The room was small, perhaps the size of his cell in the dungeon of Yamiyo. Like that cell, there was a door that would presumably lead to where he needed to go. Unlike the cell, there was actual reason to look at the walls around him; an ever shifting, seething mass of differing shades of gray. A few times he could have sworn that he had seen something else in there, but he put it down to hallucinations. A soft light from nowhere illuminated the chamber and the only other item of interest. The door. It looked out of place from the rest of the room simple because of the intricate amount of detail put into it. It was a wooden door, looked to be of oak, and heavily carved. It hung on a pair of silver hinges with a matching doorknob...and the entire construct crawled with symbols that alternated from a deep blue to a dark violet and back again.

He paused before the door, attempting to fix a single rune and decipher what it was. After a minute of attempting he gave up. There were too many sigils and none of them were any of the Wave Signs that he was familiar with. Now...the next question was, what did he do? He wasn't terribly comfortable trying to open the door with his hands, but he had no other option did he? After all, he was here, might as well do what was obvious expected and needed. Steeling himself, his right hand grasped the knob and twisted.

Magic flooded up into his arm, spreading across his body and covering him with the very same runes that were on the door. It flowed into his rope, into his skin, a sheen of white that he hadn't noticed before in-between the symbols. Suddenly he was awash with warmth, with welcome and recognition that beckoned him farther inside of this strange place that he had been taken to. Then, just as suddenly as the magic had gone into his body, it was gone...and the door clicked open.

Well, more like hurled open. It didn't seem to want to stay in his hand after he had released it from the lock, jumping to a wide open position. Takua stared through the open doorway at the room beyond...and knew that he had to be dreaming. The next room was a circle a hundred feet in diameter carved out of a mixture between ice and marble...and strewn with strange black boulders that writhed even within their solid state. It was as if they were constantly trying to escape the boundaries that they had been forced into, to no avail. The rest of the room though was beautiful, and he found himself stepping inside before he quite realized what he was doing.

Then the door behind him vanished completely without a trace, as if it had never been, and it was just another wall. Rushing back, his fingers pried along the rock and ice without finding any purchase. Swearing lightly to himself, he kicked the wall and glared at it. Suddenly, a voice spoke from just a few feet behind him, sarcasm heavily coloring it. “As if that's going to do anything.”

The man froze, unable to believe the voice that he was hearing. The last time that he had heard that voice, had heard anything to do with the woman that it belonged it, the dream had been complete and utter bullshit of the kind that got politicians crucified by the media. So now, as he turned slowly around to confirm that it really did belong to who he thought it did, he did so with a bit of a disbelieving and judgmental glance.

There in front of him stood Gwyneth in all of her green-eyed splendor, looking at him with a bit of a grin. She bowed, black hair sweeping down in front of her, and then straightened back up. Now the smile played for a few moments before Takua managed to get his throat to work, and his own brand of sarcasm whipped out. “Oh no, I hear that kicking a wall is good for your health. Even better if you're bashing your head into it.”

At least he got a chuckle out of that, but he was feeling too sore and too emotionally run over to try and care about this miracle. Hell, this could be another dream from the recesses of his mind, probably was, and she still didn't exist. Not that it should matter, their relationship was twisted anyways...especially now that he knew what she was and why he had been able to see her, interact with her. Ugh, he needed to work that out in his head. However, the mirth was gone from her face and so, for the moment, he put those thoughts on hold as she started to talk.

“Although I come to you in this form, I am not in fact Gwyneth. I am your Guide to this part of the Realm. You may call this the World of Clarity if you so wish, and you can call me that as well, for we are one and the same. I am the best representation of this Realm though, and so until there is another image or person who is a better fit, you'll have to deal with me for the time being.”

Takua blinked for a few seconds, trying to fit any of that into what he knew and drawing an absolute blank. Sighing with the frustration of trying to figure out something that couldn't be solved, he walked forward a little bit and examined this 'Guide' more closely. Annoyingly, all he could find was that she, or it, was a perfect replica of a former alternate personality that was now quite dead. Which wasn't doing anything good to his head. Muttering something pithy about the irony of that statement, he stared at Gwyneth straight in the eyes before finally responding.

“Okay, I give. What is the Realm, and does World of Clarity mean anything beyond just the simple name?”

Everything in the room seemed to tense, as if awaiting something that was about to happen, and the boy looked around quickly. So, he still had his weapons with him, did he? Excellent. Drawing one of them, apparently the Ocean's Rod from the looks of it, he held it calmly in one hand, ready for use. Gwyneth, or the thing that had assumed her form, didn't even flinch or look at the staff, speaking carefully and precisely. “The Realm is what you see around you and the rooms beyond, under the Domain of Bestow Vision and Grip of the Illusionist. Those are not my domains, and I may not travel there. As of this time, I may not tell you what the names mean, other than that there is deeper meaning to them. I should caution you though, all black objects within The Realm, such as the one that is to your right, are representations of your Schizophrenia. Unless you're feeling really stupid or masochistic, or stupidly masochistic, I'd advise not touching them.”

The Wavemaster flinched back even as he noted the odd switch in speaking pattern from the woman. What was up with that? She went from formal and professional to informal and sarcastic at the press of a button. Alright then...sounded like someone else that he knew. Still...a manifestation of his Schizophrenia? Then where the hell were they other than in the Realm? Inside of his head?

A sudden giggle escaped him as he thought of that. He was inside of a hospital room playing a game, and now he was God only knew where in Yamiyo with his mind traveling what felt like a field inside of his head. Yeah, okay, so this was just slightly insane right now, assuming he was right. Which was...well, just about right in the end now wasn't it? After all, he was a Schizophrenic, so it would make sense for him to be fucked up in the head.

But this wasn't quite the fucked up that he had envisioned when he had realized what was going on. He knew that quite a bit of what he saw and heard in the real world was hallucinatory in nature, and he was trying to keep going on what was probable instead of what wasn't, although if he was walking around in Yamiyo, those characters might really have just decided to murder him. He hadn't expected though that the rest of his mind would have broken so easily. While he was insane with the technical definition of the term, he didn't think he was truly insane just yet. Or rather, he hadn't gone crazy, which was the real problem.

Finally speaking again, he met her eyes easily before he started walking around the 'room' and looking at what was near him. “So. The names of all of these...parts of The Realm — nice and unimaginative name by the way, who came up with that one? — are obviously standing in for something. Something that I should be getting at a guess. Bestow Vision sounds like an ability of some sort, and Grip of the Illusionist sounds like either another one or a...an item of some kind. Maybe something different. But if this is just a fucked up field inside of my head, it doesn't exactly make sense that I'd be taking an item or power out of here. What gives?” Irritation at his inability to understand something that he had supposedly devised flared up. God, he would even go so far as to say that he would prefer an asskicking from Kira instead of having to figure out what was going on inside his own head.

But that was pathetic. It was exactly that which he needed to figure out, and he was running from it. The merest fact that he had such a mental field, that he had apparently accessed by accident, meant that it was more important than he realized. How had it been created, what were it's limits, what did it mean that he had one, what was its purpose...how did he use this? If he was really here, if this wasn't just complete bullshit and more delusions, what was the function of this...Realm, and how did he harness that in order to survive? Would there even be a point to trying to use this at all? After all, this was just a mental construction, it wasn't very likely that he could really use this to his advantage if it was all...well, imaginary.

Which was why he was listening to his Guide so intently when she started to speak. The being with the shape of Gwyneth didn't look too terribly happy with him right now either. “Well, maybe if you hadn't been a dumbshit and gotten your eyes blown away by Tritoch, we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we? And we wouldn't have to throw you back out there with an incomplete version of your powers. As it is, the source of all of this, Twilight, seems to be making due with a pitiful imitation of what it was meant to be. What can you do here? You can learn to use what abilities you have locked away in your depths here. That is the point of this place. Of course, you can also try and just discover them without any help, but they won't ever be at maximum effectiveness that way.”

Something seemed to pick him up, dragging him back toward the room that he had entered by. He was kind of aggravated right now, and it showed as he struggled against the invisible something that was taking him away. “Okay, real helpful here. So, I come here to train my powers then? Why am I being dragged out of here right now then?”

“Because there is no need for you to be here. Go, now, and wake. We await your return.” Then he was through the doorway that had opened up behind him, back in that first room, and the world faded away into black...

...and didn't come back when the rest of his senses seemed to emerge from some sort of sleep. At least he was warm, and still clothed from the feel of it, but what was under him wasn't exactly soft. He sniffed...and nearly recoiled at the strong, pungent odor of ozone. All of his hair was tingling, as though he was a vast reservoir of static electricity, or...something. The only thing that came through his ears was the mutters of a single person, to himself no less. His entire body ached, but there was only a little pain in his face...exactly what had happened? The last thing that he remembered was...Tritoch? After seconds seconds of waiting for something else to happen, he decided to risk talking to the person. “Hello? Who's there?”

That got the voice's attention, although not quite in the way that the Wavemaster had expected. Instantly, he felt something cold and metallic start moving across his face, along his chin, up a cheek, across one eye, and then...wait, what? It was gone, right as it went across his eyebrows. “Can you feel this?” He twitched, hard, suppressing the instant urge to fight and paranoia that came with it. “Yes.”

“Interesting. What about now?”

There was a complete absence of sensation, and for several seconds Takua thought that he was just preparing to touch him. When he realized that he'd already started, he felt a little stupid. “No. Where is this place?”

"The Bazaar, my lab. Don't worry, you're safe. Relatively. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with you." Interesting voice that he had. Kind of quiet, maybe a bit of a squeak? Mousey? Eh, fuck it, he didn't know how to describe it.

“"Oh...I see. Thank you. Would you prefer I stay quiet or talk while you work?"

"Just try not to move too much."

Takua didn't...quite know what to do. Obviously, he was being worked on to be healed, but his paranoia insisted that this was something else. Maybe an exam to probe his data for other things, or changing his data to malevolent ends. Or perhaps this was just to earn his trust so that he could betray it later. So many things...and so many questions to see if he could feel in parts of his face or not. Finally, several minutes later, the person on the other end of the...whatever was pressing against his skin sighed. "A lot of damage here. Half of your face will need to be replaced. Also, due to the nature of this injury, I don't think I'll be able to save or replace your eyes."

Which was when he could see again. For a brief second at least...which realy didn't end up helping matters at all. He was pretty sure that he was gaping, because he was, somehow, looking at himself from a different perspective...although, he had to admit. There was a really funny looking array of dots surrounding part of his face. The part that he couldn't feel, he realized in the brief second that he could see for. And then the darkness returned.

“Gu...wha? Uh...not to sound insane, but you say that you can't save my eyes...how come I could just see myself?"

He might have expected some kind of response from that. Instead, there was the instantly reply of...well, a bunch of clicking and shuffling of papers. Another brief shot of vision, of a computer screen with charts and graphs on it. Then the voice came back. "Interesting. Very interesting. it would appear that your vision is... changing." Takua felt his stomach turning with dread. Not what he wanted to hear right now. Instantly the voices chimed in, muttering or screaming about what it could possibly be, why he was doomed, what he had unknowingly done.

“"Uhh...that sounds bad. What do you mean by that?"

"I don't quite know." Even more shuffling. Good lord, what exactly was he looking through. Printouts of data? Then another shot of him, from far farther away. "It would appear your data is reaching out to others. Your eyes no longer exist, so it's finding a new pair, and using them. It has trouble getting through my data, though. What you're seeing is what I see. Fascinating. I can replace your face such that you'll have feeling again, but you will have to let your eyes heal on their own. Such as they will."

Takua hesitated. What was it about being careful about what you bought and what you paid with in Yamiyo? Was he making a deal with the devil just to be able to see again or be able to fight? Well...fuck, how had he gotten here anyhow? “Thank you. What would be...wonderful. How do you want me to repay you?"

There was a long pause. Instantly, the Wavemaster felt his guts twist. How bad was this going to be? "Ordinarily I would charge heavily. However, you have been paid for in advance, mostly. I only ask that I can study you in the future, as your abilities develop. This is new to me."

He breathed a sigh of relief. And then tensed right back up again. Paying him back was one thing, letting someone in Yamiyo study an ability that was meant to be used against the Elites and their lackeys. Not that he had a choice in the matter though...still, it was filling his guts in knots. "Sounds just fine by me. So this is Twilight's doing then...?"

"So it would seem."

There were a few, sudden prods to his face...and then a flicker, one that showed a giant scalpel moving in toward his face. Okay, that was not cool to see. He felt himself freeze up, his voice going distant, an attempt to get away from the imminent betrayal. “On the other hand, is there any way that you can make it so that I can't feel that?"

"You won't."

And somehow, he...didn't. Just a warm tingling, and then it was like he had had a washcloth over his face, the same temperature as his skin, and it was being peeled away. Was that...actually his skin? Okay, definitely a good thing he couldn't see, or else he'd be freaking out right around now. Hard core. “...that's handy, thank you." Of course, that was right when a sharp pain hit hi-

Paranoia blossomed large as he jerked awake, only to stop instantly and stare. Well, if that were possible with closed eyes. His face was pretty sore, but he could feel everything on it...and he could see! Well, more or less. His vision was stable, and looking at him. Someone else was in the view though, a man in a lab coat who...was he...?...yeah, not looking at him at the moment. Damn, he looked like a person who could run a tough deal. Hopefully he...hadn't. “That was...abrupt. Hello again. Who is the other person in the room?"

The doctor turned and looked at Takua's body, and then over at the person he was seeing from, then back to the body. Could he not decide who to talk to? Oh, that was at least somewhat amusing. Hey...would everyone do that? Ugh, that could be awkward. "One of my assistants. I was testing a theory. It looks like your vision has no troubles now linking with the nearest unshielded player. Myself, being shielded, won't work." That was when his vision shifted down...and the Wavemaster's head spun. He was looking down at a pair of breasts and a feminine body, not his own gender by any means. Ow, that hurt his head. Well, nothing like...uh, 'walking a mile in someone else's shoes' eh? "Free." The view shot back up, focusing on the doctor for a moment, and then back to Takua. So, someone hadn't been able to keep focused huh? A new thought struck him. How was he going to walk like this?

“...wow, that's a new experience I never thought I'd have. Looks like I'll have trouble walking for a while. Anything else that you discovered while I was out?"

"Only that you're stable now. It will suck, and will be disorienting, but it's not going to change frequently."

Well that was good. So, at the very least, he wouldn't spontaneously die because destroyed data. The next problem would be learning how to walk all over again. Just what he needed in life. "Well, I suppose that works for me. Am I free to go? I'd have to borrow your assistant at least until I get outside...oh, and can I have your name? I do need to come back here every now and again, neh?"

"Doctor Jaque Derbul. I'll send you a flashmail if I need you to come in. And yes, you're free to go, the door there leads to the street." There was a small gesture, and the assistant turned, looking at the doorway, but he could still see himself. Well then, that was handy. Takua sat up, gripping the edge of the table, and then stood up. Whoa. Balance...wasn't quite the same as it used to be, but he could see himself standing upright at the edge of where he'd been operated on. Figuring out the angle to the door, he started to walk there, feeling the balance shifting because he wasn't able to right. Well, it was mostly trying to figure out angles. Then a thought struck him, and he felt stupid. He deserved a thank you, didn't he? Didn't want to give the guy a bad impression and have him decide to take a petty revenge somewhere, right? He turned, slowly, making sure that he was orientated the right way before bowing. "Thank you for everything."

"Unnecessary. Just try not to do that again."

Takua laughed. "Yeah, I'll try not to make a habit of it." It wasn't a good idea to get perpetually put into other people's debts, now was it? He shook his head wryly, turned again with a little more confidence, and walked out the door. Well...more or less. He nearly hit the damn door on his way out, and then there was a whole other world out there. Thousands of viewpoints that shifted and spun, coming in and out of his range.

Takua was, not surprisingly, having difficulty walking. Having to skip between viewpoints that happened to give him a glimpse of himself and where he was walking was rather difficult. Even when he did it smoothly (something that was more difficult than he wanted to admit) it was still annoying to suddenly have to get used to a new perspective...usually one that would only last another second or two before they moved away or looked away. Now and then someone would come up from behind him, and he could get up to a whole minute out of them, but they too would eventually move away. Which was when he got a new idea.

He stopped by post on the side of the road, out of the way, and concentrated. He already had one view point, so maybe he could- oh fuck that was odd. The second that he'd adopted a second viewpoint at the same time, his head spun and hurt. Maybe humans just weren't meant to see from two distinctly different viewpoints. It was just...there. There wasn't another term for it that he could think of. He had two seperate viewpoints, and he was seeing through both of them, although the amount of attention he could give to each one was a little different. Daring, he tried for a third. The second that he had a third view, a headache made its presence known, greeting him in a quite spectacular fashion and crushing his ability to concentrate. He could do it then, he just wouldn't want to. Well, that was fine. He released two of the three, allowing himself to breathe again for a minute or two before stepping out into the stream of people again. Well, more like stumbling into someone on accident and then walking.

It was rather annoying just trying to move around, but necessity was the mother of invention, and in this case, the mother of discovering how to move again without a central viewpoint. For all of his disadvantages, he did have a few pointers on his side. First, he'd noticed something ever since he'd woken up with his face fixed. His senses either far sharper than they'd been before, or else everyone had started talking louder and had cranked up the light. Since that wasn't likely, he thought that this was mostly related to schizophrenia. The more sensitive you were, the more you could hear...even if that was a lie. He also could switch between as many viewpoints as he liked, and it didn't seem like anyone was going to be all pissed off if he took his time. Not that he knew what the hell was going on right now or where he needed to go.

He was just wandering through the Bazaar right now, checking things out before he checked back in with any of the other Freedom Fighters and find out where the fucking hell he needed to be. The flashmail inside of his storage was a neat little bonus of money and items, as well as a short explanation of why. So, at least they'd gotten one of the Guards on their side...for now. He couldn't help but distrust that, couldn't keep thinking that they weren't safe there. But he knew that, in the end, if someone wanted to find them and put out huge wanted posters across the sky, they were screwed. And why not? If the Elites wanted them dead enough, they just might do it.

Well, no use thinking about that. The sights, sounds and smells of Yamiyo were around him, and there were a lot of them. This was like Mac Anu...times five in the terms of population but keeping the same area. Fuckton of people, buildings (that you could actually use!), merchants, gambling...anything and everything. Anything that he could possibly find. He'd already seen signs for...fucking A, what was that? He had to resist the urge to blink (it was pointless after all) as one of the people around him started looking at a sales sign. The items on the list were...he halted his walk and read with the person currently at the merchant.

“...well fucking hell, they've got items here that'd make anyone back on the regular server scream about godlike.”

Ondine chuckled right next to his ear, hand grabbing his arm and appearing to haul him off in the direction of said shop. “Well no shit Sherlock, they're a society of hackers. Do you really think that they're going to decide to play by the rules the rest of The World run on just because the admins say so? If they were, they wouldn't even be here at all.”

“Why, thank you Watson for you scintillating argument. Now leave the rest to the man with the GP and let's get out of here.”

A swift and sarcastic rebuttal and he let his ability, his...power, go on automatic. When he wanted to force it, it would show him things that wouldn't necessarily benefit him, but if he just let it go, it seemed to target a few people that were either easiest or the best. Or maybe that was just his subconscious working it...another option, one that he hadn't considered before, was that Ondine was working it for him, fine tuning it as it were. He paused, mulling that one over, but he knew that she wouldn't give him the right answer even if her life was at stake. Especially since it had to do with protecting him.

He chuckled, moving up to the counter and carefully specifying what he wanted before handing over the required GP. A short while later, and considerably less rich, he moved away from the counter, wondering just when he would be forced to use them. It wasn't like he'd want to use them unless he was absolutely about to die or anything. Not with how damn expensive they were. At a couple of thousand GP a pop, he wasn't about to start buying them left and right. Then again, in a society of hackers, perhaps he was lucky that someone went for straight GP, given that a lot of them could just give themselves a few billion and enjoy themselves.

Muttering to himself about his fortunes, or lack therof, he began moving away from the Bazaar. From what he could recall, the last place he wanted to be was the Mercenary District, and one of the most peaceful was over in the Elemental District. It was for that reason, as much as any of his others, that he started walking in that general direction. Oh sure, there were others. Like how he wanted to see the Ruem sector and what sort of castle the Master had set himself up in. There was also the task of finding a place to talk with Sekai and Kira, one which he didn't think he was going to relish. The talking that was, finding it he didn't know about just yet. A place as crowded as this probably wouldn't have any sort of hideaway for people to talk without either being remarked upon or overheard. Considering that this was not a conversation that he even wanted to have with most of the Freedom Fighters, he really didn't want some random person in Yamiyo to listen in.

So he looked around. The Bazaar was huge, as evidenced by how many eyes he had to go through just in order to find one that pointed him in the right direction. Walking without being able to really see where he was headed was...disruptive, and made him desperately wish that his Twilight hadn't decided to pull this shit on him. It was going to be hard as hell to walk around without giving away that something was wrong, let alone fighting in the middle of a hard and fast battle with the rest of the group. Looks like he'd have to learn how to rely on the rest of his senses?

Takua hadn't really relied on senses other than sight and hearing, just like most other people that he knew. While smells went right to the brain, you didn't really pay attention to them unless it was a powerful or out of place smell. Now, with a million (or what seemed like it anyway) people teeming around him, he was practically assaulted by scent. It flowed over the ground, informing him that there was blood somewhere on the left. Sure enough, when he checked, there was a man with a bloody arm walking, looking a bit worse for wear. His face was clouded into a grimace, his other hand gripped over whatever the wound was...and the Wavemaster kept on walking. In Yamiyo, one's current ally could become an enemy in a heartbeat. Or maybe they already were an enemy and he just didn't know it. Best to assume that everyone could be an enemy, watch your words, how you looked, what you did.

He knew it was paranoia whispering in his ear, but it made sense dammit. These people all belonged to the Elites, all played on their server. No shit they would all be the enemies of the Freedom Fighters, who were trying to get themselves out of The World. Free everyone in a coma.

Which in itself was an interesting thought. Takua knew that he needed to get out...but only because on the other side lay sanity, lay the medication that would keep his eventual cracking at bay. He had to get out if he wanted to survive to the end of his lifespan. The rest of him...almost wanted to stay here. In The World, he had some measure of regular power, summons, spells that he could never use in the real world. He could fight alongside people, prove that he had courage, prove that he was worth something in a way that would never work in the real world. You didn't fight monsters and other players just to survive unless you were in the army. Here, you really fought as a team, or could. Players could be resurrected, parties taken from the brink of defeat to brutal effectiveness in the blink of an eye and back.

It was an entirely different world, one that modern man was probably never meant to be in. Kira would hang him for these thoughts, he knew, and smiled wryly at that. He was fresh here...just a few hours, maybe a day, out of his comatosing. But already, he could like this just a little bit. At least, until the whole paranoid schizophrenia thing slammed down again, and suddenly this world was sinking him up to his eyebrows in shit. He wanted to live, he wanted to survive, and he wanted to have some fun while he was doing it. Ordinarily, without the disease, that's what this would be, a grand chance to test his real worth against the world and prove to himself that he wasn't just another worthless person, that he had power, that he could do things.

Out in the real world...as the horribly cliché saying went, he was just another high schooler. Just another ordinary boy with nothing special about him. He was good at psychology, which was ironic since he had schizophrenia, and with video games...but that was about it. He had a few friends in the real world, but even those would be hard for him to keep up now. The other people that he knew in The World he'd be forced to be next to, and that was a little different. He knew that he had to fight, to live, to die next to their side or else he might as well give up right now and commit suicide. Just another statistic of those thousands of people who couldn't take their disease and ended it all with one swift action. A building, a gun, a knife, a car, pills...a hundred ways of taking their own life, just to ensure that they could finally be at peace.

But the inner prideful person inside of his screamed in denial at that. That would be to acknowledge that he had lost, that he couldn't triumph even against his own mind. Couldn't do anything against the raging beast that had taken control of his brain. He'd take it back, one thought at a time, and do everything in his power to ensure that he would not be a danger to anyone who didn't deserve it. It was a hard thing to say, and he knew it would be even harder to carry out, but he didn't see any choices. If he didn't make himself survive by fighting the disease...well, he'd hate himself. He was sure that, at some point in the future, or perhaps many times, he'd decide that now would be the time to end himself and just finally be at rest.

But, just as it had been for Gwyneth, to do that would also be to murder Ondine. He wasn't sure if she'd stop him, or if she could stop him, if he turned his hand against himself. Oh, sure, all of the evidence pointed towards that she could, but that didn't matter at all if he took her by surprise, or found a way to keep her from taking over their body.

So he had to keep from dying. Okay, that sounded simple enough, but he already had more than a little bit of a hint that it was going to be hard. Just listening to the sounds around him, to the voices, was already bringing him closer and closer to the point where he would snap and kill the next person who threatened him in any way. All around him were voices, whispers, pointing him out, putting bounty on his head, organizing people to kill him. Were any of these true, or were they a hallucination? Here, he didn't have a guess as to if it were true or not. Among the Freedom Fighters, he at least could hope and make an educated guess that they weren't going to slaughter one of their own without good reason...but without solid evidence, even that thought was a fragile wall against his paranoia.

He was going to have to tell one of the leaders, he thought gloomily. Nighthand, Sheena or Demorian. Tell them that they couldn't put their trust into him, that they had to watch him for signs that he was going to lose it. And ask that they not tell the others until he was ready, until he could bring himself to trust them enough to say anything. One had to think that that would be easy. After all, they'd just fought against Tritoch and apparently killed him, although what happened at the end there was a little hazy in Tak's memory. But...the thought that they'd take advantage of an exposed weakness sealed his lips. Even from Talal.

He passed the huge gates into the Elemental District as that thought line flowed into his mind. Talal. What did he think about her? An interesting person no doubt, and one who had gotten yanked into this world because Takua had been so stupid as to drop hints and reveal the Eventide Crescendo. Stupid, stupid move, he'd nearly managed to get her killed in real life too. But what about his emotions? Shouldn't he look at her as some kind of friend?

But the sickening truth was that he couldn't trust her at all. Something about her made him jump backwards, close off, try and avoid her. The boy didn't know what it was, especially when she so obviously trusted him fully. Thought of him as a close friend when he couldn't really feel that connection. Someone that he knew, someone that he was responsible for because of what he had done...but because of this disease in his mind, he couldn't think of her in the way that he should. That was something that he didn't want to tell the Twin Blade, wouldn't if he could avoid it. It was mean, it was cruel, it was annoying even to him.

The other people, with the exception of a few, he didn't know that well. That was bad, because he didn't have a baseline for them when he wasn't paranoid, he couldn't be sure what was the truth and what was the lie. To him, he might see something very different than the person that he was linking to, or from someone right next to him. He wasn't sure if hallucinations were avoided while linking, and he couldn't make that assumption or be destroyed. The real truth wasn't even in front of his eyes, he could no longer truly see reality. How annoying, how difficult for him to be able to do anything now. If this was a lie, what he saw and reacted to wasn't there, he'd alienate people who didn't know the truth. But if it was true...he might not react, assuming that it was some sort of lie.

He hissed in anger, avoiding a giant of a Heavy Axe in ice that walked past him. Hell, he was already in the Ruem sector? Well, that was handy. He hadn't expected to find the place so quickly- but his next thought shut off as soon as he realized what he was seeing. The place was beautiful, or at least classy. Water ran absolutely everywhere, vast fountains, and tons of alabaster forming the foundation of the buildings. He was pretty sure that that was a river off to his left, running right next to the main roadway. A towering glass and crystal fresco hung off to the side, water streaming down it. Oddly, for all of the water around here, there weren't much life at all. No plants, no trees, although there was quite a lot of room around.

Realizing that he was slightly blocking the gate, he started to walk forward, constantly switching viewpoints to see what was around him. The place seemed enormous, or at least it gave that impression. He could see for hundreds of feet in front and behind, the buildings crafted so as to give the impression that there was more room around than there could possibly be. More fountains, just like the first, were scattered everywhere, running by the small stream, planted next to buildings. He smiled, enjoying the atmosphere for once, just trying to revel in it. Fortunately, his sight seemed to be fine for the time being...no out of place hallucinations just yet.

The bridge came out of nowhere, letting the stream go underneath it before meandering on the other side. All of the buildings were made out of glass, crystal and alabaster, creating quite the surreal scene after all of the mish-mash of the Bazaar. It was as if he'd gone ahead and stepped into another world...and that was before he even saw the Castle in the center of the sector.

It was a huge mansion, carved out of the same building materials that he'd been seeing...and then it seemed to seamlessly integrate ice and flowing water into it as well. It seemed a little decorative, very ornate, but there were quite a few people around it. Wandering around as if they had nothing to do there except for...talking apparently. It all had a feel very much like a high class university...or did until he could hear the whispers start all around him. Ignoring them, he continued to look around, occasionally moving on to someone else's vision to get a better view or keep himself in sight.

It seemed that this was the section where all major roads converged, as several other streams led in and mixed with each other before continuing on. Where did one end and where did the next begin? That was a little confusing...he wasn't sure that he knew the answer to that. What he did know was that he liked the place. Even if it belonged to the enemy, this wasn't a bad spot to hang out at all. Kind of...peaceful in some way. That was an odd, alien thought, one quickly rejected. He was in the enemy's city, it couldn't be peaceful here.

So he wandered for a while. He had nothing else to do for just a little bit. The center square that surrounded the mansion was a good place to be, as was the very large street that led to the Chaos Gate at the center of the District. He saw that as he wandered, but didn't leave the Ruem sector. That was enough for him to know why it was there in the first place. Turning around, he walked back towards the castle...thinking.

It would now be time to set up his little chat with Kira and Sekai, tell them about what was happening and that he needed help. Reveal why he had been so out of it...tell them exactly what they had gotten themselves into. Or what they would. He couldn't really blame them if they decided that they couldn't be around such a high continence, long term project like him. After all, he could always fall apart at the seams at a moments notice and all of the work that they put into him could evaporate. That wasn't very fair to them...in either case.

“You were the one who said that you needed to talk to them. Even if you think that they're just going to say that they can't do it, which they won't, you need to at least have people around who know what's going on.”

He chuckled, although he was troubled that he was unable to see her still. That was annoying...when would he have his own sight back so that she'd be there again? Bleh, it was so odd to be alone again in that way...when he always had someone there. Well, she was still there, but now nothing seperated her from the other voices screaming in his ears. He didn't like focusing on them, but it was hard not to. Still, he came back with his reply, oddly humorous in a dark situation. “Preaching to the choir. I'm the one who took that class anyways, get the heck outta mah memory ya wench. If I'm to survive, I need people to talk to and that I can communicate with. People that I can bring myself to trust. That needs to expand...one day. For now, even if its only two people...that's better than nothing.”

She clucked her tongue, and he felt her hand touch his own again, slipping in for a reassuring squeeze at the same time that she whacked the back of his head. “Don't backtalk to me boy, I'll turn you into little chunks of meat by playing with Kira. You'll have to tell them about me too, you know, I'm not exactly something that you can leave out.”

He glanced around the main square for a moment, backtracking through various people until he spotted what he wanted. A bar. He felt a mental eyebrow lift from Ondine, glad that he could at least surprise her a little...and hoped that she didn't get any bright ideas about getting him horribly drunk before anyone else got there. “Oh I'm aware. Now, this place looks like a great place to talk, assuming that they have any booths away from the main floor...”

The bar's name was Endless Springs, and it seemed to be a classy establishment, just like the rest of the sector. From the looks of the menu that he saw another person looking at, it seemed to cater mostly Vodka and Sake...both of which would get someone hammered in short order. Assuming that Yamiyo didn't have any ID checkers (how would you know?) then he could get horribly drunk here in a few minutes.

Turned out that he was right. There was no sort of mechanism to keep wonderful underage minors from entering and drinking to their hearts content. Maybe those poor bastards here in Yamiyo needed a good drink every now and again. Small problem with that though. Just looking at a huge, muscle bound bartender who was trying to fit into a Miko outfit that was a full two sizes small for him, resulting in an image that could probably sober up anyone who looked at him. Actually, Takua thought to himself, maybe the point at which you knew you had enough to drink was when he looked like a real Miko and someone that you could dig. At that point, you got the hell out of the bar, found your place to sleep, and prepared for one beastly mammoth of a hangover.

It didn't take long for him to get himself a table, and even less time for him to get himself a drink. Bloody Maru by name, sounded like it could put him under the table in a hurry. Given the topic of conversation, that could either be a good thing or a bad thing. Sitting in the booth, he couldn't help but hesitate as he crafted the flashmail. This...would be the point where nothing could be taken back. He wouldn't get any second chances after this. He was betting everything on two people. Go all in, or fold his hand right now.



The decision was easy. He'd already promised them that he'd tell them after all, and he owed them an explanation about the eyes. He 'looked' down at the drink in front of him before he knocked it back, feeling the burn ravage his throat all the way down. Not stopping for very long, he ordered another one. This might make him feel good enough to look coherent when they got there, but it wouldn't get him drunk. Now...it was time to wait, and hope that they didn't take that long.

"I know the pieces fit,
'cause I watched them fall away" - 'Schism' Tool

Takua latched onto someone else's vision and waited for them to arrive, simply watching the front door and waiting for the little Archer and tall Long Arm to arrive. While he was at it, he continued to order drinks, curious as to what would happen when he got drunk and thankful that he'd have people that he could...force himself to trust over while he did so. Plus, he wanted his tongue as loose as possible so that he could talk about this sort of thing without horrible amounts of internal agony...or at least not more than he expected already. Thus, he was rather relieved when he spotted them come in the door, turning to them and waving to get their attention...and was then amused when Kira ignored his flashmail and looked at the bartender. Suitably horrified, she covered Sekai's eyes with her hand and led them both to where the Wavemaster sat. When they sat down, Kira muttered something in a language that Takua couldn't identify before speaking in english. "Next time there's some body builder in a two-sizes too small miko outfit? Don't tell me he's there." Kira informed the blue clad youth in front of her with a glower he could probably feel.

Takua chuckled, eyes closed as he searched vaguely for someone who could see the two of them...and didn't find one. Instead, he latched onto their own vision and took at look at himself, a single glass of Sake in front of him...and the slightly drawn expression that gave a hint that this was gonna be a lot of bad stuff in a very short sitting. Maybe that was why he had the Sake. Only somewhat bemused, he paused for a moment while sorting out how he had to move, and then slid the menu over to them so that they could order what they wanted. “And if I hadn't told you that he was there, you'd have asked me to tell you ahead of time.” A lightly more natural grin broke out on his face for a few seconds. His right hand reached up and tapped his temple, and the smile faltered. “You'll pardon me if I do not open my eyes, it isn't a pretty sight.”

He could feel the mood die down a little as Kira ordered a few things off the menu before looking back up at him and speaking again. "Everything's healing alright?" She didn't seem fazed by what he had said...but this was Kira, he hadn't really expected her to be. Plus, he hadn't shown them his eyes yet, not that he was going to.

At least he seemed cheerful about it in some ways, picking up the glass again and swirling it around...although he couldn't do it that well.  He couldn't see out of his eyes after all.  That made it a fun little game.  There was a slight trace of...bitter amusement, but only slight.  Mostly, it was bemused.  "Not so much.  Looks like Twilight got a grip on me faster than anticipated.  Right now, my eyes are utterly useless.  Just two little balls.  That said, I can still see, just not out of my own eyes.  So..."  He paused, tilting his head, and then continued.  "At this moment I can't see you.  I can see myself through your eyes, Kira.  If I wanted to stretch it, I could use Sekai's at the same time, but that...hurts.  From what the Doc said, my eyes are slowly...reintegrating.  Until Twilight decides that it can match my eyes to my body again, I'm going to have to use someone else to see."  Another smile, this one a bit wider.  "Which will make the next few days, weeks or months interesting, to say the very least."

Kira frowned, as if puzzled by what Takua had said. That was...to be expected, since the boy hadn't done a really good job of doing it. What did surprise him was when Sekai spoke up instead. "That explains a few things then." Kira looked over, unwitting giving Takua a prime view of Sekai's face and movements for the time being. Switching back and forth, although good for keeping an eye on how they were both looking, was proving to be an interesting task in concentration. "It's... the way Takua-san was moving a moment ago, when we first arrived."

Something about that explanation seemed to confuse the AI even more, or at least it caused Sekai to try and explain it even further for Kira's benefit. "He... um, moves awkwardly and has to align his movements in a way that won't make him look too, um, odd. It's kind of like, well, trying to draw yourself without looking at the paper using a mirror in front of you, I guess is the best way to put it." She took a quick drink out of her glass, paused and set it down with a confused, critical look into the sapphire colored liquid. "...what is this, exactly? It tastes like one of those blue raspberry hard candies... but a little different somehow."

Takua switched back, barely seeing Kira out of the corner of Sekai's eyes shrug and then proceed to look back down at her own very alcoholic beverage. "Sea Sapphire is the name of yours, couldn't tell you what's in it though. Mine's a Jewel of Life though."

He laughed, looking down at his own drink. Amazing how Sekai had gotten it so quickly...so very observant she was. Taking a sip of the sake again, he let the taste roll down his throat and knew that, next time, he'd be trying a Vodka style mix. His smile remained, glad that he could be in such good humor at a time like this. Ondine clucked her tongue next to him, reminding him that he had something else to talk about as well, but he didn't falter that smile. Dammit, he'd been too depressed lately, he needed to show them that he could laugh at well, right? Or maybe that was just the alcohol talking through him right now... “Bloody Maru is the name of mine, one hell of a kick to it. Couldn't tell you what's in it either. Anyways, the gist of it is, my abilities are surfacing surprisingly quickly, and I don't know when I'll have my own eyesight back to play with. Point is though, I will get it back at some point in the future. Until then, I get to figure out how to walk all over again.”

He clucked his tongue and then looked back up again before turning, just slightly, towards Sekai. “Now then, considering that I was knocked out for quite some time, either of you mind filling me in on what happened after I knocked on my ass? I have a flashmail...and that's an interesting experience since I can't see it, it's all a...call it telepathy, I see it in my head, not through my eyes. So I know a little bit and I have a ton more gp, but I haven't a clue what else went on or where I'm supposed to head back to.”

Sekai paused a moment, obviously trying to figure out how best to explain exactly what the hell had gone on.  "Well... um, we were lead to a safehouse of sorts as kind of a temporary base, the GP bonus is, um, from the Yamiyo guards who helped in the fight, they were grateful for our help in defeating Tritoch-san and keeping him from destroying parts of the town. Everyone is kind of doing their own thing at this point... and Dien-san, Kira and I sneaked you out and to a doctor to see if they could help you regain your vision." She paused for breath...and then something happened that caused Takua to flinch instantly.

A bright light suddenly flared directly behind Sekai, a light that went from green to red right as a third person took their place on the opposite side of the table. Thankfully for Takua, they both turned to give him a nice look at who this new person was, and in the process, noticed that her presence had rather squished Sekai. The woman was tall and dark skinned with rose colored hair and startlingly light jade green eyes dressed in pink, gold and green. Gold bangles on her wrists chimed softly as she raised a hand and accepted a drink that appeared in front of her. "While you were being treated, the Blademaster, this youngling and her little guardian returned to the Wastelands to give their respects to that downed mutated Admin and met yours truly in the process." She took a sip of the glass that had someone appeared in front of her, evidently ignoring the sudden discomfort that she had produced in the Wavemaster by offering quite a white smile at him. "I am called December, the Desert Rose of the Wastelands is my self-assigned title. A pleasure to meet you."

What?!  Or, more aptly, who?  His eyes flared in shock, and through force of habit, his eyelids opened. 

They were purely, utterly and completely dull white without an ounce of life in them...no, that was wrong.  There was something that lurked in their center, avoiding outright detection, something that couldn't be identified.  They were alive, but not in the typical sense.  No pupil, no color, only the crawling sensation that there was something inside of there.

And his eye lids slammed down again as he recovered, grinning wryly at the woman that he certainly hadn't anticipated being along.  His voice was a little shaky though, her sudden appearance had scared him more than he wanted to let on, and subtly shifted his mood and future topic line.  "Well hello then.  A pleasure to meet you too.  I'm Takua, no title.  I'd offer a drink, but that privilege was taken from me."  He grinned to show that he was joking, and then raised an eyebrow just slightly.  "Glad to have you with us, although I'm a little curious as to what role you'll be playing."

The new woman gave a very polite smile before folding her hands and resting her chin in front of her. The painted red nails were a rather stark contrast to her skin and eyes, although he couldn't see the latter that well thanks to the view that he had from Kira. "So you are the one she was thinking about the duration of the time we fought. You may think of me as a second bodyguard for this youngling here and, to an extent, an ally of your group's, since my blades currently fall in her possession and assignments."   Her arm moved, pulling Sekai in for a rather affectionate hug before pinching her on the cheek. There was just the slightest bit of a poisoned grin given toward him though, which made him feel like, on Sekai's word, he'd be dead. Takua switched vision again and- yup, Kira was looking really annoyed right now. Hmmm...just how did Kira feel about this new addition? Was this part of Sekai's ability, to be able to bring people around with her?

Sekai's voice broke into the silence, sounding a little awkward and looking like she wanted another glimpse of what his eyes looked like. "S-She's okay. Is... is what happened when your eyes were replaced... is that an effect of the abilities yet to come?" She asked right before she glared at the Long Arm who was currently attempting to kill December with mind lasers alone. Takua almost laughed, almost, but he was looking at December as well.

There was a long silence as Takua stared without eyes at December for quite some time, obviously evaluating her...but it wasn't sure exactly what he was evaluating for once. Could he speak? Could he bring himself to trust her? Could he bring himself to be around the two that he already knew with the potentiality of having to trust people that they brought in? Eventually, he was the one who lowered his head and sighed. So. Sekai had been deeply worried about him? Why? Just because he was unconscious? Well, okay, so that was well enough reason to worry, but that didn't sound like it was it.

Ondine, sitting right next to him, spoke up, although she wasn't audible to anyone else. At least, not yet she wasn't. “There are a few reasons that I can think of, and none that you should bring up now. You wanted to do this, you need to do it. Or I'll do it for you, and we both know how well that would turn out.”

His lips curled slightly back up at that, and he looked back up, although he, for some reason, nodded a thank you at Kira. Exactly why wasn't immediately obvious, but it might become so eventually. “Hmm...I'm not sure. It might be, it might not. Just from this, it's apparent that my abilities have something to do with my senses.” He halted abruptly, as if remembering something he wasn't sure was pleasant or not. “So...maybe Twilight needed my old eyes gone or something. Maybe there's a reason why they're being restructured or whatever is going on. All I know is, I can't...maybe the word is 'synch' with them. I have em, but I can't use them until they're fully ready.”

December was the one who spoke up, seemingly intrigued by all of this. "Intriguing way of thinking," She spoke rather slowly, and the noise that she made afterwards drew Kira's attention...as well as Takua's. That hadn't sounded like a noise you would make before something good. "But, if that's the case; wouldn't that mean your actual vision itself... you are human, if I'm reading things correctly, outside is completely gone too? Maybe I'm overthinking it, but if this Twilight bit you happen to be talking about is taking something big, like your ability to see, in order to replace it with something that'll be of use to you? Why wouldn't it go ahead and, well, kind of screw you on the deal and make you sacrifice something outside of what you're able to give here in this place."

Sekai obviously did like that thought, a rather natural note of cheerfulness emerging from a smile. "S-So what was it that you found out that you mentioned in your flashmail, Takua-san?" That was when she took a rather...large gulp of the drink in front of her.

Probably unfortunately for what might happen in the near future, Takua also took a rather hearty drink at the thought of going blind in real life as well. The thought...sickened him. What if that were true? It made no sense to him at all...but that didn't stop the paranoia that it could be true from racing through his blood, igniting his brain. He had to deny that somehow. How? Perhaps a little too quickly, he came back with an answer. “Right now, I'm a bunch of binary. Code. If I burn out these eyes, my body should be unaffected. The...” He paused again, thinking along an extremely unwelcome line of thought. Finally, he spoke up again, considerably more subdued. “My...brain, my consciousness, the thing that's straddling two worlds might be damaged though. If I'm convinced utterly in this world that I should not see, then I might not if I get back to the other one. But there's no evidence there. It's...” Another painful pause, clearly remembering something from Gan. Xander and his Dread Code Vampirism, something that the Wavemaster had shared, if only briefly. “...extremely hard for someone who is in a coma to wake up in the real world. The only person that I know of didn't seem to be physically affected, but I also know that his mind might have been affected.”

He shook his head, trying to resume a small smile. “The flashmail was just the gift for...dealing with Tritoch away from the city.” A small grimace flickered at that. Another person dead. Insane, yes, but dead nonetheless. Now that he wasn't fighting, he could look at it without it impairing his ability to survive. Obviously, he didn't like it, and with any luck, never would. The people who liked killing others...how twisted were they? He almost shook his head, not a thought for now, that could wait until later...again, again. Always putting things off until later. He switched views a few times, trying to gauge the mood. Let it get better and trash it again, or go now and then let it get better?

“I suppose now's the best time. I told you both that something was wrong, but I didn't want to talk about it then.” He paused, and 'looked' at December without doing so. He couldn't really ask her to not listen in, she'd be around Sekai at all times. Fine. One more person he'd have to let in. Something screamed at that, but he overrode it, ignored it as best as he could. He was having to do that enough right now anyways, nice practice. Never mind that he was feeling tiny tremors all over his body, he was just being delusional. “I suppose the best off the bat question is, do any of you know about Paranoid Schizophrenia?”

December and Kira didn't know and showed it with a shake of the head. Sekai was trying to think really hard, but eventually came out with her response that she didn't know either, looking ashamed of herself...although she should know some English term for a psychological disease? Ugh, dammit, not what he had wanted to have happen. But then December spoke up, and he refocused on her. He didn't trust her yet, even if she had been chosen by Sekai to follow them around. Then again, he smiled inwardly to himself, that was probably a good thing.

"'Paranoid Schizophrenia'," the newcomer to the group repeated flawlessly, as if English was likely her first language. "Is it a liability of some kind that we should all know about?"

Takua couldn't help it. He laughed. Loudly enough that a few people from the main floor could hear him, and looked up. A waitress came by, and he ordered another drink to keep her happy about his being unruly. Somehow, something named Shadow Fantasy sounded just right for him right now. After a minute of silence, organizing his thoughts, he started to speak again. “Liability is an understatement. It's a psychological disease. Effectively, it's broken into two parts. Paranoid, which is self-explanatory, and Schizophrenia, which is where we start to have fun.” The word 'fun' had a rather nasty ring to it, and it suddenly became obvious that he was trying to laugh so that he didn't cry. Again. Mocking something that was truly tearing him up on the inside so that he could face it.

“Effectively, I will have hallucinations for the rest of my life. I will hear, see and feel things that don't actually exist. These will feel utterly real to me, there is...no real way for me to tell apart a hallucination from the 'real world' as it were. The entire time that I've been sitting here, I've been trying to hear what you're saying through at least six different people talking or screaming in my ears. It isn't easy, it isn't pleasant. Half of them tend to provoke my paranoia, the other half try to suppress it. In addition to hearing voices that naturally don't exist, I may hear something in your voice that you never said. Or hear it in a tone that...changes the content of what you said. From a friendly 'you don't want to know' into a deadly and treacherous sound. I can't see right now, but it can change how you look, what your facial expressions are.”

“That means that I can also see you attacking me, feel the strike, see the blood...and I'll never know if that really happened or not. I can only guess and hope that my knowledge of the people around me is correct. And, being actively paranoid with what amounts to voices in my head trying to provoke that response, that's a lot easier said than done. That means that, try as I might, so far I have been unable to trust almost all of the...group. The only thing that I can hope for is that they don't actually want to attack me, and even that is based almost entirely on moonbeams and silk. Faith, if you will.”

His smile was thin, but it was at least there. A little hollow and perhaps envisioning a bad future, but there. “All of which means that I'm a horrifyingly large risk for the group. Because I can't trust very well, because I'm paranoid about just about every person in either World, and because paranoid schizophrenics have been known to snap. Rather swiftly I might add. Mostly because they don't realize what's going on and don't seek help or tell other people, but they still do.”

"So, to put it bluntly; you have very little to absolutely no control over your senses and thought processes to the point where you will mistake fantasy or a deceptive self-inflicted illusion for reality." The woman seemed much more interested in what was going on from a purely intellectual standpoint. For a moment, Takua was filled with blind rage. She was seeing what was going on, something that could destroy him, as a little problem to be studied and poked at for the hell of it?! That didn't, on the other hand, change the fact that she was partially right with what she was saying. Sekai, on the other hand, was badly confused and couldn't seem to get it. "This... this isn't something that the Twilight virus did to you, then?"

"...you're telling Sekai and I because it's going to get even worse than it is now, aren't you." Kira broke in with a tone that said that she knew what was going on in at least some way. It was also obvious, from her point of view, that neither of the other two had gotten that far yet, and not for the first time did Takua praise and curse her reasoning abilities. "You haven't said it, but the look on your face, your body language and the way you're talking about all of this says you're pretty fucked at this point."

Sekai turned to stare at Kira, and Takua winced. She didn't get it, and what Kira could say in the next few moments could be incredibly hurtful. "Kira? What are you saying? If it's Twilight related, surely there'll be someone who can-" Kira slammed her drink down, cutting her off viciously and in a rather bad mood before she turned to fix her eyes on the Wavemaster. They were stern, perhaps matronly, although if the boy said that he'd undoubtedly find himself punched into next week. "Sekai; this isn't something caused by my world or the virus supposedly in it. Not once has he even mentioned it as a source; this is something that affects him in both worlds and it isn't going to get better." Silence filled the air between them all, a rather hurt look appearing on Sekai's face that Takua got a glimpse of from December...right before Kira ran a hand through her hair with a sigh. "I'm right, aren't I?" She asked in a quiet voice, not unlike how Sekai would do on occasion. "This isn't something your human doctors can fix, is it."

There was no doubt that the last point had hit home, a long silence taking a hold of the table as Takua 'looked' into his drink. It wasn't a good silence, so he finally hastened to break it before any of the women at the table could speak up. But because his eyes weren't open, there was no warning signs before a tear finally rolled down his right cheek. That seemed to break the silence, and he finally spoke. Quiet, controlled, and yet fragile at the same time, as if that control was a few seconds from snapping. “Schizophrenia has nothing to do with Twilight at all, it's something that originates within my own mind, earthside. It is a chronic, incurable disease. The most that any doctor across the world can do is suppress its symptoms. Unless on medication, most people cannot hold down a job or even live in any way that is called functional. Of course, being paranoid, most of these people are afraid of what they're being given, calling it poison. Life expectancy is ten years below average. Half attempt to commit suicide. Twenty percent of those succeed. So, one in ten die that way at the very least.”

He flinched suddenly, unexpectedly, but after a moment he continued as if nothing had happened. There had been a moment where he had felt an icy hand, or perhaps a blade, slide down his spine, teasing him, small scratches in his skin. Not there. Just another hallucination...right? He was a bit more collected now, farther back from the edge. “Ironically, the condition actually improves your senses. That's a double edged sword though. You hear more, feel more, see more, and it just heightens the realism of your hallucinations.” He couldn't look at them, ducking down and to the right...where Ondine was. He paused again, hesitating. “This...will...get worse. Or, more accurately, I'll show it more. I haven't had time to feel it yet. It doesn't stop for anything. You can't stop hearing, seeing, feeling. That wears you down. It's a marathon from hell, one that people have trouble with even in wonderful peaceful life back on Earth.”

“And I'm in the middle of a war.”

He let that sink in for a moment before he went after it. That was the key, that was the real problem here, that was something that he had to let them know. “In a fight, I won't be able to trust what I see. I won't be able to truly trust my allies, I can't really see what an enemy is doing at all times. And the only way that I'll ever be assured that some day I won't just get up, find some field and vaporize myself, or go find some level 99 monster and commit suicide, is to fight my way back to the real world and put myself on some medicine. Medication that has powerful side effects that could kill me, or fuck me over in some other way anyways.” He had to fight, to kill, to butcher here in The World just for the chance of surviving to get back into the real world so that he could get medication that could kill him. What a twisted fucking reason to fight, he wanted to spit at himself. There was a long chug of his drink, a vile smile on his face trying to hide his feelings, and utterly failing.

As seemed to be the typical case, the new woman decided to speak first, as both of the other two were sitting in what was to Takua an unreadable silence. ”What you are saying is; regardless of what you wish to do, you'll be hearing, seeing, and feeling things that you'll not even know truly exist. Because of this... schizophrenia, you will be unable to tell fact from illusion and thus remain not only a threat to yourself constantly, but to the rest of the group as well.”

She leaned back against the seat and took a drink out of the glass in front of her. What was in there anyways? She'd...created it, or seemed to anyhow, which would go against the laws of The World...oh no, wait, this was Yamiyo, god only knew what happened here, and she was an AI on top of it. ”We could handle this a few different ways; but what do you want from us?” He caught a brief glimpse of both Kira and Sekai looking at the Twin Blade before she shrugged and gestured with an immaculately decorated hand, crimson nails flashing briefly in his sight. ”He came to us about it, yes? Obviously there is something he wishes to ask us or of that sort of thing. We may as well listen since he had the courage to do such a thing to begin with.”

What he wanted? What he wanted was ridiculously impossible, but he had to say it anyways. After all, just as December had said, that was why he had called them here...in part. He took a sip of his drink as he thought about how to say this...before throwing that to the wind. Fuck it, if he tried to compose his request, they'd be here until the rest of the Freedom Fighters thought that they'd been captured by the Elites or something like that. He chuckled lightly, wry humor giving his voice a certain tone that seemed to laugh at himself. “What I want, you might not be able to do. Or, in the end, want to do. What you might do is something else. I...” He paused, not wanting to say it. Oh sure, they might say yes because they cared about his mental state, but...it was a monumental intrusion of privacy.

“I need help ensuring that I'm not totally off base. Essentially, I need someone who understands what's going on, who can talk to me. I...need to be with someone. Being isolated is only going to break me, and that's my instinctive reaction right now. Because I'm afraid of what I might do, because it's easier for me if I don't have to always be thinking about what might happen if those voices are right and I'm inviting someone to stick the knife in my back. What I'm asking for is that I can stick by both of you, or I suppose all three of you now and however many other companions you end up picking up if this continues to be a trend. Not just in the...sense of the rest of the group.”

He was having trouble getting this out, and it was suddenly rather obvious just how hard it was to do this. It was obvious from the look on his face that there was something rather powerful standing in the way that he was trying to get past just to be able to say this. He paused for a moment...and then twitched rather abruptly. When he spoke again, he was cooly professional...and utterly different. His voice had changed to that of a girl's, although one that was managing to display rather startling amounts of maturity for what she might prefer to be doing.

“What he's trying to say through his sense of tact, nervousness and paranoia is that he feels that you two,” Takua's body nodded towards Kira and Sekai for a moment, never stopping its talking. “make him...significantly saner than he could be for whatever reason. What he wants is to be able to travel with you during your...say, time off of the bigger group's activities. He's rather concerned about privacy and how much that would be getting in your way, however, but he's been unable to come up with an alternate solution given the lack of trust he's been able to give anyone else in the larger group.”

Ondine collected herself for a moment before continuing in the same professional tone...although it was just slightly warmer, as if she'd gotten past the distinctly unpleasant part. “Allow me to introduce myself, I am Ondine. I am an alternate personality. Not an AI. Of the two personalities that exist in his head, currently resting on a pillow in a hospital, I am the second one.” She smiled now, far more natural and far more like what she would normally do. “I'm also female, generally far more immature than this, and a bit of a handful, all of which annoys him. I also happen to be very protective of him, which draws out...facets of my personality that I don't generally like using. In any case. That is what he wants. Traveling partners, essentially, so that he isn't in danger from his own hallucinations and paranoia.”

There was a deep look passed between Kira and December, one that Takua couldn't begin to understand...maybe...maybe he was becoming a little more drunk than he'd planned to. Sekai seemed well on her way to that herself, having quite suddenly and swiftly started working her way through her drink. "There will be times it'll just be a one on one interaction rather than a one on three and so on. However, if you are indeed correct in that Sekai here will be gaining more than just myself, I suppose the question all comes down to this; Kira, would you do the honors?"

Sending a scathing look in the woman's direction, Kira wearily pushed a tendril of silvery-blue hair out of her eyes and steepled her fingers together, resting her elbows on the table and her chin atop her fingers. "Are you going to trust Sekai and I to make the judgment calls on those we accept into the contract?" There was a small break, but somehow Takua had the sense that she was going to continue...after she got another round of drinks for everyone and drained the rest of the one that she had had. "Basically, if Sekai and I, She and another or another one and I have to go off somewhere, are you going to trust those we're trusting to watch over you?"

Takua froze for a moment before slowly relaxing a little at a time. Obviously, it was forced, obviously, he was having difficulty with this thought...but he still nodded. Effectively, the only difference between being with the rest of the party and this arrangement would be that these were people that Sekai and Kira picked to join them...which meant that he would have to trust their opinion on that as well. Not...quite what he had wanted, but still far better than what he thought he was going to get. “That...would work. It'll be a struggle but, it'll have to work. I hadn't thought of that because I didn't know about the...other guests, but that would work.” The Wavemaster gave a weak, weak smile, trying to laugh again at himself. He hadn't really expected that they'd say yes to anything like that, and he was rather worried about Sekai. Was he making her depressed enough that she had to take refuge in the drink? He winced at that, but kept going. “I...really am sorry to dump this on you...three I suppose. I'd handle it alone if I could, but nobody that I've ever heard about has made it through schizophrenia alone and alive or sane. I'll try and find other people that I can trust but, until then...”

He shrugged in helplessness, swirling his drink again before he raised his head again, looking in Sekai's general direction. She was the key here, she and Kira. Kira had given a way out of what he was worried furiously about, and he'd taken it. Now...how did she feel? He didn't say anything, just tried to convey that he wanted to know her opinion about what was going on, wanted to know if she thought it was fine.

”Yes.” She said after a moment and looked up, the same gentle, solemn smile that generally lingered on her lips in place as she nodded her head and repeated herself. “We'll do what we can to keep you safe, even from yourself. If I or Kira aren't able to be there, I will be sure to pick someone I feel is trustworthy to help you in our stead.” Feeling awkward and like she was about to cry if she didn't distract herself, the fifteen year old picked up her glass and tentatively held it up like she'd seen in one of Mika-chan's movies. “To new alliances.”

Takua withheld a frown. He couldn't, however, conceal the sudden twitch as one of the voices that constantly hung around, he couldn't remember her name, screamed in his ear. For a moment...no, no, maybe it was nothing and just his being paranoid. Or another hallucination, certainly that was a better thought than the idea that he was causing Sekai more pain just by telling her about this. He chuckled and reached out abruptly, clinking his glass with Sekai's...and then watched with a smile as, from Kira's perspective, the other two women joined in as well. Looks like two other people who knew about that tradition...where the hell had it come from anyways? Well, he'd initiated it, so he might as well say what he needed to say. He was...oddly happy, if only for the moment, and it showed in his voice, in his face, in his smile. He spoke gently, but everyone definitely heard him. “To new alliances...”

He knocked back the rest of his drink, knowing that he was getting drunk and not particularly caring, vaguely noting that all of the other three women were promptly doing the same. Maybe that was because he was already feeling tipsy and whoa that was an interesting feeling when his head went from side to side. “Also, Ondine was completely lying. She is not a 'little' bit of a handful. She could make grown men...she could make Ko crawl over to you, Kira, and sob his little heart out. She's an absolute fiend that I have the pleasure of living with.” He paused, and then spoke to the air on his right, clearly addressing someone that only he could see. “Yes, yes you you little wench, you're utterly impossible. Like when you were dancing on Kira's head earlier. Or...” He abruptly seemed to remember that he had an audience and rather swiftly changed topics. “Oh, a little detail she also forgot to mention. She can take over my body when she feels like it, but I find it a little hard to do the same to her. Some day though...”

Kira scowled the moment that she heard the name Ondine. ”We met her once or twice before.” She drank deeply from a...glowing drink. Takua stared. That was fascinating. What the hell was that drink and how'd it manage to glow like that? “I could make that Vak loving dumbass crawl on his knees crying his little heart out any time, anywhere I wanted.”

“Vak loving? Hmm, he and I may just get along, if we share a common element. Though, I must say. Having a man on his knees is one thing, but crawling while crying? Come now, is that really that entertaining?”

The strange giggle coming from Sekai managed to pierce through Takua's befuddled brain as being strange and unnatural for the usually calm and quiet Archer, especially because the look that she was giving was...was...he blinked again and again. Was she giving a devilishly sly and foxy grin? Part of him began to gibber already, wondering what sort of horror he was about to hear this time.

“No, Onii-san wouldn't be a good target for that,” Another rather infectious giggle as the girl beamed at the three others at her table. ”Make it Takua. Make him go on his knees, crawling, crying and whimpering like a dog and then we can talk about other things.”

Takua's eyes bulged out. Why was she talking about that right now? Ohgod was she some kind of closet sadist who played with S&M toys in the real world? “The weaker they are, the harder they fall, you know that.” A pause. ”And Takua is a lot weaker than Onii-san too, so he'd fall a lot harder. Make him cry, Kira, it'd be funny!” Takua was staring as she flicked an ice cube out of her drink at Kira, wondering where this had come from and where it was leading. But then she leaned across the table at him and started whispering as if trying to confide something.

“But you know what would be really fun, Takua-san?” Sekai giggled again, her golden-brown eyes sparkling with mischief. ”It'd be really fun if we had privacy right now, because I'd smack you right across the face and tell you that you were nothing more than a mean little bitch who needed to be spanked more as a child.” December stared.

Takua's eyes went wide, an astonished expression across his face as he shrank back a little. Then his eyes went a little more wide, to the point that the only accurate way of describing them would be “OMGWTFCHIMPMUNKEYESOFDOOM” as he look at the Archer with a wary and somewhat fearful expression on his face...and that was before he breathed in through pursed lips, an 'ooooh' sound escaping his mouth as he backed up as much as he could in the seat and stared. When he spoke, his words were slightly slurred, but more than that, it seemed like he was gibbering a little. “But...but...I don't wanna get spanked. What'd I do to get spanked?” He drew back even further, and then, for some unseen reason, looked over to his right with a shocked and wide open stare.

“What are you talking about Ondine? Nooooo no. That never happened and I never got spanked and what do you mean of course I didn't find it hot at all and and-” He abruptly stopped, staring at Kira with eyes wider than should be possible and, somehow, innocent as all hell in a way that spelled nothing good in his drunken confusion. “Don't tell me that you're into things like that Kira, has she spanked you before? OhgodIknewit it is the quiet ones you have to watch for and and and...” It seemed that comprehension had fled for the moment as Takua wound up gibbering about how he certainly didn't like being hit like that and how he somehow knew that Sekai would be the one to keep Kira under her hand like that. Now and then, those same wide and slightly crazed eyes would glance up and stare at them all as if saying 'oooohhhh' once again before twitching back down.

Sekai gave him a puzzled look, eyes widening a little after a few moments. "Nooo, not Takua-san," She shook her head at him for the emphasis, not that it made him feel any better. "Trent, not Takua-san. Takua-san hasn't done anything needing to be beaten like... what is it they say again? A freckle headed step child?" Takua was barely able to retain enough concentration to flip to a different point of view, seeing rather unfocused eyes looking up at Kira before his viewpoint shook back and forth.

"One; that's 'you need to be beaten like a red headed stepchild, and two? What the hell? Why are we talking about spanking to begin with? Trent doesn't need to be spanked, he needs to be dead and permanently, something I'm working on, thanks." Somehow, Kira seemed to get that out even though it was like the words were killing her. Now why was that, Takua wondered slowly. [color=#1B3F8B][b]"She doesn't spank, she bites and we already established that. Next. subject. Please. And who the hell said you could have another glass? You're done." Kira was evidently contemplating how Sekai had managed to get another glass, something that Takua hadn't seen happen at all. Huh. That was a little creepy.

Takua's eyes came back and focused on Kira for a moment before shooting a glare into the empty space at his right, coherent speech back at least for the moment. [color=#EEAD0E][b] “She's not a red headed stepchild, but she needs to be beaten like one. Ondine. Ondine? Wha- No. No! I've already talked to you about that twice today! You don' touch an- no no, baaaad girl, put those hands awayandwhatdoyouthink you're doing?! Tha- That's a ground rule that you said you w-wouldn't break.” He froze up suddenly and...squeaked. Exactly like a mouse would have. Exactly what Ondine was doing was probably something that the other people at the table were glad they couldn't see.

He suddenly and rather quickly shot Kira a pleading look while raising drunken hands to fight off the vixen on his side of the table. His voice was half sobbing, half tired, and all pleading. “No girl, dammit, we're not doing this and get your hands away from me. Kira! Save me dammit.” Before anyone could make a move, or say anything else, Takua's voice changed rather abruptly back into Ondine's. “Oh no Kira, don't save him, he doesn't want to be saved now do you? I need my fun too~” “No! Dammit Kira, Sekai, uhhh...uh...what's her name...June? Hot chick? I dunno...I obviously haven't had enough to drink yet...”

"Humans are quite entertaining when inebriated, easy to stab too; December, though Satsuki is the name I was given by my mistress." Satsuki leveled a brilliant smile at the Long Arm at the table, much to Takua's amusement...although why he was amused, he couldn't tell you. Especially with that talk about stabbing him. "My, isn't this fun? Shall we continue seeing where this will go?"

"No." Kira, the Wavemaster noted absently before switching to a point of view that could see the glare, wasn't too happy right now. Now why was that? Everyone else was having fun, now why couldn't she? Such a pity... "As for you," The sudden and quick movement of his 'eyesight' indicated that she was staring at him, probably glaring. "No more. I'm cutting you in half, understand?"

The Archer giggled at him, and his eyesight swiveled over to the little woman as the shot glass moved back into Kira's field of view. That shot was rather suddenly filled with her white hair resting on Kira's shoulder, prompting Takua to switch views over to December in time to see the beaming smile she bestowed on him right before she placed a kiss on Kira's shoulder. Takua's eyes, had they been open, would have widened as he saw the normally shy girl wind her arms around the Long Arm. "That's my bitch!" She proclaimed happily, rubbing her cheek against her shoulder with a giggle of delight as one hand moved to her mouth. "Ooo, I said something naughty," She said in a loud whisper before breaking out into a fit of laughter that had her shaking. "I-I-I I'm a very bad girl."

"You're so dead when you get into the training room next." Kira muttered that, seemingly under her breath although everyone could hear it, and didn't seem too excited when a loud shriek of laughter came from the Archer.

Takua nodded heartily when he heard Satsuki's name, trying to file it away for a few seconds before simply giving up and looking back over at Kira and Sekai...right as what Sekai did and said filtered through his brain. His eyes went wide as he heard something that, should she have been sober, she would never have said at all. Not that he was particularly aware of that anyways, he was too caught up in the moment of seeing the cute couple across the table from him. “Awww...Kira's your bitch? I'm sure she enjoys it.”

He shook his head slightly, although that action cased him to feel a little woozy. Maybe he had had too much to drink. Or...he eyed the glass that Sekai had. Was it full or was it empty? He could'a sworn that it had something in it. But when he reached out to grab it, something else caught his attention. A fourth female over there where there shouldn't be and doin-

His voice was a little shocked and all warning, flailing at someone only he could see as he lectured like a big brother to a younger sister. “No Ondine. You can't do that. Can't grab Kira's boobs. They're for Sekai only, you understand....no, I don't care how awesome you think they are...and don't grab...December's either. Hey now, hey now, leave the Chibi alone, ya don't wanna go there. Kira'd beat your ass. Hey Kira, do you like spanking then?”

It was clear, even to the currently drunk Wavemaster, that something had snapped Kira's patience rather badly in the past few seconds. Her palms slammed down on the table hard enough to make everything on it jump an inch and a half into the air in a clatter of noise. One finger shot toward December, Tak's current point of view, with an accusing glare. "You. Stop encouraging them." The finger moved down and jabbed toward her lover, the Wavemaster trying not to ooo in surprise. "You; big trouble." And it traveled swiftly to Takua and looked as if she wanted to poke it through his skull and into his brain. "And you. No more stupid questions."

Much to the boy's great sadness, his drink promptly vanished as Kira snapped her fingers, replaced with water. Water of all things. This was...completely and utterly intolerable in every way! She was doing something with an ice cube, although he didn't really know what. What mattered was that both she and Satsuchi...Satsusi...fuckit, December had drinks still. Takua's eyes went into a classic and highly effective kicked-puppy face as he was denied another one of his, as he thought of it, rightful drinks. Nevermind that his head was spinning and everything felt really good in a way that he'd never been able to get before, and that everyone's voice felt really far away. Including the five voices that seemed to have become constant companions to him, which was fine by him. But, still, he downright wibbled at the Long Arm across from him in some strange demented hope that she'd give him another drink. He rather hoped that it'd work, because this feeling could go on for all he cared, when all of the worries in the world vanished from his shoulders and he didn't have to think about what tomorrow would bring...

"You can give me that look as many damn times as you want, I ain't givin' in. We should get going pretty quick or, knowing how our luck goes, we're going to wind up getting into a bar fight with some assholes trying to pick the three of us up." A pause as she gave Takua a once over. She seemed more than a little irritated with the rest of them...but hey, what could he expect? This was Kira after all, showing her love through, well, beating the shit out of all of them. It's just the way it went. What was she saying again? "...maybe five. Hard to tell with you."

Contrary to what Kira might have expected, the result was a quiet, very feminine groan from the Wavemaster. Were it not for the fact that he had had his hair cut...no, no, nevermind, because he'd leaned over and his hair was falling in a certain way, maybe he did look a little like a girl right now. Never the less, it was definitely Ondine who was speaking her mind for all to hear, and that included some things that were likely to cause Kira to flip out even more. “Mmm...five men...I dunno...his body's a little weak for that...” A horrible giggle and the same relaxed, blissful voice. “If I had my own body though...”

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

He wasn't sure what time it was when he woke up, blinking owlishly and then wincing at the pain from the light that streamed in from someone's sight. It didn't take any time at all for the blinding headache to strike either, and he momentarily put on hold how come having a hangover meant that someone else's eyesight hurt your brain in favor of trying to remember what he had done the night...or day before. Fuck, how long had he slept exactly?

Well, a deal is a deal, and since Locke posted, I guess I should grade this.

Takua -> 2400 EXP, 5200 GP, + Cygnus Rod, +4 Artisan's Souls. And of course the hack stuff.