Le Prefecture was currently empty and quiet, save for the projection of one blonde princess that was simply waiting. Waiting for the other members of the council and appointed leaders of the ship to arrive. They had taken care of the Council's open house, and she had made sure to attend even though she had still been recovering. But it was important to be there, and it was even more important to be where she was now immediately after they finished that. Her and Setsuna's encounter with the Ohm had been quite the experience. And though they were still in the darkness when it came to understanding them completely, there were little hopes of light starting to shine in.

Once the rest of the crew arrived, she'd begin. The meeting repeating itself over and over again in her head.

It was an exhausting week.

Between medbay, chasing after a playful Ronnae, dealing with a hormone filled Overlord and still bemoaning the loss of a friend and the gaining of an enemy, Kaya wanted nothing more than to stay in her room and leave everything to its own devices. Of course she knew better: people needed help, with the de-aging and the situation on that planet, and she was already worrying about Billy to death.

One thing she hadn't done though, was visit the people she cared about most,and she wanted to correct that now: she hadn't seen Matt in a week, and Negi, who she cared for like a little brother, even longer. So she made her way to the W.I.T.CH, bus and knocked on the door.

Despite Superman's suddenly odd penchant for sporting mullets, it was time to have a heart-to-heart chat... between the Council and the rest of the crew. If there was some sort of bond between them and the crew that needed to be made, it needed to be done without hiding behind Omnicomms and other decisions.

Thus, the Council was gathered within La Prefecture and everyone was welcome to come in and make their concerns, questions, complaints and what have you known. Care to join us?

(OoC: This is open to everybody and everyone! Also, don't wait for the Council to address you guys! If your characters have concerns, start up a subthread and we'll gladly tag it!)

Feet propped on a table, leaning back in a rather comfy chair he'd stolen out of Engineering, Zetta absently flipped through the large packet in which he'd compiled his many proposals as he waited for the rest of the Council to arrive.

As he reached the last page in the packet, he snickered. "'Alexander, God of Destructions, smells.' That never gets old!" Not that he actually expected that particular proposal to be passed. It was just bargaining leverage, something that could easily be cut as a concession to get some of the rest of the stuff past the peaceniks and love-and-rainbows crowd.

"I feel like I should have a nameplate," he said, looking down at the table.

Outwardly, Matt was the picture of calm as he sat on a bench in the city, tuning up his guitar. He was able to channel his frustration into the soothing waves of music, and he continued to strum, adjusting the sound of his guitar carefully.

Finally, he strummed the guitar and began to make a quick few notes before picking up in song, the rapid pace of his fingers strumming as he hummed a wordless tone. He hummed as he envisioned his band behind him, following along in the tone and tried to get lost in the joy of making music once again.

Somehow, it was helping, even with his fingers pouring off smoke and darkness with each strum, pushing waves forward like ripples in the water.

There was a certain poetic irony in being released from GlaDOS now. While Matt was feeling really good about himself, there was probably something important he had missed. Even with Aqua's support that had stayed with him, he needed to go see the woman and talk about the darkness that he had noticed creeping up once in a while during when GlaDOS was being a pain in the butt.

As such, he was making his way briskly towards Sasami's home, hoping to find her, or anyone else in the vicinity that could get him up to date.

(ooc: please be informed that I have someone who's going to tell him about Katara. Tis be Maydril. So anything after that assume the worst.)

Breathe in, breathe out.

Matt was in a rather unorthodox position on the ground. Instead of being in one of those lotus positions that people come to associate with meditation, Matt was flat on his back with the lights lowered to a gentle hum. He was laying on a training mat and his breathing was slow, and his eyes closed. It looked like he was sleeping if it weren't for the cool glass of water in his hand.

He was dressed oddly even for Matt, in a rather feminine suit of armor, chestpiece and all. He didn't wear the helmet, but once in a while his hand would go out and touch the item that was at the side. He had rarely taken off Aqua's armor for the time being, just until he got everything under control.

In, breathe out. Sip water. Repeat.

Those left outside the city would find their experience to be far less exciting, but at least it was still relaxing for the most part.

The accommodations they were given were relatively spartan but well maintained, and the locals seemed nice enough. The food was good, and they were treated fairly well despite refusing to undergo the rituals.

But strangely, by the time night started rolling around, the locals began hurrying to finish up whatever they were doing, cutting conversations short and rushing back inside. By the time the sun fell, none of the locals were outside.

...Well. That certainly wasn't ominous.

[ooc: secondary plot is go! try to keep everything in one thread for now]

Matt had refused to go near the City, or near the others for a while. He had a lot to think about.

So with his guitar slung over his shoulder, he had gone to the furthest reaches of the beach area, using an ability he kept under wraps. Shouldn't be people from a few miles at least, unless they had followed him doggedly.

Unslinging his guitar, he settled on a rock and started to play.

Early light that burns my eyes,
A minute more the sun will rise
And paint the bright blue sky with yellow gold
I’ll be dead asleep by then,
Shut up in this box again
Until it’s gone
Outside I can hear it
Birds are singing, bees are buzzing, sun shines overhead
I’d be there to see it but I can’t get out of bed
Since the day you left the weather always feels this way
One more blue sunny day

With a heavy sigh, he continued to play in the midst of the wonderful lakeside view he found.

Once Domalai made sure the crew was fully informed of what was expected of them in the upcoming rituals, he showed them over to where the Rituals of Judgement and Joining would be performed.

As they neared the gate that led into the city of Orongo, they could see many other people milling about, waiting for their turn to undergo the rituals themselves. The crew, of course, being a special case, are moved to the front of the line. Thankfully, everyone seems to be in a good enough mood that no one puts up a fuss about it.

The first area they were brought to had a simple stone circle, around which were three smaller circles. Two Moai priests were waiting there as they approached, and Domalai moved over to join them before speaking up.

[ooc: wait for subthreads to go up]

[ooc2: Ready! Tag away!]

Stacy's voice came over the comm, blaring across the entire ship.

||Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention. All personnel please report to the Observation Deck. Attention, Attention, all personnel...||

The mouth in the main sculpture on Obs Deck opened, revealing a screen with the image of a mottled blue and purple planet, rotating slowly.
( Read more... )

Time for another mission, then.

OK, so things were at least shaping up pretty good. The Outsiders were making progress and so far, she had to admit that she was generally happy. Sure, there were a few lingering things on her mind (her brother, Mai, Marco) but overall she figured letting them deal with things without her involved. Nura and her and Reimi got to bond, she had help on the ship, and there were people looking out for her on the ship: she had nothing to complain about.

So she took this moment to unwind near the Outsider's pool, not IN the pool but beside it, legs crossed, taking in the air and doing breathing exercises for relaxation.

He had put it off long enough, gathering his thoughts and working out a battle strategy. He had made plan after plan and he rumbled towards the Outsiders building on a RideVendor that Phillip had gotten for him from the vehicle hangar.

Undoing his helmet and pulling his gloves off, he went into the lobby and paged for Katara. He had a plan, and this plan involved forgetting everything he planned.

Yeah, he was going to wing it.

Kang didn't think he'd ever been this shaken up before in his entire life. He hadn't even been able to shove it aside long enough to handle answering questions during podpop; he'd tried, but only having been back for a half hour... it wasn't enough time. So, he'd left, to try and get his head straight enough to be able to give his report to Captain Kennedy.

Still, he knew that the captain had definitely picked up on it. He'd slipped a few times.

Practicing with his weapons against imaginary foes in the Sensoriums hadn't helped; neither had taking a two hour long walk through a part of the City that had previously been unexplored. He didn't feel like dealing with other people yet, but he didn't want to go back to his room, either.

However, it was late enough that Kaylee was probably closing up the tavern by then. He could deal with her, at least, and having a drink or five was incredibly tempting. Being in a place from home would probably help him with sorting out the memories, too--

--except for the fact that there was a sprig of mistletoe hanging in the doorway, and he now knew exactly what the tradition was.

Kang froze in the doorway, staring up at the sprig with an odd, almost confused expression.

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.]

It was barely living right now, and for Katara, that was never a choice she made willingly. That had alwasy been something that was thrust upon her, and in this case it was reliving Sokka being taken away again, only now it was like old wounds were reopening and new ones were appearing.

The moment she felt Renne leave it had been like a part of her had been ripped. She'd stayed in the Outsiders hotel, locked up her door and cried the whole day. She couldn't be around people then: it would have been too heart wrenching, even attempting to act as if things would get better, and she would have just burst into tears. More and more, family just seemed to be taken away from her. She didn't even have the heart to get angry, blame Stacy, rage like she had when Sokka was taken. It hurt too much, it felt like it happened too soon.

And the day after that she'd left the hotel to wander. That was all she was doing now, just sort of walking, not taking in anything anymore. Life on the ship seemed like it was a curse, and far as Katara could tell, acting like it wasn't would only make her break. So she just walked, her eyes bloodshot and her hair a mess. Her face was unreadable: it was somewhere between completely uncaring and defeated.

There was nothing to smile about, nothing to put on an act for. Family was gone, extended family was gone...was she just grasping for small, barely fulfilling pieces of happiness, until that was finallly taken away?

What then?

Matt had called Katara to the sensoriums and he had made sure to put a little notice not to bother the occupants on the door outside of it. Adjusting the cuffs on his suit, he tried to loosen his cravat with little success. "Sir stop fidgeting," admonished the clock beside him.

"Sorry. I've just never done this before. What if she doesn't like it?" inquired Matt of the clock. The candlebra next to him rolled his eyes.

"Ah young love," sighed the living candle. "What you do is do your best to be a charming gentleman. The day, the amour..."

"Shhh, here she comes!" chirped a chipped cup keeping watch. "Places everyone!"

She'd been going to the W.I.T.C.H. bus the last few days, catching up with Negi, and was starting to feel pretty good. There was no potential awkwardness, mostly because she hadn't seen Will yet and saw Matt only a few times. Recently though, she noticed that Zuko wasn't around now, and after several inquiries, she realized he'd been repodded, along WITH Goliath. She had stayed in her room, making sure to put up a barrier: she knew the guys would be feeling her pain otherwise, and she wanted to keep this to herself.

And then she saw Matt's post and knew that as much as she was hurting, Matt was probably worse off. She set for the bus immediately, hoping that he was okay, trying to ensure she was feeling a little better herself, and had brought a small tray of snacks and hot tea.

She arrived, entering the bus and knocked on his door. "Matt? It's Katara. Can I come in?"

Hay Lin could tell that despite the confident tone Matt might have had with her earlier, finding out about what had happened really hurt. So, when he invited her to the study for tea she decided that would be the best time to grill him ask him about it.

Besides she thought excitedly while knocking on the door to the study, it's not every day you get to have tea on a bus!

"Knock, knock! Anybody home~?"

Matt had exited as quickly as he had attended the brutality.

He stalked the halls quickly, moving to the Sensoriums, the only place in the world that would be safe from his wrath.

Locking the door, or so he thought, he strode into the room as it changed from stark white to a city.

Perfect.

"PERFECT SHI SHI HOKODAN!

The cityscape lit up with a giant dark blue mushroom cloud.

When it settled, Matt stood there, icy cold winds boiling off his body as he fired another depression wave into the city. And another. And another.

Blast after blast rocketed through the sky and slammed through buildings. Simulated people were vaporized instantly.

And holding up his hands to the sky, a enormous energy ball formed and rocketed upwards.

Roaring Lion Bullet. A attack filled on depression.

Well, Matt certainly had enough heavy chi to do this right now.

The ball came down, bathing the ruined landscape in a mushroom cloud.