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Post by Greed on Feb 19, 2013 1:44:11 GMT -5
-Lea-
"... not... bothered."
Ever since they had entered the bridge district early in the morning, the stares had been nonstop. She was becoming increasingly grateful for the stoic body guard, but overall... Lea's head tilted to one side as she sighed.
"Guess this is how the other races felt walking through Grand Divide, huh?" Even though she had been here several times, Lea couldn't help but marvel at how grand the Bridge entertainment district was.... but it was marred, now. Refugees flooded the streets, all of the amusement parks were closed, and casualty lists streamed endlessly on massive holographic monitors. After all, from all the information she gathered, the central city had been completely destroyed, wrecked by that Devoid battleship. Most of what remained was on the edge of Grand Divide's border, as well as the bridge area itself. Chunks of the city were intact here and there, but anything living had been wiped out... either by what was reported to be Devoid's drones, or vicious wild animals that had eagerly moved in to hunt during the chaos.
"... seems like I missed the nightmare up here to get a different one." As she walked, Lea at least kept an eye out for any familiar faces at all... any of them. It didn't matter who. A random classmate, a pharmacist she was familiar with, even a friendly person who had bagged her groceries. Someone she knew still had to be alive.
-Arlin-
*Ring*
*Ring*
It was irritating to Arlin, being the standing president of Grand Divide at the moment. Not only was it work and stress he really didn't want, it essentially amounted to being the mayor of a fucking tourist trap.
"Lala...."
Not only that, he had to keep this damn mess running, which was next to impossible. The Necromancer nonsense out in the newly christened "Grand Divide Ruins" had been giving him headaches and nightmares. What were those idiots thinking? Necromancy wasn't a perfect art; Grand Divide was more likely to be a haunted graveyard than filled with properly resurrected citizens.
"... please pick up. Seriously, woman."
All in all, Arlin's day was turning out to be quite the pain in the ass.
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Post by Advix on Feb 19, 2013 18:31:53 GMT -5
Somewhat to Lea's relief, it seemed that just as many people were staring at her archaic companion. His height, attire, and serious posture were altogether unnerving, and many seemed to keep their distance as they walked around the two. "It occurs to me," Raiga suddenly spoke up. "Perhaps we should find where it is they are keeping records now. They must be keeping track of survivors who have entered the Bridge. You should register your name, in that case. Perhaps that way you may learn the whereabouts of your family or friends, or help them to find you." Raiga briefly reflected on the words he just spoke, stopping as if in a slight daze, before turning to Lea, shaking his head clear of thoughts.
"Remember, Lea. In spite of what has been done to you, you are still a citizen of Grand Divide. You are still Lea Zeal. That is something no mad scientist can take from you unless you give it up." Raiga found her shoulder much quicker this time, and placed his hand on it to reassure her. "This is not a new life you have been born into. There is no "former life" from before you were victimized. This is but another chapter in the same book that started the day you were conceived. So let us see if we can find a list of survivors, and if any names you know are in it. Alright?"
Wallace & Zalsamir Apartment Complex - Room 323
Solala tossed and turned as the phone next to her rang obnoxiously. She picked it up wearily and placed it to her ear. "Nnnnngh... Solala Vrak, speaking." Her tail flexed and coiled under the blankets, and she noticed that Malik wasn't in it with her. He was already up and about, cooking something for her, and their new roommate.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Feb 19, 2013 20:09:36 GMT -5
Yuro stood chained to the ground, helpless against the doom. Lights descended from the sky at blinding speed, wasting everything they touched. Emerald colored beams of destruction that gluttonously devoured humongous chunks of the landscape. He wondered if those lights were Jormungandr, the world-eating serpent of legend. Maybe. They certainly destroyed his world.
It made him angry. The fact that he could do nothing to stop it made him absolutely livid. As much as he hated them, he wished he could be swift destructive, just like the light. With power like that, he could have melted those chains. With power like that, he could slay even Jormungandr.
Yuro woke up in another cold sweat. He had little trouble adjusting to his surroundings this time. He had grown accustomed to waking up in unfamiliar places. The place he was at right now was Solala's home. Her boyfriend resided here as well, and now, so did Yuro.
The young man got up from his bed, dressed himself with normal clothes, and immediately walked over to the laptop that Solala gave him permission to use. There wasn't much on it from the start; just the standard programs that all UIs have and a web browser. In a short amount of time, Yuro managed to download a few familiar programs that he had used before all of the destruction. The games were comforting in how structured they were. Point, click, build your barracks, train some Grorn Axethrowers, et cetera et cetera. And yet they weren't so structured that you couldn't be thrown a curve ball every now and then. Not so chaotic as to frustrate you, but not so railroaded as to make it boring. Why couldn't life be like that? Why couldn't life have that perfect balance of order and chaos?
Yuro already knew the answer. Life was unfair. It was stupid for him to even ask that.
The young man smelled a faint scent draft up from the kitchen. Breakfast was being made. Yuro, however, decided to stay in his room a bit longer. He wasn't hungry at the moment. He hadn't truly been hungry for a long time.
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Post by Greed on Feb 20, 2013 1:17:45 GMT -5
-Lea-
"... Oh. That..." Lea stared at Raiga for a moment, thinking as a tiny smile formed on her face, " ... that's... a really good idea." It would make a bit of sense for there to be a place for survivors to sign their name and be recorded somewhere; after all, with such a large portion of Grand Divide being completely wiped out, there was literally no way to know just how many people had been killed, especially if their bodies had been blasted to atoms.
It didn't take long to find, honestly. And the line was surprisingly... or perhaps depressingly short. Despite stares, and a few choice comments by some less polite individuals, Lea and Raiga finally reached the terminal, and she input her personal information, and after a minute, and a card swipe, a click of the "submit" button.
"Excuse me, uh..." A lamian guard by the terminal looked up, raising an eyebrow at the strange girl.
"L-look, I just want to know, can I search the casualty list on this thing?"
"... Sure, right down there. That tab." It was odd. The guy seemed tired, even if that was understandable. As Lea typed in and searched for her last name, the guard addressed her again, drawing her attention away from.
"... You sure you live here?"
"Yes. I am." She didn't hesitate. The question had put her on edge now, "Do you want to see my ID or something? I have it right here, hell, I need to use it to verify myself in the system." She didn't waste any time handing him the card.
"... well... I'll be damned. That's... not going to ask."
"Yeah, well-" Lea finally turned back to the monitor, the guard having distracted her enough. And sure enough, there were her parent's names. Dead.
What about her uncle's name... no. Dead. Aunt too. Both sides.
Grandparents...? dead.
"...." Lea struggled to hold herself up straight, before staggering away from the terminal for a moment. She felt... wrong. Like if she was still human, she would have thrown up, or something... oddly enough, there wasn't any line remaining behind Lea, allowing her to pick herself back up, and go over to the terminal.
"A-Alright... alright, maybe this..." she began to type again, this time more furiously. Her fingers sometimes stuck to the keys, but it didn't matter, as she typed the full name of her high school in. The list of casualties and survivors for her school popped up, staggering the slime girl where she stood again. Over 95% of everyone who she had gone to school with since she was a little kid... was dead. Anyone there she had considered a friend was dead. Who did that leave, then?
A few names popped out from the survivors list, along with the sparce details she remembered.
Maculn, Yuro. A kinda decent guy who she had spoken to all of maybe three times.
Leerhart, Aire. That was the nerdy girl who had been turn into a vampire by...
Shade, Sorel. A vampire who had posed as a student for some reason. Lea had always thought the guy was just quiet, and had tried to talk to him on an occasion or two. It didn't go anywhere.
There were a few other students which had survived, but those three stood out. And Yuro was the most decent of the bunch in her opinion, even though he had hung out with the other two.
"...well, that's... something, I guess. I guess I can be glad those guys are alive." Why though? They weren't anyone important to her, they were just people she was sorta barely acquainted with from class.
"It would be nice to see someone I know, at least.... It'd be something." That sick feeling was coming back; was she this desperate for a shoulder to cry on...? No, she was just screwed up at the moment. She needed to see someone she knew, for some reason. Just to know that someone had been saved, at least. But then, how could she find him. Somehow she doubted he was in the city...
-Arlin-
"Damn woman, you take your sweet-ass time picking up, Lala." Fucking finally, he got something.
"You wouldn't believe all this damn work. Fuck I'm glad I'm not keeping this job!" It was no big secret that Arlin didn't like work that kept him in an office all day, and his previous job had kept him reasonably active. This one, well...
"God... all this crap to go through. I don't know how the old guy did this. This is just the Bridge's stuff, too. Anyways, how's the the apartment, and how's kid holding up?"
-Aire-
It was a weird thing, settling into a new house, and a new space... especially one as weird as the one Arlin had provided them. This ridiculous mansion that he called his summer home. The place was... well, creepy, honestly. She was certain the bastard had been making a joke at their expense, and yet neither she nor her mother were ones to complain at a free mansion.
That wasn't really on Aire's mind at the moment, as she sat cross-legged on her bed as she typed a message to Yuro.
"Hey Yuro.How are you doing over there?"
Even if he was doing something, he should still get the message on the bottom of his screen.
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Post by Advix on Feb 21, 2013 1:18:16 GMT -5
"You know Yuro Maculn?" Raiga spoke up. "I am acquainted with the boy. He is partly the reason why I am here. I can take you to him if you wish." Lea looked to the ground, unsure of how to respond to that at first. Did she really have any business with that guy...? Not really. She didn't even know him that well. Same went for his friends.. but in the end, they were the only familiar faces she had left.
"He's just an aquaintance... but, uh, if you have business with him too, then that's fine too." Lea looked at her own hand for a moment. "... Wonder if he'll recognize me like this? Hell. I don't think he'd remember my name."
"Lea," Raiga placed that reassuring hand on her shoulder again. "Do not be discouraged. Knowing how few survived the attack, I'm sure he would be grateful to have a classmate seek him out."
"I guess that's one way to look at it." Lea smiled, looking back at Raiga, "All right, lets go."
"Very well." The tall old man once again led her through the streets of the entertainment district. He was surprisingly oriented for being blind. They found themselves in front of a large building, which Raiga could only assume was an apartment complex. He walked through the front door and walked right up to the reception desk. "We are here to see Yuro Maculn. What room is he staying in?"
"Uuuuuh, who are-"
"Raiga no Kyuu, and Lea Zeal. And nevermind our appearances. The fewer questions you ask, the happier I'll be."
"...Room 323."
"Thank you."
Room 323
"We're fine over here, Sir," Solala yawned. "Yuro... he's doing better. He's still hurt, but who wouldn't be? I'm... somewhat surprised, Sir. Did you call just to check up on us?"
Malik was cooking breakfast for all of them when someone knocked loudly on their door. He turned the stove down, and walked over to open it.
"Does a Yuro Maculn live here?" Malik looked up at the tall masked man with the sword before looking over toward the red slime girl.
"...Yeeeeeeees?"
"This young lady wishes to meet him. She was in his class." Malik looked back toward red slime girl questioningly, but any thoughts he wished to speak were quickly cut off. "Her name is Lea Zeal. Do NOT be rude." Malik was only made more and more nervous, but he figured he wouldn't keep them. "HEY YURO! THERE'RE SOME PEOPLE HERE TO SEE YOU. Wanna take a seat?"
Solala sat up at the sound of Malik's voice. "Visitors? I'm sorry, what were you saying, Sir?"
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Post by Tokrochiru on Feb 21, 2013 4:03:48 GMT -5
"i'm fine. i can speak again, and i don't feel so jumpy anymore. i still feel sick though."
Yuro heard Malik calling, saying that there were visitors at the door. Honestly, he wasn't up for it. He wasn't up for breakfast just yet, much less meeting anyone...then again, Elengala could have been dropping by. Yuro would be lying if he said he didn't feel like he owed her. She saved his life. He'd hate to keep her waiting....
....But he didn't want to just leave Aire hanging.....
"*sigh* bbl. someone wants to see me. i miss you."
Yuro set his online status to "away" and walked out of his room. He had bed hair and was still in his PJs, but he didn't really care for dressing formally at the moment. It was the visitors' fault for deciding to drop by so early, after all. They'd simply have to deal with seeing him in all of his spectacular morning ugliness.
Yuro walked out of him room, rubbing his eyes. They adjusted slowly to the slight change in lighting. Such was the consequence of transitioning from a slightly screen-lit room to a fully bright kitchen. When his senses came to, he immediately recognized one of the figures in the hallway. It was that jerk who got involved after Aire was bitten by Sorel. The moment he noticed the thing next to him, however, he forgot all about whatever negative feelings he had for the swordsman.
Yuro jumped as he noticed the red tinted blob. A monster from the wilderness?...No, if it was, what would it be doing in here? What was it? Was it a person?
...Considering everything else he'd seen recently, he was oddly content with that possibility.
"Um....Hi?" He said to the blob.
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Post by Greed on Feb 21, 2013 13:22:40 GMT -5
-Lea-
"..." It was a startling thing really; seeing someone who's face she was actually familiar with, but at the same time, it was clear Yuro didn't recognize her at all. Not surprising in the least, but still a bit painful.
"...Um... Yuro." Lea concentrated a little harder, her body becoming more defined as she did. Once it did, she quietly fished her student ID out of her purse, handing it to Yuro. Her name was clearly printed on the familiar card, which Yuro probably still had one of as well... if he hadn't lost it.
Come to think of it, the last time she'd seen him was during the day before she had been kidnapped. They hadn't even spoken that day, she just remembered seeing him.. it had been after the Sorel incident, actually. It actually made her wonder how long she had been unconscious before that... experiment had actually started. It had to at least have been a day or two.
"... Don't suppose you recognize me, do you?"
-Arlin-
"Oh, just bitching. Can't wait to ditch this post to an actual elected official who wants the damn job. I should be out in the field investigating these sons of bitches, or these necromancer fucks who pop up out of nowhere..."
Oh great. His secretary was coming in, "Look, Lala, just go talk to your guests. I'll be free once this mess is resolved. Later babe."
*click*
-Aire-
"Eh, I'll just wait around on here. Miss you too, but hey, internet right?" Aire glanced around, sighing quietly as she began to play one of the games that was on her computer.
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Post by Advix on Feb 21, 2013 15:55:15 GMT -5
Solala grumbled as Arlin hung up on her. "Babe," she mocked. "It's like he thinks I'm going out with him instead of Malik. Or like I'm some sort of booty call." Still, she thought, it was sort of nice of him call to check up on them. Solala threw on some clothes. A skirt, a blue T shirt. She figured maybe her hair would look less messy if she pulled it back. When she opened the door to slither out, she was taken aback to find the masked man from Sorel's fiasco standing in her living room.
"Y-you! You're... Raiga no Kyuu."
"Good morning, Special Agent-..." Raiga paused as he struggled to recall her name, only that he couldn't remember ever hearing it. "...In any case, I know who you are. There is something that I must discuss with you, and I would prefer to keep it between the two of us, and perhaps your partner. Though perhaps it's best if he turned his attention to the burning food."
"Oh crap!" Malik rushed back into the kitchen in an attempt to salvage his work.
Solala nodded to Raiga, though she then realized perhaps he wouldn't notice, which only added to the thoughts she was trying to sort. Her attention then turned toward the red slime girl. "Um, who might this be?"
"Her name is Lea Zeal," Raiga quickly responded. "And she is the victim of a terrible crime. However, I think it is only fair that we allow her the time she needs. It was very important to her to contact someone she knew. She is one of the few surviving students of Yuro's class. Furthermore, her case is only one of the topics I wish to discuss."
"I see. Well, um, Yuro, would you mind... taking Ms. Zeal into your room? Maybe?" Solala scratched her head, feeling somewhat awkward after saying all that. It sounded like something a mother would say.
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Post by Tokrochiru on Feb 21, 2013 21:27:50 GMT -5
Oh.....OH!
"Oh sh-um....I didn't recognize you what with your....new hairstyle."
That was bullshit. She KNEW that was bullshit. For what little he knew about her, he at least knew she wasn't stupid. Yuro felt like a complete jackass for what he just said.
A feeling welled up inside Yuro. He wanted to call it pity. The kind of pity you feel for a lost 3 legged dog, but a thousand times stronger. But...would she even want him to pity her? Would she take offense to that?
He knew so little about her, and yet it was clear she'd gone through so much. He didn't know how to react to it. Not in the slightest.
And now Solala wanted him to take her to his room. That sounded like something his mom would say. Granted, she would also tell him to use protection, but Solala wasn't insane, so....
....Yuro missed his mom. That, on top of whatever pity-like feelings he felt for Lea, made the sickness he described to Aire feel all the more intense. But he dealt with it. He had to. He had to get better. Everyone back home would have wanted that.
"Yeah," Yuro said to Lea. "It's right here." Yuro walked back to his room, expecting Lea to follow. He sat down on the edge of the bed.
"So...You want to talk about anything?"
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Post by Greed on Feb 21, 2013 22:44:04 GMT -5
-Lea-
"... hehe." Lea actually managed a tiny chuckle with there, "New hairstyle...? I suppose you're not wrong." His slimy classmate looked around her classmate's room, staring back out the door.
She wasn't stupid. She knew that lamia wasn't his mom. And that certainly wasn't Syaila. Really, was it any surprise...? Anyone who came out of that alive had to have lost something.
"... I-I don't know. I'm not good at starting conversations. It's just..." Lea sat down in Yuro's computer chair, turning it back around, as her feet fused into a puddle on the floor, "I... think I needed to know someone was still alive. I mean, I know people survived, but... a familiar face is different. It's... kinda reassu... reas.... dammit." She felt like crying, but her body wasn't exactly normal. But, it was easy to hear the cracking in her voice. Raiga made it so easy to hold herself together, but seeing Yuro in this place... it just reminded her of everything she'd lost. That he'd most likely lost.
"... I'm s-sure you know what I mean."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Feb 21, 2013 23:43:45 GMT -5
"....Yeah."
He did understand. Everything....well, almost everything.
"Aire's got it bad too. She still has her parents, but, uh....well, I shouldn't say too much, but you're not the only one who's come out of this...'changed'."
Maybe it wasn't a direct result of the destruction, but Aire did, somehow end up being morphed. That made Lea not too different from her, in a way.
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Post by Greed on Feb 22, 2013 1:01:22 GMT -5
-Lea-
"Aire still has her folks? That..." She almost wanted to say that was unfair, but quickly thought better of it, "... that's great. Though, it wasn't like the whole school didn't hear about what happened to her. It had been the talk of the school the last few days of Grand Divide High School's existence. Though if she had to guess at the moment.
"... I.. can sorta sympathize. But if I can say anything for her... at least she knows what she is. At least she didn't throw up her own heart as her flesh melted from her bones..." And then, Lea's eyes widened, as she looked away from Yuro, "S-sorry, you didn't need to know that."
It was sudden then, that a sound from Yuro's laptop startled her, as she turned to look at the monitor.
"... VampAire has sent you a video call... well, least her screen name fits. Um... do you think we should accept, Yuro? I don't mind, really."
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Post by Tokrochiru on Feb 22, 2013 1:14:39 GMT -5
Wow. Yuro had no idea that Lea could act so envious. Then again, he had only talked with her on occasion in school, and could only assume based off of what little he knew. He couldn't blame her for it either, considering her current state.
Yuro decided to not leave Aire hanging any longer. He walked over to his laptop and accepted the call. He was much less nervous about Aire seeing him with bed hair than he was with Lea. She'd seen him like that hundreds of times.
"Hey Aire," he said to his friend inside the computer screen. "This is Lea. She went to the same school as us."
Yuro stepped out of the way of the laptop's built-in webcam so that Aire could have a clear view of her. There was little that Yuro could do to explain her gelatinous form, so decided to let Aire come to her own conclusions on that.
"She was looking for other classmates who survived the...you know."
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Post by Greed on Feb 22, 2013 1:47:01 GMT -5
-Lea-
It was clear how Aire had changed, seeing her now... she was certainly more pale, and those were certainly fangs in her mouth. Which was hanging open.
"Yoooooooooholy shit what am I looking at." A male voice came from outside the camera, because Sorel stepped into view, right behind Aire. Promptly, he leaned in to get a closer look, his eyes widening with realization once he did, "Wait, is that... Lea?"
"... Yeah. Its Lea. So... how are you guys holding up?" Aire and Sorel looked at each other nervously. Lea could tell they were trying to figure out how the fuck this was even possible. Quite frankly, she was too.
"Um... well, I'm... managing." Aire hesitated weakly, looking back at Sorel for a moment, "So, um..."
"... I'm not going to lie. It's good to see your faces. Knowing that other people survived, people that I know, even if barely..."
-Aire -
There was no question about it; Lea Zeal was hurting. It was written in plain, painful expressions on her face, even if she wasn't human anymore. And it was all too clear what this meant. The fact that this girl had sought Yuro out, was happy to see people she barely even knew, or spoke to.
"Oh god, Lea, I... dammit, I would give you a hug if I was over there, or something."
"Seconded." Sorel spoke up quickly, agreeing with Aire as quickly as possible. Really, Aire thought he was just freaking dumbstruck by the whole thing. Though, that did give her an idea...
"Bah, dammit Yuro, neither of us are there, so you have to man up and give her a hug!"
".... a-a what? Um..." Lea just looked at Aire through the screen, completely bewildered.
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Post by Advix on Feb 22, 2013 22:24:03 GMT -5
When Yuro had closed the door behind him, Solala pulled a cushion across from Raiga , and curled on top of it. "So," Raiga started. "Yuro Maculn is in your custody. Am I to assume that McKensey has perished?" Solala could only turn her eyes away before nodding. "How unfortunate. Then, it seems I must impart to you as well what I know of Yuro's necklace."
"Necklace?" the lamia said confusedly. "What necklace?"
"What do you mean? The necklace he wears, with the crystal shard."
"Yuro... doesn't have a necklace like that."
"Don't be absurd. He's wearing it now. I can feel its distortive properties. How could you possibly..." Raiga stopped as something occurred to him. "It can't be. Has it implanted itself in him already?"
"What?" Solala face swiftly changed to intense concern. "WHAT has implanted itself in him?"
"It is best if we wait for him to join us, but the object of which I speak is a shard of the Eternity Crystal. Listen carefully to what I am about to explain..."
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