Welcome to Gaia! ::

Eva followed after Scarlet absentmindedly, the trip itself a blur to her. She thought of the virtual world, of what it was becoming. Or worse...what was yet to come. Real war, real bloodshed, real death. This time, people wouldn't just vanish — they'd fall in bloody, gory heaps. And it wouldn't be soulless robots killing them, but real people with real emotions. She felt filthy inside, like a roaming infection in her veins.
As they started back toward the living quarters, Eva spoke for the first time, "If a battle does occur...are you sure that these kinds of weapons and armor will hold up? What if the other factions are more advanced?" She didn't want to think of the carnage, but really had no choice. She had wanted the truth, and this was as honest as the world could get.




The capital of Northern was a bustle of activity. The numerous mechanics feverishly worked on repairing their giant machines, fabrication studios chimed with the sounds of metal-making, people gathered around the monarch's domain with questions. These were the senses of an oncoming conflict.
North was one of incredibly few factions to have a standing city, and every building was draped in a brilliant red and gold banner. The whole faction was guarded by a 30-foot tall stone wall, and several patrolling "mech-warriors." These guards were specially trained pilots of their own unique mecha, and made up the main bulk of Northern's militant force. The machines themselves came in a whole variety of shapes, sizes and colors: Some were older and crudely made, others were streamlined and rivaled the technology prior to the nuclear battle.
Layla watched as the mechanics finished inspecting her own machine; an advanced suit with smooth armor and numerous built-in weapons, painted richly in ruby red with gold accents. It towered nearly 15 feet tall, and 8 wide in the shoulders. As they stepped away with a nod of the head, Layla climbed up the suit's body and into the cockpit. It was custom-made to her own specifications, and fit around her like a second body. The chestplate closed shut ahead of her, leaving the woman blind until the four monitors blinked to life. She tested its maneuverability first with basic limb movements and flexing, then tried out its weaponry on stacks of junk. When she was satisfied with it, Layla exited the suit and called out to her assistants, "Alright! Notify the warriors that we'll start out tomorrow night! Keep communications open with all factions except Northwest! If this plan gets leaked to the enemy, I shall throw you to the Caretakers and hang your mech's head upon the wall of shame!"


((TekTek avatar of Layla, for armor reference:

And her mech looks similar to this, except the purple areas would be gold.
*Too lazy to make a profile for her. xD* ))

Eva hesitated, then reached for the device. She shook it first, listening to the rattle inside, then grabbed a knife from the kitchen to pry off its base. She peeked inside, only to find some wires broken, and others lightly smoking. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "This...shouldn't be possible. Was it the current? The electrons? Something overloaded them..."
She looked back up to Scarlet as if the girl were an alien species, "Can you...affect other human beings, too?"

((Apparently dad is going to buy me a replacement this weekend... out of what money, I have no idea. Oh well. At least this reduced posting time period will only last 4-5 days. I'm also trying to make it work with taping it place, so hopefully there won't be much difference at all.))


"It actually...exists?" Eva asked, seemingly to herself. Everything she'd believed or disbelieved previously was now being shot out the window. She had been taught that souls and ghosts never existed, that there was no afterlife, and no such thing as a spiritual energy. But if Ether existed, then surely something else had to have been true, too.



It was dark, really dark. The storms had long blown over, and silence settled heavy upon the fields like a blanket. It was nearing 1AM. Though the day's events had left him tired, it was Chris's shift to patrol. He circled wide around the multiple underground entrances, gun tightly gripped, eyes and ears acute. After a couple rounds he rested, sitting down on the hillside, gazing dreamily to the sky. In the darkness, the simulated earth was a stunning sight. Brighter, colorful, ethereal, almost magical. It reached up from the distant tower, spanning far beyond visibility into space. The stars twinkled around it, as if the hologram had existed there all along.
In each direction were the faintest hints of civilization, save for the furthest factions. Lights, buildings, far away echoes. North was especially bright with activity, buildings fully illuminated. West was the deadzone, whether its members liked to acknowledge that fact or not. It was a dying faction, slowly dwindling away with time. Resources were depleting, people were leaving, technology was becoming more and more limited. While North thrived with its new hybrid-technology, and Northwest created its forests, and Southeast and Northeast were achieving greatness with their agriculture... West was being left behind. Their sole purpose was to defend, and yet every other faction had already created their own defenses. Even East and South, the other militant factions, had expanded their duties into other fields. Chris sighed and stood back up. Time for another patrol.
He heard the click of a gun, felt its lip pressed against the back of his head. He froze. The attacker's voice was coaxing, smooth, "Don't try to resist, little boy. That's good. Drop your weapon, now..."
He had no choice; his grip released the machine gun, it smacked to the ground with a clack! of finality. He did not turn, "Who are you?"
"Your sworn enemies... We heard word over the wind of a battle with Northwest, and figured we'd add some interest. Please don't be irrational; we'd much rather have a live hostage." The man replied, his weapon still tight against the boy's skull.
Someone wrapped a sack around his head, and another tied his wrists. Chris bit down on his lip as he was urged forward with the gun.

Dante was clacking away at a keyboard in the base when he had an odd feeling. He often had one in the VR, either just before something went horribly wrong or if something was up. "I'm not going to like the next few hours. Dante thought with a sigh and reached for the radio. "All callsigns report in." Dante said simply, hand on the Magnum holstered to his leg.

"Valid point." Virgil said then noticed a change in the atmosphere. "Raowan what the hell just happened?" Virgil asked, feeling the entrance of thousands of Caretakers.

I sighed.

It is. Perhaps if more people were simply content to live, maybe there would be peace.

((Note: This is a real path of Mysticism. I've seen this stuff, (and got hit by it once or twice. Needless to say, OW!) And that was only the beginnings of my own path... ))

After a while my my movements tuned from silky smooth to carefree. I started running, jumping around, doing cartwheels and literally bounce off the walls. I had moved on to the Child's Play path-- the Path of Wind. Playful movements sent breezes floating about the room which ruffled anything light that wasn't under a paper weight... like Eva's hair. After that was something that was seemingly the complete opposite of the wind path; The movements were quick but deceptive... and they looked oddly seductive to be done by a 12 year old girl... That was the path of flesh, the path of death... the path of morality. then I seemed to go completely still... The path of Earth, the Mud Pool. I was moving only when something happened... Something happened that only I knew.

There was a knock on the door.

Scarlet? Odessa entered, a package under her arm. The blacksmith-- Oo, still Firecat. How active she must be! She smiled, and there was a hint of pride on her eyes as she watched her little sister affectionately.

Eventually I moved onto the path of the Fool, or perhaps the better name for it would be the path of Secrets. Once again my movements were playful, but not to the extend of wind. They were playful, using feints and complete changes in tactics, such as going in for a punch but instead of striking doing a backflip instead. Then came the Path of logic, where I started to circle my imaginary foe. I was slow, stealthy, the peak of efficiency. Every movement counts. Next was The path of Water. My movements flowed, in and out, expanding and returning, and visa versa and every movement flowed out and returned to me. Next was the path of plant; in my case it was known as the Path of the Choking Vine. I went still again, and seemingly if I had a foe I had them trapped against me, would be bringing them ever close to me, and as they struggled to get free there was the sense of them getting weaker... and weaker... until they couldn't even lift a hand.

Odessa smiled bigger, eager now. Oh, is little Scarlet on the brink? Yes! She still is able to ascend to the Path of Light! Go Scarlet, go!

Indeed I had ascended to the most deadly form there was. The Path of Light. The look on my face was cold and calculating, as suddenly my movements were faster then the normal human eye can see! They were blindingly fast, as direct as an arrow, as I took in every detail around me. I struck out before even instinct told me to.

Finally I stopped, my left fist raised and my right out in a strike. I had just suddenly and completely stopped. I was covered in sweat, breathing hard.

Odessa laughed and approached, clapping her hands. What a show! I am glad those four years did not dull your skill.

I stumbled for a moment, and there was a loud growl from my stomach. Odessa grinned. She pushed me and I stumbled clumsily over to a door on the wall-- the bathroom.

Go take a shower Scarlet. For that I'm gonna cook for you! You're far too tired to do it yourself. And I'm tossing the armor made for you onto the top bunk.

I gave a weak "ok" before stumbling through the door. A few minutes passed and the water turned on.

Odessa headed for the kitchen and tossed the package up on the top bunk before looking over to Eva.

Well, you've seen Scarlet's Path of Motion; the Path of the Firecat. What do you think? You only really saw half of it; she's ascended to the Path of Heaven, the Path of Light, but she needs to fall back to her starting path, the Firecat again.

((Another Note: I'm showing all this to Eva so no one calls bullshit on me later. xp ))

Odessa smiled. We have the oddest sleeping schedules. We sleep when we need to. Mostly we are guided by instinct. Scarlet probably got the instinct to practice her path... at 1 o'clock in the morning. So she did. Odessa started to cook, boiling some pasta and whipping up some spaghetti sauce. She was running around the kitchen like a chicken with her head cut off, as she added some seasonings here, a little spice here, a bit of garlic there... Soon the whole room smelled of Italian food.

A few minutes later I wobbled out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. I stumbled over to the bunks, where I climbed up weakly.

Odessa was finishing up the food and brought over two plates laden with spaghetti and a bright red marinara sauce, with a side of garlic bread. I accepted it and started slurping up the noodles with a fork.

Oh yes, I'm here not only to deliver the armor. One of our watchers have noticed unusual activity around North. They may be getting ready to move on us. We need to be ready.

I'll... get some sleep then.

Good girl. Dad will call the leader of North, hope he can talk our way out of this, but we need to be ready anyway.

I ate quickly and lowered the plate down to Odessa. She smiled and wiped my face with a paper towel she had retrieved from the kitchen, and then my eyes slowly closed on their own. I was out like a light.

Odessa smiled. Scarlet's so cute.

She put the plate away and gave Eva that shallow bow with palm over fist. Sleep well. We all will need it.

She left the room and closed the door behind her. From beyond there was a loud thunk and a loud metallic scraping.

47! Be careful with that I beam! You nearly hit me with it!

There was a grunt of a reply.

Oh well, we're gonna rip it apart anyway...

~~~

Luckas sat infront of the Vid chat screen as the screen rang. He looked troubled. North had been our ally from the beginning. I hope I can convince Layla to lay off... He had changed his clothes somewhat, so now the Hawaiian shirt was replaced by a black and green tie-dye shirt, and a fresh kilt now hung around his knees. He still wore his lab coat, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in three days. His fingers rapped on the table as he waited.

~~~

There was a timid knock on the door of Layla's room. The young man gulped and shuffled back and forth, sweating visibly. He didn't know how they knew what was coming, but they had a Vid call waiting from Northwest... He just hoped Layla wouldn't shoot the messenger.