2018-07-22: To the Gates

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======================<* Meribia - Port District(#387) *>=======================

Meribia's port is impressive; though dwarfed by Pentagulia in sheer size, it sees considerable traffic, particularly between the Meribus and Glenwood continents. Regular ferries move between Meribia and Pendrago, and most cargo ships are willing to take on passengers for a few coins more.

BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3jru8_hq_s

<Pose Tracker> Dispellado has posed.

Times have not been kind -- situations throughout Lunar have grown increasingly hectic and precarious, especially in Glenwood. The mystery of the strange keystone discovered within the depths of Aifread's Hunting Grounds has fallen by the wayside in light of these events... but it is still there. Still glowing with that strange, soothing light.

And still pointing a way forward as if it were trying to lead those who found it somewhere.

Through Ida's research and the other's contributions, a rough location has been triangulated: the stone's chosen destination seems to lie somewhere in the stretch of ocean that divides Meribus and Glenwood. Whatever it wishes to lead those who discovered it to, it seems to rest exactly between those two, ancient continents, at a point where seemingly nothing but the endless sea awaits.

Which means there's really only one way to get there.

However, whenever, you decide to move, the Keystone will still be active. Pulsing with that warmth, like the beat of a heart surging with a lifeblood of serene blue. A useful compass, for sailing through unforgiving seas.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    As it so happens, Ida has a contact who is willing to sail out into the middle of nowhere, guided by nothing more than a single, ancient lead. This someone is Captain Xenia Grey, who operates a small merchant vessel. She usually makes runs between Pendrago and Meribus, but business has been poor lately, and Ida has made regular use of her services. There's one small wrinkle.

    The wrinkle, of course, is that Captain Grey is a Hellion. She seems, if not comfortable with her new state of being, resigned to it--it helps that she didn't know what exactly happened to her until Ida told her. She seems to be in her element as she steers her ship, which is of course an extension of her Domain. The Domain seems...

    Well. To those whose primary exposure to the phenomena have taken place through K.K. and Mt. Manfred, it's going to seem strange. The only emotional resonance is faint sorrow, but aside from that, it seems to express itself in the ship literally sailing itself. Captain Grey is steering, of course, but all those little jobs that would be performed by sailors are just happening, on their own.

    Ida stands on the prow of the ship, the keystone carefully held between both hands. It's pulsing, softly, and the Hellion watches it, intently. Ida almost looks like her old self, even though everything is different. There's a sense of unease about her, but she has a mystery to solve, and she's going to try her best to solve it.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Dean had largely left it up to Ida to figure out what was up to that Keystone, opting to attempt on his end to find more of the strange objects to help her with her triangulations and calculations and other smart-sounding things. Ultimately, he wasn't successful... but he *did* have an absolutely lovely bath in an absolutely lovely hot spring with three of his closest friends. Dean isn't sure where Fei went off to after they waved good-bye to one another after , but he's here now with Avril and Rebecca, clean and fresh-smelling and ready to have an *adventure*.
    
    This might be a little awkward to Ida, whose last encounter with Dean was helplessly watching him walk right into her trap on Mt. Manfred, but Dean seems to be no worse for the wear for the experience. In fact, despite being on a Hellion's ship, and despite said experience having jump-started his Resonance (i.e., he now has some at all), he seems to be... excited?
    
    "Wowww! Look at the sea go by!!" he says excitedly, leaning over the railing in a way that might be giving Rebecca a heart attack *as we speak* and watching the waves roll despite a total lack of sailors, his long red scarf whipping in the wind. "I've never seen a boat go this fast before! We'll be there in no time!" 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id is standing bslightly behind Ida and to the left. He's looking right at her with a big frown on his face. This is about as much as she's gotten from Id since he showed up again to help with this 'mystery' of theirs. Let's be honest, most people on this ship aren't happy with him being here since even powered down Id comes across as some kind of red-headed goth vampire oc who also has a superrobot because anime but he intimidates them enough that they don't ask questions. He tries very hard to ignore Dean Stark.

"Well well, this is familiar, isn't it, Ida?" Id asks with no explanation.

He turns back to face the sea. "...A premonition, perhaps. I wonder how many bodies will taint these waters before we're done here."

So basically he's being his usual pleasant self. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Captain Grey, meanwhile, is a fairly distinctive figure--at least to Resonance sense. Roughly half of her looks completely normal, but around the midline of her body, things start to unravel into the misty outline of a humanoid form. Her left eye glows pale green in the depths of it, like an eldritch foglamp. Despite this, she doesn't seem inconvenienced by the matter.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    The goal had been to attempt to uncover further keystones, but unfortunately, that plan had not entirely worked out as intended. This is not to say that Avril is displeased with their last expedition -- they did uncover something interesting, and had a perfectly pleasant time relaxing in the springs.

    For her, that afternoon will become another of her treasures.

    But that does mean that the one stone they have...
    is in Ida's possession.

    Ida, who has become someone Avril increasingly holds misgivings regarding. After all, if they hadn't been able to break open that lotus, Dean would have...

    And that's to say nothing of the oppressive aura the woman now has. While it's far from a thing that threatens to make her buckle under, it still nags at her, in the back of her mind.
    And Ida isn't the only person on this ship -- there's the Domain possessed by the ship, and then there's...

    To say Avril has 'misgivings' about Id as well would be an understatement. She's put some space between her and him, her gaze focused on the Original Medium she has brought out and rested on her lap.

    "..."

    Can... Lucadia hear her with this? 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily Keil has never had to spend much time on the open sea. ...The ferry, between Pendrago and Meribia, here on Lunar--but what naval conflict dominates warfare on barren Filgaia, in blasted Ignas?

When called upon to deal with this Keystone, however, Lily answered. She showed no sign of any knowledge of her interaction with Ida in her dreams; even on the ship, she has shown none at all. ...But then she hasn't had a lot to say, frankly; she's been distant, keeping to herself, just looking the new Hellion up and down and glancing to the side as a result. She has nothing in particular to say to her about it.

In fact, those who know her better--or even just have a few insights--can detect that she's doing something of a security blanket measure--she's not in Lunar clothes at all, but in old Kislevi-style military garb, boots and pants and armored jacket. ...Gloves, too, and long sleeves even beneath the jacket.

Her staff is propped up among things with other equipment. Nevertheless...

Arms crossed, leaned against a cockpit, she glances over to Dean in his excitement. "...It's nice, isn't it?" she offers. She almost sounds nice. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca doesn't trust this. At all.

She knows that Dean does because Dean would trust Ida if she told him she'd like to sell him some Beachfront property in Bledavik. Even after falling right into her malevolence Lotus trap.

She doesn't even have time to glare suspiciously at the woman on the prow though because her first job takes precedence over glaring.

"Dean don't lean so-"

Rebecca darts over to grasp the whipping edge of his red scarf with a tug even before she puts a hand to the back of his jacket collar. Planting a foot against the side of the ship to keep him braced. "Dean Stark-! What do you think you're doing?!?"

Using that solid grip on him she tries to force him back onto solid footing. "With how fast we're moving how long do you think it'd take for you to be marooned far away from shore if you fell overboard!? Geez - even Avril might not be able to bounce you back in time!"

Has she bought into the hype of the bounce?

Not really, she's just made an agreement with Avril to let him have this.

Before looking Lily's way in mild exasperation, "... Oh come on. Don't encourage him so much."

Before she continues laying into Dean, "Besides! You should be paying more attention to our..." She cants her head towards Ida as she drops in volume, "... host. Right Avril?"

Rebecca finds herself looking Avril's way - as she stands in silence, gaze focused on the medium in her lap.

"..."

And for a while she's just quiet.

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    "... huh."

    That's been Gwen's general mood since coming on this trip, turning just so to catch Ida's face out of the corner of her eye, still not sure what to feel about the strange, barely remembered fragments of something that definitely never happened. Something about dragons, and a desert at night under a bright moon, and being mad at Ida. And Jack was there, too. Hellion Jack. Ida was a hellion too.

    And now she is on a ship, piloted (kind of) by a Hellion captain. And Id is here, though he's behaving. At least there's others to balance things out, namely, Dean. And Avril is there, adding a sense of odd, quiet security to offset Dean's enthusiasm. And Rebecca... well, she gets an apologetic grin for her trouble.

    "It really is going fast, eh." Gwen reaches a hand behind her head to itch at the pale red hair there, the left hand adjusting the knot of that nice yellow scarf Zed gave her. Yellow's never really been her color, but it's nice fabric, and her last adventures have worn through her stockpile of outfits for now. "C'mon, Id. For one, we're out on the ocean. Kinda hard to have a body count when there's no bodies. And two," she continues, holding up two fingers, "that ship is sailin' itself. And I had to mention that because that's pretty neat. And third... uh." Her third finger is offered too quickly, as she stalls, looking at Ida. "Where is this ship headin', again?" 

<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Fresh off apparently deciding it'd be fun to piss off Althena's Guard in ever more spectacular ways, Tabitha deVriese, A Priest, She Claims, turned up when news got to her that an ADVENTURE was to be had, pertaining to the mysterious disk she helped a few people find a while ago. And when she turns up...

...it's some kind of satan ship, apparently. Tabitha probably ought to have a fairly powerful response to something like that, but instead, she has merely claimed a perch sitting onthe edge of the crow's nest like that railing wasn't there for a reason, legs kicking as the sea rolls by.

Until she kicks off, sailing down to the deck, the short cape of her uniform fluttering in a magic gust of wind that slows her descent. She briefly spots the other members of the expedition - lingering, briefly, on Lily, whom she hasn't seen dressed like this before. "Middle of nowhere, I think," she supplies to Gwen, because as a servant of God she is invited to all conversations. Her lips split into her pretty grin. "Where all the fun stuff is, of course." 

<Pose Tracker> Bethany Liston has posed.

    Bethany Liston can't help but feel she's made a terrible mistake. Again. She's really got no one but herself to blame for this, of course. She could have just ignored the message about the keystone, and never run the risk of encountering the motley crew of terrifying humanoids and also Dean again. But no, the thought of leaving things with that unresolved didn't quite sit well with her.

    So the doctor sits on deck, with as any people between her and Id as she can manage. She's still a bit put off by that whole black hole thing. "Wherever it is, here's hoping it's got some answers." She responds to Gwen, breaking her relative silence caused by not trying to draw undue attention to herself. Frankly, she still feels out of place amongst the midst of barely bridled enthusiasm and nightmarish horror. "At least we'll know soon enough, I suppose." 

<Pose Tracker> Dispellado has posed.

With the speed at which the intrepid and possibly reckless Captain Xenia's ship goes, land soon disappears behind the assembled adventurers (plus one anime goth), shrinking into the horizon until there is nothing more than an endless expanse of sea.

But for as fast as they are going, their destination is also one far off. With Ida using the Keystone to navigate, there is a not-inconsiderable amount of time where the people aboard that merchant vessel can just... relax, for given values of it. Relax, and talk. With such lovely, personable individuals as Id. Imagine all the unique varieties of -skits- that might go on in that span of time! The only indication that they are getting closer seems to be the way the runes on that keystone glow brighter, one at a time, each of those words in the Ancient Tongue surrounding the one in the middle alighting with a cerulean shade as they carve further through the ocean.

Xenia, however, might at least have some cause for concern; the area they are approaching is a mystery for a reason. Nothing charted there, nothing to indicate there's anything but endless ocean... nothing but rumors abound about countless ships sinking in the vicinity or simply going missing like they were disappeared from the face of the world.

But it's probably fine. Everything's probably fine. Including how the skies start to progressively darken with choking storm clouds the closer they get. That's fine. Or how a thunderstorm starts up just as the last rune lights up, beating the boat with turbulent waves and downpours of rain as lighting cracks across the ocean's surface. That's probably fine too.

Or how they might notice that central rune, reading 'UZDA IL-JAM' in the Ancient Tongue, lights up with a bright enough shade to illuminate the rain-choked air...

... just about the time they might notice that the waves seem to be lapping up against something ahead of them like they might crash against the rockface. Something completely invisible. Like a barrier.

That they are swiftly approaching.

But it's fiiiiine.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    It's okay if Lily's naturally standoffish. She's a friend of Ida's, which means she's a friend of Dean's, too. He grins over at her and enthuses, "Yeah! And the smell of the ocean's great, too! I wonder what we'll find at the other end of that blue light?"
    
    Then *hurk*, as Rebecca grabs him by the scarf and pulls him away from the edge. "Waugh!! Rebecca, that's my neck!!" he yelps, flailing as he stumbles thankfully *away* from the side of the boat. She scolds him, and he frowns in return. "Aw, c'mon, Rebecca, that wouldn't happen!" He'd drown well before he got lost at sea. Duh!!
    
    ...
    
    Yeah maybe he shouldn't lean over the railing so much. At least Rebecca points out Avril and her quietude as she sits nearby staring at her Sea Medium. The Sea Medium, huh... Dean gazes at her with concern in his deep blue eyes. "..."
    
    Then he huffs a sigh at Rebecca's downerisms. "Don't mind her," he tells Lily. "She's just a spoilsport." To Rebecca, he says, "Fine, if you want me to hang out with Ida so much, I will!"
    
    WAIT DEAN THAT WASN'T WHAT REBECCA WAS-- oh, okay, that's Dean, trotting off to join Ida, Id, and Gwen, that's cool. That's fine. He smiles brightly at the three, waving as he approaches (so much for avoiding Dean, huh, Id). Thankfully not hearing their conversation about bodies, he says, "Hey, Id! Hey, Gwen! Hey, Bethany!" Since Bethany is also right there. He stops in front of Ida and leans in curiously, though not enough to block her view of the Keystone. "How's the navigating coming along, Ida? --woah, hey," he utters when Tabitha comes sliding down from the crow's nest. "Uhh... Tabitha, right? It's been a while!" Not since... well, not since they found the strange Keystone in the first place.
    
    The skies start to darken. Thunder rumbles. Rain begins to fall. Dean looks up. "Uh... That happened... really fast," he says, reasonably uneasy. "Is that normal?"
    
    ...he says, as lightning flashes just as the last rune on the Keystone lights up, bright enough for everyone to see. 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id is very conscious of Avril's presence but he hasn't said anything to her. He thinks he has Avril's number. Clearly someone used kung fu to seal away her true personality and this is some fake Avril that sprouted out in the meanwhile. Maybe that's just what they do now, seal away dangerous personalities with lovey dovey personalities that think Dean Stark is so great. Even Lily over there seems to think Dean is so great. Which sucks, but is probably good? For the best? Ugh.

"Whitlock, I was not aware that Filgaia had fallen so far as to forget what hyperbole is." Id says. He looks towards her for a moment before adding, "I would encourage you to also think past the moment. Humans who can only think of present circumstances are the food for those that can think ahead." He looks towards where Gwen's heart used to be and adds, "Others won't spell that lesson out for you."

That's one skit! How about another!

Id walks past Tabitha, taking a moment to look at her, he just chuckles briefly to himself and is about to comment more when Dean interrupts. This is going to be skit number two.

Id stares at him as he's incessantly cheerful to everybody around him and he adds, "I thought about why you're still alive for some time," to Dean. "I've only just come to realize that it's because Avril chose you for some unfathomable reason."

The skies darken and the keystone lights up, Id crosses his arms and he adds, "A forcefield barrier, cloaking system of some kind I imagine. I suspect boats without the keystone would smash up against it and sink to the ocean floor. Of course, it's possible this ship will as well even with the keystone so--"

He guides his hand and it's already crackling with energy. If nobody stops him he will probably fire some dumb-level ki blast at the 'barrier' which, well, might not cause any problems? Or it might cause ALL THE PROBLEMS. When you have evil kung fu powers all of your problems start to look like a bonus stage car. 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily, too, holds a Medium to Lucadia--but hers is stone, and put away back in her satchel. Rebecca scolding Dean gets a little look from Lily, something like mild amusement--distant, as if remembering something from long ago. "...Let him enjoy it. It's not so bad."

A beat, "...Though I understand the impulse."

Lily, what are you implying about Rebecca????

She didn't seem to much notice the talk of murders through. Maybe it just doesn't mean much to her. Either way, this is fertile ground for skits, there's probably at least three of smug Lily's portrait being distant and amused and implying things about Rebecca's crushes. "So I see," Lily agrees conspiratorially to Dean, nodding slowly. Don't give her too much trouble."

...And at least one indicating a bad feeling about what's approaching, and at least one about her looking to the Ancient Tongue on the Keystone.

"...Uzda Il-Jam," Lily murmurs, looking to the central rune--and the waves are crashing up again. She is--well, she already looks kind of wrecked, frankly, and does look back at Tabitha, but--

"Shit," she murmurs, and pushes off of her place leaning on the deck, putting out her hands and closing her eyes. "Can we stop in time?" she asks, and starts to channel ice Ether to reinforce the hull. "I can try something with this..."

The truth is, Id actually is already doing what you would think Lily's first response would be. Why didn't she think of that? Maybe she's slipping on the destructo-meter.

"Id," she says, "I'll reinforce while you batter a path."

...Well, not slipping that much. 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    "It's a diversion," Ida says, to Id. She doesn't seem deeply, personally offended by Rebecca and Avril deciding they don't like her that much--she's given them plenty of reasons, after all.

    Ida doesn't just stand on the prow the entire time, that would be silly. She does, however, keep the Keystone within sight of the helm at all times--its glow isn't particularly difficult to see, but the captain needs to see it to navigate. Eventually she works up the nerve to try and make a little conversation with Lily, though something about the sorceress seems to be making her uneasy. Did the two of them get into a fight, recently? Eventually, though, the sea starts to turn rough. "It's... proceeding," Ida says, to Dean, squinting at the keystone.

    "Everyone away from the sides," says Captain Grey, her voice echoing the crash and roar of the sea around them. Ropes spring up from the deck of their own accord, offering the passengers safe points to hold onto. Ida pulls a length of chain out of her pocket, and oh-so-carefully wraps it around both the keystone and the hand holding it. Once it's secure, she lets the animated rope tie itself around her waist.

    "Uzda il-Jam?" Ida whispers, as Lily translates for her. Unfortunately, they have more pressing issues.

    "Is that land?!" Captain Grey's human eye is wide, and the foglight eye glows brilliantly. The boat starts to slow down--seemingly of its own accord--but both reinforcement and trying to break the barrier might be good insurance. Xenia is doing her best, but this situation is getting out of hand very quickly.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca ignores Dean's protest about his neck. It's not like his neck is attached to anything important!

"You're absolutely right Dean you'd just drown - then get eaten by sharks. Maybe not even in that order."

He already figured that out though, by the look in his eyes, so she lets it slide up until 'spoilsport.' "Dean! How does just not wanting you to be so reckless make me a spoilspo-"

However then Rebecca gets cut off by Lily's comment. "Wait huh!? What do you mean by that?"

This causes her to get distracted though long enough for - "Dean I wasn't telling you to hang out with her! Come back here!"

She doesn't however follow because Ida makes her nervous - and 'looking out for Dean' right beside her might get them all thrown overboard. Still she's debating going over there anyhow...

Lily however has left her there too and she just stands there in thought, before suddenly a thought occurs to her and she flushes pink, rubbing both her hands over her face, "She's met me once and I'm that obvious?" She realizes.

That decides it for her. She's not going over there.

Instead she finds her way back over to Avril, coming up alongside her once she trusts the color has retreated from her face, "Gella for your thoughts?" She opens with, before crossing her arms and giving Avril a searching look, "I sure don't have your intuition but... even mine can tell you're feeling something that doesn't agree with you."

And as her eyes travel to the prow of the ship, she's pretty sure she can figure out the source.

The Captain mentions land, and she casts a look, but eventually returns her attention to Avril.

"You like the sea?"

She adds, after a moment.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    After all, Filgaia and its seas are so far away. She's been able to make use of the Medium, sure enough, but...

    What is an 'Original Artificial Medium', when you get right down to it? Unlike those the Baskar use -- unlike those granted by the Guardians, with their approval -- these are something that anyone can use. Noeline, a Metal Demon, possesses and uses one. These are something that grant more than the sudden direct if brief intercession of a Guardian.

    ...Someone made these. A person, once, long ago. A craft that has not been replicated since.
    And two of these have found their way into their hands.

    Many mysteries. Few answers.

    Avril purses her lips in consternation, her brow creasing as she remains still in that apparent contemplation of the strange ancient artifact, otherwise silent as her friends banter and jostle along the side of the boat.

    Raindrops patter along the surface of the Medium. Avril stands suddenly as thunder rolls, as the ship pitches a little perilously for an instant.

    "...A storm," she says at last, shattering her own silence as Rebecca approaches her to ask her for her thoughts on the matter. She shakes her head. "Something isn't right. The sea is..." Sadly, Rebecca won't get an immediate answer about whether Avril likes the sea or not.

    There is instead a slow blink of those blue eyes of hers, her attention laser-focused on Ida as the woman comments that it's proceeding.

    "It's... proceeding?" Avril echoes, before the runes are set ablaze.

    But that isn't where her attention is focused.

    "Look! There--" she points, ahead, to where the waves are behaving rather strangely. "There's a barrier ahead."
    Will the keystone allow them to pass through? Or are they destined to dash against the wall that rises invisible before them?
    Avril glances down at the Medium, only to shake her head, tuck it away.

    Then reaches a gloved hand over the side of the ship, as if she were attempting to touch the waves.

    Frost limns her hand, then spreads fractally along the waves, a glaze of magical force speeding for the barrier.
    She pauses, interrupting her own spellcasting for a heartbeat, her gaze shifting to take in Rebecca.
    "Rebecca. Would you hold my hand? It is unstable here."

    And to pour her magic into the waves will take focus and care without the room for much else.

    It's a strange sort of magic. Not the Gift, but not Symbology. Nor that of Guardian or a Crest Mage. It's something else. 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    "It's plenty advanced to know what a spoilsport is. Which you're bein'." Gwen bites the side of her tongue, remembering just who she's exchanging barbs with. _This is Id_. Id, the man who has nearly killed her at least *once* within the last year. And- wait. Is Id... staring at her chest?

    He is, isn't he.

    Gwen's cheeks go instantly beet red, her arms crossing discreetly over her chest. "What is that supposed t'mean?!"

    Then, a moment later, her face turns pale. It isn't about her chest, it's about what's within. How does he even know about her heart...?

    "... just forget about it," she mumbles, turning and walking glumly away, her arms hugging over her chest as if she was cold. Which it very well could be, as rain begins to fall, making the curls of her short hair begin to mat to her head.

    She's just about to walk over to join Avril and Rebecca, when that flash of lightning makes the world go bright for a moment, bringing Gwen to look towards the lit runes beyond. "Uhz-dah ill jam?" she parrots, blindly repeating Lily's words. Is it normal? Prrobbably not, but oceans are weird!

    But force fields are not regular ooccurrences in oceans, so as Avril, Id, and Lily begin to make their preparations, Gwen nervously lets the ship's rope bind her securely to a thick pole, extending her right arm out to begin drawing on her own sources of electricity.

    She breathes.

    The ARM, if Gwen isn't stopped, fires, pinning Gwen further against the beam from the recoil. "Grk...!" it's hard to fire this thing on ships, man, ground shouldn't move like this 

<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

"Yes, that's right," Tabitha chimes to Dean. "Tabitha deVriese, ordinand to the Order of Etones, here to ensure you don't get your souls stolen by any mischievous spirits." She glances around at the self-piloting ship. "I suppose I could be doing a better job, hm?" she says, and giggles, seeming unconcerned.

Though she does sharpen up rather abruptly when Id approaches, eyes cutting to him with some heavy intent. THIS guy...he acts flippant, but that power is the real deal...

That skit doesn't really get off the ground for dramatic reasons.

The lapping of the waves does catch her eyes as they approach. Despite all her usual flipping and flirting, the woman purses her lips with a certain amount of thought as they approach that barrier, considering the way the water moves. Id is already moving, of course, and Lily says something about support. Tabitha reaches for her ARM, fiddling with it for a moment. She reaches her fingers to idly tap something on her bracer, sliding her finger across the unmarked surface before raising her weapon up. "Can't say I've ever heard of a ship that stops on a dime, so it does seem like the best course, hm?"

She leaps, then; bounding up into the air, the wind swirling and curling around her as she rises. The blasts that come from her weapon shine green. When she reaches the height of the crow's nest, she grabs the rope doggedly chasing her with her free hand, whirls around in midair to help it tie to her ankle, then lashes out with her other leg to hook around the crow's nest railing and just...hang there, in full vertical splits, firing upside-down.

....was there a purpose to that or is she just styling? 

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id is kind of surprised that not only is he not being stopped, he's being encouraged. Well okay Lily encouraging him to fire the laser is normal, but everything else is strange. Especially when Gwen does, well, all of that. Id says, "What? Hold on, what makes you think I care about--"

Just forget about it. Yeah, he really should. "Whatever."

Id grunts in frustration and with Lily's encouragement, totally launches a hefty red chi blast for the 'barrier' even though they have like a key is that really neccessary? They could just use the keystone right? This is a little...

The ocean ripples and briefly parts while the energy blast passes over it towards its destination. 

<Pose Tracker> Dispellado has posed.

Rainwater gushes across the surface of the ship, slicking the ground beneath them as waves churn ceaselessly around the good captain's vessel. The ship begins to slow even as Id and Lily turn their attentions towards the more practical idea of 'smashing everything that ever gets in their way,' but it's clear with the speed that they were going, inertia might very well carry them directly into that unseeable wall to bring them to a very certain end like so many who have come before them.

Except Id. Because he can fly.

But, y'know. The rest of you.

Ki HAMMERS against that invisible surface, and as it impacts, a stretch of air getting so much closer wobbles with a pale blue ripple that illuminates the skies and paints the heavy rains as if they were bioluminescent shards of sapphire in a way that would almost be beautiful if it weren't the thing they were all about to crash and die against. Ki crackles in frankly ludicrously excess amounts, and that ripple extends outward further than any of them could even see. For a few, fleetingly insane moments, it's like Id had just punched the entire ocean.

And the barrier stands, spiderline fractions forming in ways that pours sky blue light out of the tiniest of gaps as icy shards of power not of Althena or Guardians or Symbology or anything else -crash- against the surface. The barrier alights as shard after shard shatters into sparkling, frozen shrapnel. The fractures deepen, and deepen even further as shining green blasts of an weapon not quite meant for this world SEAR across the those spiderwebbing cracks that look almost like fractures in reality itself. But the barrier holds. The barrier holds, before another salvo of destructive might comes, red ki CRACKLING along that barrier surface and causing it all to flash. It breaks through in a modest hole--

-- and as that modest hole begins to literally stitched itself together--

--the boat SMASHES through that rippling field. Something soothing -- something gentle -- washes over them, like feeling the warmth of a showerhead's stream passing overhead.

Perhaps Id, Avril, Tabitha and Lily managed to pry enough of an opening before the ship shattered against the barrier. Or perhaps Id was right, and the keystone allowed them to pass. But either way...

... the first thing they might feel is the beating warmth of the unobstructed sun on their skin, and the wash of a cool, salt-soaked breeze. On the other side of that barrier, the storm is gone as suddenly as if it had never been. The waters are calm -- tranquil, even. The skies, blue, the roll of puffy white clouds far from the threatening sight they were just outside. The climate, temperate. Refreshing, even, for people who have been battered by the endless downpour of torrential rain.

But what might be most noticeable of all to Captain Xenia and Ida Everstead-Rey is the distinct feeling that their Malevolence seems to dim the very moment they pass that barrier. Not purified. Not removed. But suppressed -- as if tamped down by the very nature of the boundaries they have crossed into.

And there, just beyond, they'll see it: land. A chain of islands, lush with beautiful greenery, just on the horizon, a chain of seven smaller islands all surrounding one larger one. And even from this distance, they might be able to see the signs of some sort of building on the west side that larger, central island -- and the glimpse of glimmering, blue crystals that seem to jut out of the tree line here and there around that distant structure.

The entirety of the keystone is glowing now, humming with a soft sound pleasing to the ears as it radiates cerulean light.

They're here.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "Hey, I'm not the one giving *her* trouble," Dean protests to Lily, which probably explains everything about his relationship with Rebecca in its entirety. To Rebecca herself, "Because you're always being a spoilsport! You didn't have to add the part about the sharks!" Because obviously that's the big problem here.
    
    But then he's moving on to the other side of the ship, ignoring Rebecca's protests, and-- 'I thought about why you're alive,' Id says to Dean. Dean blinks at Id. "Huh?" he replies eloquently. The follow-up only gets him looking more confused. "...What're you talking about? I've been alive since way before I ever met Avril!"
    
    Tabitha, fortunately, distracts him with confirmation that she is in deed named Tabitha. "Right, I remember now," he says, nodding to her. Id might note that he's not as warm to her as he is to most people--to him, even--but he's not precisely unfriendly, either. He shrugs at her giggling. "I don't really get religion. But my soul hasn't gotten eaten yet, so I guess you could be doing worse, too."
    
    Then Ida gives an update on the Keystone, sort of. He looks back over at it. "Huh," he says--which is all he *gets* to say before the storm breaks, and the ship imminently comes up against a barrier, and all hell breaks loose. Dean might like the ocean well enough, despite his total inability to swim, but that doesn't mean he's got sea legs, and he soon finds himself tossed this way and that, stumbling hard in an effort to try to not fall over onto the deck. Flailing, he manages to grab hold of some rope rigging and hold on for dear life.
    
    From there, he pulls himself closer to mast, where he can get close enough to his closest friends to call, "Rebecca! Avril! Are you guys--" Then he notices them holding hands and Avril using her ice magic to, as far as Dean can tell, try to help slow the ship. "--never mind, you guys are okay! But don't overdo it, okay, Avril?!" From there, he looks to the other person clinging hold to the mast, which is-- "Gwen! Are *you* okay?! Here, take my hand!"
    
    Then Gwen shoots at the ocean. Well, at the barrier, technically, but from where Dean is standing, it looks like the ocean. He pauses in mid-hand-stretch. "Err..." Then everyone *else* shoots lasers at the barrier, and it's just like, maybe he ought to stick to clinging to the mast.
    
    After all, that sapphire illumination is very pretty, but even Dean can't help but think that the ocean will be a lot less enjoyable if there's no longer a boat between it and him.
    
    The others punch a hole in the barrier. Before it can repair itself, the boat smashes through the rippling field. It sends a relaxing, soothing sensation over the ship, and Dean relaxes... and then everything is calm, genuinely calm, as the storm breaks and all that's left is peace and sunlight and warmth and islands dead ahead. Er, no pun intended. He releases his hold on the mast, at first cautiously, and then with enthusiasm, as he runs up towards the prow, heedless of how soaked he is. The sun will dry him off, anyway. "Wow...! It's gorgeous!"
    
    He turns, grinning, towards the others, eyes alight. "We did it, guys!" Well, *they* did it, anyway. He literally was just along for the ride. "Now we just gotta find..." He pauses. "...whatever it is that's here!" 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

"Sure you aren't," Lily answers Dean. ...It sounds a little patronizing. Maybe just light teasing. Similarly, Lily doesn't tell Rebecca what she meant by that. She doesn't tell her at all. ...But it may not be the worst thing.

The thought that occured to her, though...? Well, maybe to Lily she is. Maybe Lily feels a little reminder of when she was younger watching her.

But here, there are many mysteries, few answers. ...And one of them finds Lily glancing at Gwen with a lifted eyebrow. She shows at least some concern for her, but has little time to focus on it. They all have to work together, and quickly.

...Except Tabitha, apparently. Who just needs to style.

Lily... well, obviously Lily encourages Id because she's kind of terrible. She'd love to just use the key--but she's not going to rely on it either. Not when their ship is on a crash course.

Lily should probably stop thinking like Id. ...But that's not happening today. Instead, Lily's gaze snaps towards Avril for an instant--in an instant. The feeling of magic similar, but different; unfamiliar, yet knowable. And as they pass through the barrier, Lily's breath fogs in the air, the cold about her channeling through. However they arrived...

It's warm; the breeze is nice. Lily blinks, and releases the ice she'd started to rime the ship with, looking around in some surprise. The endless rain of course has soaked her through, but this?

"...It's beautiful," Lily murmurs, golden eyes casting about towards the islands. ...Her eyes linger on Tabitha. She'll remember what she said.

"I'm not sure precisely what we did," Lily says to Dean, "...But we've certainly found something." 

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida holds up the glowing keystone as though it were their only certain hope of making it out of this alive. Her eyes are fixed ahead, on the barrier, and as the ship approaches, fear and anger start to churn in her guts. It's strange--being faced with the possibility of certain, horrible death instills a drive to live, where so many other things have not. There's a sound like the sky itself shattering. The barrier collapses, and the ship surges on through. There's a blue, sunny sky above, the water is clear and perfect, the sea breeze is crisp--

    Ida and the ship's captain are rooted to the spot, their flesh changing--

    Ida's form seems to compact inwards upon itself; when it's over, she's standing next to the wheel in her 'normal' shape, (relatively) small and thin and pale and haggard. Half of Xenia solidifies. To her credit, the Captain doesn't let go of the wheel, even as the strange influence animating the ship comes to a sudden and mysterious halt.

    This may be an unexpected complication, but at the very least, Dean would help do ship things, wouldn't he?

    "This is--" Ida whispers. She looks down at her hand, and then up at the paradise around them. "I don't know. This must be it, but... this doesn't look a thing like what I pictured."

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


'A storm' isn't what she expected to hear. Expecting more something about malevolence and a feeling surrounded the ship, but as raindrops patter onto her nose, and she sniffs, "The sea is..." The blue light catches her eyes. "... proceeding? What?" She's not near the side when the Captain shouts his warning but soon enough she's bracing with a sudden wide shift of her legs, trying to keep steady, "Whoa!" Before she sees Avril trying to touch the waves, "Avril care-"

Would you hold my hand?

Avril feels a palm gripping her hand not long after, fingers lacing around it as Rebecca simultaneously loops a leg around some rope tied to the deck, even as the ship jostles them she holds on tight. "I won't let go. Do what you need to do."

She doesn't know exactly what she's planning with those mysterious powers of hers. But she sure trusts Avril to do what's best for all of them - whether she understands it or not.

Rebecca though then gawks at Id's feats of Ki manipulation as it slams against the barrier. That alone is impressive enough - but then she witnesses Gwen shooting the barrier - and other feats of power. "Just what did you get us into here Dean!?" Is her answer to whether they're okay.

Shifting the rope by her foot to her arm, she loops it around it and keeps a desperate hold on Avril even as the ship is tortured by the storm and she's thrown one way and the other.

And then they pass through and Rebecca realizes about five seconds later as the son beats down on them and Dean cheers that...

They made it. That she realizes they did.

And Rebecca looks. Truly looks. "This place...

Out unto that chain of islands and those blue waters - those beautiful crystals and...

"... it's beautiful." Echoing Dean's gorgeous - even as he cheers, she finds herself smiling as she looks Avril's way.

Because even though sometimes she gets frazzled from all the crazy places Dean brings her...

... every now and then something shows her why it's worth it beyond even the company she keeps.

Eventually she remembers to let go of Avril's hand, honest. She just doesn't right away.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id says, "Did you forget I tried to kill you?" to Dean for what isn't even the first time in a deadpan tone. In fact, that ? over there is probably not really supposed to be there. It's a bit closer to a period. He squints as the barrier is smashed to bits but he can't help but wonder--dimensional barrier? Hard to say for sure. He will worry about it if Elw or some related species actually do show up and start fronting. He more expects this to be akin to the Pleasing Gardens.

But if it a monster infested hellscape, it sure doesn't give that initial impression. It's beautiful. It's lush. It's alive. It's the kind of world that Lightspeed Kenny had assured awaited those who sought to immigrate in worlds unknown. He stares at what he sees before him. The strange power that suppresses malevolence doesn't weaken Id. In fact, his mood seems to improve ever so slightly as the howl of malevolence weighs less heavily on his psyche.

Surely a demon such as Id wouldn't be struck by something so simple as the natural world, but for a moment there's a Dean-like quality to his eyes as he sees it all. Wonder that the demon knows won't linger in his mind for such memories as this belong not to him, but to another. Something so beautiful. Islands. A distant structure. It's dangerous, he reminds himself which grounds him somewhat, but...

"Haha...A promised land. Sealed away, of course, because people would ruin it."

He takes a step forward and looks towards Rebecca and Dean. "This place was sealed away for a reason. The fact that it could take as much punishment as it did before we pushed our way in speaks wonders." He shakes his head. "...The only question is if it was sealed to prevent us from going inside, or from what's inside from coming out. Don't get taken in by the surface beauty." 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "We are alright, Dean," Avril says, splitting her attention for the few seconds she can spare as she takes Rebecca's hand and there grasps tightly as if she were afraid she might fall. "Be careful! We will--"
    Be alright, she wants to say, but she can't keep talking and keep the spell she's trying to work intact without starting over.
    Rebecca will have to shed the general sentiment, in the way that only Rebecca can.

    Only that hand keeps her aboard the ship; the storm is a strong one as the sea and wind plays malevolently with it. With her focus in the water, Avril cannot spare the attention even to catch herself.
    But she never meets the waves.

    The ship slows--
    The rest of the sea ice rushes onwards for the barrier. As much as she can safely conjure up, as strong as she can bear it without threatening the ship or anyone upon it -- she had spent these months learning her limits and how best to control it.
    She still remembers that moment atop the mountainside, where mere reflex had nearly transformed her into a murderer.

    ...More a murderer than she may already be.
    But it is pointless to dwell on it. Once she learns, then she can make amends. But until then--
    These are the emotions thrust into the spears of ice, blending will into effect, moments before the ship passes through the barrier. Was it the magic? Or the keystone? Or something else entirely.

    Perhaps this also, does not matter right now.

    Instead Rebecca will feel Avril's hand relax in hers; Avril straightens in the next heartbeat and exhales a heavy breath, hair tumbling over her shoulders to hang heavy down her back.

    There as the sunlight cascades down, as they pass into an impossibly beautiful world, she glances over at her friend and smiles.

    "Thank you, Rebecca. ...It appears that we've made it, haven't we." She pauses, before adding, "I did mean to say, I am fond of the sea."

    Only slowly does she let go of Rebecca's hand.

    "How beautiful..."

    Her left hand rises to her chest. Her gaze is unfocused for a moment. This, or something like this, has happened before.
    ...It's not unlike a pearl. Each layer, added on, so many that she can't tell the difference between one moment and the next. But something like this has happened before. More than once?

    Had she seen many such sights once?

    "I suppose we should go ashore," she says at last, stirring from her own pensive meanderings. "Perhaps what the stone has directed us towards will be found there." 

<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Tabitha's starting to realize Dean is a bit cooler to her than he is to most of the others here, including Id, A Man Who Kills People. She might take some measures to fix that...except she's surrounded by people who've tickled her fancy far more directly. Lily, with her drunkenness, her strange appearance, her unusual magic and now a Kislevi uniform; Ida, a Granas adherent, with that pulsing heartbeat of uncanny power that Tabitha can just barely detect...

Id, with just, his entire sitch.

Tabitha falls back down to the deck shortly after the ship crashes through, her face split in a wide grin. "Well! That was very effective, I'd say!" she cheers, hands on her hips. "Those islands ahead look pretty unusual! Something about them..."

There's nothing feigned about the wide-eyed excitement on her face as she considers the horizon. "There's definitely something here!" 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

    Dean offers his hand out to Gwen. It's barely a moment later and there's a pressure of Gwen's left hand, now clutching onto it as the ship looks certain to crash into a barrier that is beyond even Id's ability to quickly take it down on short notice. The laser issued from Gwen's ARM is bright, a persistent callback to the lightning that flashs just moments earlier in the churning storm.

    She exerts as much as she felt she could get away with, outside of a battle setting, the ARM's metallic material beginning to show the first signs of stress. Gwen's body, meanwhile. shows much more, the grip in Dean's hand feeling weaker as the beam dies down. She sags against the secure ropes, her face pale against the crackle of lightning from the storm overhead.

    "Gimmea momen-" Gwen's body lands with a thud against the deck when the ropes loosen, the power enforcing them dimmed down. "... ow."

    There's no battering of rain against her back, at least. And the sun feels so war- wait.

    Gwen grunts as she rises to her feet. ".... huh." Her boots echo on the wet wood of the boat as she joins everyone in looking in bewildered amazement at the landscape around them, her mouth open in quiet awe.
    
    Well, it's quiet, for a moment. "I know, right?! This is *amazing*! I wish I had a notebook or a pen or something because I dunno how else I'd be able to describe somethin' like this and do it justice, and look at the water and the trees! And the sand! I dunno if we found what Ida wanted but even if it isn't I've be-... uh..." She wavers and pinned her hand to the side of the ship. "G-give me a moment."

    She listens in on the conversations as she regains her composure, pne hand pressed reassuringly to her chest.

    Id's comment is taken in. Gwen finally looks up. ".... Yeah. We got no real clue if just how unusual this whole place is." She feels like she can breathe, for once. Had she gotten that used to the persistent mists of Malevolence beyond this barrier? "Also, why it allowed us to come inside at all, if we didn't just manage to barge our way in somehow." This is Gwen, agreeing with Id. ... Probably not that unusual, as Id is surprisingly not as contrary as Gwen pinned him out to be, on their few one or two encounters.

    Passing Avril, Gwen gives her and Rebecca a nod. She slowly moves to the edge, and, starring into the crystal waters below... "Last one on the beach is a rotten egg!" she shouts, beginning her bolt towards said shore.

    She'll probably be last, but by the way she's laughing, she really doesn't care. 

<Pose Tracker> Dispellado has posed.

And as everyone gets their bearings, the barrier begins to rapidly reform behind them -- the view of a still somehow oddly storming world beyond them closing away until just lush paradise remains.

If they can just get to it. Time to start sailing the old fashioned way, it seems.

It should be fine. Dean loves the ocean. He can probably handle this.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Dean frowns at Id. "You've asked me that before, and the answer's still no," he points out. "Or did *you* forget how much you've done for Ida?" Because doing something kind for one of Dean's friends is more important than trying to kill Dean himself. Obviously.
    
    But then they pass through the barrier and reach a beautiful land. Gwen does hold Dean's hand while they pass inside, and Dean squeezes her hand reassuringly until they make it to paradise and he dashes on ahead, letting Gwen have the moment she requests. Rebecca and Avril echo Dean, and he turns to them, a delighted gleam in his blue eyes. "I got us until something *amazing*," he gushes to Rebecca. To Avril, he enthuses, "Yeah! It'd be a waste not to land now that we're here!"
    
    But then Id says something negative (of course)--but also very sensible. Dean sobers. "...You've got a point," he tells Id. "We should be careful to leave this place as beautiful as we found it, guys." And also that whatever may or may not be sealed her doesn't eat them all alive but WHATEVER. At least Tabitha's into the spirit of things! ...As was Id, but lucky for Id, Dean didn't catch the boyish wonder in his eyes. You get off easy this time, young-ish man!
    
    He looks over at the keystone, but... it's glowing a uniform blue right now. No pointing, no indication of... anything in particular. At least they didn't need a second Keystone, but there's no really telling where to go from here, is there? Therefore there's only one natural course of action to take:
    
    "Let's go exploring!"
    
    ...once they're on dry land, at least. Dean will be happy to help Ida and the Captain with any ship stuff, but, uh, first he'll have to be taught how. Especially since Gwen CHEATS and jumps overboard, shouting about rotten eggs in her wake. "Wh--hey! That's cheating!" he calls at her back, shaking a fist... but he laughs as he does so.
    
    Time to learn how to sail an entire ship! By himself!! 

<Pose Tracker> Lily Keil has posed.

Lily looks to Ida and Xenia for a few extra moments as she notices the two of them... change. She's not sure why that means something to her, beyond the fact that of course she notices Ida's changes, of course she notices what she sees and does. She shakes her head, steps towards the edge of the deck. As for Id--

"Haven't you tried to kill most of us?" Lily replies in about the same deadpan tone. He's definitely tried to kill her before. ...Or, well, she got in the way of him trying to kill someone else, close enough?

Lily pauses, though, looks to Avril and Rebecca, their hands held... And only after a while does she speak up, "Vent Fleur. ...I'd like to talk to you sometime about... what you just did."

She glances at Tabitha, who's--who's... very excited. Lily isn't quite sure what to think of her. But perhaps surpisingly?

Lily hasn't even been drinking. ...And Lily, who hasn't been drinking, spots the wonder in Id's eyes.

"...Yes," Lily agrees. "People might. I think it's wise, to consider that..."

She shakes her head, "But kind of depressing. Let the kids have their fun." Lily stretches out her hands, walks up to the captain.

"...Keil, reporting for duty. I haven't done much sailing in a while, but direct me and I'll help pull us in."

Beat, "...Maybe I'll hit the beach, too..." 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca gives Avril a dumbfounded look as she remembers her earlier question, then she starts to actually laugh lightly, "Found the best moment to answer didn't you?" Like it was all about comedic timing.

Fortunately just missing the comment on how Id tried to kill him.

Rebecca then looks at Id, and actually gets this little grin after a moment, "Oh don't you worry. I'm not the kind of person to be taken in."

And at that same moment Gwen comes up to them and gives a nod.

'Last one on the beach is a rotten egg!'

"Hey- don't cheat with a head start! Come on Dean!"

Rebecca starts, but then halts long enough to grab Dean by the shoulder, "WAIT NEVERMIND DEAN DON'T JUMP YOU CAN'T SWIM!"

Rebecca then lets go and sprints to do a flip off the edge of the ship to swim against Gwen in a race to the shore.

She's a really good swimmer.

Though Id may start to wonder if it was really true that she's not the kind of person to be taken in by gorgeous places.

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida doesn't comment on Id's statement to Dean, mostly because she's still feeling awful over Dean getting caught by a security system she designed. She unchains the Keystone from her hand, but doesn't let go of it, as though afraid it would slip from her fingers and fall overboard.

    'Or did *you* forget how much you've done for Ida?'

    Ida flushes, ever-so-slightly.

    And then Gwen jumps overboard. "Gwen!" Ida cries, rushing towards the railing--but she makes no move to follow. Instead she turns to Captain Grey, who gestures up towards the rigging.

    "Help take us in," says Xenia. She nods to Dean--perhaps a little worried for his safety, judging by the look in her eyes--and gives Lily a grateful smile. "Well then, Keil, please ensure my sponsor doesn't fall and die on my deck. You, young man, can... help with the anchor." Even Dean's enthusiasm can only do so much with a ship's anchor. Rebecca and Avril may have to help. There might well be a skit involved.

    Well. Avril, anyway.

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    "I WASN'T GONNA JUMP, I KNOW I CAN'T SWIM! GEEZ!" Dean yells back at Rebecca. "Have fun, though! I'm gonna help bring the ship in!" And as Rebecca jumps into the sea, he jogs off to join Lily in reporting to Xenia. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"I HAD TO BE SURE YOU REMEMBERED!" Rebecca calls back.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id did already ask, but this time the answer gives him pause because he's not sure what to think about Ida right now after what happened in his actual head. That's partly why he came as Id instead of as the other guy. He doesn't respond to Dean's claim, fingers curling into a fist. But he doesn't try to kill Dean or anything so that's something. This place is unusual even for Id so he just keeps quiet.

He notices Ida's reaction, though, and he again--no comment.

That wonder is gone almost as quickly as it appeared. "Sure," to Lily with a shrug. "But you...you I get."

He starts floating after Rebecca and Gwen. Perhaps he intends to push them under the water. Id says, "Uh huh..." in Rebecca's direction but far too late for her to actually hear him. 

<Pose Tracker> Gwen Whitlock has posed.

@emit There's a splash as Gwen hits the water/

    There's silence, then thrashing.

    "CAN'T SIWEM!" Gwen says, in the middle of Rebecca and Dean's exchange.

    See, Gwen also knows she can't swim. In water that's deeper and more active than a weak doggy paddle in a water hole can manage, anyway.

    She's just not used to water this crystal clear, so clear you could see the bottom, several meters deep. She's not used to thinking about how ships need deep water to move.

    She's thinking about that now.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id throws his hand down into the water, lifts Gwen up comically by her leg, and just floats her to shore. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    Dean beams at the sight. He knew Id was a good guy after all! 

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    To which, Avril can only answer, a little too seriously, "Was that the best moment?"

    Some things don't change.

    Initially, Avril blinks as Lily addresses her, her hand lifting from her chest to gesture towards herself. "About what I just did?" Avril echoes, before realization lights in those blue eyes of hers, and a more sober mask overtakes what had been just prior a wash of confusion.
    "My magic, you mean," Avril states, cutting bluntly to the heart of the question. "Then this is familiar to you." Her own words are a statement, not a question.

    "...Yes," is her final determination on the matter.

    "But after we have settled things here. We... have much to investigate, it would seem."

    This is before Gwen catapults into the water, and before Rebecca seems fit to follow--
    Before reminding Dean he can't swim.

    And then Rebecca herself is gone in a splash.

    "I am not certain whether I am able to swim, either," she says to Dean, perhaps as a way to commiserate.

    "...Should I assist with the anchor?"
    She really doesn't look like she would be able to help, with that frame, but.

    "Ah, Gwen--"

    As it happens, Id's (?!) the one who... has this one under control. Avril tilts her head to one side. 

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


By the time Id gets to Gwen, Rebecca had already thrown an arm around her. And thus when he pulls Gwen out. Attached to her is a dripping Rebecca too.

"... Um. Thanks? Wasn't looking forward to swimming her all the way to shore."

<Pose Tracker> Ida Everstead-Rey has posed.

    Ida watches the entire thing, the hand that isn't holding the keystone pressed to her mouth. Her face is slowly getting redder.

<Pose Tracker> Tabitha deVriese has posed.

Tabitha, rather more in the spirit of Dean or Id or Gwen, is visibly excited at the sights ahead. She steps up to the front of the ship and beyond, treading with confident steps all the way out on to the bowsprit. She takes in long breaths, smiling as she steps. "How exciting!" she chimes. "Something bright beyond all that doom and gloom, hm? Perhaps something amazing, even." She can't suppress that toothy smile splashing across her face.

The first few splashes don't entirely bother her, though Gwen's abrupt SHOUTING gets her attention. She does look down, but apparently Id's got it. She blinks. Then she shrugs, rolls her shoulders, sweeps her leg out behind her as the winds turn strange around her.

And then she bullets into the sky, soaring toward the faroff shore with little more than a how-do-you-do. 

<Pose Tracker> Dispellado has posed.

At the shore of the main island, things are still peaceful. The sands are soft and almost pure white, the warmth of the sun soaking through the grains in a way that makes it easy to imagine how they might feel between one's toes. The waters wash endlessly against the shore, leading to lush foliage beyond. Colorful flowers decorate the landscape, flora that seems hard to identify even by those who might be Lunar natives smattered throughout, like ancient pieces of life preserved in this bubbled paradise. Beyond, there is an overgrowth of trees like a jungle -- and a path leading straight through it.

There is no signs of human life here. The chirp of birds. The rustle of insects. The sounds of tiny mammals scurrying through the underbrush. Things here are... gentle. Relaxing. As if a world away from all the woes of Lunar's Malevolence-touched world.

But that path is not natural, and neither is the large structure that seems to dominate the western half of the island, now infinitely more noticeable once on land. And on the path there, the adventurers who discovered this place may notice all the tiny motes of soft blue light that seem to rise from the ground on this island, like little fireflies; they have a spiritual sense to them, like pure magic, and carry a soft warmth that feels somehow soothing as they drift past.

For those who can feel it, they'd know. This place rests on an Earthpulse. A large one, in fact.

And further in, they'll find it: atemple, of sorts, perfectly preserved, looking almost as if it were freshly constructed yet having the weight of untold generations of history behind it. The smooth stonework of it seems to blend it perfectly into the environment around it -- weaving in and out of plantlife as if it were a natural outcropping of the land itself, what is perhaps most visually distinctive about it is the pale blue crystals that extend outward from its structure here and there -- possessed of the same warmth that those motes possess.

And at its entrance? A massive gate that bars entry even to those cheeky buggers who can cheat with their flight (THE ISLAND KNOWS YOUR TRICKS, ID); and at the front of those intricate, stone gates, is a seal. A seal that glows bright blue.

A seal designed in a way that looks like an almost perfect fit for that keystone.

<Pose Tracker> Id has posed.

Id tries to fly over the Gate but finds that he can't quite get up that high. He exhales in frustration. He hates it when digs have invisible walls. It ruins the immersion, guys.

He does eventually just drop back down. "If this is a way back home," Id murmurs. "...Did malevolence originate from Filgaia, then? Or is this to keep the malevolence away from Filgaia?"

He touches the floor and examines the seal. It's glowing bright blue, which to Id is not a great sign.

He sees the seal. He remembers what's on the keystone.

And he says, "We're about to make a horrible mistake, aren't we." This time the lack of question mark is even clearer. 

<Pose Tracker> Dean Stark has posed.

    The sand is wonderful and the seas are transparent and the trek up to the gate goes perfectly well, except if your name is Id and your flight skills are punked, but Dean isn't Id so he has a perfectly pleasant time. The group makes it to the front gate, which is glowing blue, which seems perfectly normal to Dean considering the Keystone's been doing that this whole time.
    
    "What makes you say that?" he asks Id. "Anyway, we won't know if it's a mistake until we give it a try. So let's try!"
    
    ...At least he doesn't say, 'What's the worst that could happen?'

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