[NARRATING. PLEASE HOLD.] Yoji is the first to awaken, out of the two of you. His eyes eventually manage to get themselves open, and behold above him a sky full of slowly rotating colors. Red is currently the brightest, with yellow coming up after it. ...hwah? Looking around, he finds himself on an island floating in a star-filled void. Sayuri lies, alseep or unconscious, next to him. This island has a single iron street lamp in it's center, and is linked to other islands further along by arching cobblestone bridges. Sayuri stirs next to him. * Yoji sits up and looks around. [SESSION START.] * Yoji blinks and notices Sayuri. Hey...you okay? * Sayuri mms softly, and attempts to roll over sleepily, failing because of her bookbag being in the way. * Yoji crawls over to wear Sayuri is and taps her on the shoulder. * Sayuri mms louder, and tries to curl up in a ball. ... C'mon... * Yoji shakes Sayuri. "C'mon, wake up!" * Sayuri blinks, and slaps at Yoji's hands, before stretching out. "Mmm... wha?" * Yoji lets go. What's going on? We're in some freaky place. * Sayuri looks up at the sky sleepily. "Z'at right? Huh." * Yoji looks at the lamp. ( Good thing Jacqueline isn't here. She'd start looking for Gaspar or something. :P ) (Heh. No kidding.) (Heh.) * Sayuri sits up and rolls her neck around in discomfort, looking around. "Wonderful..." Last thing I saw was Xivilai...and now we're here. This is too weird. Further out, if you care to look, you see the edge of a larger land mass. It has an odd city made entirely of towering stonework forts and palaces. Some of the architecture gleefully defies various physical laws. * Yoji stands up and stretches. * Sayuri stands as well and stretches again, grabbing her backpack. "Well, this doesn't look like an I13 headquarters to me." Uh...yeah. Although that place was kinda weird too... A very large crow flies in and settles upon the lamp above you. At least it was real. * Yoji taps his foot on the ground. "Sure feels real here." * Sayuri looks up at the crow. "Well, I meant real in the not-an-acid- trip sense. G'day." The crow speaks in a cultured tone, saying "And what exactly makes you think this place isn't real?" * Yoji blinks and looks at the crow. The crow looks back at Yoji. * Sayuri suddenly looks very dizzy, and spreads her arms out to try and balance herself. Whoo... right. Cool. Talking bird. Um...what is this place? The crow cocks his head to the side. "What, you don't know?" * Yoji scratches his neck and laughs nervously. "Well, I kinda just got here..." The crow makes a noise that might be chuckling. "How odd. I thought all dimensional travelers knew what Chaos was like." * Sayuri looks around and huhms. "Not if they travel by accident." Chaos...neat. "Accident, eh? Well, hopefully you have some friends that can pull you out of here. Otherwise I fear you're in a bit of a predicament." "And, if it's the latter, I think I'll hang around you two for a while." Um...thanks? * Sayuri mutters, "Wonderful. From a sarcastic van to a talking crow." The bird makes another chuckling sound. "Oh, I'm not hanging around out of any desire to help you." Then...why are you? Probably to laugh at the stupid humans. "Well, I *am* a carrion eater after all." ... "I figure that if you don't find a way out before too long, you'll end up dead. And if I'm there when you die, it means an easy meal for me." Same thing. l (GRR.) Ew... * Sayuri looks over at the city, and pats her pockets. "Well, if nothing else, we could go there." Uhuh. * Yoji pointedly looks away from the crow and looks at the city. The city already seems somewhat different than the last time you looked at it. ...um. Is it just me, or did the city...change? Well, Chaos was never known to be static. I guess... Should we go there, then? The bird flutters it's wings idly. * Sayuri stretches, and says, "Probably." She pauses, and says in a softer voice, "Then again... I could always see if Xiv was free..." How did you call her, anyway? * Sayuri pauses, and says, "I guess she figured someone should be able to. Gave me something so I could." Is that what you talked about...that one time? * Sayuri looks at Yoji, frowning. "Not quite, no." Oh. Okay. Won't bug you about it. (BRB) * Sayuri blinks, and lets the frown slip away. "...thanks." So...shall we go? ^_^ (Back.) Yeah. * Sayuri cracks her neck, and winces. "Christ. Remind me not to sleep on hard surfaces so much." * Yoji looks at the bridges and tries to determine which one to take to get closer to the city. The one ahead of you seems most likely. * Yoji walks over to the bridge ahead, then. * Sayuri follows, looking around at the strange void and sky. * Yoji places a foot on the bridge cautiously, testing to see if this thing just hanging there is really solid. The void seems pretty much endless. The sky is rotating towards yellow, which means everything is growing slightly brighter. The crow takes wing and follows you. The bridge seems solid. * Yoji walks out onto the bridge. * Sayuri follows quickly. "Better hurry. I wouldn't guarantee anything in this place stays around." ...right. * Yoji picks up the pace, heading in the direction of the city. Once on top of the bridge, you can see more of the city. It is very large, stretching back for miles. Where the last bridge meets the main landmass, four guards in blue plate armor and carrying spears bar the way. There are several violent-looking fights throughout the city, which the guards don't seem to care about. ...I hope they let us in. * Yoji keeps on walking. * Sayuri shrugs wordlessly and continues. Eventually you reach the spot where the guards are. They don't seem inclined to let you in, as indicated by the manner in which they bar the way with their spears. One of them speaks in a gravelly voice, saying "Halt. State your name, House, and what buisness you have in the Courts." ...uh... Sayuri, none, and we're lost? One of the guards begins laughing. The one speaking to you grins maliciously. "Yeah, I'd certainly say you're lost." * Yoji frowns. * Sayuri deadpans. "What a leap of logic. I'm stunned." The man sneers at Sayuri. "Don't take that tone of voice with me, mortal." ... * Sayuri shrugs, and deadpans more. "I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about. We're simply lost." One of the other guards speaks up, saying "Do we get to kill them, Glavus? I've never played with foreigners before." The man in front shakes his head. "No, I think I'll do this on my own, if you don't mind." The other three make dissapointed-sounding noises. Hey, waitaminute... * Sayuri frowns. The man pops his neck and rolls his shoulders, and then he begins changing, growing larger. The crow, which is still with you, says "Well, that didn't take long." Erk. * Sayuri snorts. "Quiet, you," and pulls the card out of her pocket. As an afterthought, the crow says "Although if he uses his Chaos form, there might not be much left. Pity." The man, meanwhile, continues to grow, and his head takes on the aspect of a goat. Er... * Yoji concentrates, and his shield shimmers around him. * Sayuri extends her hand towards the card, and once again 'pulls' Xivilai from space. The man's transformation finishes, leaving him a little over eight feet tall. He turns his spear over and imbeds it's head in the ground. ( Sayuri has a Xivilai Trump? ) ( Yup. ^.~ ) (Odd that he'd know that phrase, though...) Xivilai looks around, taking in the scene. She notices the towering slavering demon thing and says "Sayuri, did you happen to say something rude to a denizen of Chaos?" * Sayuri smiles sheepishly. "... maybe?" * Yoji blinks as Xivilai appears. The towering slavering demon beast looks questioningly at Xivilai. Xivilai shakes her head and says "That would be one of the more surpassingly stupid things that one can possibly do, girl. You ought to be more polite in the future." * Sayuri sighs, and looks over at the Chaos guy. "Well, it's not like I know all this stuff..." She turns to the transformed guard. "As for you, you will be letting us leave. Understand?" ( What, like it's okay to be rude to a group of armed and armored men that outnumbers you two to one? :P ) (Usually they aren't extraplanar immortals. For all I know, they could expect that sort of thing. ^^;) The guard looks carfully at Xivilai. "Very well. But if I ever see them here again--" Xivilai breaks in, saying "You can kill them, yes, I know. Good day." * Yoji sweatdrops. Xivilai turns to the two of you and says "Come along, children." She begins walking along the bridge, back the way you came. * Yoji follows Xivilai. * Sayuri sighs, and follows, muttering, "Every day, in every way, I find more mistakes to make." Xivilai takes you to the next island away from the guards. The crow doesn't follow you, this time. So...um...how did we get here? * Sayuri says hesitantly, "So... what the hell happend there, Xivilai? Why are we here?" * Sayuri looks over at Yoji, and chuckles softly, shaking her head. Once there, Xivilai turns and says "What happened was that I saved all of your lives. The being I was fighting back at that place on your world was unleashing forces he didn't know how to control, but everything would have been fine if you'd left after we had started our fight. I can withstand exposure to Amorphia long enough to control it, but when I notices the lot of you there, I had to change my plans." "If his attack had come into contact with you, you would have been killed and your souls would have been snuffed out. I didn't feel like allowing that to happen, and so I endeavored to teleport you to my keep, despite not having enough time to do it properly." ...I hate being so useless. Xivilai looks at Yoji with a confused expression. We were just getting in your way there. * Yoji looks at the ground. * Sayuri mms softly. "Well, I guess I owe ya a thanks." But...thank you for saving us. Again. Xivilai shakes her head. "Nonsense. Now, let's go. This will be a rather long teleport, so you may feel sick to your stomachs afterwards." * Sayuri chuckles, and makes sure her bookbag is snug. "I'm with ya on the useless thing, Yoji." Xivilai closes her eyes, and then you're in a sitting room all in black. "Welcome again to my keep in Black Peak." (And I think I'll end the session there.) [SESSION END, YO.]