From Aether to Earth

[Arianna Barrial]

A beam of light struck the tiles in the courtyard, descending from heavy gray clouds that seemed ready to dump spring rains upon the Cabal grounds and surrounding area. It dissipated, tendrils of light twisting back upwards and disintegrating all at once, leaving one lone woman standing in the courtyard. She was blonde, and by her side was a large suitcase, though clutched in her hand was a roll, distinctively separate from a purse that was hanging from the same shoulder. Arianna swept back the bangs that had fallen into her eyes as the rest of her hair was caught in a clip, the pale and warm orbs sweeping over the grounds and school. Even her attire was suitable for the dreary day: dark jeans and a thick coat, along with a scarf of both creamy colour and divinely soft texture.

So, this was what she would be dealing with while she sorted out the new powers in her repertoire.

It had been some time since she set eyes on this academy in particular.

They had their own healing team, of course, but it was both personal and territory events that brought her here.

On one hand, she had a new ability to learn...and on the other, recent incidents had raised some very intense and serious questions.

"Well then." Her free hand gripped the handle of the case and she strode forward for the doors. Time to settle in.

[David B.]

David was there at the doors, flipping through the pages of a notebook. He'd look up as she arrived.

"Arianna Barrial?"

He'd snap the notebook closed and offer her his hand.

"David Blaze, supervisor. It's a pleasure."

[Arianna Barrial]

How many other tall, handsome men were there in the world? Enough, and enough that Arianna initially paid no heed to who was standing at the doors, but her stride faltered when a closer observation proved that...no, she did know this particular tall and handsome man. His introduction was odd, but it didn't waylay the sudden resurgence of all previous emotions from nigh on twenty years ago.

His greeting and extended hand was met with a look of shock that melted into angry disbelief—and then he was promptly greeted in turn with the sharp sting her palm against his face, and a hiss of anger from the normally compassionate woman. Her eyes were bright and shiny, clearly with a film of tears, and her voice was strangled at the edges, but full of something she didn't experience often: fury.

"I know who you are, you asinine prick. Where have you been these last twenty years? And where has Damien been?!"

[David B.]

The smack hit home, jerking David's face to the side a little and causing him to drop the notebook. He cracked his neck, eyes coming down into a scowl as his sword rattled in his office, the Storm Dragon preparing to call it in order to fight the one who-

Blink.

Blink blink.

Twenty years? Damien? A slap? He brought a hand up to rub the side of his face, trying to think back. He'd never seen this woman before, had he? He let out a low "Uhhh..." before he would hold up his hands in a "don't shoot" motion, waving them a little.

"Woah woah, calm down, Ai yaa...I'm sorry I don't....we uh, we know each other?"

[Arianna Barrial]

Arianna's eyes were narrowed with their regard, and by that and her tense and even aggressive body language, it was clear she wasn't calm, or interested in calming down for the moment.

"Not overly well, but you've caused too much grief for my younger sister that I can't say I care to." Younger by conscious years lived, in any case. And who knew where Kyrie was, at that. "I swear, if I wasn't a surgeon I'd consider harming you fatally, and might not even bring you back once you died."

There was...a lot of venom there. So much that it even surprised her.

[David B.]

His brow furrowed.

"Sister..."

He scratched his head, trying to think. Another face he simply couldn't recall.

"I'm sorry. I don't remember. Was this..."

His brow twitched. Oh.

"Was this prior to the great wars?"

That was the only explaination. He was very good with faces, and she was treating him like he should know exactly what this was all about.

[Arianna Barrial]

”Considering you’ve been MIA for twenty years? Yes.” Arianna wasn’t stupid, not even in anger, and she was seeing that things were not adding up with how they should be. Amnesia?

Maybe.

How stupid was that, anyway? Not improbable. Just utterly stupid.

[David B.]

"I see."

He would search her eyes.

"I was close to this sister of yours?"

[Arianna Barrial]

”Close was an understatement. Just like I was close with Damien.”

A muscle in her jaw ticked for his hard she was clenching her teeth together. At least it seemed her bout of physical violence had passed

[David B.]

"Then let me put your mind at ease."

A bubble of air formed around them, completely blocking out sound. To the outside world, they'd be fuzzy images as well, so as to prevent those who could lip read of learning more too.

"Twenty years ago, I woke up in the darkness of a Qi-dimensional world called the Ether. My physical body was destroyed, but an individual with the power to pull the mind from body took my core and that of my brother into themselves. Because they could only bring personality and muscle memory, everything else was destroyed. I have no memory of anyone or anything prior to it, as it was killed with the body that was left behind. By utilizing DNA and BLZ tech, they were able to get me a new body by cloning me and accelerating my growth. It took two years. Through that period, I was taught to fight and kept up on the state of the world."

He would lean back against the wall.

"I am sorry if I left behind broken pieces, as my brother would be."

[Arianna Barrial]

Arianna’s haze remained steady, but no less displeased and disgruntled. The bubble, while a surprise, wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. And it enabled him to explain.

But sometimes the truth didn’t give peace of mind. If anything, sometimes it hurt all the more.

Her hands clenched, one still filled with the roll of her surgical tools.

“Apologies are idle words on the wind. They don’t mean a thing.” She inhaled sharply. “I’d like to get this next part over with quickly so I can do what I came here to accomplish.”

[David B.]

He blinked, the bubble dissipating. He intended to explain more, but this woman clearly had no intention of hearing it. Very well.

"Hate me if you please. As long as you follow orders."

He'd open the door, and step back so she could enter first. He'd start down the hall.

"Cabal has a fully stocked medical facility with some of the most technologically advanced systems known to man. They're required, you see, with the type of things we deal with. Short of regrowing limbs and death, there isn't a single thing we're not capable of fixing."

He'd gesture to the right.

"Living quarters are that way, you're in room 280. Would you like to stop by there first and meet me at the medical wing?"

He held up a visitors map in his left hand for her to take, if she wished it.

[Arianna Barrial]

”You’re dead; it’s a waste to hate the deceased.”

Something about her tone suggested she had figured as much out, if not in her lifetime then maybe within the last twenty years. Either way she grabbed the handle to her case and pulled it along behind her. He lead the way and she obliged, her gaze straight ahead down the hall.

Ironic, then, that they had someone to fix death. And, in the right circumstances, she could mend severed limbs along with that.

Her exhale was part amusement, a sort of soft huff that puffed through her nose.

Like she was going to mention that, though.

It wasn’t long before they paused and he offered her a chance to get away. Rather than strain her capacity for professionalism with the resurgence of a familiar body stuffed with the same persona and powers of someone she and her sister once knew after twenty years, she nodded and delicately took the map before curling her hand and the paper around the handle for her things.

“Marvellous.”

And away she went.

[Onides Une]

Her tail swayed as she sat on a short wall chugging an energy drink and looking through notes from last nights game. She exhales a heavy yawn. She knew it was a bad idea to let it keep going until six in the morning but they wanted to press on and minutes turned into hours very quickly. She turned over on the half wall so that she laid across it on her stomach and one leg dangling off the side. One arm under her chin and another holding the pencil she'd not move anything except her eyes and her hand to scratch down farther progression and plot ideas.

She'd spot someone in the distance and lift her head. Well more like the beam striking the courtyard jolted her upright her tail still where it hovered as she held on to the wall with both hands and knees. She sat up crossing her legs and began switching to another notebook she'd start writing down their description and what they were doing she'd make guesses as to who they were and observe them. She had in this book a list of Qi users and their styles. This one was new.

Wait... no, she wasn't!

Oni just about fell off the wall this time. Seeing a new face from Cabal's previous generation she just got so excited and very curious she couldn't stop herself even left half a can of energy drink to litter the wild. Arianna was a Legacy the Phoenix herself was back. She'd be following from the beginning and as the woman met David Blaze it was an interesting connection to make. It wasn't until their conversation was over that Oni would come out of her hiding spot a little ahead of the way. From within a pillar, her head would poke out. But once she was out it was trying to find words to say that became difficult. A sick case of star-struck just festered in the little Oni.

"I... hello... you're awesome. Ah... I'm Onides but people call me Oni, like after the Japanese demon... but I am not a demon you know... I am a tiefling." at least that is what she prefers to be called. "I've read about you... but I do that with a lot of Cabal attendees that I admire... not just you... that would be creepy..." she pressed her lips in a tight thin line realizing she was just rambling. She'd think to help the lady but she probably knew this place like the back of her hand. Instead, Oni would just...

"Welcome back." she smiled at a hero amongst noncombat heroes.

Oni had been at Cabal for probably a couple of years now but she did not consider herself amongst the combat class. It was more like she disliked being on the front lines. So she has hardly worked on really any at all of her training or challenges. Playing games and studying was what took up most of her time.

[Arianna Barrial]

Just when she thought she couldn't be surprised, out popped a face with horns, followed closely by a body with a peculiar tail. Demon, naturally, was the first thought that scrambled into her head as Arianna pulled to a very abrupt stop. Her caution and lingering anger evaporated to bewilderment at the rather star-struck expression and tumble of words.

What?

It took a solid few moments of quick blinks before everything sank in.

"I never actually went to Cabal, but...thank you, I suppose." Strange occurrence...not that she hadn't faced that quiet awe before, or had people babble at her...but it never failed to surprise her all the same, it seemed. "It's nice to meet you. How long have you been here?"

Well, all things considered, Oni's star-struck behaviour was an open window to talk, and Arianna gestured forward towards the rooms.