Awakening (open)

[Lucia Archer]

Calm....quiet...

A gentle breeze...

The rustle of unmowed grass...

The brush of a flower's petals against her cheek...

What had happened? Was she home? Had it all simply been a dream? No Fates, no weirdness, no being sent to another planet? Slowly, she opened her eyes, blinked, and opened them again. What greeted her was true beauty. A thriving forest with soft, lush green grass. Tall trees that stretched to the heavens, creating a canopy of leaves above her. Wildflowers of every color dotting here and there. One brushing her cheek in a soft caress now. It was beautiful, a place of true nature and God-created beauty.

But....it didn't hold a candle to Nor.

Lucia sighed, sitting up. Her body was sore, like she had spent the whole day working out with Mel. Something she really tried to avoid. With a wince, she rolled her shoulders, arching to back to try and work it out. As she did so, she looked around. Just where was she exactly? The Fates had said they were sending her to Earth. And while she had prayed that meant back to the Earth Court, her brain had slapped her and told her to get real. Lucia knew bits and pieces about this planet. After all, it was i the record books and she had been alive back when the Princess and many others traveled back and forth. But, she herself had never been. And even if she did, Earth would have changed drastically in the five hundred years that Nor was hidden. With a small groan, Lucia stood, stretching.

"Goddess... the Fates seriously need to work on their landings," she muttered. Straightening, Lucia glanced around. She was at the edge of a small clearing, the forest dark aside from the patch of sunlight on the clearing. Lucia walked forward, silver eyes roaming over the forests.

"At least they placed me in the forest. Looks like one of them has some semblance of a brain..."

[Deleted]

The wind blew through the trees as Leta walked under them cracking the branches on the forest floor. She let her short pink hair blow behind her as her green eyes scanned the area around her. There appeared to be few creatures moving through the woods today as she passed under a canopy of leaves and came to the edge of a crater with wildflowers dotting it. She had been traveling from West City for a good many days and to her this looked like a nice place to stop.

When she looked down over the edge she noticed that the forest lead into a large, brightly lit clearing about twenty to fifty feet below her. She hopped over the edge and soon found herself dropping into the bottom of the crater with a loud thud. She brushed off the red tank top she was wearing and her black jeans and picked up her feet as well. She was wearing simple, wooden sandals and she really did not want them getting dirty because without them she would have to go barefoot. She had already used these sandals in combat and other activities quite a few times. The wear on them from this was clear as there were nicks and scratches along the top and bottom of the fine wood from having stepped on things.

She pouted slightly as she continued walking on and pulled out her brown gloves her mother had given her once. The white skinned woman slid them over her hands, to cover up a pair of black weights on her wrists, and looked around again. Not too far from her current location she could see another woman wandering the same clearing as her gazing at its wonder with her silver eyes. Her raven colored hair drooped down past her shoulder, unlike Leta's pink hair which stopped at the bottom of her neck. This woman's eyes were clear and bright, a good sign for a potential friend. She wore a nice green shirt with black jeans and black boots with a heel on the end for her attire.

"Such friendly colors..." Leta noted to herself as she approached the woman, "She appears to be lost like I am on this planet." As she got closer Leta could see that the woman was within her height and weight range, barely an inch taller than her and maybe five or ten pounds lighter than her one hundred thirty pound body, however, with Leta's extra weights on she easily weighed in at an extra ten pounds.

Smiling, she addressed the woman and said, "Hello, are you lost like me I'm looking for a water hole today to bathe in." She raised her left hand and attempted a friendly, side-to-side waving motion to get her attention better. It was something humans did, which was odd to her and her kind, though this woman to her looked definitely like a human.

[Lucia Archer]

Lucia ran a hand through her hair, moving closer to the line of tree. They rustled, a few low-hanging branches moving down to brush at her. How far away from civilization was she exactly? While she would always prefer the forests, she needed to find out where exactly on Earth she was. And how much time had passed with the Fates. They said they had jumped timelines. But, did they jump through her's, or just theirs? And if they did, did they jump her forward, or back? Goddess they were annoying. She gave a small scowl and was about to head off when she got the distinct feeling of being watched.

Lucia spun, her eyes landing on a girl standing across the clearing. She appeared to be in her twenties or thirties, with short pink hair and large green eyes. Lucia turned fully, the branches leaning against her almost protectively. She appeared to be human in form, but looks could be deceiving. After all, most people on nor could be mistaken for a human at first sight. Though, she looked to be a bit stiff, awkward. Especially that wave of her's. it looked like she had never done it before, thinking about each motion as if it was something brand new. Lucia frowned. A water hole to take a bath in? Have humans regressed so much? Damn. The woman kept coming closer, a friendly smile on her face. With her pink hair, friendly smile, and cheerful demeanor, most people would see her as harmless. Someone they could let their guard down around. But, Lucia knew better. In the last Hie, she had seen an angel-like creature rabidly tearing others limb from limb, laughing as their blood coated it. So, she remained on alert.

"Kind of, I guess. I seemed to have gotten a bit turned around when I went out for a walk. Any chance you know where the closest town is to here?" she asked, lying smoothly. Lucia crossed her arms, a warmth spreading across her back. Her tattoo was glowing, the lotus slightly visible through the back of her shirt. Lucia shifted her stance casually, leaning her back against a tree to hide the soft glow. No need to let this girl know she was anything but a normal human after all. She tilted her head, examining the girl.

"You said you were looking for a place to have a bath? Why venture all the way out here? Seems a bit silly," she asked, raising a brow.

[Deleted]

For all intents and purposes, Lucia, seemed human to Leta as she looked into Leta's eyes and asked her if she knew where the nearest town was. Something about her way of speaking was rather odd though. Leta also noticed a strange glowing light coming off the raven haired woman's back before she leaned against a tree trunk directly behind her and hid it from her view. Things seemed relatively tense. Both women seemed nervous of each other. Leta could tell because she had goofed up and realized she should not have asked a regular modern day woman where bathing was outdoors.

Cracking her neck from side to side, she focusing her ki from the center of her body up through her neck and directly into her eyes forcing out her maximum power output in a single burst in hopes she could ensnare the young woman before her and trick her. It was time to see if her special technique Saiman no Jutsu could get her out of her current situation. She hoped she could hypnotize the woman to an extent that would make her believe what she needed to.

"My name is Leta Duran and I am a normal human," she told her in a low voice, "I meant to ask if there was a place to swim around here as I am a swimmer and sports star. If you believe all of this then you, whoever you are, may also believe that you are a jogger and sprinter. While training you met me here and became my friend. In doing so, you have decided to tell me your name and challenge me to a race at the nearest pool of water. A runner versus swimmer battle, which we both can hopefully participate in." Leta said using her voice to layer the hypnotic red light coming out of her eyes. She could only hope now the power between her and this new woman she had run across was vastly different enough to allow her to gain access to her psyche. That way her power could actually take effect on her. Only Lucia's response would tell if it had gone into effect. She would have to destroy her will power with pure mental energy which was a hard thing to do since people had varying amounts of will power flowing through them. The problem was as she applied this technique on her foe she found that using her maximum power to do this was straining her eyes and causing them to get blurry.

[Deleted]

At that moment a long green tail would spear down from one of the trees at Leta, missing her face by millimeters. The appendage quickly retracted and a tall insect-like creature dropped out from the treeline and landed behind Lucia. Tail held low over the ground, Gene focused on Leta and allowed a measured amount of ki to send a kiai from his eyes at her. His slitted pupils glared daggers at the woman, in accusation instead of challenge. "Now that wasn't very nice. Apologies for interrupting, but I couldn't allow you to take advantage of someone weaker than you." Gene said in an amused tone that contradicted his serious exterior. If Leta or Lucia had bothered trying to put a number to his power level, it would have only reached 1,000. Gene didn't intend to waste energy here, and had only intervened because of the aforementioned reasons. "I have better things to do than make sure that you play nice, and I have no interest in whatever it is you're hiding. So, tell you what. If you say you're sorry, I'll leave and you can keep doing...whatever it was you were doing out here. Okay?" This time he tilted his head sideways and gave a smile, though with his anatomy it might not be visible.

[Lucia Archer]

Well, she had hit some kind of nail on the head. She wasn't sure what kind of nail, but she had hit it. The girl realized she had fucked up somewhere and that Lucia wasn't as naive as she wanted her to be. She watched as the girl cracked her neck and stared directly into Lucia's eyes.

"My name is Leta Duran and I am a normal human." Okay. Don't really know what the hell humans are like so sure! Why not. "I meant to ask if there was a place to swim around here as I am a swimmer and sports star. If you believe all of this then you, whoever you are, may also believe that you are a jogger and sprinter. " What? What is she....Whoa....what the fuck...What does it feel like I'm having a cause of Vertigo? What is she doing to me? "While training you met me here and became my friend. In doing so, you have decided to tell me your name and challenge me to a race at the nearest pool of water. A runner versus swimmer battle, which we both can hopefully participate in." What is....No.....NO!

The warmth on her back grew, spreading down her arms. What appeared to be emerald tattoos in the shapes of vines moved down her arms, wrapping around them and ending at her wrists. But, before anything could happen, an unexpected savior intervened. Something speared down, right in front of Leta's face, breaking their line of vision. Lucia tore her vision away, stumbling back slightly. Her mind cleared, the dizziness and pressure gone.

"What the hell..." she muttered, holding her head.

"Now that wasn't very nice. Apologies for interrupting, but I couldn't allow you to take advantage of someone weaker than you."

Lucia spun around, jumping back slightly. Before her stood her savior. Though, he looked far from it. At least, she thought it was a he. It sounded like a he, and it looked like it had this weird purple cup over his crotch. He was most green and tan-ish, with pops of purple and blue. He looked like some giant insect-thing from a crappy horror movie.

"Holy mother-fucking shit..." she muttered, taking a step back. There weren't really any other words to describe it. Well, the was ugly. But she was trying to exercise a little bit of tact. After all he had saved. Which, brought her anger to another person. She glared daggers at Leta, careful not to look her directly in the eyes.

"You bitch! You were trying to play some mind game on me!"

[Deleted]

A slash appeared across the side of Leta's cheek and blood trickled down her pale skin as she lost complete mental concentration for her hypnosis technique. "Now that wasn't very nice. Apologies for interrupting, but I couldn't allow you to take advantage of someone weaker than you." a voice told her from somewhere in the trees in front of her. She was not as close to Gene as Lucia was and thanks to his green carapace Leta found herself unable to spot him as her power drained completely from her eyes. Her vision blurred for a few seconds before she heard Lucia take a step back from her or someone else entirely. Her babble seemed rather unsurprising though. Leta had just tried to take control of her entire being.

She frowned as Lucia glared back at her and said, "I was not playing mind games I was simply testing my powers. It was not like I was going to kill you." She pointed an accusing finger at the woman and seriously though that mind games were beneath her. Making people go insane and such was not her style. It was against actual Psyran code she was just using her powers to make Lucia more friendly towards her so she would not freak out. It had clearly backfired as she lowered her finger and asked, "Who or what do you have near you. Something is nearby in the trees behind us, or on the ground near you and ready to probably hurt us both."

She tried to make use of her eyes to find the attacker who cut her cheek, yet because he seemed so very good at hiding looking around would not help her. Not after the amount of power she had just forced through her body in one go. She took a step towards Lucia and found herself crashing down to the ground on her left knee. She had used up so much power that standing now seemed to take physical will power and so did any other action for that matter. It made her wonder though where she had found the power to move her hand and head, even her mouth to speak. It must have come from the remaining energy, a miniscule amount, she still had left somewhere deep inside her. Reserves though were not enough and her muscles cramped up causing her soon to fall to ground on her left side. Her breathing slowed after this and for a moment it seemed like she was dead until her eyes flickered open once more.

"Help me..." she rasped, "and I'll really be your friend. No tricks; honest. Just tell me who your friend is."

[Deleted]

"She won't be telling you anything. Neither will I. Trying to find out more about a possible threat, more manipulation on your part." Gene said with a smirk, though sadly Leta wouldn't be able to see it in her current state. Her sudden plummet in ki was unexpected, but a nice surprise. It meant he wouldn't have to keep his guard up all the time. The danger was averted and Lucia was clearly safe, and unlikely to fall for the same tricks. "You aren't too weak to try and pry weasle information out of someone, so saying you're sorry shouldn't be too difficult. Not to me, obviously." Gene said before ascending back into the treetops. He'd have a better vantage point from there and minimize the chances of Leta seeing him. In her state she might have a heart attack from shock. If Lucia wished to thank him, she could do so after sorting out her problems with her 'friend'.

[Deleted]

Leta grit her teeth and said, "Sorry," however her eyes still flashed with a great deal of defiance. She did not know it, but Gene and both Lucia were currently weaker than her. Yet she dared not continue her fight as she struggled to her feet and added, "I am leaving."

She turned and slowly began to drag her feet across the ground. Each step was painful but she tried to ignore this man as she attempted to walk away. Trying to continue to fight this battle, after knowing her own strength, was not a good thing. Gene could possibly take his wrath out on her more than he already had.

[Deleted]

Gene watched as Leta walked off nursing her wounds. Since it looked like she wouldn't be causing any more trouble, Gene leapt to a different tree, and so on until he was out of the area. Without any more sneaky surprises in store, he wouldn't have to play protector.

[Exit, pl only please]

[Deleted]

Leta heard the sound of footsteps behind her and sighed with relief before she heard the owner of them push off a surface with their feet and jump away from her. Her enemy was not attacking her, which was good. So she limped off knowing she had lost somehow.