Welcome to Gaia! ::

Massive streaks of pure white light pierced the sky, and descended from the heavens to the center of a gathering crowd. The target, a young man with short blonde hair and crimson eyes, backed away from his opponents with a wicked smirk upon his narrow face. He raised up one hand above him, and from the palm emanated a fierce violet barrier that absorbed the white tendrils with a resounding clash. The large group of citizens shuffled away from him cautiously, shock plastered on their flawless faces.
Raowan grunted in exhaustion, “How can a non-guardian have access to those powers?” His eyes were fixated on the man’s energy field, which somehow managed to overpower his own capabilities. He drew up his claymore, a monstrous blade of black steel and gemstones, and charged forward to strike.
The sword collided with dark energy, which produced a significant spark on impact. Raowan felt his enemy falter beneath the barrier. He recoiled, then quickly slashed once in five different directions, whipped around, and struck down the backside of the bubble. This time, it penetrated the wall and reached the man’s shoulder. He doubled over in pain, the barrier vanished, and Raowan seized the opportunity to seal the man’s fate. With a quick motion of the hand, Raowan summoned a white circle around him, which completely submerged the man before narrowing into a beam, and then shot off into the sky.
The crowd oohed and ahhed at the spectacle’s conclusion; it wasn’t often that a guardian actually had to use their powers. A woman fought her way through to the center frantically, until the other civilians cleared too suddenly, and she tripped on the pavement. She glanced up to Raowan with concern, “Are you alright?”
He returned his claymore to the case slung over his back, then bent over to help her up. His tenseness eased at the sight of her, “I feel like I should ask you the same, Eva.”
Eva was rather small in frame, and appeared very fragile to untrained eyes. She was also incredibly gorgeous. Everyone in this godforsaken world was drop-dead gorgeous, but she possessed a certain beauty that few others could match. Her skin was flawless alabaster, which framed vibrant indigo eyes, a long and slender nose, and rosy, luscious lips. Her hair was a silky black, grown slightly past the shoulders, now clipped back in cascading waves by a diamond pin. She had a curvy figure for how slender she was, now clad in a flowing white summer dress with accents of pearl beading.
Raowan, on the other hand, was a bit of a brute. Broad in shoulders, muscular, tall. He was of a slightly more tan complexion, with ice-blue eyes, and dark red hair that reached just beyond his ears in shaggy strands. He wore a sort of makeshift armor; full metal plating down both of his arms and part of his chest, a grey t-shirt beneath, some black pants, combat boots, a thick leather belt with metal spikes, and a tattered grey cape. Over his armor was a leather sash, which held numerous badges and medals for each of his courageous acts. He was a guardian.
Eva smiled, “You know I’m not that weak. A little fall has never hurt anybody.” She stood up easily on her own, but acted like it was due to his aid. His arm never left her, but instead fell to her waist, where it rested in a gentle embrace as they retreated to the sidewalk. The curious bystanders finally began to clear away, and the traffic of hovering vehicles resumed.
The city was absolutely marvelous. Skyscrapers reached toward the sky endlessly, made of shapes that should have been physically impossible. Bright lights in every direction, surrounding advertisements or ushering people into businesses with their brilliance. And the people, so many of them. Every single person was flawless and beautiful, each with his or her own quirks. Some had wings, others had tails, or robotic limbs, or oddly colored hair and eyes, or even the skin of an alien species. People of this world truly had no sense of age, for every one of them appeared to be 25 for the entirety of their existence. No one died, either; they simply “vanished” once their lifespan had run out.
Only one person that Eva knew had ever vanished. Her next-door neighbor and friend, Marla. That was several years ago, back when Eva still lived alone in her apartment. Before she met Raowan.
She gazed down at the concrete as they walked along, Raowan never left her side. He was like a magnet; always stuck to her. Even after she expressed her dislike of public affection, he still unconsciously held her by the hand, shoulders or waist. It’s not that she was embarrassed by his presence — she was just sick of seeing their faces on the fronts of magazines. Eva was from a prominent family, and Raowan was well-known simply by his being a guardian.
An armored man approached from behind, and stopped their walk with a yell, “Hey, Raowan!” He waited a moment for him to release Eva and turn, “The council’s wantin’ your report of the incident. Better go, ASAP.”
Raowan nodded, “Alright.” He looked back to Eva with visible fatigue, “I’ll be home around 12, don’t bother saving me a plate. And don’t get into any trouble, missy. Love you.” He told her, before being led off by the other guardian.
“Yeah...” Was all that Eva uttered, absentmindedly, before returning to her aimless walk. She didn’t feel too great. She’d had random fits of dizziness over the span of several days, but never told Raowan or anyone else. Instead, she simply paced herself with small steps, and slipped into the nearest tavern.

The bar was smaller than most others, but also seemed more cozy and welcoming. The interior consisted of burgundy walls, cherrywood tables and chairs, high countertops with lit candles upon them, and numerous holographic games and displays in each corner. Eva found her way to the counter, where no one else sat except for one lonely soul. As the bartender prepared her order, her eyes strayed to the stranger’s face. She couldn’t tell the person’s gender, but what drew her attention was the long trail of scars that reached down their face. Such a sight really was shocking, in this perfect world. She tried to distract herself with sipping on her drink.
“Appearance isn’t everything, you know.” Said the stranger in a dull, emotionless voice, “True beauty is beneath the surface.”
Eva turned back to the suspected-girl, now able to see the full extent of scarring. She was very young, even for that standard forever-25-look. The red gash traveled all the way from her forehead to the base of her chin on the left side, and the evidence of burns were everywhere else. She didn’t have unusually colored eyes; just simple, honest brown. Her short, honey-blonde hair was limp and unkempt. Overall, she was a complete disaster.
“Yeah, well people sure make it out to be.” Eva replied equally dull, “They can fix you, by the way. Scar removal is a simple process nowadays–”
“I don’t want to be ‘fixed.’” The girl snapped, “I don’t want to be like everyone else. Beauty corrupts.” Her voice wavered a bit on the last statement, as if it brought back a terrible memory.
Eva fell silent. She ran her finger over the rim of the glass, listening to its quiet ringing. The young woman also remained silent, attention diverted to the other customers.

Eva hadn't even realized that it was her whom Camilla was speaking to, but she'd heard just enough of the one-sided conversation to seem like she had, "Oh, yes. That was rather exciting. A bit unnerving, though, now that we know they can use those powers. I wonder how he managed..." She trailed off into a dreamy silence, smiled, then returned her gaze to Camilla, "I'm terribly sorry for drifting off. I haven't quite felt like myself lately. Raowan's been so busy with the increasing attacks, and I can't help but worry a bit."
The scarred girl finally spoke up, "I wouldn't be too worried. I mean, they can't all be bad. Just the few that go crazy and slaughter anyone that's in their way. But they must have some reason for going to such lengths..." She sipped the last remnants of her wine, then stood to leave, "God knows, it sure wasn't a Corrupted that did this to me." She pointed to her mangled face, then left Eva and Camilla behind to ponder that thought.
Eva followed the stranger with her eyes until she was completely out of sight, "It's odd, finding someone so honest in this city."
She glanced back to Camilla apologetically, "Please excuse my lack of manners; I'm Eva. Though you probably knew that from those gossip magazines that're strewn everywhere."

Meanwhile...

Beyond the city into the forests, a figure could be seen snuffing out a fire in a small clearing. She had long red hair that went down past her waist, a pair of alert cat ears and a very long and thick muscled tail.

The figure's name? Scarlet Ameras.

I looked up at the city ahead as I put out the small fire. I sighed. I hated cities. Ever since that time... I lowered my hand to my chest, over my heart. A small scar could be seen just peeking over the collar of my top.

Best not to dwell. Unpleasant or not, I was going in.

I packed up my things and strapped my well maintained machete to my hip; it was a very useful tool that had saved my life many times-- against wild animals that would send most fleeing for their lives.

Then, I strode into the city.

The buzzing increased. Normally, wherever I went, I heard a buzzing between my ears, nestled securely in my brain. I could ignore it easily out in the wilds, but in cities the buzzing got worse and far more annoying.