Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Yeah I remember. You dressed like a preppy college girl." Moli said giving her a glance from above his shoulder. After he slipped on his socks and shoes finally, he continued,"You've let your hair down now. Unlike then, you're a bit more free. Hopefully you've become more use to being..who you really are." The Countdown Owl stood from the bed and stood over her in the mirror. Her question he would attempt to answer the best way her could. "Amara is...with the U.N.S. unfortunately. She has been for a long, long time. She isn't dead or anything...she's just doing her own thing for now."

Down the aisle was Noel standing with Demios. Moli had always found him to be an emotional little person, but now, all of it was called for. Right now, everyone needed something to hold on to whether it was material or emotional. As they walked down toward Noel, Moli whispered to Aeon,"She was there. Listen, I promise that I will get you and your sister back together alright? Right now, we have to listen to Noel. Me and her have plans that are going to keep us alive so keep your ears open." After showing her to a good row of seats, he kissed her right and smiled before going up to Noel. "Alright God. Is everything ready to be spoke of?"

Only two months had passed, but for one in Raven’s situation it seemed like a lot longer. The long hours that she had spent being tortured for information she had no control over, were starting to take their toll. Waterboarding was Thomas’s latest way of torture. The name seemed to soften the harsh reality of what this method entailed, watching as the water poured down upon you, would bring your brain and body to think you are drowning. It messed with ones mind and awoke fears that should be left alone. Trying to switch off often failed, still it was all Raven could do. Other times she had managed her thoughts to drift to her family. Where were they? Were they safe? What about Roulin? Sure she was still pretty pissed at him but if she had passed out, does that mean that he to was here or worse dead? And if so, where did that leave Owen and Kojiro?
Her body ached and was marked with bruising and lacerations from previous failed interrogations, she hungered for freedom and the power to rip both of the men apart limb by bloody limb. Oh if that day was ever to come she would savour their slow painful death.
In the silence that followed Thomas’s demand was a rather soft laugh, the source was of course coming from behind the cloth that covered Raven’s face. “I …would die first..be..for I give…you what…you…wa..nt” The broken sentence that was just as soft as her laugh, but the manor in which it was said proved that Raven’s defiant will remained unaffected. As if to prove her will was still intact, a shockwave that was half its normal strength, fired towards Thomas’s accomplice.



Nathaniel was lounging in a comfortable chair, his expression blank and dull like he was an empty shell. He had still yet to come to terms with Raven not being around as well as Kojiro. He felt angry at himself for not being able to stand beside his family when they needed him, and that anger was noticeable for everyone to see. The first night in Africa had seen him pounding the wall of his allocated room leaving that once immaculate walls tainted with crimson blood...much to the maid's dismay. The pain he felt then was a way for him to feel…or that was how he looked at it. The strange weather was not even enough to spark this boy back into the kid he was two months ago.
He didn’t bother to look up when Aaliyah had entered and announced that they will be departing for Japan soon. Perhaps then, they might find out what happened to their leader and Kojiro.

((UNS - Armand, Amaya - Will and Benkei come in next post due to length.))

Over the past two months, Amaya had trained with Amara, Anya, and Vincent, gaining even more control and strength. They worked together pretty well. Just like last time in Russia, Amaya found herself shivering, and Itachi once again helped with that. At times, Amaya wondered what was going on with Kojiro and Raven. Thomas didn't seem happy lately even though Amaya thought the UNS had basically won the battle back in Paris. Actually, as clueless as Amaya was, she just didn't have a good feeling and it seemed to her that everyone was down for whatever reason. She had tried to bake more, and was now much better...though sometimes, results came out a bit differently than expected. She found herself going to the piano more often to relieve herself. Ironically, on one of her visits, she met a Russian soldier that shared a love for the piano and taught her some Russian songs. He even tried to show her some dances. Then, they had moved into Japan, whose climate varied, but wasn't as cold as whatever part of Russia they had been in before .She had also found a piano there, and tried to remember some of the Japanese that her mother had taught her.

Armand meanwhile had "obediently" returned to the UNS and was back to working on projects and designing random stuff as well as randomly pranking everyone and trusting that Demios was in good hands for the time being. He didn't engage in traditional training. Some of the research and the ways he used his telekinesis for the research was enough for that. He also learned about the new members and despite Thomas's need for information to stop the war, Armand really didn't like that torture tactics were definitely most likely being employed on Raven. Perhaps, more importantly, to certain people in the UNS, Armand's presence stopped the appearance of baking catastrophes and creations that came out of the kitchen. He guided Amaya and Vincent, and saved Itachi from being sick from cake. Nothing had really changed about him from the time he had "mysteriously" disappeared from the Appalachians almost four five months ago. Since they were in Russia, the red head had gone and visited Desiree Girard and had not earned any slaps this time around. Desiree was still taking care of children as she had at the Russia UNS orphanage that she and Armand had grew up in before it got destroyed. She had been joined by another surviving orphan from Armand and Desiree's time, a man named Estas Landry, a thief by heart. Estas and Armand were both good at cooking, and Estas had jested, "Armand, Dessie misses your cooking, not you.", at which Armand replied, "Oh? Guess you never became the expert chef, hmm?"

Estas had frowned. "“You’re the dessert expert. Unlike you, I don’t try to make the women worry about their weights.”

“Estas, did you just call me fat?” Desiree had looked at her companion with a frown.

“No, not at all, Dessie.” The rest of that visit had been pretty uneventful save for a couple of pranks that Estas found himself falling for. Harmless pranks. Pranks that the orphans laughed at. After UNS business was supposedly finished in Russia, the team had moved to Japan once again. There were plenty of tech things for Armand to experiment with there, and while some of Armand's random inventions might seem weird elsewhere, they fit in with all the buzz in the country. The scientist tried to pick up more on the language since he had been practically clueless last time.

((Edited to account for location in Japan))

~All I need is a better scope...~ Moli thought to himself as he looked over Noel's shoulder for anything that looked like a rifle. In the past two months, besides getting taller, he had become a rather keen sharpshooter both with and without a scope. Of course a scope only supplemented his aim. Not finding anything, he turned to his team wearing a somewhat stone face. He couldn't smile at them for that would be a lie and he couldn't frown because that would only let them know how hard these last few missions would be. Before speaking, Moli nodded his head and placed his hands behind his back. With a reluctant sigh, he began to speak...

~~~

"That's so not what I wanted to hear..." Thomas slowly told the girl that lie before him. After thinking that her spirit was finally broken, he looked up to notice one of his guards whizzing face first into the stone wall of the room. After his face smacked the wall, Thomas somewhat cringed at the cracking sound that was his nose and jaw breaking. "Raven...you just don't know what to do with yourself do you?" In that moment, his anger and frustration shot through the roof. His teeth began to mesh with his lips and his jaws widened as if to tear a chunk from her then and there. He stopped and raised from his kneeling position.

"You know, I think I know what to do to get you to talk." Thomas spoke with a sadistic grin and a hateful bite. "The same thing I have running with Kojiro, I'll have run with you." He extended his darkened, liquid covered finger and pressed it fiercely against the center of her chest. From there, he drew a line down to her lower stomach then retracted his tool of destruction. "There. It's my own personal tattoo. It's just...the longer you don't speak, the more pain you'll feel. Your friend...Kojiro? He's been passed out for a while now. When he wakes up though, he'll receive the same thing you've been."

~~~

"You know team...I honestly don't know what to say." Moli started off somewhat shakily. "In the past two months...in the past few years we've lost many dear to us. We've lost many that were of great help to us. We've lost those that have led us through the hardest fights, the coldest winters, the longest wars...in the end though, we haven't lost each other. We have not yet lost hope." A weak grin appeared on Moli's face the more he went on. "We have about three or four more missions left depending on how this mission goes okay? If we're lucky, this all will be ended if we can manage to kill Thomas. Do not engage him alone, understand? If you see him, run and call for help...on your phone. Don't yell. The alternative is that we get to Raven and liberate her. She's somewhere beneath Japan."

Moli looked over his remaining teammates and counted. They had one less, but that one has spawned many like him and in each one of them, he could see his hope and his dreams. "The last thing I want to say is that our main mission was to find the Tempanus Wiki correct? That mission is done. If that book existed, we would've found it by now. What I do want is for someone to sneak down into the next sealing location and bring up anything that looks important alright? Remember, we still have each other. If we stick together, we can get through these last few missions alive alright? I want to enjoy my Christmas back in the states and I'm sure you all do as well."

((Fallen Pheonix: Owen --> Kenya))

Owen was not happy. Well, to better phrase it: He had not been happy the last two months since they had teleported out of Paris with Nova's help. And that was putting it mildly.

The Changeling Owl had wandered the Kenyan desert for nearly half day until he actually found another person. It hadn't been someone he had recognized, but the guy had said he had a letter for him. It had come as an odd shock to Owen because he hadn't expected it at all. Who on earth could possibly know he was in the middle of the Kenyan desert anyway? Opening the letter and giving it a quick reading had brought a deepening frown to Owen's face as it dawned on him by the end of it who had sent it... Will, The Satan Owl.

Changeling Owl,
There will be a time later. Act now and lose your entire family. Heed the men and train with your family…and use what is given to you. The blonde is safe with another for now. Do anything rash, and I will intercept you as I have done with your sister in a harsher way.

It took most of Owen's willpower to keep from lashing out at the messenger. Instead, he had written out a quick reply to the Satan Owl before sending the messenger back to Will. It was not long after the messenger departed that Aaliyah and the other team members found him. Owen had had to put up a good mask to cover how angry he was with Will, Thomas, and himself to keep the rest of the team from worrying about him too much. He didn't want to have to explain everything to them. Owen did, however, apologize profusely to all of them for allowing Raven and Kojiro to get captured by the UNS. He even went so far as to promise that he would see to their safe return back to them.

He promised that to them. And he intended with every fiber of his being to follow through on it after two long and agonizing months of training with the men Will had sent to meet them. Not only was it a little humiliating, but it was also a painful and frustrating experience to be held back from what Owen felt he should be doing (rescuing Kojiro and Raven). He had refused to actually train with the men, but he still trained nonetheless. He did make sure that every member of the Fallen Pheonix spent some time training as well. One might actually think of Owen as a drill sergeant during this time, but it wasn't like that in Owen's eyes. He saw it as helping his family get better at fighting and using their abilities to as much of their potential as possible.

As Aaliyah came into the room where they had gathered together one last time, Owen didn't look over at her from where he was leaned up against a wall near a window. He had know they were leaving for Japan today as he and Aaliyah had discussed it the last few days. It wasn't just because of Will's threat against Anya that Owen had managed to stay the entire two months in Kenya. It was also due to Aaliyah's persuasion.

((working on posts for Anya and Kate.))

((Night Owls: Kate --> not sure where yet... sweatdrop lol I'll just put her in Russia with Lucien for now. lol))

In the two months since the fight in France, Kate had managed to stay put in Russia. She had heard of Dante's death through an underground grapevine of Owl communication. She was only remotely connected to the Night Owls in this fashion. She knew nothing about their plans. She just knew what was happening as it was happening. Dante was just one more spirit she could summon from the dead in a battle should she feel like summoning him, along with Che, Putin, and any other known figure.

Kate had then managed to keep a certain watch over Lucien and how he ran the Russian country now that he was the overall political leader. Of course, she also knew that now Lucien probably knew exactly who she was since they had met given how much information the new Death Owl would have at his disposal in his new status position within Russia. Occasionally, she would reveal herself to Lucien, but only when she really felt like doing something. Which was not that often mind you, as Kate was primarily an observer in that sense.

Right now, Kate was wandering the main building in which Lucien was now. She had such standing with the Russian government because it was in fact still her official guardian given that no one had wanted to adopt her and that she was an Owl who was rejected from their program. Putin had liked to keep tabs on her, so Kate had pretty much let him do so. As she wandered the hallways, Kate was not bothered by any of the security people as they knew who she was, if not by name than by her face being drilled into their minds by Putin and the rest of the Russian government and Owl program. Not that Kate minded really.

She simply made her way to where Lucien was after pretty much scaring some of the security guards into telling her where he was. Well, it wasn't scaring really. They just wanted to get rid of her because she did have a tendency to creep people out because of her morose outlook on life in general. Or maybe it was the fact that she could summon powerful dead or fictional entities with a merre word... Whatever the reason, Kate found the room Lucien was currently sitting in and silently opened the door to stand in the room. She heard what Lucien said and almost let out a sigh. What he said brought to mind a quote: " 'Those who cannot work with their hearts achieve but a hollow, half-hearted success that breeds bitterness all around.' "

===

((UNS: Anya --> Japan))

(working on it)