Re: TITAL 2: Why did It Take Me So Long To Do This?

[lethalityComplex]

Skife: No, not Seph. I could easily take him on, and win. Something else.

[Aesoth]

Athez huffed lightly at the sudden change of scenery as his eyes adjusted. "Can you give a guy a little bit of a warning with the whole teleport thing?". Putting his chin on his hand, Athez thought for a moment before a grin split his face. "I think I'm always going to be up for beating on some Shinra goons. Count me in."

[lethalityComplex]

Skife: *yawn* Not a challenge. *finds a crystal spike in his leg'* Ow! Where'd that come from? *receives another two to the chest, they glow pink* Well sh- *the crystals explode, slamming him into a nearby wall, KO*

<And so it begins...>

[Atlantis_Rising]

<HOLY SH!T I'M RELEVANT!>

Alexei rolled his head in Xavier's direction. "Point me in the direction. I'm ready when you are, comrade." He sat up slowly, rubbing his eyes. He reached for Bogatir, leaning against the couch he was laying on. "Пробудитесь, старый друг" [Awaken, Old Friend]

[lethalityComplex]

< Holy crap, we have plot movement!!>

[Haar_Dragon]

<Ugh, I need something to do...Might as well get involved in major plot elements. Not right now, though...>

[lethalityComplex]

<Why not? No better time than the present!! >

[Haar_Dragon]

<Yeah, there's a better time: Tomorrow. When I can actually think of what I want to say.>

[lethalityComplex]

<*shrug* Each to their own.>

[PsychoticDoctor]

Will said,"Shinra? Sure." Julie nodded. The demon hunter then said,"Perhaps we can also find out about our friend that's out like a lamp."

...

Blake smiled as he saw a large castle. "Lemme see..." He picked up the blue sphere, which turned into a smaller, solid form.

[NebulaGregarZX]

The castle stood, a giant silouette against the already-dark sky. It would be impossible to see if one's eyes were not adjusted to the Realm of Darkness's lack of decent lighting, but that would only take about twenty seconds of being down there.

"I really don't see the appeal of coming to the castle... Damn it all, that is a lie, and I cannot dispute that. I DID choose to live here, after all. Well, I'll be sure to have a pair of guest rooms ready. Or... would you prefer a single room?" Sukiru chuckled from behind the screen. "Oh, I'm kidding, of course. We can't spare more than one room, and there's only one bed anyway."

He paused for a moment to observe Nicole and Blake's reactions before laughing again. "It was only a joke. 'Lord Rexial' would probably bash his head against a wall if he had built this castle unable to accomodate more than a single guest at a time. He doesn't like to admit it, but he finds his own castle rather lonely. He likes to have guests, but it doesn't happen often. This is the middle of scenic nowhere, unless you LIKE darkness and despair. The castle itself is quite nice, though, once you get inside. It's much more well-lit than one would think."

"Rexial is out at the moment, however, and Rekoka is in charge while he's away. So please, tread lightly... who knows what she may do to make your date more awkward. Also, bear in mind that there is actually another guest at the castle right now. I don't think you'll see him; he's been staying in his room the whole time. I imagine he's rather restless, and he might appreciate the company of a being that isn't suffused in Darkness. Who knows how long the young man has been down here?"

[Admin (HalcyonWandering)]

Xavier nodded sternly, "We'll need transportation." He said plainly. He looked across the group he'd chosen for the escapade into Shinra territory... None them seemed to be equipped with the ability to conduct the transport of large groups.

However, breaking the silence as Xavier contemplated adding another to the already brimming group, Gaige stepped forward.

"I've got the solution right here..." The young woman pulled up a holographic screen and began to tap away at coordinates on a star map.

"You said Nibelheim, right?" The mechromancer queried in a tone that indicated a need for reassurance.

"Yeah, what are you doing exactly?" Xavier question attempted to glean some sort of information from the largely confusing piece of technology.

"The digistruct conduits. You've heard of them, right? Someone set one up inside the building here." Gaige said plainly as she tapped away centering in on a snowy village caught in winter's icy grip.

"That was more than likely the weird alien tech..." Ven degressed with a small smile of memories past.

"You have E-Tech in this house?" Gaige asked with a childish smile.

"We called it Drunken Alien Technology but that seems more appropriate. Yeah, it repairs any damage and randomly rebuilds the architecture. Which is why the door to the kitchen is randomized and the fridge leads to an artic tundra... And there's apparently caverns in the walls." The keyblader pointed out.

Gaige ejected a small chip from her arm handing it to Xavier, "Put this in your digistruct toolkit. It'll let you teleport to any known construct. I programmed it for here and the most convenient available site in Nibelheim. It'll be a hike to the facility but it was the best I could do. I'll stay here and look into your homes... Precise modifications." Gaige admitted as she punched a hole in the wall watching it reconstruct, "Impressive."

"I'll take a few more along if anyone wants to go. But, speak up now or forever hold your piece." Xavier said stoically as he waited a few moments for anyone to speak up.

[EpicMasterMind]

(OOC: Both characters approved by the Admin. Sign-ups coming later.)

Early morning sun poured in through the windows and flooded the room with a warm, natural glow. The furniture, though simple and unadorned, spoke of volumes of an expert craftsmanship that seemed a perfect complement to the colorful local tapestries that carpeted the hardwood floors and blanketed the trio of beds arranged against one wall. Chests and chairs, nightstands and dressers, everything a rustic expression of comfort and hospitality, all of it carefully arranged to leave enough room to kick off your shoes and stretch your legs. It was a simple kind of cozy only found in the kind of small-town that barely shows up on a map.

Lightning listed up with a barely audible groan. Every synapse of every fiber of every inch of her abdomen was alight with pain, dull and throbbing, but consistent and irritating. It rose with her breath and ebbed with its release, only to return and redouble with the next. Static noise buzzed away in her ears, sometimes less and sometimes more but always there.

It hurt to breathe. It hurt to think. Mostly, it just hurt. But if she could breathe and think and complain, then she was alive and if she was alive she could damn well get out of bed.

Her body rebelled. It wanted to rest more, to sleep more, to recover more. Lightning just wanted to get up and she wasn’t in the habit of giving into pain.

Another groan as she swung her legs out and onto the hardwood floor. She almost gasped; it was cool to the touch and for the first time she realized her feet were naked and bare. It wasn’t just her boots. Her entire uniform was gone. In its place, a black spaghetti strap clung to her chest and gave a small glimpse of her pierced midriff; she still had her riding shorts. Her soft pink hair was dirty and disheveled. It tumbled down the small of her back in a tangled mess.

Her brand was on full display. An intricate, indelible mark made all the more stark in contrast to her otherwise peachy flesh. It was a complicated collection of dark shafts and shunts. A symmetrical web that grew outward, each strand tapered to a point and slowly vanished. Lightly, she traced the design with a single finger.

The electric lamps hummed to life at the flip of a switch.

“Welcome back to the land of the living.”

Lightning mentally rebuked herself. She hadn’t noticed the door open. She hadn’t noticed the lights.

She snapped on a heel. One hand instinctively jumped toward where her gunblade should be but wasn’t and the other leapt up defensively.

The figure lingered in the doorway. It was nearly a head again as tall as Lightning with the kind of strong shoulders that made tanks jealous. Black robes wove about a powerful frame like the soft embrace of raven feathers and the metallic silver highlights played a dull game with the lights. Lights which failed to penetrate shadowy depths of the hood pulled tight overhead. The red leather sheath of Lightning’s gunblade dangled idly in one hand while the other tucked a bag under arm.

“You’re still quick. Good to see some life in you,” the voice flowed from the shadows where his face should be. It was all firm and confident, smooth and cheerful. The hooded figure strode into the room with a casual air. The cloak brushed the ground lightly as he made his way the bed nearest Lightning.

Lightning let the tension flow from her muscles as she relaxed her stance. She glared at the newcomer with barely fettered disdain. “I bet,” she muttered, “what happened?”

The figure dropped the bag at the foot of the bed and propped the sheath next to it. Its hands, now free, drifted along the hem of the cloak to the mouth of the hood. There was no ceremony to the action, no hesitation or drama, just a simple tug that sent the shadows fleeing.

There was a roguish charm in the strong jaw and twinkling blue eyes. Dark hair cut short and meticulously well-kept fell perfectly in line with his neatly trimmed goatee. He was undeniably handsome, of course, and it was almost impossible to divine his age at a glance. The man cast a backward glance over his shoulder and shot Lightning the kind of million dollar smile that earned a fellow a bed full of beautiful women as he responded, “A fight.”

“With what?” Lightning asked, clearly unimpressed.

“Not sure,” he shrugged. “Something big. You won though, so, y’know: yay.” He waved wagged a gloved finger in mock triumph.

Lightning frowned. “Yeah? I don’t feel like I won,” she muttered. She ran a tentative hand across her still throbbing abdomen and grimaced. “I feel like I’ve got a few busted ribs.”

The man took a seat near the end of the bed and it creaked a bit under his weight. He rubbed the back of his neck in an over-exaggerated show of embarrassment. His smile suddenly seemed more like a shield than a pleasantry, “That’s, uh, that’s because you—you do? Or did, I guess. Got a potion down your throat. Might be a little sore, but you should be back to fighting form in no time. You’ve got a pretty amazing body there and I’m not just talking about the curves. Dig the piercing, by the way. You really don’t remember?”

“Bits and pieces.”

“Good,” he replied, “I mean, bad. But in that case, I was very helpful and very heroic and this is, definitely, in no way, shape, or form, my fault.”

“Right,” Lightning sighed. “Why don’t I believe you?”

“Because you are a beautiful, intelligent, perceptive woman who is above a little blue eyes and charm. Which is, basically, really all I’ve got.”

“Right,” Lightning repeated. “So, where are we?”

“Nibelheim Inn,” he said. “Which reminds me—you owe me 100 gil.”

She shot him a sidelong glance, “Thought you said your money was no good here. Where’d you find it?”

“Your pockets,” cheerfully he chirped. “Guy behind the counter was real helpful. And suspicious. But mostly helpful. He was nice enough to clean your uniform. Here.” He shoved the bag toward her with his foot.

Lightning nodded. She began to fish out articles of clothing and the man turned away respectfully. She continued to speak as she changed, “Did you get in to see the reactor?”

“Nah, not yet. Asked for the guided tour and all I got was a face full of gun. Real go-getters over there at Shinra. Gotta admire the work ethic.”

“Why didn’t you just force your way through?” Lightning asked. She had already pulled on her skirt, changed shirts, and was busy with the leather fastens of her uniform.

“Come on, Light. You know why I didn’t. I came here for answers, not to start a war—”

“Sure,” she sniped. “That’s why you brought me.”

He shifted in place. Lightning did not need to see his face to know that he was staring at her. She could feel the weight of his eyes.

He sighed, took a deep breath, and then began. “You know why I brought you.”

“I’m sure,” Lightning’s voice had an icy edge.

“I brought you because I can’t do this alone,” he shot back. “As much as I hate to admit it, I need help. I need you. And you know you need me too. C’mon, believe it or not, I would just love to blast my way in there and—!”

“Then why don’t you?” Lightning snapped. She twisted to face him. Fire poured from her heart. Her anger boiled over and evaporated her usual cool. That heat turned her words to venom as they continued to leap unbidden from her lips. “We’re wasting time here! My sister—!”

“Isn’t going anywhere!” the man was suddenly on his feet. He refused to wither under her glare, his own emotions a turbulent stallion barely on the reigns. A cocktail of anger and exhaustion and fear and stress poured through his body and flooded into his eyes. For a time measured by a single heartbeat, he seemed like a man abandoned by his own wits, a man at the end of his rope. It lasted on a fraction of a second and then it passed, as quickly as it had come. A deep, controlled breath banished it all away.

His voice was softer when he continued, gentler as he approached her. “She isn’t going anywhere, Light, not if we play this my way. You know that I can help her.” He stood almost face to face with the young woman. “You’ve seen what I can do, what I’m capable of. I just need time,” the man swallowed hard and bit back the urge to break eye contact. “You’ve come with me this far and I know—believe me, I do—I know how hard it is to hear this, how unfair it is to ask you this, but please, just a little farther.”

Ever so lightly, he put a hand on her shoulder. It was warm and comforting and entirely foreign to the young woman. His voice was barely a whisper that only she could hear it. “I need you to stick with me,” he begged, “just a little farther. I will save your sister. No matter what. I promise.”

The spindly fingers of silence stretched to fill the space between them. Time seemed a distant memory: broken, disjointed, and wrong. Seconds stretched into the infinite and seemed to be minutes, hours, days, and months all at the same time. The hooded figure held his breath and the world held with him. For the longest while, a few seconds of time incalculable, Lightning remained silent. Her eyes, suddenly like sapphire drills, studied his and seemed somehow to peer through them, past the physical and into his heart.

Then, very slowly, Lightning nodded. Subtle and deliberate, only once, up and down, but she did it. She nodded and with that simple gesture dispelled the moment’s terrible grip on the world around them. Time rushed to catch up and the hooded figure sighed in relief.

“Alright,” Lightning said. She shrugged his hand away from her shoulder. “A little farther.”

“Right,” the man nodded. “Right. Okay. That’s good. Good. Thank you.” With each syllable his voice grew a little louder, a little stronger, until it was back to its original enthusiasm.

“So, what’s the plan?” Lightning asked. She pulled on her gloves and grabbed her boots.

“Well,” the man said, smile back in full force. “Why don’t you get cleaned up? Then I figured we could sit down, have a nice a breakfast, you can glare angrily at me over pancakes while I desperately try to fill the silence with the sound of my own voice.”

“Great,” Lightning muttered.

“I thought so.”

[PsychoticDoctor]

Danza sat up. "I wanna go. I feel like messin' ****up!"

---

Meanwhile, Blake entered the colossal, yet comforting and calming castle with Nicole.

[AKeybladeYouSay]

<Hello, again, my friends, my companions, my fellows who have helped to shape this community I spent so much of my time wandering around inside of.
It's been a long time since I've posted anything worthwhile.
I see the new site layout, and while I find a few things a bit unsavory, I find the overall feel of it to be...
Warm.
Yes, that seems appropriate.
It tickles me in my slightly sleep-deprived state here at 4:00 AM that at least one tradition I left behind has been honored to the day. Thank you, Bob(or as I guess I should call you Halcyon) for referencing the Drunken Alien technology. That perked up my smile quite a bit.
Anyways, seeing as it's summer now, and I have the technology and internet connection required to participate in this site, I figured that I could dip back in for a spell.
However, my mindset has changed dramatically from when I first used the site c.2010.
During that first year or so, I had a few problems with my noggin, to put it colloquially. 90% of the time, I used the site as an emotional outlet, while the other 10% was just entertainment. Early Naxwsh seemed to be the embodiment of a particular problem I had, namely being my social inaptitude combined with my occasional self-hatred that made itself into a clambering desire to have someone to show me affection and assure me that I'm a good person.
While I would never have actually killed myself, and I would never consider it to be an option, Naxwsh was a bit of an exaggeration. After all, what better way to express emotion than through exaggeration?
But anyways, the point is, I no longer want to use the site as an emotional outlet. Aside from everyday frustration, my life is doing quite swimmingly. I'd like to use it as more of a writing exercise, and as entertainment, of course. At the moment, I've been occupying myself with Let's Play videos all the live long day. And this site always seemed productive to me. I'm amazed that the site has made it to today without (most) people abandoning it. And yet I'm not surprised. The community here has been wonderful to me, even throughout all my angsty bullshit. You guys were my rock. Thanks. I believe that thanks to you guys' help, I've been able to become somewhat more socially apt. I really appreciate it.
So, as of now, I'd like to start preparing to get back into RPing. However, due to the dark nature of my characters' pasts that I don't want to have to deal with now, I will most likely create all new characters, except for Sally, and perhaps Naxwsh, because I feel like Naxwsh has been starting to redeem himself and be an actual person rather than a walking cloud of negative emotion.
I will be attempting to post every day, when I have something to reply to, and I will most likely have the time spare now in the summer. So, without further ado, I'd like for someone to please inform me about any new RPs that have popped up, and any MAJOR events in the ones that I frequented before, namely TITAL and Org. XIV.>

[Zeldaman2.0]

<Hey hey, it's Yusei! Glad to finally have you back on board for good this time. Or, at least, hopefully for good. I remember when you were first starting (albeit just glimpses, as that's when I started my hiatus for two years) and the two things I remembered about that were the fact that you had this big-ass picture of Wakka for your profile pic and you had a habbit of posting emoticons as part of your message... something about an I think it was XD. Nevertheless, I have Aerith with (I think it was Diryax? The dude who's going to get married) one of Haar's characters made a huge-ass prediction about the House that no one seems to have noticed (I think), and I don't know of anything else that might impact your characters. In Org. XIV, from my snooping around in there, they were wanting to do the wedding and flashback to it once you got back here, but I guess they won't need to now? Not really sure. Ask them about that. Let's see... The Persona REM RP is kinda neat if you're into Mega Ten, though it's been stagnant cause three of the six or so people we have in a fight aren't posting jack diddly, and it's really holding things up. If I really wanted to, I could post hog with my character and get shit done but I won't. At least for now. Monument 14 was something Admin started up but has since dropped because... well, a couple of us got stupid. -shrug- The Pokemon RP is pretty darn dead, and Winds Blown Differently is like TITAL, but similar to Org. XIV's Fate Gone Awry. Basically, the characters are similar, but with altered personalities, etc. That's really all I can think of, someone else is likely going to snipe me on how long I've been posting and have it condensed, too!

So there ya have it.>

[Haar_Dragon]

<Hey, dude, welcome back!! Don't worry, I at least wasn't too bothered by your teenage angst, on account of being too busy posting my anime speed-lines. And, for the sake of the plot, I do recommend keeping Naxwsh for sure, as well as giving anyone you plan to dump a proper sendoff. In other words, if you do plan to get rid of them, give them a story arc, or even just a few posts' worth of time, to resolve any remaining issues, rather than just saying, "And then they disappeared in the night, which somehow happened within the span of the thirty seconds between talking because time in this universe is absolutely f*cked."

Zeldaman caught just about everything, although, if you remember Zane's Sex Chronicles, that popped back up briefly and allowed people to start talking about their fetishes. Naturally, I was a killjoy and just kinda told them that it's the kinda thing you should keep private, and I was initially ignored as usual (I'm an introvert, what do you expect?), but it's good to have you back! And only about 5-10 percent of that is because you were keeping a lot of stuff in Plot Limbo. And by "a lot" I mean "A couple of things that could be remedied without TOO much trouble." That said, TITAL has sorta started falling through fudge, so...you kinda have the opportunity to post whatever you want without disrupting the flow too much.>

[NebulaGregarZX]

<Hm. Well, your input on Fate Gone Awry isn't critical, so you can put that on a lower priority. Who knows where Norio ran off to when Nori got killed by Xemnas? However, yeah, in Org.XIV proper, we were going to cut to a scene showing the new villain (KH is in charge of this one, apparently) and flash back to the wedding once you arrived. Thanks to KH's procrastination, we can abandon that plan and just show the wedding itself. Or, we could do the scene to introduce the new villain, THEN the wedding can happen. It would make a nice transition from nobody knowing where the hell to go to being in the chapel, bawling their eyes out.

But that really is a discussion for the Org.XIV OOC Topic.

Hell, one idea for Wind Blowing Differently could be giving Nawxsh a nicer backstory, since the idea is to shake things up. For example, one change is that MINATO IS AN ASSHOLE. The Admin actually feels BAD writing Minato like that. Basically, it's Bad Ending Minato, only he CHEATED to save himself and the female party members. Aleri is competent and respected (as we;l as being two years older, and with his post-timeskip design), Rexial is a flirty, light-based character, as per FGA. Maybe Nawxsh could be from a happier background, and live a fairly happy life, with an upbeat attitude? Just throwing it out there, 'cuz Lenox got changed to being a tragic drunkard who spends his time hacking up trees, and I don't think Diryax's life is doing so well for it.

Just a thought, you know? It's meant to be an alternate-universe type story, where things are intentionally different, just like FGA.>

<...I was so caught up responding to that, I forgot to say something. *Ahem*

*My characters stand behind me, all of us cheering in unison.*

Welcome back, Yusei!>

[PsychoticDoctor]

<Hey there and welcome back!>

[Malakili007]

< First off Zelda... Aerith is with Naxwsh not Diryax...she was most recently slapped by Xerna in the living room if I recall correctly...and on another note...perhaps I will even attempt to write some again tomorrow after work >

[Admin (HalcyonWandering)]

Xavier opened the digistruct portal under Gaive's guidance and awaited his allies, he would have to be the last one to enter otherwise the teleporter would close automatically.

[Atlantis_Rising]

Alexei, sheathing Volk and Smert', picked up Bogatir and headed through the portal, a slight grin on his face.

[PsychoticDoctor]

Julie and Will walked through the portal as well. Danza then hopped up, filled to almost the breaking point of glee that he could still cause mass chaos.

<I almost called Julie Jill o.o>

[PsychoticDoctor]

<When suddenly, plot?
I SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET ALIFEVBWKJNBHYUWM?NB Hopefully if i start learning chun kuk do, this will not be a problem.>

[Admin (HalcyonWandering)]

The snow fell steadily onto the mountain top village of Nibelheim. The group that had entered the portal before Xavier was no standing in what was the repaired inn of Nibelheim. No longer ruins, the village seemed to be relatively new and sparklingly clean.

As he closed the digistruct portal, Xavier grimaced at the scenery. The last time the young man had been in this inn had been almost two years ago. It felt like eons.

Xavier turned to his allies and spoke with an authoritative voice, "Alright, we're here. Now, we'll be heading towards the facility. Stealth is preferred but not mandatory. Please continue as you see fit."

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