Reeducation is Never Easy. [Avery, Arawn, or Invite.][NR]

That was a good nap; a very, very good nap. The lava was clean and he'd be damned if some time in a good hot environment didn't do him some good. His people took to lava flows like their ancestors took to rivers and streams; they didn't outright need them to survive so long as they could stay well fed and warm; but it was a very nice break and a good chance to relax and rejuvenate themselves. He'd reappeared at the same place he'd disappeared; breaking through the slowly cooling crust of the magma flow with ease and emerging mostly unseen. A few children saw him return; sent running and screaming about the "monster coming from the hot place!" to their parents; which lead to nothing more then shaking heads and gentle reminders that "monsters are myths" when the parents found nothing there. He'd moved on quickly; sticking to the alleys and less frequented areas where he figured he would find Avery waiting for him.

Or this would work, yes. It had to have been a place for public gatherings; it was the largest open space he'd seen yet. Maybe a paved pavilion for temporary markets? More likely a place for the people to gather while the old powers that ruled spoke the comforting lies that oppressed and sheltered the citizens. Now, now it was vibrant and thriving park; thick, soft grasses and giant trees covering the grounds. It smelled of flowers blooming and the gentle hint of ash and char; definitely a place she would gravitate towards. If nothing else, he could enjoy a quick snack of green wood and bark before continuing his search.

"Commander! We've docked in the port. Alpha squad is on standby, awaiting orders."

"Thank you, Captain. I'll be long shortly. Have Alpha dress as combat-ready civi's; no need to attract unwanted attention. Small Arms only; nothing that cannot be hidden. Have them split: junction as much support and defensive magic, while the rest focuses on solitary offense." It never hurt to be safe. She wanted to avoid a fight as much as she could; but hatred could last for years, and vengece was hard to kill. Cool blue eyes met the officer's own before glancing down at her wrist. The small timepice there read out at exactly 1200. "I also want this Garden fully restocked and refueled by 1800, understand?"

"Yes sir!"

"That is all, Captain. Dismissed." As the door to her quarters was closed, the female let out a sigh of relief; this job was never easy. But at least, today was not going to be insane. A formal apology, one that was to adressed to the leader of this city for her Father's actions. It was long overdue, but better late than never. And so, she was here to make this apology on behalf of the SeeD corporation and Garden. She'd go in full military dress: the standard female SeeD Uniform: modeled after the Japanese seeraafuku, consists of a black blouse with dark blue shoulders that echo the design of the sailor-style collar. Attached to the collar are two gold-trimmed "wings" that hang over the chest; a maroon tie is also worn with a metal clasp possessing the SeeD logo. The ensemble is completed with a straight skirt cutting off just above the knees, topped off with black knee-high boots. The squad accompanying her would be dressed as civilians with 'special' gear: the basics of urban infiltration, including special engineered 'contact lenses' that would allow them to identify each other in a crowded area: the combat-ready civilian clothing provided almost as much protection as the normal combat gear, while still retaining the appearance of civi clothing.

But her? She was going in 'naked'. Well, mostly.

As she passed from through the doorway out of her quarters, her weapon of choice was snatched from the stand; the holster was fitted as she Walked to the loading bay to meet Alpha Squad. Upon her arrival, the group of six stood at attention, snapping her a salute. "Today's mission is very simple, Alpha. We're going out into the city. Your job is to keep watch from various locations while I complete the mission. Blend in with the crowd; and keep your eyes peeled. If somethig happens, form into two-man teams: one offense, one support. However, do not engage unless I give the order. If you are attacked, by all means, defend yourselves."

"Yes Sir!"

"Alright then, Alpha. Lets move!"

A break. She had definitely needed a break. She didn't do so good with people anymore; especially with Marquetta rattling off things to say in her head, and while she understood Houjin's quick retreat she had felt trapped with the many questions thrown her way. It seemed, towards the end of everything, that the people were looking to herself and Houjin as their new leaders: even though nothing had been made official.

She didn't yet know how she felt about this, either.

So, she had hidden herself away in the shelter of nature; high up in a tree, hidden by the leaves that acted as a natural block; while able to see Houjin's arrival. She slipped from tree to tree, her agile form moving easily between the branches; while barely rustling any leaves. When she got to about six feet up off of the ground she jumped the rest of the way, landing lightly in a crouch before standing.

She folded her arms across her chest and leaned back against the tree, smiling slightly. The air felt better to her, so she was far more relaxed than she had been before - and had lost that super-fearful look that she had had previously.

"I figured you'd find me here.", she said softly.

"It seemed like a good place to really start." He was glancing around now; noticing that he'd been followed by a few of the locals into the park. Seems they just needed to see someone else in the areas to actually be willing to explore them. Made sense really; sometimes the only way to get a spooked animal to do something was to do it yourself.

"I think we should be able to talk to them properly now. They've had a few hours to calm down; and i don't look like a monster anymore." Sad that he had to hide like that everywhere he went, but he was used to it. Or enough to not be bothered by it, anyway. "I would guess we should find where the people are gathering and go to them; unless you want to just wait until they come to us. I can easily create a signal for them."

A tac-com was grabbed and situated in her ear as the loading bay doors opened. "Scramble and link, Alpha." The familiar beeping sound in her right ear, the tac-com had synced with the rest of Alpha, allowing for wireless communication. The range was good for around for about two miles, but they were not going to be that far apart. As Natalie stepped from the loading bay onto the dock, Alpha Squad zoomed past her and vanished into the crowd of people whom were staring up at the immense ship that the team had just stepped out of; Balamb Garden.

.....What the fucking hell?

The intell reports on this city had been wrong. Completely wrong. This was no blindingly-white city. This was a fucking city park.

"Uh.. Navigation? Are you sure this is the correct location?"

"Yes sir. This is the closest landing point to where his tags last transmitted."

If this was the closest location, then what hell happened? The latest intel had said the city was flourishing; the damage caused by her father had been reversed by some means after he'd died. Perhaps those same 'means' had turned the city into this recently? It was possible; her intel had been gathered the day before yesterday.

"Commander. Be advised: Alpha One and Two are reporting a large gathering of people up ahead."

"Copy that. Will proceed with caution." As the female moved through the streets, blue eyes picked up on the crowd. Those eyes narrowed, picking out Alpha One and Two from the crowd. They issued her a silent nod, then seemed to vanish; slinking back into the crowd and moving on. "Doesn't seem to be a threat. Moving on."

"Well, I was going to float around on a cloud at first... especially after answering a thousand and one questions from these people, but figured I'd be a little hard to reach. Besides, I'd rather not float off somewhere and end up somewhere else again. But uh... I suppose they really are looking at us as the new leaders of the city... even if it's not exactly official or whatever." She still didn't know how she felt about that: after having dealt with people who abused their power the last thing she was going to willingly do was take up such a position, but at the same time she wasn't the sort of person to leave someone hanging... so it was conflicting at best.

Her golden brown gaze shifted to the locals who had followed Houjin and she couldn't help but shake her head. She was glad to see them exploring, but saddened by the fact that they seemed so unwilling to do it alone - like sheep following a shepard, and lost without one. It gave her a deep look into the fact that they couldn't be left alone to fend for themselves: they'd never survive. They'd do well for a while she was sure, but if left to their own devices they would surely destroy themselves - at least until they realized what true freedom was.

She was distracted from her thoughts by the sudden commotion she could hear from some of the people who had seen the airship. She tilted her head and looked off in the direction several of them had come from... and then blinked. "Well... this day just keeps getting more and more interesting." A frown formed on her face: she hoped that whoever had arrived wasn't looking for trouble, especially as she took instant note of Marquetta in her mind, feisty Marquetta with the thirst for fighting, picking up on what was going on.

She moved away from her tree and took several steps towards the opening to the park, arms moving from folded across her chest to down to her sides, staff in her right hand. She stopped after she positioned herself with a clear enough view, and leaned against her staff for the moment, simply watching.

"I'd rather not be a leader of anything. Doubt a bunch of human want a teenager leading them anyway. Least, I don't think they would. Humans are weird." He just looked slightly older then he relatively was; at 80 years old he was what the humans would call 'wet behind the ears'. He was barely old enough to be called an adult by his people; with how humans ignored anything younger then a grandparent without some kind of arbitrary reason; he wasn't going to be much help. Or hell; these poor people seemed to be conditioned to listen to anyone that spoke with authority... he was just being paranoid.

Was that a ship?

Oh. Oh damn. That was a BIG ship. Crap and all that noise.

"What in the coldest polar icecaps is that?"

This was just getting better and better. Now some giant ship full of people appears... maybe the city wasn't as abandoned by it's leaders as they thought.

"Might as well check this out; not like the people aren't going to point those people our way." Assumptions, yay.

These people... their expression.

The hell was wrong with them? They all looked like mindless zombies, shuffling about. But they seemed aware; the crowd parted around her, giving her a wide berth; did they believe she was diseased? Perhaps the local religion disallowed for women to be dressed like her? That was fine; she wasnt here to pray. Get in, get out, and move along. She continued walking towards the crowd, blue eyes narrowing on a male at the front. Perhaps he'd know where the leader of this city. Natalie'd had been about to open her mouth to speak to the male when the voice of Alpha One crackled in her ear.

"Commander. We have a visual of two people in the center of the crowd. One male, tall with flaming red hair. One female, shorter than the male with blond hair. The female his holding what appears to be a walking stick. Scans indicate the male has a hammer tucked into his clothing. Be advised; they are heading in your direction. They do not appear to be hostile, but take caution anyway. They are the only people in the crowd that are armed."

"Copy that." Those eyes peered through the crowd until she caught a flash of red hair. "Keep close-- surround them but do not break cover." Perhaps they were the ones she was looking for? She'd heard that the female that 'owned' this city had a male guardian. Maybe they had come to greet her? Certainly helpful, and it would make this meeting pass quicker. Less time scouring the city for them. As Natalie stepped into the center of the circle, her eyes feel on the duo, and her jaw dropped.

"You have got to be shitting me.."

Her golden brown gaze took in the ship in greater detail, her right eyebrow raising as curiousity and questions came to mind. She had never seen something like that before, though stories both fictional and likely non had reached her ears over the years. At least... during the times she had ventured out of those thick forests she had been calling home with her grandmother recently. But, that was neither here or nor there.

She shifted her grip on her glider staff, figuring that if that thing was that big there was likely a fair few amount of people on it... She just really hoped that whoever it was wasn't looking for trouble - it was bad enough these zombified people were looking to herself and Houjin as their new leaders, she didn't need to worry about someone trying to cause trouble on top of that. But, she was ready regardless.

However, as the people parted out of the way, leaving a nice walkway between herself and the female... her head tilted, the wind picking up around herself as it normally did, ruffling her clothing and her blond hair; as is it was preparing to lift itself into the air, or give a boost of speed to her agile form.

"Well...", one word, but all she could manage at this point. Her mind was a tangled mess, between her own thoughts and Marquetta's conflicting ones it was pretty chaotic. Her eyes even flashed olive green for a moment, indicating Marquetta trying to take the mental controls, before they returned to golden brown again. Avery's body, Avery's rules; and she didn't like leaving Marquetta in charge.

'Awww, but I want out, Ave Ave.'

'Shut it, Mar. My body, my rules. Don't like it, go be a spirit or something... there's a nice graveyard you can haunt down the road.'

'Pssh, I'd haunt you honey. Wake you up at three in the morning banging around in the kitchen...'

'You. Me. Exorcist.'

'Ha! You love me too much for that.'

'.... You're lucky.'

For a split instant he wished he had some kind of actual weapon on him; his vision being different from Avery's meant he picked up on the people that did not fit in moving through the crowds. Too much purpose; eyes too clear and not confused or lost at all. Trouble, lots and lots of trouble. There was no way in ice he could fight effectively with all these people around; he was too bulky in one for and using toxins or fire would cause too many casualties with the innocents. Fuckfuckfuck.

"You have got to be shitting me.."


...........................................!

Or that. That worked too. That... what? In all of the possible outcomes flashing through his mind... not that one. Period. End of discussion. Just... what?

"Well..."

That about summed it up nicely. Well indeed.

"So... fancy meeting you here. Big ship belongs to you then, I'm guessing."

Natalie could only nod.

Never had she imagined that she'd see these two again; two of the only three people that she'd consider as friends outside of work. A small smile spread on her face as she stepped closer, pressing the tac-com on her head. "Stand down, Alpha." She had nothing to fear from these two; no need to have the grounds painted with thier vitae.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Arms crossed over her chest, head tilting to the side as she waited for a moment. "Don't tell me you two run this city? Because this situation was is about to get awkward."

Her grip loosened on her glider staff and she simply casually leaned her weight against it in a comfortable manner. She ignored the crowd for now, more pressing things to do, talk about, and worry about; more important than the random nobodies around them for the time being. Since Marquetta was at bay for the moment, and keeping her mental commentary to herself, Avery found herself finally able to think and focus properly.

She shook her head no at the question posed at them. "Uh, not really... Well, sort've." Annnd she might as well get comfortable for this explanation, so she conjured up a ball of air, something that was more than a simple enough task, and plopped herself ontop of it, giving the illusion for those without the proper eyesight to actually see the swirling air beneath her that she was actually levitating Indian style. "See, I guess the person who used to run this city took off... and I dunno how long Houjin's been here, but I just arrived today - kinda fell asleep floating on a cloud and ended up here. It was like waking up in a nightmare, white walls and all that shit... and then I ran into Houjin... and well, as you can see we did a little decorating."

A grin spread across her face, mischievous in nature. "Now.... well, I suppose these people think we're their new leaders now or something... Bit stubborn about taking no for answer, too." She remained balanced on the sphere of air, figuring that she had managed to explain that rather well - it wasn't hard to see what decorating they had done, flowers and shit everywhere after all. "What're you doing here?", she asked curiously, head tilting to the side a bit as she balanced her staff on her lap.

Elemental Manipulation:

"Basically what she said. I've only been here a few days at best; was just looking for a place to set up shot for a few weeks or so and ended up in this mess. I likely know less about what's going on here, outside of what we did, then either of you; I didn't even know the city was abandoned until after I got here." An easy shrug, it was the truth after all. He avoided paying attention to the news hawkers in the towns; too many half-truths and misrepresentations for his taste. Lying was the penultimate human skill after all.

"So wait, how are things going to be more awkward then they already are?" As if to emphasis this, one of the smaller children that had been watching from the crowd decided that running up and trying to grab his hammer was a good thing; the poor lost child likely thought it was a toy, or something generic and overall worthless; it's not like Houjin made it seem anything but unless he was using it. Or maybe it was just the first of the societal cracks showing in the places most vulnerable; the children that hadn't been fully indoctrinated by the culture. "Hey! No. No taking that!" It wasn't hard to get back; he was faster then a child even on a bad day; and while the smack to the hand was firm, it wouldn't even leave much of a red mark. Enough to get attention but not damage. Fragile creatures and all. He snatched his hammer back; keeping it in his hand versus letting it hang from his belt this time. "Let's wrap this up before something else happens, yes? Your soldiers might just take something wrong and we'll end up with innocents dead for no reason at all."

The smile on her face turned into a smirk. Leave it to Houjin to pick out her guards without trying. "I already gave the order to stand down. No worries." Arms dropped to her side as she strolled closer to the duo, giving the male a soft punch in the arm. "Besides, they know what happens if they harm an innocent."

The expression changed somewhat. So it seemed that this city had been abandoned by its leader, eh? Well, that meant that today's mission was over. Pressing into the tac-com, Natalie spoke quickly. "Alpha squad, head back to the Garden. Mission is over. I'll give the report for records when I arrive. Until then, assist with the restock and refuel."

"Yes, sir!"

Blue eyes rosed to the taller male, head tilting. "So, the leader is gone, eh? well, my mission here is over." Her stance shifted, head dipping down. "My father died here a few months ago. Unauthorized assualt. I came on behalf of SeeD to apologize. But seeing as there's no reason to do so..."

Avery watched the children nearby while listening to the conversation. She watched one child, a girl, far braver than the rest, move forward with slow steps in an attempt to get a closer look at the sphere that Avery had sat herself on. Avery watched her and then chuckled. "Go ahead, it won't hurt you, it's only air..." She watched as the child reached out and placed the tips of her fingers in the sphere - causing nothing to happen at all but the gentle and constantly moving wind to move around the childs fingertips. The child giggled and ran back over to her parents, tugging on a shirt tail.

Avery turned her attention back to her friends. "I'm sorry to hear about your father... " Avery's eyes suddenly changed to olive green, just like Marquetta's had been, and her voice shifted as well from the higher pitch of Avery's to the deeper one of Marquetta's before her mouth opened, "Me too!", words spoken in Mar's exact voice.

The cloud of air vanished from beneath Avery as Mar forced herself into control, and she hit the ground with a uumph of a sound, where she laid staring upwards, one eye golden brown and one olive. "That's it... I'm finding an exorcist..."

He could only stare and fight back a chuckle of amusement at the mental fight happening in Avery's head; he felt for her, having to deal with that entire cluster fuck wasn't easy, he wouldn't even pretend it was; but at the same time it was rather amusing to watch. Maybe it was time to do something about it; he could attempt something that might work. "Avery, would you like me to build you a golem or something? You should be able to transfer Marquetta into it, at least for a while. Given her specialty is earth; if I make it from magma she'd have full control over it; and likely be able to maintain the bodies for far longer then normal."

Oh, wait a minute. He should probably say something about the father incident. Don't people normally convey condolences over the loss of a parent? Er... yeah, that sounded right.

"Wait, your father has passed? That is... tragic to hear..."

Awkward as hell; but expected from a creature with no concept of family to begin with.

"Its fine. The bastard did it to himself." A scowl crossed her face; the same that often used accompany a sudden ice storm in her youth. Shrugging her shoulders, the female grinned as she listened to the exchange between the other two, even waving back when Marquetta took over Avery's body for a moment.

"If you guys are gonna lead this city, I can provide financial backing and SeeD support for you in exchange for a few things. Just let me settle Garden here for a while, and get some work done. My guys could use some stability for a while as well as some R&R." She grinned now, settling herself some. "In the meantime, I got another stop to make, out in Edge. Seems my father was working for someone when he had his little episode." She paused, shifting from foot to foot. "Half tempted to ressurect him and make him apologize himself..."

Oh god that idea was tempting. So very much so. Even a few hours without Marquetta in her head would be a god send. She hadn't had a moments peace since the 'accident' had happened. Not that she had blamed Marquetta for merging her spirit with Avery's body; it was better than losing her best friend for forever, which had been the other option had Marquetta not returned a spirit. But a break was needed regardless. You just couldn't spend ALL of your time with someone and not begin to go insane.

"Oh god that'd be lovely... I don't think my mind can take much more without a break...", that was an understatement of course; as Houjin had already seen with the fact that she had been so unstable as to instantly think she was in the same sort of situation was the one in the past.

Yup, crazy Avery was already crazy, she didn't need it to become any worse.

She quickly refocused back on the conversation and nodded. "I don't mind leading these people.... for a short period of time." She could already feel the gooseflesh from the idea of being in control of anyone: she hated it. She hated being controlled and hated having to be the one to control someone else. Just not something she was comfortable with. She looked over to the tower like structure that stood out above everything else. "So long as I don't have to live in that building..."

Marquetta took that moment, since Avery was finished speaking to pull herself out of Avery's body; being very much able to be seen, though still transparent. Marquetta looked exactly as she had when the 'accident' had happened and she had died: bloody, with torn clothing as if she'd been attacked or fighting, and with darker areas on her body where less detailed wounds were, as if she were forcibly keeping those areas hidden as she manifested outside of Avery's body. "Hello folks!", she said cheerily enough despite her murdered appearance.

Avery instantly flinched back and averted her gaze; as if it were painful to look at Marquetta like that: and it was. Very much so. For many unspoken reasons.

"I refuse to live anywhere that removed from the earth. I would rather sleep in the park, or make myself a nice cave." As good as agreeing with her, he would not mind helping to teach the people how to live in the real world, so long as it was not a permanent arrangement. He would benefit from the experience as well; the more human he could act, the safer he was when he travelled. Small, isolated villages easily noticed his inhuman nature because of his inexperience; his mannerisms and gestures where obviously different; and his inability to call upon his internal fires without his body beginning to warp meant that he was always in danger of being discovered when he worked. So long as he was staying in this city, he would have time and the freedom to work on that problem; perfecting his ability to hold the transformation would make the fact that it was at best incomplete easier to hide.

Oh dear, that was rather unnerving. Marquetta manifesting as a ghost; still covered in injuries and the like? Not something he wanted to see very often. Definitely going to need to work on making a body for her to inhabit. A magma golem would be fine for now; her earth skills would allow her full control, and slow the degradation of the form significantly. He could work on forging a better body once he had the golem to study.

"I have an idea. The harbor is open enough to accommodate an island; and I need to the room to raise the material to safely make her a form to inhabit. I can pull the material through the water and create an island for you to harbor on; Marquetta and I can easily make a land bridge so that your people have easy access to the main city. That way the villagers are less... overwhelmed by the ship; and you will have access to plenty of space to work and for wet and dry docks. Acceptable?"

"Ships." Her smile returned, wider than before. If he was going to agree to raise a wetdock for the Garden, he might as well raise one for Ragnarok. "I have another ship, one that requires a bit less room. Its a ..-- We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

The female pressed the tac-com, opening communications with the docked ship once more. "Captain Abarai. Have Communications prepare a message to the leader of Edge City. Inform them that I wish to have a chat with him about a former employee of his over tea. I'll have Nami deliver the message."

"You mean, we're going to bomb the shit out of his city while demanding the body be turned over?"

"No, captain. I'm in the mood for tea. Honestly." The smile turned into a grin and suppressed giggle. Abarai knew her well; normally, she'd have done just as she asked, but this was different. Edge was the closest large city. It was important to play nice with your neighbors; expecially when you knew nothing of said neighbors. Intelligence was priceless, even in times of peace.

"Will you be coming in to sign the message?, sir?"

"Hell no, Abarai. Auto-pen the shit outta that thing. Aint nobody got time for that."

"Yes sir."

Releasing the communication line, Natalie turned her focus back to the duo-- er, trio. "If you need anything, I wont be far off. Removing the tac-com from her ear, she tossed it to Avery. "Use this. Its a direct line into Garden. They'll know how to get in touch with me."

Turning off, she made her way back to the ship. "I'll be here for a few more hours while we restock and such. Give me a ring if you need me before then."

-Exit-

Few hours? That was perfect, he'd need about that to get the material for the island and the golem body raised from the harbor floor and stable enough to be used. Normally making an island would take days or weeks, even months if large enough; because of the surface cooling being so inefficient. However, he could easily siphon off the extra heat himself, channel it into his body safely and allow the new rock to grow hard and cool far faster. "Of course. We shall get to work on the new island soon."

Shifting around a bit, he moved closer to the apparition that was Marquetta, almost circling her as he appraised her overall form. It had been a long time since they had last met, he needed to refresh his mental memory of her general form if he was going to make a proper golem for her. No need to make some bulbous monstrosity; and her skill with earth meant she needed little on the way of extra bulk to have great strength.

"We can work on getting you a body in the meantime. That will take far less time, and I can integrate the solid bedrock into the body for more resilience." Given the solid nature of the local rocks, and his familiarity with the composition of the soil and magma flows, this shouldn't take very long at all, and the results would be favorable enough. "We'll need to move away from the people. There is a very real chance that someone will be injured when we start drawing the material from the earth. I need to investigate the harbor some, find where the rock is thinnest and work from there. When you see a pillar of smoke begin to rise from the water, then you'll know that I'm ready to start."

And now for the oxymoron of his race; for all of their transformations over the eons into creatures of heat and fire, they never truly forgot their aquatic beginnings. Water was nothing to him, he could easily swim and enjoy the experience; and the bay wasn't really deep enough to affect him badly. He could just dive right in and swim along the bottom for hours; he didn't actually have to breath often and his internal fires would keep him plenty warm while he was down there.

-Exit-