Details of the Devastation

[Lilium]

This is the Big Rp, take 2. See the original here.

Only Sarah, Jukebox, Starling and myself are participating in this. We just want to get it over with. xD;

((START))

[Lilium]

It was a clear, crisp summer afternoon in Neopia Central, and as usual, the city was bursting with life. As the world capital, it was largely populated and contained a rich mixture of culture from nearly every corner of Neopia. Passing by the Lost Desert and Maraquan cuisine restaurants was a family who remembered a time when they called this lively city 'home'. Despite that being many years prior to this day of September 14th, 2006, the city hadn't changed all that much, and the family felt its arms wrap around them, as if welcoming them from a long vacation.

It was a normal day, to start; Lucy and her adopted "children", whom she treated more like friends she allowed to raise themselves (so long as they followed the rules while living under her roof without paying rent), entered the city, marveling at its splendor. Well, most of them were.

"Why are we here?" grumbled a faerie Xweetok by the name of Arathyne. Arathyne was a mystery girl of nearly nineteen years, with a dark disposition and an even darker past. Currently, the people were giving her a headache, and she wanted to go home. "Can't we go back to Shenkuu, Mom?"

"You can," replied Lucy with a sarcastic snort. "I'm not paying to send you all the way back. Besides, I don't want you to be alone on another continent without one of us."

Arathyne scowled. "I'm almost nineteen, Lucy. I can take care of myself." At that, Lucy gave the taller girl a questioning glance, almost challenging. The faerie sighed sadly and her face fell. "Yeah, I know... I know... I'm sorry."

Lucy smiled weakly and patted the Xweetok on the back reassuringly. Arathyne knew very well she had a problem. She didn't know what it was, but it frightened her. Besides, she was terrified of being alone.

Their conversation was, thankfully, interrupted, by the gleeful half-shriek of the eldest "sister", Ronyshia. She was the princess and only living heir of the throne to the kingdom of Ahsla, a hidden kingdom destroyed over a hundred years ago. She keeps her identity a secret, but her family knows.

"Eeeek! You guys! Look! They have the most amazing shoes here!"

Lucy's attention instantly shifted; she rushed over to Roni, followed closely by Arathyne.

The two other "sisters", Tahtrei - a fire witch, who possessed the uncanny yet useful ability to read minds, though she rarely felt it all right to use the power - and Vinetaa - a girl who didn't like to talk about her past and the horrible choices she had made, and was torn by her somewhat-recent and rather poor choice to leave the love of her life stranded on a mountaintop without food - were off together, doing their own thing but staying by the rest of them. They were dining at an open Maraquan bar-like restaurant, where they could sit outside on the stool, eat their lunch, and still be outside in the fresh, warm air and watch the others with minimal conversation.

Meanwhile, near the other end of the city, a green Aisha was sitting on a bench against a building, smoking a cigarette and speaking to no one. Her brown hair, chopped off a bit above the shoulder, hung low in her face, one bit of her bangs covering the eyepatch over the place where her left eye should be. She could sense something in the air. It wasn't going to be a happy day. She felt the guns hidden in her trenchcoat, and took another drag.

[Jukebox]

((This is possibly by far one of the longest posts I've ever typed. And it's not half bad either XD))

"You sure this is the place?"
"Almost positive. It's the same as the address he gave us, right?"
The two neopets dodging through the crowd were nearing what appeared to be a large theatre in the middle of the city. One of them was causing no end of strife in the crowd, constantly having people trip over his tail.

"Watch It!" someone shouted from behind them, and the large walking suit of gladiator armor turned and apologized. The mutant ruki next to him gave him a rather sardonic look as they moved on.

"You'd think people would notice you earlier, Omega," she said, flicking her long antennae as she tried to get closer to the threatre to check the name. The bulky camara case hanging from her shoulder banged wildly as she twisted to look up at the name. Her short tail twitched as she read the large letters, and her bright green eyes moved to scan the posters nonchalantly, "This is the place."

"Perhaps, but it's amazing how easy it is to ignore something invisible, Phyn." the grarrl replied, moving out of the way of the crowd. His red cape swirled around behind him.
"Glad we found it now. It'll make it easier tonight to get here."

"Yeah. This must be a really important play to Ix, or he wouldn't have insisted we show up." Phyn replied, glancing across the crowd, "Have you seen Gorrio?"
"He said he'd meet up with you later, and he'd call when he was ready to meet us." Omega replied, nodding to Phyn's bag, containing her cellphone amongst all her art supplies.

"Alright, then, now what?" she asked, turning away from the theatre and continueing down the street. Omega shrugged.
"We might as well take a look around."

Phyn gave a noncommital shrug and moved to look at the window of a store which was already being admired by a human and two neopets.

[Kiweh]

Cera held onto Rasi's hand tightly as she pulled him through the ordinarily crowded streets of Neopia. Cera bore a big smile as she window shopped at the dozens of stores along the streets. She had on blue jean carpi shorts and an orange t-shirt. A flashy gold purse hung from her shoulder that matched her bright yellow eyes and contrasted with her light pink fur. Her dark pink hair was straightened and pulled back on top. She definitely looked like she belonged where she was, boy in hand, visiting every possible clothing store.

Rasi on the other hand looked like he wanted to be else where. A look of boredom was splashed on his face and every now and then when they stopped to check out a manikin or a pair of shoes a daydream crept over him. He carried about three bags of purchases in the hand that wasn't already occupied. He let a yawn escape him as he looked down at a watch on his left wrist.

"Ten minutes and then we have to go meet Lue at the game store." Rasi mentioned and scowled at the thought of Lue. He had gotten away with not shopping with Cera this time. "Stupid Hybrid..." he grumbled.

"Eeeek! You guys! Look! They have the most amazing shoes here!" Shrieked a pretty little Shoyru as she ran to one of the windows. Cera turned to look at what the fuss was about and squealed as she joined the other girl. Rasi was jerked out of his staring state and thrown against the window.

"Those are so cute!" Cera exclaimed, over excited about a simple pair of shoes. Rasi just let out a long, loud sigh.

----------------------------------

"Sir...." The clerk said to the lupe/scorchio mix, waving a hand between Lue's eyes and the television screen, interrupting his game play. The hybrid scowled and snorted out a cloud of smoke in annoyance

"What?! I'm about to beat level fourteen!" He said with an agitated tone, jabbing the center button on the remote to pause the game and ruffling his bat-like wings.

"You've been playing that game for about an hour and a half, sir. I think you need to let one of the five people behind you try..." The clerk replied, gesturing to the people who were standing there. Some looking just as agitated as Lue.

"No, no! Let him play! I'm just watching!" One of the guys laughed and the others mumbled in agreement. The clerk just scowled and moved aside which Lue unpaused his game and continued.

------------------------------------

Azura knelt down and slipped the specially crafted shell necklace around Zeque's neck. She stood up and smiled as she looked down at him, "Wow, that looks great! How do you like it?" She asked the young Krawk as he scurried over to a mirror and examined himself in it. The white carved shells did look good against his bright blue skin but he still liked the Jetsam tooth better though. It was more manly.

"No?" Azura said, frowning and taking back the necklace as he pulled it off. She placed it back on the rack and ran a hand though her long dark brown hair with a sigh. "You've tried on every necklace in here that you can afford..." She said, placing her hands on her hips.

Zeque pulled out the five dollar bill that he had gotten from doing all his chores the week before and eyed around the store again.

------------------------------------

-Dreamato will go heres-

[Lilium]

Vinetaa, wearing pink short-shorts and a plain white tee, twirled around in her seat, and she stopped when her dark chocolate-brown eyes caught something familiar. Or rather, someone. She nervously pulled at her sister's sleeve, murmuring, "Trei..."

The Xweetok didn't have to hear what her sister was about to say next. The Shoyru's thoughts were incredibly loud with panic. Trei looked over in the direction of the someone that was causing Vi turmoil, and nodded. She matched the image of the Christmas Bori in Vi's memory to the one nearby, and said, "Let's go then." The two of them slid off the chairs, Trei putting the money on the counter, and they vanished into the crowd. Cautiously, they moved past him and headed down the southeastern part of town. Trei sent a quick message to Lucy in her mind explaining the situation and that they'd be leaving.

Lucy noticed the Bori causing the trouble next to her, and looked away. She didn't want to seem like she actually knew Vi was there anyway. Vi had met up with Trei and they followed at a pace behind. For all Vi knew, Lucy had no idea she was even there in the same city with them.

Arathyne held close to the short girl she called her mother. She did not want to become separated from her.

Roni dragged Lucy and Arathyne into the shoe store, and the former two began to excitedly look around for stuff to try on. A woman working there, a purple Kacheek, came up to Lucy and said, "Ah, I see you like these Ellen Tracy's?"

"Yes, they're so amazing," said Lucy with awe. "But there aren't any in my size.

"Come with me. We've got plenty in the back."

Lucy was surprised, but she gladly followed. Arathyne started to follow her, but Lucy said, "Hey, Ara, why don't you stay with Roni? You'll have more fun."

"I don't want to leave you," Ara whined.

"I'll be right back, sweetie," Lucy assured her. "You worry too much." She smiled encouragingly and followed the Kacheek into the back. Ara reluctantly stayed put with her sister.

((One human down, three to go xD))

[Kiweh]

((ah, i forgot about mehself....))

Cera rolled her eyes at Rasi's comment about the time, "Yeah, yeah, this'll only take a few minutes. She said and bolted through the door of the shoe store, pulling Rasi along with her. She found the pair that was on display and quickly walked over. "Oooo, Do you like the blue ones or the black ones?" She asked Rasi, looking over at him. Behind him was a very familiar Xweetok. She squealed again and shoved the shoes into Rasi's hands. "Ara!" She exclaimed, wrapping her friend in a big hug.

Rasi caught a familiar scent right before he was dragged in. It was one of those scents that triggered bad memories though so as Cera raved on about shoes he was in an slight worried panic. He didn't want to see this person yet he wanted to catch a glimpse this person. It was strange to him. Suddenly shoes came flying at his face and he broke out of his concentration as Cera ran over to a friend, finally setting his hand free.

He set her bags and the shoes on the ground "I'm gonna run to the bathroom." he said and then walked the total opposite direction of the restrooms. He stepped outside and looked around frantically, hoping the person didn't get to far away.

"Rasi!" Sarah yelled, waving excitedly. "Where's Cera?" She asked him as she got close enough to touch his shoulder and make him think about her question.

"She's inside with a friend. I had to step out and get some fresh air." He lied and smiled at her reassuringly, "Just go in and look to the right, she's right there." He said and pointed at her through the window.

"Ok!" Sarah replied, "Azura and Ze are in the souvenir shop and I think Lue's still messing around in the game store if you want to meed up with them." She said and gave him a slight hug before running in after Cera.

Rasi nodded and walked away from the walls of the shops where it was less crowded and looked around again but sighed, not catching the sight of her. "Damn bitch..." He grumbled, anger filling up his thoughts.

[Jukebox]

Phyn was shoved against the window as another zealous shopper appeared, seemingly from nowhere, to exclaim over the shoes. Omega took a step back, his head cocked sideways with some perplexity, watching the red shoyru. As the group moved inside the store she backed away, checking her antennae and hair.

"What's the matter Omega?" she asked, rearrnaging the strap on her camera case and following the grarrl's gaze inside th store.
"I think I've met that shoyru before."
"Want to find out?" Phyn asked, reaching for the door.
Omega nodded, following the mutant ruki into the store, where he immediatly caught sight of the girl and walked over.

"Excuse me, I know this is a bit random, but have we met before?"

--------------------------------------

Gorrio shifted uncomfortably playing with the buckles on the electricity proof suit he'd been forced to wear ever since he shorted out the entire ground headquarters of the Neopia Space
Protection Agency a few weeks ago. Not that he could blame them, but it was probably one of the most uncomfortable things to wear. Better safe than sorry, though, I guess, he thought, watching the lupe-hybrid battle his way through a familiar situation. This video game looked almost like the training simulators back home in space.

The hissi was standing in the back of the small crowd, the tallest due to using his tail to add a few inches to his height. He was getting some strange glances from people, but most of them seemed to come to the conclusion that he was promoting this space-based game, but really he was wearing his blaster along with all his normal gear because of the bizarre static in the atmosphere.

[Lilium]

Today was the first day in almost three weeks that the air didn't reek of electrical currents. Daani didn't doubt other folk wouldn't have really noticed the change in the air around them, or that if they did they couldn't ever label it as electricity. But she knew what it was. She'd been in places with much electricity in the air. She knew what it was like.

However, the mere fact that today the air was lighter and not so constricting was proof that something significant was going to happen. Even though Daani had no idea what it was, she had woken up prepared and ready for whatever disasters the day brought her. She'd lived through worse, most likely. She puffed on her cigarette again and looked at it in mild disgust. When had she decided to start smoking? Was it... five years ago? Yeah. Fourteen sounded about right. Just three long, taxing years after--

She pushed the thoughts from her mind. All of them had probably long forgotten her anyway, and it was high time she forgot them. Besides, today, there was no time or room for emotion. She had to be alert.

That's when she saw her. The fire bug who could read minds.

Quickly debating over whether to walk over and take her out or sit and observe unseen, she chose the latter and pulled the collar on her trench coat up higher around her face and kept her head down, while the whole time, her eyes never left the witch and the girl who she seemed to be walking with.

Trei sensed herself being watched, but didn't turn her head. Instead, she spread her senses out farther until she found her target: an Aisha hidden on a shady bench only fourteen feet away. Damn, it's her, she hissed in her mind. Her face remained expressionless as she and Vi weaved through the masses of people, away from Rasi, away from Lucy and Roni and Ara, away from Daani...

While Daani didn't seem hostile to her individually at the current moment, and seemed perfectly content to just sit and watch her leave, Trei still was cautious, as she felt a dangerous vibe coming from the Aisha. Not unusual, but this time it was different.

Vi was totally oblivious to the mental wars that were waging within the minds of Trei or the woman who had hunted Trei a number of times. The only thing on her mind was the urge to get away. From Lucy and from Rasi. Honestly, if she had to face one of the two, she wasn't sure who she'd rather choose. She wasn't sure who she was most frightened of.

I had no right to just leave them like that, she scolded herself bitterly. I had no right whatsoever to leave him to die, or leave her to grieve. So why was I so screwed up that I couldn't stop myself?

She couldn't stop herself from leaving home, from bragging and being so sure that dropping out of school and leaving home would be great for her, so sure that she'd earn a lot of money and spend it on something expensive and lavish to totally impress Lucy and rub it in her face. She was confident in her spite toward someone who had never done her any wrong, someone who had taken her in when no one else would and gave her a place to call home... And the result of that confidence and spite and poor decision was devastating.

She couldn't stop herself from abandoning Rasi on Terror Mountain without food, leaving him to die. She was madly in love with him. But she guessed he didn't really do a whole lot for her. All he did was keep her from drowning or dying of hypothermia, put up with her when she was blind and temporarily without memory, protect her from pissed off pirates who wanted her dead, protect her from the harsh elements of the mountain and snow, help her to regain her sight and memory and really to feel something for the first time in a long time... And he loved her. Despite all of that, she couldn't stop herself. He loved her. He had to, to do all that he did.

God... I hate myself...

Meanwhile, Arathyne was beginning to panic. She got a little jumpy and stuck close to Roni, though when Cera hugged her she was a bit surprised. She kind of remembered her... kind of. "Hey, Cera," she said nervously, hoping that was her name and she didn't forget. "Umm, how have you been?" She remembered taking her to an inn on Mystery Island-- wow, had it really been that long?? years, it's been! She was only fifteen, Cera sixteen, weren't they?-- and hanging out and going to explore the jungle or something. "It's been what... four years?" Ara asked, pulling away from Cera and attempting to smile. She was happy to see her old friend, but she was still really worried about every minute that passed with Lucy still gone.

Roni was aware of her sister's growing anxiety, but said nothing and pretended to ignore it while Ara started to speak with Cera. If this Bori could keep Ara distracted, it'd be a miracle. Ara didn't get many distractions from her fear. It would be nice for her to have at least five minutes of feeling somewhat normal, and of not being so afraid.

"Have we met before?"

Roni looked toward the sound of the voice, but only saw a pair of eyes and armor. Slightly freaked out, she didn't let it show; rather, she said, "I don't know... have we?" She wasn't sure of who this was. He seemed a little familiar, but she couldn't quite place her finger on it... something about the Haunted Woods and a blood test?

Oh. Yeah.

Back when the mere mention of blood made her stomach churn.

"You're... um, are you, did we meet up somehow in the Haunted Woods or something?" she asked, still unsure of his name, or if that even really was him. "There was this ghost lupess and a two-headed Hissi, I think."

[Jukebox]

Omega nodded, glad he wasn't making a complete fool of himself.
"That's right. In a swamp. You conjured up some magic flowers or something." He glanced at the xweetok before holding him hand out to reintroduce himself, though the only hint of this was the vanguard on his arm.

"I'm afraid I forgot your name, it was a while ago, wasn't it. Omega Kallistrate."

Phyn stood by, listening in on the conversation, browsing through some of the clothes on a rack nearby, mostly just scanning over the designs.

[Kiweh]

Cera nodded in excitement! "Yeah it's been so long! I can't believe I even recognize you! Oh my goodness wow, you look different! How've you been?" She asked, for some reason she felt like Ara was extremely uneasy around her. It had been a while but still she looked like she wanted to run far far away and scream while she was running. She smiled, hoping that would calm her down a bit.

~~~~~~

Lue finally lost his last life as he grumbled bad things to himself and tempted not to throw the controller across the store. Instead he calmly set it down on the table and faced his small crowd with a shrug and a shy smile. He didn't really have anything to say... He slowly slipped by the others on his way to the door, mumbling "Excuse me" or "Pardon me" as he ran into people. He managed to get out alive as everyone started arguing over who would play next.

Rasi caught site of Lue in his final attempt to find Vi and went after him instead. "Have fun?" He said in a grudging tone. Lue smile and nodded,
"Yep, sure did. I had a whole crowd watchin'!" he said pointing back at the people inside the store.
"Sure..." Rasi said, not believing him. "Hey come with me I need you to help me find someone." He said walking back towards where Vi had disappeared to.
"Who?" Lue asked, following him and looking around at all the people they passed.
"A blue shoyru girl... She's got short blond hair." He explained and Lue shook his head when he heard that Rasi was just chasing another girl. They continued to push through the people when Lue pointed someone out.
"Is that her?" He asked, pulling Rasi toward him and pointing to a girl that matched his description.
"YES!" Rasi said and took off through the people again. Lue followed him at a more slower pace, apologizing to all the people he and Rasi nudged out of the way.
"VI!" He yelled over the surrounding noise.

[Lilium]

"I've been fine," Ara answered, trying to sound happy. It wasn't easy; it wasn't an emotion she was particularly familiar with. "You look different too. Older. More mature." She made herself laugh. "It's great to see you again. I really missed my best friend."

Roni took where she thought his hand was, found it, and shook it. "Ronyshia," she said. "But call me Roni. Nice to see you again, Omega." She smiled politely. "What brings you to the Central?"

[Jukebox]

"Ronyshia?" Omega mirrored, quickly exchanging looks with Phyn. The ruki had perked up considerably, watching them more closely.

"I'm actually here to see a good friend of mine perform in a play across the street. His name's Cirxel Straton, he's playing one of the leads in some musical ((which for lack of inspiration will be the Phantom))."

-----------------------------------------

Gorrio moved further back out of the crowd as the lupe-person left, figuring that was probably one of the better displays he was going to see and exiting the store. He adjusted his visor so it fit more comfortably over the black mask he was wearing and heading for the theatre, where he hoped he would find Phyn and Omega. He passed by the guy who'd been playing the video game, but he didn't really pay him any attention.

[Lilium]

Vi and Trei were walking fairly quickly, but when Vi heard her name called, in that voice that haunted her memories, the voice she dreaded to hear, she stopped cold. Her eyes were wide with fear and she couldn't move. Trei noticed she had stopped and said, "Vi? What's wrong?"

Vi finally got ahold of her nerves. She shut her eyes tight, and then opened them again before shoving past Trei to bolt through the crowd and as far away from that voice as her legs let her.

Trei regained her footing quickly after Vi pushed her and watched her run for a moment, looking back in time to see a Christmas Bori running toward her, after Vi.

--------

Roni's eyes widened and her heart stopped at the sound of Ix's name. Then all at once, her heart started pounding rapidly and her face heated up. "Ix is here? Performing?" Hope swelled through her. She knew she'd see Ix soon. Though the last couple weeks made her doubtful, she had always known somehow that she would see him again. But so soon? It was amazing. And she wanted so much to see him on stage. Last time, the performance had been disrupted... but she wanted to see him in action.

[Kiweh]

Cera nodded, "Yeah me too, what are you up to? Want to get something to eat? Catch up on things?" She asked as she glancing over at Ara's friend who seemed to acquire a few friends of her own to keep herself occupied. "I'll pay." She said with a smile, "I know of a cute ice cream place down the street." She suggested with a smile.

----

Rasi saw her freeze and stopped as well. Just seeing her again brought back so many mixed feelings of hate, love, but mostly confusion. He started running again as she sprinted off. "VI!" He yelled again as he bolted through the people, his eyes locked on her.

Lue stopped when Rasi did and watched him vanish in the crowd. He let out a smoky sigh and looked over at 'Vi's companion, "What's the big ordeal?" he asked her, wondering if she considered him on the 'bad team' or if she would tell him. He certainly had no clue who these people were.

[Jukebox]

"I knew it." Phyn said, entering the conversation. "Ix mentioned you a couple weeks ago, but he wouldn't give us any details. He was in too much of a rush with this new performance. But yeah, he's performing across the street, at The Solstice. Tonight's the opening night."

Omega nodded, letting her take over.

((gneh, short post XP))