The Songbird (New)

[Ninmast]

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There is a place in the universe where evil never dies.

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She gathered what remained of her once-elegant pink satin gown in her hands as she ran down the halls that had once been so familiar to her, and now were strange, with shadows that seemed to reach out for her, to claw at her with fingers made of knives.

She saw the razorwire snap up just in time, and somehow managed to respond, skipping over it, but she didn't get high enough and it nicked her shin. She didn't feel the pain until she had landed, and that was after the rush of warm liquid she felt running down into her slipper. She didn't need to look down. She knew she wouldn't be getting back up.

Her gaze snapped up as a shadow fell over her. "Aenorette ... Dear, beloved daughter ... Please ... why are you doing this?"

It was a young girl standing over her, pale blonde hair falling down over her face. She couldn't have been more than eight or nine. Her dress was red satin, complete with a little bow about her waist. Her voice was almost sad when she spoke, but it was as if she couldn't push that much emotion through.

"Stop calling me that ... I'm not your Aenorette ..."

The woman paused in silence for a moment, speechless. "Not ... Aenorette ... what do you mean? You are here. You are the girl I have brought up. I would know that face in a field of children."

Her hand reached up toward that face, but the girl slapped it away. "Please, just stop! I'm not her ... Stop calling me by her name ... She's dead ..."

It was a moment before she repeated her question again. "What do you mean?"

The girl remained speechless, but for her, it was as if there was something before her, something keeping her from speaking, but finally, she answered by repeating her last statement. "Your daughter is dead ... I was dead, too, I think ... And there was this blackness, this nothingness ... Then I heard this sound, like a bell. It was ringing through some sort of melody. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place it. It drew me in, beckoned me, and I followed it. Soon, I saw all these people ... so many of them ... they were following the bell, too ... Then ... I felt like I was losing myself in that crowd. The next time I knew light, I was here ... In the body of your daughter. It ... it was almost like I faded in and out of consciousness, but I didn't ... I was still awake, going about, doing things, but ... this isn't me ... Forgive me ..." She gestured toward the wire. "... neither is this ..."

The woman listened silently to the story, then finally spoke a question that seemed to hold so much significance. "Who are you, then?"

Again, the girl went silent, but it wasn't the same silence as before. She was thinking. "I ... I don't remember ..."

The crisp sound of footsteps reached their ears and they turned to see a tall, handsome man. He had blonde hair like the girl, but it was brighter. It was clear that he had let it grow out, as it reached to just past his shoulders. He was dressed in a vivid blue uniform that showed his physique well. Every corner was pressed, every button shined. He looked like the knight that had come to the rescue, but he wasn't.

"Telling stories, my little Aenor? You disappoint me." He stretched his hand out toward the woman. "It matters little, however. I am here to finish the job. Are you ready to visit the Songbird, my love? I can assure you first-hand, it is an experience that will change your entire outlook on life."

The woman moved back, pulling herself away from the man she had once called husband, but the girl placed herself between the two adults, putting her arms wide, as if to shield her. "No ... this is wrong ... this is all wrong."

The man's face remained unchanged. "Your concern is duly noted, dear Aenorette, but your sacrifice is poorly placed. Your mortal shell means nothing to me. Your thoughts that it should are a sign of your degradation. I shall simply show you both to the Songbird, you for your second visit. It will return you both to me, and we will be whole again, ready to lead our world to a new age of peace and prosperity, just as the legends have foretold."

The shadows warped about the girl. "No. No! It isn't right! This won't get any of those things!"

But light burst from the man's hand, banishing the shadows away. "You are stepping away from the Songbird, dear daughter. Its power is no longer yours. Do not worry. You will be redeemed shortly."

A great force lifted up against them, sending both the woman and the girl across the room and through the glass doors behind them. Outside, the light of two moons could be seen drifting down against another tower of the estate. An instant later, the two bodies, mother and daughter, seemed to crash against that tower, but the crash was distorted, and when it cleared, there were no marks that they were ever there.

The man turned and walked back down the hall, the shadows already fading as light returned to the rooms he passed through.

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Daniel Hawkins ran across the surface of the dam, the heavy rain throwing curtains down in his path. It was difficult to see, but the clattering of gunfire behind him was all he needed to hear.

He stopped suddenly as he reached the end of path, looking out over the crashing waters so many stories below.

"That's what you get for trying to charge into a Talihin installation on your own, human," one of the guards chided behind him. "We're doing your kind a favor, fixing your ignorance like this. It's just a shame you'll never receive the honor." He smirked. "The legendary Hawkins, felled by a bunch of grunts, his body lost forever beneath the storming waters, churned up by drenching rains and turbines three stories high. May the barbarians remember everything you tried to do for them for the rest of their numbered days. Quite the story. You should be proud of yourself."

A scowl crept onto Daniel's face. "That'll never happen." He kicked off of the ledge, as if jumping off, but twisted in mid-air, firing several shots, dropping two of the three guards and catching the talkative one in the shoulder before he fell out of range.

As his twist continued to turn him around, he was brought about to face the churning waters once more. Ironically, there wasn't fear, there wasn't dread. There was just a question. One from what was almost another lifetime, it had been so long ago. No, it was another life. How're ya gonna get outta this one, hotshot?

His vision blurred as everything beneath him that he was watching seemed to shift, lose its consistency.

Back up on top of the dam, the guard pulled himself over and looked down over the edge, straining his eyes for the slightest glimpse of anything, but there was nothing.

[ketaro]

Mana leaned back against a wall of the elevator herself and two of her colleagues were currently in. They all had guns out and were casually reloading them as if they had all the time in the world. Mana had been humming along with the soft elevator music the whole time but stopped when she felt a tap on her arm. 'Don't do that now. Nobody likes elevator music.' She gave a humorous look at the man standing across from her before making a small "Hmph". 'I couldn't help it, Jack. The tune just got stuck in my head.'

The third person with them in the elevator, a woman, got their attention now. 'You guys know we're just about there, right? Jack, what do we do?'

'We're most likely to be greeted by gunfire when the doors open. Rachael will toss up a shield, Mana and I will take them out. We'll go from there.' Jack shrugged before turning to face the doors of the elevator that would open soon. The moment they opened, Rachael immediately held out her hands infront of her and brought up a transparent but visible shield of physic energy to stop the gunfire that did indeed come at them as expected. Jack and Mana then proceeded to unload on the men firing at them, their own bullets passing through the back side of Rachael's shield with no problem. By the time they'd emptied their clips, the dozen and a half men in the hallway all lay dead. "Well that was nothing. You think you'd expect more out of a powerful mafia boss, wouldn't you?" Mana said with a dissapointed tone as she strolled out of the elevator and began making her way down the hall. The other two shared a sigh before following, Rachael moving ahead to take the lead.

Before long they reached the end of the hallway and a set of double doors stood before them. Jack stopped them as he eyed the doors cautiously. Tapping her foot impatiently, Mana complied and did what she could to stand back and wait for his decision. A minute passed and he had yet to even say anything, but she was through waiting. "Look! If you're worried its trapped, oh well! It's not like they knew we were coming," as she moved past Jack, "Let's just get this over with," and kicked opened the doors. A very large, nicely furnished office with floor-to-ceiling windows making up two if the four walls, greeted her as she slowly moved inside. Jack didn't look pleased at all after doing a quick survey of the room, a dark look falling across his face. Rachael was certainly relieved Mana hadn't gotten them all killed right then and the-"Hey! You're gonna get us killed like that!" Mana simply waved off Rachael's remark as she went about searching the room with an annoyed look. "Our target was suppose to be in here, so why isn't he? What's the point of having guards if they aren't guarding you?"

The trio moved about the room, Rachael making herself comfortable in the leather chair behind the desk, Mana standing before the windows and saying something about an awesome view, while Jack remained standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed. 'This isn't right. Everything we know says he's suppose to be here right now.' "Well maybe he had an unexpected appointment and we just missed him? Something like that maybe?" said Rachael as she leaned forward to casually rifle through the desk. The moment she opened the top drawer of the desk however, a loud beep went off throughout the room. Jack tensed at the sound, completely caught off guard but remained rooted to the spot. Mana looked over to Rachael who had what Mana thought of as an 'oh shit' kind of look. In fact that's exactly what it was as Rachael suddenly burst into action and jumped over the desk yelling "OUT!" Next thing he knew, Jack was being dragged out of the room and into the hallway while Mana was still trying to register what was going on. Sadly she didn't have enough time as an explosion suddenly went off that shook the building. Rachael dived to the floor of the hallway, bringing Jack down with her, and immediately threw up her physic shield behind them hoping it would be enough. Mana, however, couldn't even hope for her own safety as she was forcibly thrown out of a window, on the 30th floor might I add, by the explosion. Her barely conscious mind still hadn't registered what'd just happened and left her completely confused. Wait...what? was the last thing she thought before blacking out.

[Veros]

A tall blond haired man dashed between trees already running late to meet his twin. I knew I should of left earlier! It was another meeting between the two, they enjoyed it a bit and learning to handle an opponent with powers beyond his own was enlightening to him. Not to mention seeing his younger twin, one of the few non-Anrevents to not care much about his status.

Looming ahead was the chasm, but Deivet was used jumping over it since it wasn't very large only about 8 feet, and he was pretty fit. Quickly he jumped up and grabbed a hold of the branches of the closest tree with the thick branches hanging over the ledge, and started to run across it.

Right as he got just a step or two, in the branch underneath his feet cracked, and he jumped knowing if he didn't he wouldn't be able to spin and grab anything fast enough but if he jumped he might reach the edge.

And it didn't work, sort of - about five feet from the top of the cliff he managed to grab a hold of enough thin tree roots to stop his fall long enough to find foot holds and a place to put his hands. That was close.

As he started to pull himself up, the earth he had his hands on broke free, and he fell backwards away from the face of the cliff. Just freaking perfect. He knew the chance of surviving the fall even if he missed the spikes at the bottom were slim, but he tried to straighten himself out as best he could for the eventual landing as everything blurred and he the ground never came.

[zandyne]

Diva clicked her jaws as she spoke in their kingdom's tongue of the tainted Speaker's crime, it was the only way the rest of the nest would understand. A sea of disapproval and sorrowful clicks was the reply to her announcement. Arkaya herself stood perfectly still by the side of Diva after she'd finished her speech, she had no qualms over this judgment, she should have returned sooner.

The significantly bigger Amber turned to her and was kind enough to speak to Arkaya in English so that only the once-Speaker of Surya could understand. Perhaps it was a notion of mercy or disgust in how she'd been tainted, she felt too unworthy to conjure theories.

"Go to King Surya," she waved her clawed hand at the immense heat that was suspended forever bright and burning in the room. Diva drew a fine digit along the bottom of Arkaya's jaw, it was all that precluded the invisible tug that would draw her up to the annihilating caress of their King.

As the small Speaker was drawn closer to that terrible heat, Diva regarded her with a small bowing gesture, "Farewell our beloved Arkaya."

She bowed her head, joy and contentment welling up in her that Diva had spoken her name. It was enough to drown out the painful cracking that drained the life and usefulness out of her limbs as she was guided into the consuming fire of King Surya, he was so very bright...

[SuperDrops]

It was just another day. Just another sunny, clear skied day of the summer that never seemed to end in the city of San Francisco. The divine rays of the sun bathed the whole town in their bright and warm bliss and the slightest, most perfect breeze provided just enough natural air conditioning to make it enjoyable instead of unbearable. It seemed the whole city was out in the open today, both those that were referred to as Hippies and those that they referred to as “The Man”. It appeared like there was not a taint on this very day and people that usually fought and hackled sat in the parks and on the streets side by side, enjoying nature.

One of these people was Jake. As usually he was sitting in the midst of others who shared his views about the world, nature, freedom and of course sexuality and narcotic use. The last was currently partaken in by most of the people present, including Jake. There were three joints circling the crowd, all of them build with the help of Jakes very own breed of marijuanna, homegrown and cultivated. Most of the smokers were already severly stoned, but none of them as much as Jake, seeing as he had begun the day with a joint even before he had eaten breakfast.

In hindsight, this was probably the reason Jake did not react properly when the screeching tires were heard from the road bordering the park. People turned, then jumped up and dispersed, screaming and shouting in panic as they hurried away to get clear of the path of the Pick-Up Truck that was just jumping off the road and into the park. Numbed by the marijuanna coursing through his veins all that Jake could do was lazily lift his head to face the massive vehicle that was plowing through the park, throwing up dirt and grass left and right, ripping scars into the green ground. “Well... crap...” was the last thing that Jake could say, and as the front bumper of the truck was closing in on him he took one last hit from his joint, preparing himself for the impact.

[This One]

“Halt!” came the command over the megaphone once again. “Bist du taub?! Halt!”

“No, I’m not deaf! Screw off!” Reiner replied to the rear-view mirror, a huge grin plastered across his face. His current situation, which happened to involve barreling along in a beat up Volkswagen with a squadron of border control officers chasing him, was better than any joyride he’d ever taken. His blood had to be at least sixty percent adrenaline (and about two percent alcohol) this particular night, if the occasional crazy giggles he was giving were any indication.

A few days ago, word had gotten out that an anonymous citizen had stolen a blueprint of the Wall. Obviously intrigued, Reiner managed to ask the right questions to the right people and secured a copy of the plans for himself. There was no way to tell if these prints were counterfeit, but none of that ever crossed the young man’s mind. They had been written in Cyrillic, and it took him a few minutes to translate some of the more uncommon words, but it wasn’t much of a problem. Upon discovering that there were strategic weak points in the structure just in case the army needed to drive through to the West, a plan formed in his mind. He was going to attempt to drive through the wall, himself.

His rear left tire had been shot out, the metal wheel clanking against the pavement and sending sparks flailing out behind the car. The rear windshield was gone, as well, two bullets buried in the upholstery of the front passenger seat and one in the dashboard. A big dent and scrape scarred the driver’s side where an officer had attempted to cut him off by slamming into the side of his car. When he was only a few hundred feet from his target, the machine began to wheeze and creak from the abuse it was taking, a sick dribble of smoke beginning to seep out of the hood.

“Go, baby, go!” Reiner pleaded, ducking down as he saw the officer behind him lean out of the car to level a gun. “Don’t die on me! The Wall’s right there! Lauf! Lauf! Lauf! Auf gehts!” There was a loud bang just milliseconds before his front tire blew, sending the car fishtailing off-course. Almost immediately after, the car was roughly jolted forward as the military vehicle behind him plowed into the rear bumper, causing him to crack his head painfully against the window. “Scheiße!” he cursed, trying to steer the car back on course towards the weak point. However, with only two tires and having already been swerving all over the road, all he managed to do was put the car sideways, the driver’s side of the car now parallel with the Wall and skidding towards it at a speed of near sixty miles per hour. Reiner released a flurry of curse words in about four different languages, furiously pumping the break, covering his head with his arms, and squeezing his eyes shut as he waited for the car to slide the final few feet into the wall.

Time sure went slowly when you were waiting to die. Any second now…

[TrueBlue©]

Ninja pizza men. For the love of Mogg.

True pushed through the crowd, shoving a pregnant woman, knocking down an old man. Oh yes, she was definitely feeling Chaotic Evil as she worked through the city's packed subway. This is so retarded, she found herself whining as the ninja ahead of her leaped and darted and flipped, generally putting distance between the flustered cyborg and what was rightfully hers. Jesus, overqualified, much?

He cast one arrogant glance behind him, probably smirking behind his stupid mask, before vaulting off the platform, over the gap and the vacant tracks.

The caped eleven-year-old skid past the yellow line to stop on the edge and flail her arms. Too bad, though. True fell forward, face-planting onto cold steel, busting her lip and half her face, probably cracking teeth. Ow.

The girl started to gather her arms under her, but that was when she heard the roar. She looked over her shoulder to see the subway from Hell, who's turf she was currently invading. It rushed at her like any beast of darkness, lighted eyes glaring in her bloodied faux-human face, the engine's howl vibrating in her alloyed bones.

'MOVE IT!' One of her souls screamed at her, but she found her arms quite leaden. The subway's mechanical wail was the last thing she heard, dirt and blood and coolant the last thing she tasted, scuffed chrome last thing she saw.

Then, the light was gone. Everything was gone, except for that crawling feeling of deja vu.

(Recycled from The Songbird 2.0, with a face lift! =D)

[Ninmast]

The last blur of life before their eyes seemed to engulf their vision, filling their senses in a white haze that blurted out everything else until they were awash in a white serendipity. So dulled were their senses that even time ceased to have meaning and it was impossible to know how long they hung in that empty limbo.

When the haze of emptiness finally cleared, none were where they had been before. Gentle instrumentals floated through the air to their ears as countless well-pressed uniforms and gowns filled their field of vision. The smell of fine wines and high-class hors d'oeuvres filled their nostrils. All around them were the elegances of a royal ballroom, with marble tile beneath their feet, ornate wood-and-stone walls and candlelit chandeliers flooding the room with warm, cheery light.

Even they came into the scene properly regal. Any injuries they might have received just moments ago were completely gone, they were whole, and they were dressed to impress. Those who had heavy equipment found it all gone, and in its place they wore the finest clothes they could have imagined.

For likely the first time in his entire life, Deivet was wearing slacks. Perfectly pressed dress slacks tailored for his legs led down to black socks and unblemished dress shoes. A short-sleeved white dress shirt was on his chest and a dinner jacket was slung over one shoulder but not actually with his arms in the sleeves. The only thing that was from his old outfit were his fingerless gloves, though even these were clean, without so much as a scratch, and they felt to be of a softer leather than before.

Relatively speaking, Mana's outfit was changed the least, if only because it shared a color scheme and the original clothing also had a laced bodice. The ball gown replaced her skirt, however, and underneath, she could feel stockings and heeled dress slippers on her legs and feet respectively. Gone was her leather jacket, but the fur collar was present as an identical fur scarf that draped about her otherwise bare shoulders, remaining bare until halfway down her upper arms where white gloves with black lace went on down.

Arkaya, the only person of similar height to True, looked quite religiously important in flowing white dress robes bound with amber bands and adorned with amber jewelry and crystals. Amber shards served as a glitter-like dusting over the fabric, making her shimmer in the light, while softest white gloves covered her hands and the most comfortable boots one ever felt protected her childlike feet. All in all, of course, this wasn't drastically different from her own formal wear. No, the biggest change was one she wouldn't see. Her face was that of a girl of comparable age and appearance, but human, with flesh in place of chitin, and the rest of her body was the same were she to check, though it wore with all the comfort of her familiar form. Midnight-black hair decorated throughout with beads and rings of amber hung down to the small of her back as her wide eyes peeked out from her face as if they belonged there.

Jake was clean and his hair was combed out and conditioned, held back presentably in a simple ponytail. A long, white tailcoat sat atop his shoulders, allowed to hang open and show a sunshine-yellow dress shirt underneath, then white dress slacks went on down to his clean, unblemished shoes. He was clean-shaven and even his eyebrows were preened and thinned.

Reiner looked quite German in a black, longtailed dinner jacket that overlapped and fastened over the heart with shiny, brass buttons. The stiff jacket led to perfectly pressed black slacks with a yellow strap down either side, his belt buckled with a brass German flag. The slacks tucked into black velvet dress boots with brass buckles over the ankle. He looked like the stunning son of a wealthy general.

True, the shortest of the group, was scrubbed clean, with her red tresses combed out and her ponytail gone. In place of her Zorro outfit, she wore a two-piece emerald green gown, with the base bound by a sash about her waist before stretching down to her feet where she could feel strapped sandals. The top was more vest-like and separate from the bottom, leaving her belly button uncovered and crossing an inch above it, only to open up again just low enough to show a very tasteful amount of cleavage, but only barely enough to be considered cleavage at all.

Beside them was a young girl roughly sixteen with blue hair and matching bright blue eyes. She was in a silk evening gown of sky blue, but without any other decorations. On her forehead was an apparently decorative marking of various interlocking angular shapes. Judging from the confused look on her face, she had been through what they just had. None had ever met each other before, though, so what she was doing there wasn't really clear, anyway.

[Veros]

The blond haired teen was dazed momentarily as he suddenly got hit by all the new sights, smells, sounds, and other sensations but it did not take him long to recover and begin looking at the most immediate sensation he felt - touch.

As he looked down, he his clothing was all wrong. He was no longer in his tights or his tight white shirt, even his trench coat and belt were gone. He slowly flexed his fingers inside the new fingerless gloves on his hands. They were fair softer than he was used to and so very well cared for - something gloves did not have a chance for in his life as an Anrevent. Not to mention the strangeness of his pants. He couldn't recognize them as anything he'd personally ever worn. Even his shoes were different - much less casual and wore. Far more formal than he was used to. Where am I? And what just happened? I just fell off a cliff... And now... I'm dressed like... Royalty. He even ran a finger over the crease in his slacks, I can't even remember the names of these things. But they aren't my tights.

Then his gaze shifted upwards to his shirt and the buttons running up and down it and he met it almost with confusion. A shirt with buttons? This reminds me of a jacket. Why does this shirt need buttons? All the time, the fingers of a hand traced each one momentarily until he got to the jacket on his shoulder, which made him turn towards it. And I have a jacket.

Nervously, his hand moved to his neck and grabbed where his necklace normally was. It was there - just as it always was. It's small beads running across his neck down to the small crystal attached to it. Atleast I have something of mine. Even a simple trinket to remind me of my twin... Oh no! Roy... He doesn't know I'm here. How will he take this when he finds out... That I've either been kidnapped... By powerful magic... Or the afterlife really exists and this is it?

Then he realized it. He was surrounded by people in what looked like a party--abet a very formal one like none he had ever before attended. He was used to parties of heavier instruments with technology modern to him everywhere and everyone in almost everyday wear. He especially wasn't used to the marble floors and ornate walls. Wood or stone floors and plain walls or technology covered walls, yes.

Of the people nearest him though, he quickly guessed their ages pegging most of them to be in their early or mid two hundreds or in our years early to mid twenties. Save two of them, the blue haired girl he pegged to be about a hundred and sixty-ish, and considering he was a hundred and seventy-three - he judged teen in the sky blue gown to be the closest person to his age. Most of these people look about fifty years older than me. Atleast she looks about my age. And the short child of the group in the emerald green gown - he pegged her to be just over a hundred years old.

When he noticed the confused expression across her face, he moved immediately. "Good afternoon, you look as confused as I feel. My name is Deivet Siveth," as he said it a small smile never left his face and his green eyes never left her face--admittedly he did look at the decorative markings on her forehead.

[zandyne]

Arkaya's attention snapped to her new reality with the same rebound as one's thoughts would retreat from a summer's stupor. Her scattered thoughts darted from how it was too cold then to how she reassured herself (after checking) that the temperature was suitable. The presence of people, not so much.

Kidnapping crossed her thoughts, then the rechecking that she'd last seen King Surya, was this a second chance?

Deep reflection however, was forgone when she realized a previously dull scent floating in the air, alcohol. It put her on edge for reasons not quite her own, but rather an aversion long implanted in her genes. Her next course of action though, was one mixed with her own breeding and what privileges she gave herself to actually feel fear and some shade of panic.

The blue girl, she deemed, seemed like someone much like a Speaker, disregarding her obviously human status of course. Some male was already talking to her but she still made her way over to the marked girl, albeit with great caution, out of reflex she reached for where her human mask would be only to realize only hair and amber baubles were there. She staved off her confusion as nagging anxiety was of greater concern.

She literally butted into their conversation, "Robin-Robed, I request an audience."

[Ninmast]

The blue-haired girl glanced up to the young man and nodded in recognition. "Nayra Sturiesk," she introduced herself politely, but was then interrupted by Arkaya. She glanced down at the girl and put on a warm smile before kneeling down so she would be more at eye-level with her. "Then you have it, dear child. What can I do for you?"

[zandyne]

Nayra's sudden lowering caused for some concern in Arkaya, but she continued carefully, for all she knew this was a test by King Surya, but asking it aloud would surely mean failure, "What is the purpose of this occasion?"

[Ninmast]

"I do not yet know," Nayra answered honestly, her perfect pronunciation and lack of accent, contractions or jargon at least seemed to match Arkaya's. "It seems we were brought here. The purpose shall surely present itself in due time."

[This One]

It was after about ten seconds of waiting with his eyelids tightly sealed that Reiner concluded he had just experienced the most instant death ever recorded. He had just heard a brief clip of the sickening squeal of metal-against-concrete when his vision flickered between jet black and blinding white. There was no pain, no iron-rich taste of blood, no vision of his life before his eyes. The car had to have slid into the Wall, and he had to have been thrust against the broken glass and twisted metal, right? Well, maybe this was how all sudden deaths happened?

(That was a stupid plan he had, anyway. He should've stolen a tank, of course! Did everyone think of their best schemes after death? Verdammt.)

Of course, there was the possibility he wasn't dead. Maybe he was just in a coma, and people actually did dream during comas? Concluding that the best way to decide was by having a look around, Reiner let his eyes slowly crack open. It definitely wasn't what he had pictured the afterlife to be like at all, but it didn't seem so bad. A little too feminine for his tastes, if anything, but it probably was safe to assume this wasn't Hell. It didn’t seem majestic enough to be Heaven, either, so it had to be a dream. But who were these people his unconscious mind chose to create?

He supposed this could actually be happening. There was no logical explanation for it whatsoever, but it could be happening.

About this time, the young man noticed his clothes had been suddenly changed and he was dressed in an outfit he had never seen before. Someone had guessed his nationality well, judging by some of the insignia he wore. Relatively well, anyway, as the hammer and compass and rye had been excluded, but the guess was close enough to really weird him out.

Okay, no way anyone could guess that closely. He just hit his head really hard and this was some crazy brain-swelling-induced dream.

Soon, Reiner heard some chatter coming from nearby in the room. It was English, which gave him a sense of relief. In all the confusion, at least he would be able to communicate. Cautiously approaching the group which appeared to be having a conversation, he addressed them. “He, so where are we? I mean, what is this?” Almost forgetting, he added, "Oh, and it's Reiner Kirtz."

[Veros]

(Sorry, didn't refresh before posting so I didn't see This One's post. xD)

Deivet shook his head slightly, his smile fading, "This is odd. They've brought together people that might just 'arely be a century old if that, with people in their mid hundred... And people a few centuries old." Now that he was mostly talking to himself, his accent was more pronounced then it had been, although it was in a whisper.

"Hopefully we will learn about why we are here shortly. I am not much of a fan of being left in the dark on something that involves me--playing blind is never very fun. Plus, whoever brought us here, didn't pick from a certain age group. Nearly a hundred year difference in ages just right in this group. Not to mention knowing how we got here would be nice."

Anyone even slightly good at math would quickly catch on to how he mentions ages - he compares a one year difference to ten years. Since on his home plane, people age ten times slower physically, but not mentally.

Then he began to speak much softer to himself, "Not that I liked fallin' off a cliff."

"Mister Kirtz, I'm Deivet. What we are doing here... We all seem to be at a loss for words on that one." He had decided to use formalities with Kirtz since he quickly gauged Reiner to be seventy years his senior. (About 7 years for us.)