transport log » ❝ welcome to Exsilium ❞

[initiates]

Date & Time: Sept 23rd, 2012.
Location: The Initiative Hold & Courtyard.
Characters: Everyone.
Summary: New Transports have all arrived and have been shuffled into the Courtyard after their initial briefings.
Warnings: None.

You've just been hustled and bustled through mazes of information and literal, wide corridors of the Initiative Hold and you've been equipped with your weapon—be it a gun, a sword, or even your existing powers. They've handed you this light netbook and a small pouch of coins (or a debit card, if you're more inclined), and there are several Transports before and after you going through the very same motions. You can hear the Greeter's voice as she walks alongside large groups, telling them all about the history of this place and sharing with you your purpose here in a hurried and urgent tone. "This isn't standard," she's saying, walking perhaps faster than most of the people she's dragging around. "We don't normally have so many Transports at once. Please, let me show you into the courtyard."

You pass what looks like huge gymnasiums, all with dummies and targets strewn and splayed around the room. Training areas. There are even classrooms, and a few small offices. You're rushed past a large library while the Greeter informs you that you can find almost all your information there, if you've got the time to look—and trust her, you'll have time. You don't spend a lot of time in the bank, and it's a bit of a blur of exchanges with more and more of these strangely-accented and oddly polite-seeming members of the Initiative.

Soon enough, you're in a massive courtyard bustling with all the other Transports. It's not exactly what you'd expect, and it looks more like barracks than anything—huge walls of concrete and stone, separating you from all of the hallways you'd just passed through. It's raining heavily, and dark clouds loom in the air. It's a chill cold, and there are shelters—long cloth hangings that extend from the walls of concrete to house you from the rain, but not enough. Most notably, the courtyard is filled with a marketplace. Even in the cold and the rain, there are several citizens seated at their covered booths and tables. They're selling all manner of their own handmade goods and foods, and citizens and Transports alike are traveling from one small covered shop to another in search of all manner of necessities.

The Greeter's voice has become so faint now, but you swear you can make it out in the back of the crowds as she tells you, "Good luck. Be safe!"

Her voice is drowned out by the busy marketplace, though even the transactions taking place are somewhat subdued. Nobody is overly happy, really, though most citizens can be found with smiles on their faces. It doesn't seem like they're that shocked to see you, either; even if you're not bound in tattered rags and wrapped in heavy shawls as they are. You're welcome to walk up to a shop, and find yourself something to eat—hey, maybe you'll even find something akin to a raincoat. Or, you can join the others under the coverings against the walls. Where am I? What war? She was talking so fast, and it didn't all make very much sense… did anyone else catch it all?

Welcome to the courtyard. Welcome to the Initiative Hold—and most importantly, welcome to Exsilium.

Comments

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela has this whole world-hopping thing pretty well-down by now so although the details are a little fuzzy and had been pretty hurried over, but that hardly mattered. At least this time her soul wasn't be ripped out of her in the form of an animal and she was being given money. (She had never missed something so much before in her life.)

Although the sweetest part, if Bela was to be honest, was the freedom she felt. Lilith couldn't reach her here. She had never really noticed the near-physical weight her contract had placed on her until she set foot in this place. The only downside? The rain.]

And no umbrella. Of course.

[whatsupcroc]

If you wanted an extra, I can lend you a collapsible one. It's got a broken part, but perfection's overrated, and it'll keep you drier than you are now.

[ It's the crowd that drew Collette's attention, leaving the young girl wheeling herself carefully through the crowd. People make room for the umbrella before they fully realize what's attached to it, a big, patchwork black affair. She's glad to have figured out proper mechanics to hands free coverage from the rain, considering her hands get cold enough even through the gloves with all her manual automotion in her wheelchair. ]

Do you want it?

[devils_shoestring]

[Well, this is certainly a surprise. Faust by her heels gives a small wag of his tail because whether Bela would admit to it or not, it's nice to have a familiar face. Even if it isn't one she particularly cares too strongly for.]

And just how exactly did you manage to end up here?

[whatsupcroc]

[ If that isn't an amusing question, Collette doesn't know what is. She quirks up an eyebrow. ]

My guess is I rolled in on wheels, but in the grand scheme of things, the same way pretty much everyone here has. One moment in one place, then suddenly on a round pad getting told I'm welcome to someone else's war!

[devils_shoestring]

[That gives Bela pause.]

Very funny, Collette. Seriously. I thought you went home.

[whatsupcroc]

[ She looks startled, shoulders going back as she straightens infinitesimally. This is another lady she doesn't know acting like she -- ]

Do you know Vanadi?

[devils_shoestring]

Of course...

[Now Bela's really confused.]

Have I grown a second head in the last few seconds that I'm unaware of?

[whatsupcroc]

Vanadi will be able to explain, but, uh.

[ Now she really shoves the spare collapsible umbrella at Bela. ]

Here. I'm not who you think I am. I'm Collette, but I don't know you, and I don't know anything about Cittàgazze outside of what Vanadi's said. I don't have Flash, and -- yeah. He's probably around here somewhere. He likes big groups of people.

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela's far more perturbed about getting the umbrella shoved at her than what Collette is telling her.]

Well. My apologies then. [She smiles wryly.] My name is Bela, by the way.

[whatsupcroc]

Mm, nice to meet you! I'll probably see you around. I've gotta catch up with Barnaby right now, but I'd love to get to know you later!

[ Collette honestly doesn't feel up to dealing with things tangentally related to Vanadi or the Cittàgazze situation, so for probably one of the few times ever in the existence of Collette interactions does she actively try to get away right after starting a conversation.

With a smile and a small salute, she......................... gets rolling. ]

[implying]

[ It isn't actually Vanadi that spots her first. His attention is on one of the stands nearby, his constant companion of an umbrella folded and hooked over one arm as he stands under its shelter. It's Aleva, small and darting Aleva, invisible to the entire crowd, that spots her. She's shooting over the heads of the crowd so quickly that Vanadi doesn't notice she's gone until he feels the sharp tug of a dæmon wandering too far from its owner.

He drops the gadget he'd been looking for with a quick apology and jerks into the crowd after her, already bewildered. Aleva always stays near, what cause is there for the sudden show of abandonment? He ducks around a few slow movers, and only then does Bela come into sight. Vanadi comes to a dead stop, and Aleva circles back around to perch at the edge of his mask and encourage him to go see her, but — he has to hesitate.

What if she's like Miles, and doesn't remember him? Or Castiel? Riku? Or even worse, what if she's like Collette, and only pretends to know him? So he stands stock still in the rain, umbrella dangling uselessly, mask doing well to hide the deer-in-the-headlights look under it as he stares from about ten feet away. ]

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela's aiming for holding out until the rain stops. Which means she might be standing there a while, but patience is a virtue. Or so she's been told. She perhaps would have kept standing there if it wasn't for Faust. The fox daemon perks as he feels eyes on them through the crowd. He paws at Bela's leg until she looks.

To say Bela's surprised would be an understatement. So far, she hadn't seen a single familiar face in this crowd and just ten feet away. She was going to continue waiting and let him come to her, but Faust was already weaving his way through the legs and footsteps of everyone else to get to Vanadi, so Bela followed after.]

You look like you've seen a ghost.

[implying]

[ Well, if Vanadi won't move, Aleva is just going to dart away and go buzz happily about Faust's head, instead. Which makes Vanadi really have to grin, because, Faust. Collette hadn't had Flash, that was what finally tipped him off to her lie. But Bela has Faust.

He breaks into a wide and toothy grin, finally breaking his freeze to wrap both arms around her. Tightly. Sure hope she wasn't looking to move at all for the next few seconds. ]

I feel as though I've seen a ghost.

[devils_shoestring]

[Bela readily and happily accepts the hug with one of her own though she certainly hadn't been expecting him to miss her that much. Faust is content to try and catch Aleva with an eager and playful paw.]

Well, it's good to be missed. I was certainly starting to wonder what sort of trouble you landed yourself in.

[implying]

Oh, only a war, I wish I could say that were new. [ Just a few seconds more, and he finally lets go— but only to tip his head far enough to steal a brief one of those mask-in-the-way kisses. ]

Ah, my dear, you have no idea how pleased I am to see you. Straight from Cittágazze, yes?

[devils_shoestring]

[She nods.]

Things fell through, so I left. [She doesn't elaborate what things. Vanadi knows already without her filling in the blanks.] It'd appear I made the right choice.

[implying]

What, do you mean— intentionally? [ He pulls back a little, eyes wide under the mask. Of course, leave it to someone like Bela to pull this off on purpose, and not just stumble through a window one day like he did. ]

Then— is your window still open?

[devils_shoestring]

[She shrugs.]

If they were smart, they closed it. It hardly matters now.

[aka not her problem so zero fucks are given.]

[implying]

Oh. [ He wilts a little, and you just know if his ears weren't penned up under the mask they'd be sinking. But then, he knows that's also a good thing. All the more distance between her and her demons. ] Well, that's... good, then.

[ Suddenly recalling the existence of his umbrella, he pulls it out and shakes it open, holding it up above them both. ]

Well, then, welcome to Exsilium, my dear. It's a bit dreary, but it's home.

[devils_shoestring]

[Dreary seems an understatement, but she didn't comment.]

Care to give me a better tour than that mess?

[implying]

Why, I'd not only care to, I'd love to!

[ He wraps the arm with the umbrella through hers, the better to keep it over both of them. ] Now, what would you like to see first? Landmarks? Restaurants? Bars? [ There's totally a grin here: ] Bedrooms? They're very nice, here!

[devils_shoestring]

Love, you could at least keep up the pretense that you have to put a little effort to get me into bed.

[implying]

Well, it was placed discretely at the bottom of the list! [ He grins, nudging playfully at her side. ] Impossible to leave off, though, I'm afraid. I've really missed you, my dear.

[devils_shoestring]

[She laughs softly, glad to see that Vanadi hasn't changed in the least.]

And I've missed you, but you really ought to show me your other favorite spots before we spend the rest of the day celebrating.

[implying]

Oh, fair enough, I suppose. [ So on he leads, headed for his favorite part of the marketplace— which is conveniently near to his favorite restaurant. ]

So, tell me— how is everyone? Steve? Collette, Miles? What was the last you saw of them?