really be mad at Quin for sticking up for what she believed in? She could at least pretend, and that would be good enough. She didn't head for the door immediately; she still had her hand on Jun's shoulder. "Are you going to come along with us?" she asked him.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Jun let out a small sigh in irritation. Quin just didn’t know when to drop things. All she had to do was stay quiet for a little while, and just agree with these people, but no, she just had to make things difficult. Kazu wasn’t much better, but at least he wasn’t as persistent as Quin. Hearing Rien, he shrugged, his seemingly perpetual grin returning to his face. “Yeah, it’s not like I have anything better to do,” he told her, a bit lost in this unfamiliar world, though it wasn’t like he would admit it.

Quin ran a hand through her bangs, a bit stressed as she walked towards the doors. So much for this being paradise. The thought almost disappointed her. She would have to get her emotions back in control so she could be prepared to go home. Once Grace set them up in a hotel, she would have to meditate or something.

[Sponsored content]