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"They fell apart...", worried by his apparent miscalculation, Mathias had to think fast. He was completely exposed to the swarm and while he could help himself he was unsure how to help her or the others. Mathias would usually remain level headed, even in situations like this, but bugs set him off. The pricks of pain began to set in as he continued to waste time thinking, and with each bite, he slowly started to panic. He, however, was not deaf and snapped to Mara's call for fire. While he didn't have the materials necessary for torches he did have an idea to latch onto in his panic. Re-purposing the energy he had gathered he converted some of it to thermal energy, igniting oxygen around his gloved hand to produce a flame. Expanding it just enough to hold a constant shape, he aimed to burn away the creatures on his body. It would take a few more moments to charge and expand the flame as necessary. Concentrating was difficult given the situation coupled with his irrational fear and distaste for insects. With his free hand, he channeled a small gravity well into the flame the best he could, hopefully being able to pull insects that got close enough into the flame. Igniting a large pocket of oxygen was a possibility, but being in such close quarters forced him to save that as a last resort.

“A cup of lobster bisque, a boat of takoyaki, a plate of goma wakame, a serving of seafood paella, a strawberry tart…Oh, and could you chill my salad fork? I’m not one of those room temperature salad fork people.”   “Yes. We would hate to disappoint the attendees, perhaps especially one of the Scarlet Council and his associates.”   Xartia had masterfully ignored Isabella’s outburst, choosing to ignore the cruel snap of her sacrificial indignation, at whose altar he had been bound to burn. She was grateful, in a silent way that she would never reveal, but still found the edge of his entitlement rubbed her the wrong way. Was he flexing his title for their sake or for his own? He’d tagged along under the pretense of keeping her company, and for a brief moment, she had believed him sincere in his concern.   That’s your first mistake, love -- thinking that any of these people care about anything other than angle they’re pushing.   Gabriela cleared her throat as she settled into her seat.   “Just rest here Isabella. Do you need us to get you anything?”   She smiled, a near-perfect creation that could have rivaled the pristine facade of the Black Queen herself.    “No, I am fine. Just a little queasy, but I am fine.”   It was the weight of Cammy’s curious, and feline gaze that drew Gabriela’s amber eyes from Ilyana’s familiar face and onto the siren’s. Regardless of her new status as a human, and the loss of the inhuman glow of her eyes, there was a sharpness to her stare that cut through most once her attention was set upon them. The full force of Gabriela’s severe, and heartbroken stare settled on Cammy just as the creature drew near with a clean cloth, aiming it to her tear-wet cheeks. There was an urge to pull away. In her youth, after she ran away from her home, and as she grew up in the countryside of Eden, Cammy’s kind had never been looked upon with anything short of disdain by a majority of the population. Agree with it or not, Gabriela had grown up with those age-old prejudices.    She shifted her gaze -- a narrowed look toward Ilyana as the soft cloth brushed her cheeks and cleaned away her tears. For a brief moment, and visible only in the way her hands(which still rested upon her stomach) suddenly clutched at her blouse, she feared for the revelation of black-blood stains, as her tears had been a hideous sight when she was a vampyre. But there was nothing to fear, in this human guise, even her heartache was acceptable, passive, and non-offensive.   “Thank you,” she spoke softly, before reaching up and taking the napkin in order to finish the task of wiping away her agony.    “So I was thinking… Since you two listened to my song, I think you two owe me a song later or a dance soon-ish. How about you, miss? Are you a fan of the performing arts?”   “Once upon a time, I was a great and proud patron of the arts -- all forms, performing, music, literature, visual, even the decorative arts had a place of high esteem in my…” Gabriela caught herself short of admitting she had headed a court, a royal household, a nation. She smiled, private and small before licking her dry lips, “...in my family’s home.”   “I have not sung or harmonized with anyone in ages Cammy. I will need to retain my voice for quite a while to give you anything close to the caliber of the performance you gave me.”   Through damp lashes, she regarded the woman in black, and the smoothness with which she had rescued the moment, shifting the conversation back onto herself and deflecting it from Gabriela in her near slip-up. There was a look of admiration there, a look that might easily be confused for something more, especially by a jealous suitor, something far more profound than Gabriela was capable of feeling, or willing to feel ever again.    “Seeing as to how our friend isn’t feeling well, she likely needs more rest. Isabella dear, did you find whom you were looking for? If not I’ll help you locate them assuming they’re here. Otherwise, allow me to make up for upsetting you. I assure you I have the resources to provide you with just about anything you feel you need.”   “That sounds like a loaded statement, dear Xartia -- you have the resources to provide me with just about anything I feel I need, but what if it isn’t a feeling? What if I know, beyond any doubt, and am certain of what I need? Who is to judge the difference between what I know I need and what someone else might think that I only think I need?”    She bit her bottom lip. The inside of her mouth felt like a desert. Again she licked her lips, but it didn’t help.    “No. I wasn’t able to find my friend.”   She swallowed the lump of disappointment that had gathered in her throat and lifted her head with pride. This wasn’t the first time that Xartia had offered to help fulfill whatever it was her heart might desire, and her opportunities to actually gain access to what she needed were growing slim.    “A fortune. I need access to a fortune, near limitless funds to fulfill a very important project. But perhaps, more important than that, I need good, trustworthy friends -- can you give me that, Xartia? What do you hide behind that Cheshire grin of yours? Loyalty? Devotion? Love… You’ve been so kind to me,” she paused, dropping her gaze to her hands, which had at long last fallen onto her lap. She had to look at Ilyana, she had to include her in this. “I do not know what I’ve done to deserve such kindness, and from strangers no less.”    She had dampened the mood, she could tell. She had made them uncomfortable.    “So what do you all believe should be our next step after we rest here?”   “I don’t know what comes next,” Gabriela replied, before standing and motioning for a man who just so happened to walk by, carrying a loaded tray of goblets with some sort of sparkling wine. She took two of the chalices, but did not offer one to her supposed friends. Instead, she drank one in its entirety, right there and then, fighting against the burn of the bubbles that seared down her throat. It took her at least six steady and long gulps to swallow the whole contents of the glass, but when she had finished she set the empty vessel down. “But right now, right here, with you,” she lifted her cup to Cammy, “with my new friends -- I want to sing, and I want to dance, I want to drink.”   Halfway done with her second glass of wine, Gabriela swayed a bit where she was standing.    “Siento que te conozco hace tiempo, de otro milenio, de otro cielo… Dime, si me recuerads aun? Solo con tocar tus manos, puedo revelarte mi alma…  Dime, si reconoces mi voz? Ye, yeh, yeh, eh… Siento que me desnudas la mente, cuando me besas en la frente…  Dime, si triago marcas de ayer? Solo con tocar tus manos puedo revelarte mi alma... Dime si reconoces mi voz? Ye, yeh, yeh, eh… Siento que te conozco, y siento que me recuerdas… Dime si reconoces mi voz? Ye, yeh, yeh, eh… Siento que te conozco, siento que me recuerdas…  Dime si reconoces mi voz?”   “I feel that I have known you for a long time, from another millennium, from another heaven… Tell me, if you still remember me? Just by touching your hands, I can reveal my soul ... Tell me, if you recognize my voice? Ye, yeh, yeh, uh ... I feel you bare my mind, when you kiss me on the forehead ... Tell me, if I bring (bare marks upon myself) marks from yesterday? Only by touching your hands can I reveal my soul ... Tell me if you recognize my voice? Ye, yeh, yeh, uh ... I feel that I know you, and I feel that you remember me ... Tell me if you recognize my voice? Ye, yeh, yeh, uh ... I feel that I know you, I feel that you remember me ... Tell me if you recognize my voice? ”   Of course Gabriela’s voice was lovely, and she could carry the solemn melody of her song -- but she wasn’t a trained artist like Cammy. However, there was liquid courage running through her veins, burning a path through which her turmoil could escape. So she sang, and she did so with breaks in her voice as if she might have turned into sobs, but managed to cut through it, saving it with a sweet continuation of the lyrics, or a deep drink from her wine glass. Regardless, by the time she was done, she felt the world was softer, and her vision somewhat blurred, as if she were looking through a light mist. "So this is what it is to be inebriated? I adore it. More wine! More..." 

Dark Shaharazad followed her master through the portal, to be greeted by the surprished screech from Skylyna. Shaharazad would slightly flutter her ragged bat-like wings slightly and extend her forearms, crouching low and moving across the ground in a manner not unlike a gorilla, the light from the fire casting dark shadows on the symbols still freshly burned into her dark skin. "Wh..What did you do to her...?" Sky trailed off, seeing the bent and grotesque figure stalk around the parameter of the camp. Then quickly held up a hand. "Nope, do not answer that, brother, I don't want to know what you did to the poor thing." She said, tearing her gaze away from what used to be an elf. "Also, I have what it is that you seek from that monster, Ungoliant." She said, holding up a silver chain with a teardrop gemstone on it that swirled black, green and purple as it swung in the fire light. "Not much use it's going to be to the beast if your just going to devour it." Dark Shaharazad stopped near her new master and bowed her head low towards the ground. "My Master, if it is Ungoliant you desire, allow me to lead you to her den, my master!" She said with near brainwashed enthusiasm, hopping up and down like some evil winged monkey from a bad dream.  "Aww, look, it's so eager to please you, brother!" Sky said, giggling darkly. There was definitely something quite WRONG about the Light Bringer. Like where were these 'black hole' humor moments coming from? She had always been so light, and playful. "Where didst your other beast go? What did you call it, Argosaxx?" She asked, not seeing it anywhere. "And I know you must be tiring of my questions, brother, but I have slept for quite some time, and I have many. Why did you come to find me?" She leveled her gaze on him, and waited for her answers, having a feeling he would dodge the question and run off gung ho! with Shaharazad to find this monolithic spider.

@Ataraxy “There must be a way to get down there,” Johan said, grunting as he pried away branches and vegetation to forge a path ahead. “Everything’s just covered now. I’m thankful for the miracle, but it’s not making it any easier for us to get to her.” Johan used to be a young man living a normal life - until his city of Biazo was overran by unnaturals. Him and others, they had been trapped, surrounded by monsters. They barricaded themselves for days, fending off the horrific, twisted shells of what used to be their fellow men, and watched helplessly as one by one, the survivors were dragged off screaming. There was little hope of survival - until Earth and her band arrived. They cleared a path of safety for them to get to the boat and boatman they had secured, bound for the Terrenus mainland. As a way of thanks, Johan had stayed behind as a guide to the group, who was seeking to rip apart the source of infestation in Biazo. Their journey led them to combine forces with the Terran church and military. Johan stayed far back when the war with the unnaturals took place, but he witnessed the moment when Twizzen and Earth jointly defeated an eldritch horror and planted the seed of righteous energy in the middle of the city. That seed promoted rapid plant growth, and was what caused the path to the underground cavern to be obscured now. “Is there something you can do? Blast a path through? Sense her power?” Johan turned to the person accompanying him. For the last couple of years, he had tried to seek help for Earth, who was locked in an eternal struggle with the powerful creature who had called himself The End. But people either wanted nothing to do with Biazo, or they thought that he was lying and wasting their time. Coupled with the fact that he did not have much gold to offer in return, he needed nothing less than a hero to save Earth. This hero came in a form that was not what he had expected. A young lady, who seemed as ordinary as himself, perhaps with the exception of the sign of the crescent moon marked on her forehead. She had taken an interest in Earth, it seemed, and he had told her as much as he knew about the being. If Earth wasn’t a goddess, she was pretty darned close to being one. If Earth could not take on The End alone, Johan doubted if Lilith could help, but it was worth a shot, if any.

She could remember being in their shoes. Even though her training had spanned the entirety of her life. From the moment she could walk she had been trained in various ways. However, it hadn't prepared her enough to make her walk through the Rising Sun without as much trial and tribulation as any other. Her close lineage to the Soke himself wasn't didn't even ease the burden. If anything, it made her situation more dire. It made her more desperate. Her father had been mortally wounded during his service in the last Great War, in which after a long struggle to retain his life, he managed to only father a daughter. As the only successor to the Momiji namesake, this school was but another obstacle to overcome on the road to preserving her father's legacy. On the road to barring a son. Over the passed couple months, she'd spent more or less time volunteering as a student teacher within the dojo. Overseeing her younger brothers and sisters over several weeks of intense training, tempering mind, spirit, and body. All feats of necessity when it came to mastering one's own natural Qi/Ki/Chi or Aura. Some were born with a more or less natural talent or sensitivity to it, though even those who weren't were capable of learning how to master it. Today was likely to be like any other despite their meeting location. No matter the task asked of the students, it was all angled to meet the same goals. To master the self. Adorned in her own Akatsukizukuyo jacket, black with red trim, Mikazuki appeared separate from both the New Moons and the Soke himself. Her Uncle. "You've all grown quite adept over the course of your training, haven't you? Furthermore, seems that your aura has much to express." "The wind howls, but the mountain remains." She complimented the bulk of students that remained. Perhaps the largest class to persist through the first few months of training. Her speech was obviously something she'd heard from a wiser mind, likely within the school itself. Though only Kenshinobu himself knew he was the culprit of such words. She punctuated said words with a close fist pressing into the opposed open one, a bow finding her waist as she afforded them all a martial arts salute prior to doing the same directly towards the Soke, bowing a bit deeper out of respect for him over the others.  @Etched In Stone @Hani