The dreamworld. The personal world that touches both the person's inner soul and memories of times gone past. the strange, the bizarre, the cruel, the comedy, it has a range of colors and emotions. Usually, very personal. Even the mind doesn't remember all of them.

But what if that soul is now shared with another? A windowed view into the deepest part of the body that possibly neither of them ever wanted to share, as one whose body they are currently drifts into sleep and gets carried off by nightfall, the other lives to see the dreams, one by one, even the ones the host body doesn't remember by morning.

How will this affect each other? Or will it just be a problem or things they'd rather forget?

[OOC - This is completely optional, and was a fun little idea that I figured if anyone else wanted to join in and have their characters see each others dreams or talk to them inside, are welcome too. Enjoy ruining each other's images. Again, if you don't want to do it, don't worry, it's all good. It's a good way of sharing innermost secrets and old memories. Ahhh, making out characters suffer for fun and profit.]

It was just a normal, typical day in the Sensoriums. Nothing odd was conjured at the moment, just a single room with a big glowing red and white target.

In this room, Einhart stood, Vivio right next to her. She didn’t know exactly what was going on, other than Vivio had had some sort of idea for a magical technique that for some reason needed two people to use. Einhart wasn’t sure how useful something like this was going to actually be because of that, but well, Vivio had pleaded enough for her to help out that she couldn’t exactly say no.

So that’s why they were both here, standing in front of the target.

“Okay, we’re all ready!” Vivio said, beaming at Einhart as she moved to grab the other girl’s hands with hers. “Now, we’re going to have to keep our hands clasped like this and concentrate, firing off the blast at the target there.”

Einhart blushed, but did as Vivio said as she sunk down a bit to ground herself and make sure she didn’t go flying. “And we’re supposed to will our blast into a corkscrew, right?”

“Yeah, yeah! Exactly!” Vivio shouted. “Come on, let’s do it!”

Well, it was no or never. Einhart took a deep breath and concentrated focusing her magic into her hand that wasn’t holding Vivio’s as Vivio sunk down into a similar stance.

“3...”

Pale green and rainbow magic started to form around the girl’s hands, the two balls of magic quickly growing and very nearly pressing against each other.

Einhart still wasn’t sure where Vivio had come up with this idea.

“2...”

Vivio didn’t tell Einhart where she got the idea for a really good reason.

“1...”

After all, if she mentioned that she got the idea from watching magical girl anime, Einhart would’ve never agreed to try it out.

“Fire!”

And with that, both little girls fired their magic off, willing it to form into a corkscrewing blast together as it fired.

And completely missed it’s target, as the two of them trying to corkscrew it together made it so that their aim was completely off. That, and the sheer power of the two of their blasts actually sent both girls flying off their feet, headed towards the door and towards whoever was going to open it at that very moment.

[OOC: Joint post. Those who reply will have responses coming from both Vivio and Einhart.]

Inventing a new spell; a most tricky and daunting proposition. Beyond most wizards. Lupin flattered himself by thinking he had a chance, but if pressed, well, he had helped with the Marauder's Map, had he not? He knew a thing or two about Defense Against the Dark Arts, and this was not dissimilar.

Besides, what did it hurt to try? (Besides the very real chance of an injurious backfire.)

Lupin came to the City, seeking out a place by the river where he (probably wrongly) thought no one would venture close enough to be harmed by his experimentation. Once there, he sat down on the grass without much regards for his dignity, and began writing on the book he had liberated for such a purpose.

"Protego Minutiae," he began, writing the words down as he spoke them.

The city air felt so clean and fresh today!

Or rather, it seemed that way in comparison to the Sleeping Halls and those small, throbbing and sometimes when Jr. focused too hard on it, muggy-feeling rooms. The small red-head made his way through the city, few articles of spare clothes draped over one forearm, a set of guns balanced on top of them and held against his chest. He had his other, more commonly used set of firearms holstered at his sides as usual, but that sure was four guns on his person in that moment. With a pair of sunglasses on his head, Jr. looked ready for something exciting, something thrilling. And that something was moving. He'd been surprised at the sudden invite from Zouichi, but easily snatched up the offer - learning the inn he'd be staying in was an old styled Japanese inn was like the icing on the cake, though. Happy at the idea to flop down and fall asleep in something that actually felt like a room, he sped up his walk some, passing by the other buildings and structures as he moved.

[ feel free to be passing by in the city or assuming he's passing by any of the buildings! anyone's free to tag in ]

A lot has happened since she arrived, but one important thing got lost in the shuffle. She never got Fate and Nanoha a wedding gift! Everything just happened so fast that she didn't have time to shop. But now that things are settling down she can finally find them something wonderful.

Ten-year-old Caro and her tiny flying white dragon, Fried, are spending the afternoon in the City, trying to find something suitable. Trouble is... she has no idea where to look. So they've resorted to peering into the windows of whatever establishment they come upon, hoping that it'll be the right sort of store.

Caro cups her hands to the next window, squinting to see inside.

 After dropping off some of the crew at Balisair, it was time for the crew to set course for Lirath. The situation greeting them wasn't the most promising.

The cracked surface of the moon called Lirath was one of its most unmistakeable features. One of the three moons of the planet Kehoe, it had been terraformed and served as a settlement for a hundreds of different species, some humanoid, some not. Despite occasional class struggles, environmental issues, and speciesism blocking their way, the darker parts of Lirath's past were largely left behind, and an era of peace and tolerance had reigned for quite some time. The only problems they'd had recently were with a terrorist group whose cause for their actions had been a mystery, but they weren't tied to any particular species or social group and had been likened to a cult and had largely gone quiet in recent years.

Now the peace on the moon of Lirath had been shattered by the invasion of the Ohm.

The capital city had been destroyed. Now, all that was left of the peoples of Lirath was evacuating from one of its smaller cities, one known as Smyteval. A desert city, existing in a valley in between a rocky range of canyons and mountains, even though it was in the low ground, the natural channels of rock served as bottlenecks for any Ohm attacking from the ground.

GIA squadrons patrolled in space, locked in explosive warfare, protecting the Bleed-gate that had been activated to see the evacuated ships to the refugee world, and a shield created by massively-powerful shield generators extended around the city and up into the atmosphere, creating a shielded tunnel so ships could escape.

Word had come that there was a vital weapon to be deployed on Lirath, one that needed to be destroyed, hence why the Transmigration 9 had been called in. Given the diverse crew, and the ships that were in its hangar, there was at least someone or something on board that could blow the weapon up if it did show.

There was no sign of it yet. Right now, there was just chaos, streams of evacuees boarding ships, armies of Ohm engaged with GIA soldiers outside the shields, and forcefields that everyone hoped would hold out just a little bit longer.

The crew would be following Leon's orders but finding themselves fighting side-by-side with GIA platoons, full of various species that were currently all getting their asses kicked severely.

[ooc: STAGE 1 is now open! Please do not tage STAGE 2 until it's announced as open as well.]

[ooc: STAGE 2 is now open!]

The City didn't have weather as most people knew it, but it was nonetheless a beautiful day - warm weather with a nice breeze, Stacy's sun-equivalent shining in the sky... almost as if it was reflecting the emotions of at least one of the ship's crew. In the middle of the Park, someone had set up a little white lattice archway amongst the hedgerows, decorated with ivy and roses and lilies that looked remarkably real (if they were, in fact, synthetic). In front of the arch were several rows of white chairs, more than enough for anyone who cared to show up.

It was a beautiful day for a wedding.

And frankly, Nanoha needed it. After the chaos and confusion; the rage and terror on Galilee... she didn't think she could ever forget that horrible sense of loss and emptiness when she'd thought that Fate was gone, if only for a day or so. But this would go a long way toward exorcising those demons - a day that she'd dreamed of for years.

Of course, she couldn't go greet anyone yet. She was in her wedding dress, after all! These things needed to be proper.

(ooc: Tag the respective subthreads, please! Mingling is highly encouraged.)

Einhart sighed, taking a look around the clearing in the city that she had decided to use for training this time. It wasn't a destroyed building or had anything that could be potentially dangerous, although anyone flying would easily be able to find her.

At least this time Vivio wasn't going to have to worry about finding her.

So there Einhart was, sinking into a fighting stance as she started to concentrate, a magic circle appearing beneath her as she started to concentrate on a basic magic spell, before sending it, a small green ball of magic, flying into the air. She concentrated, making the ball of magic fly around in the air for a few moments, before dissipating into the air.

Allenby rocked back and forth on her heels, frowning at the Great Wall for a couple of reasons. One, apparently the Daligig or whoever had yanked out a big chunk of the Great Wall (or one of them, given how many Earths there were) and slapped it into the City like a cheap bookcase. She wasn't big on cultural heritage preservation, but sheesh.

The second reason was that she was thinking. Next to her feet was a bag of toys: jacks, a gymnast's ribbon, a kite, spinning tops, and a few superballs. Believe or not, she was going to use these to develop a new specialty technique--just as soon as she figured out where to begin.

"Man, Nobel Gundam... I knew I shoulda asked Chibodee and George what they did to figure out theirs." She winced when she caught herself talking to her Gundam yet again, and she wasn't even in the Hangar this time... oh well. Allenby picked up the ribbon and began running, executing a technique she already knew well from piloting.

[ooc: So anyone in the Water Cooler post who wanted to do sparring/training stuff, this would be a good place to do it! :3 Or anyone else who'd like to pop in, of course.]

So, in a way, things were back to normal on the ship. The clock was destroyed and everyone, including her Fate-mama, was restored to normalcy. Even more surprising was the wedding invitation her Nanoha-mama sent out. It was weird seeing that, especially since they weren't really married even in her time.

Despite the way it looked.

She did feel bad, though. She'd kept herself away from it all, mostly due to the awkwardness and she regretted not trying to help out more, especially after the Signum incident. At the moment, she decided to head into the Sensoriums and began doing a round of kata, intending on trying to put her doubts aside.

A good number of those affected by the clock had reached childhood, and required supervision. Several of the adults had offered to help, and no one was quite sure anymore who had first suggested it, but it was decided that one night, there should be a sleepover, something fun for the children. The idea had grown; Eva had offered Cassie's house, after getting permission from the other non-deaged resident, Aximili.

In the end, it turned out to be a packed house. There were about twenty children running around, and thankfully, there were five adults and two teenagers supervising. Luckily for Eva, she had made sure to childproof the house the best she could beforehand.

It was going to be needed.

[Planning post is here. HAVE AT. A description of Cassie's house is here, and if you have any questions about it, you can ask Lisa (Eva), Blue (Marco), Cait (Rachel) and Kaylin (Ax). Start up subthreads for stuff, and try not to wreck the place. :D; ]

Somewhere inside the vast dome of the City, Signum floated, transformed into her battle gear, eyes closed and mind reaching out to the ship for magical reactions. The presence of Stacy's mind - not magic per se, but still psychically loud - was a constant buzz, but her senses floated to smaller, brighter sparks, aided by what she held in her hands - the "Book of Darkness" that she had taken up last week. She'd been confused, then, but now that the Administration Program was back in her proper place, it was time to start filling the pages again. She'd dawdled too long on this ship, trusting 'Stacy' to keep Hayate safe (ha!), even socializing with the time-displaced Bureau mages who had been trying to stop her before all this...

She reaches out for magical reactions. People she knew - Nanoha and Testarossa (avoid at all costs), Aibghalien (noted), Hayate (...) - and others she didn't, or whom she was merely acquainted with through the Magic Department.

Ha. A Wolkenritter joining such an organization. That was possibly her least thought-out bit of subterfuge here. They had nothing to offer her, unless some bleeding hearts were willing to sacrifice mana...but that clearly wouldn't happen. No, no, it's definitely time to go back to doing this the old-fashioned way. The very old-fashioned way, since her comrades were all still in the pods.

Yes, she'd have to be careful, but the danger was worth it. To live quietly with her Master, even in this besieged cave of a starship...that was what mattered.

She focuses in on a magical signature and swoops quietly towards it, preparing a Barrier to isolate herself with the victim. Hopefully, they'd fall quickly and painlessly...

((Okay friends, reply to this post if you a) have magical powers and want to have a fight with Signum over them or b) spot Signum and want to stop her. Threads will probably take place in skewed pocket dimensions called Barriers for privacy, but these can be broken into if you like. Expect fighting! Signum isn't in the mood to talk. Further details can be found here. If you signed up to get mugged and want to do it in another post, just let me know.))

Einhart sighed, looking around. She was on the roof of one of the buildings in the city that was... well, there enough to give her a decent amount of room.

She, after everything that happened, all she wanted to do was practice. Train a bit. Don't think about how she married Vivio for the mission.

Married Vivio for a mission to get the map.

And then slept through the mission, making all the embarassment completely pointless.

So yeah, she was on the roof, going through a kata or so. She didn't know why she didn't just go train in the sensoriums, but it was nice up here anyway.

After the crew finished up with the Rituals of Judgement and Joining, they were permitted to enter the city proper.

Orongo was even more impressive than it appeared from outside the wall. Despite the primitive seeming architecture, the city was alive with lights and sounds and colors. The numerous stone buildings were covered in bright paints in beautiful swirling designs, each one a unique piece of art. People milled about the city in droves, many of them various examples of random alien species, though there were quite a few Moai and knee-high Rapa Nui moving about.

The priests that directed them into the city indicated to them to the Consummation Huts, where they would be spending the night, regardless of whether they chose to use them to their...eh hem...full potential, or not.

As they entered the city, each of them got the same message from Stacy.

||You will be spending the night in the city as per the Moai's instructions. Arrangements have been made to meet with the Moai Elders in the morning. For now, you are given leave to explore the city as you wish. I have transferred each of you an allowance of credits to purchase supplies or entertainment tonight.||

||Do try to have fun.||

[ooc: And they're off! Feel free to have them explore. You can also start doing open posts on-planet now, if you want. Have fun!]

Hayate, Vivio and Zwei had a, shall we say, lackluster Christmas with all their friends and family gone. And today, after New Year's Day was over with, Hayate had one thing set in mind as she called all her friends and family to get together:

You owed her (and Vivio especially) one Christmas.

So here she was on the WITCH Bus with some past due Christmas cakes a little fake tree that was as of yet undecorated but next to a box of ornaments.

Party. Now. Your (former) boss demands it. She also demands you were the santa girl outfits. No, seriously, she's handing them to you as you enter the door. "Zwei and I were hoping you get here sooner, but whatever, we had these prepared for ya."

There's a curtain to change behind. Hayate is pointing to it.

((Yes, there's one for you too Signum. Hayate and Zwei may have pulled an all nighter. Arf, you're a reindeer. The children have elf costumes.))

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home.

Several people are set up near the doors to provide the new people with omnicoms and comm rings. New crew-mates might see a tall man in green armor and snake girl among their number. There are also several authoritative-looking figures ready to introduce themselves.

There's a lot to tell the new people. It's going to be a lot to take in.

[ooc: Only new characters and Command Staff can start new threads for introductions, to limit the number of threads. Everyone else, just tag in and have your guys greet the newbies.]

aaaaaaaaaAAARGH!

The noise seemed to come from out of nowhere, a wail of frustration raising in pitch until a part of the wall in a less-than-crowded section opened, spitting out a peeved-looking girl in red.

And was she peeved.

"Damn you, you stupid cowardous computer! We're not done yet!" She yelled at the wall which, for all intents and purposes, was as good as new. "Get out here, Glados!"

With a frustrated expression, she pointed her hammer (which was pretty large, come to think of it, larger than usual) at the wall. "Don't make me SMASH my way in!"


[OOC: Yeah. I fail. Anyway, Vita evidently got swallowed by Glados and was busy testing stuff. She's back and angry.]

Who knows why the ship was doing this. Maybe it was some kind of social experiment. Maybe Stacy was feeling festive and somewhere, out there, it was Halloween. Maybe the players just wanted to have Halloween fun. No one would ever know, would they.

In any case, what better place for a Halloween dance than a graveyard? In an area in the center, clear of headstones, there was a dance floor, and there were seats and tables with skeletal frames. Somehow grisly carved torches and jack-o-lanterns of varying sizes and shapes, cast enough eerie light to light up the place, despite the fact it was night. There were places to bob for apples, popcorn balls on strings strung up for people to try to eat for games involving that. The food tables will full of Halloweeny snacks and candy.

Far off, there was a haunted house, decrepit and foreboding. It seemed people could look into it if they dared sent down the dark trail to where it was. [ooc: Haunted house post link forthcoming].

Creepy--but danceable music was playing, from nowhere.

Perhaps most notable was the fact that the moment someone entered the Sensorium, they would find themselves in a costume. Sometimes these costumes would be what the character themselves would choose, but sometimes they'd be dressed as something strange, embarrassing, or just something they wouldn't even recognize. Leaving and coming back wouldn't fix the problem, in most cases. The costumes wouldn't change, and if they did, it wasn't guaranteed that they'd change to something better.

Whatever the case, party hard, Meatship. Somebody's got to teach the Vikings, draconians, aliens, and other sundry people to Thriller dance.

Einhart was depressed. Which really, to those who vaguely knew her wasn't much different than her normal moods. Of course, right now she was still resting in the med bay, laying back on one of the recovery beds. That virus... what it had done to her...

She had tried to kill Vivio.

She tried to kill her only friend.

What kind of person was she?