Lost her marbles...

[Ashen Rain]

-(For more information on my character, please seek the Hall of Records, and look up the thread, 'What is a Celanthros again...?'

All in that thread will make clear what these marble things are. Also, I don't mind who posts here... infact, I would GREATLY appriciate someone posting here and role playing with me. Twould be awesome, no?

Also... sorry for the terrible puns. She hasn't really lost her marbles- she's just looking for new ones. The pun, if you hadn't guessed, was based on the Psychotopia aspect, and the crazyness, and the like.)

The plains were wide spread around the Grandly Awful city of Psychotopia. A fluttering snow storm was blowing over the the grassy plains, and man, was it smoldering. The poor girl standing in the middle of the aflicted area was almost as white at the boiling snow, and she was sweating her tail off- almost quite literally.

Presently, however, the snow storm had stopped, and instead, a storm of bubbles was falling precariously about. Now, the scorched snow girl was hot and sticky... though, feeling strangly cleansed. Finally, with an annoyed slump, she plopped down into the soggy, bubbly grass, and sighed.

"... C'mon, now..." she murmured to herself, crossing her legs and resting her arms on her knees. She stared down at her feet as her strange, white tail coiled around and wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "I can't be seeing things," she continued. "Then again... in a place like this, I wouldn't be surprised."

She sighed softly to herself, and fell back, staring up at the pink bubble cloud sky... well, before the pink bubbles changed to lilac, and then blue. "I know I saw that marble... it was shiney, and red... I definitely know I saw it, darn it all... but where could it...?"

Far above her head, just within the view of her eyes, a tiny red bubble was sparkling at the bottom of the thousands of the now golden colored bubbles. She stared at it for a minute, when all of a sudden, she quirked an eye brow, and then jumped up.

"... That's no bubble!" she stated loudly, now up and standing on her tip toes, balancing with her tail and reaching up as far as she could with her hands. It was no use. She just wasn't tall enough. But of course, she didn't think to pull out another marble, and transfer into something that could get high enough to fetch the marble.

So, with a hand pressed tight to the pouch at her side, she hovered around underneath the marble, in hopes that the bubble would pop, and that she would be able to catch it...

[Shaon]

Somewhere nearby, a cat was wandering around, a laptop strapped to its back.

"He must be hiding something from me... you don't sense him anymore, and the storms aren't usually-"

Just then, the feline caught a glint of red. Thinking it was her target, she began to run towards it, the laptop not hindering her speed one ounce.

[Ashen Rain]

-(Just so you know, the marble is waaayy up in the sky, inside of a bubble right now. ^^; )-

Apparently, what the cat did not see in the crowd of foggy bubbles, was a short Celanthros tripping about, also after the red object.

"... My... marble," she muttered, huffing and puffing slightly. "...Darn it, why can't the bubble just pop already? I need that marble for my collection..."

However, just as she was uttering these words, her eyes were attracted to something a tad darker than the newly frozen snow upon the ground. Still running after the rest speck in the sky, though now paying attention to this small dark shadow, Ritka was no longer paying any attention to where she happened to be headed.

"... Well, what's that now?" she began saying to herself. "... And what's that on it's back? And what's it running after?"

All of these lovely little thoughts went bubbling (ironically) through her mind... just increasing the distance she was running without noticing that her tail was sagging, and slowly begging to tangle about her legs.

"... How strange... is that a cat?" she panted quickly, before the inevitable. "... What's a cat doi- Agh!"

With a rather loud, and somewhat painful thud, Ritka nimble tripped, falling down face first among the snowy grasses of the plains. Instinctivly, her hand went to her side to hold her pouch still, even though this action caused the white girl to face plant. A groan or too later, Ritka was pushing herself up, and flipping over to glare sorely down at her tail.

"... Lot of good you do..." she muttered angrilly, reaching over and unwrapping her legs from their fuzzy bindings. "... I have half a mind to cut you off sometimes..."

-(... And, hopefully this over dramatic crash will draw the kitty's attention... =p)-

[Shaon]

Still racing after the red thing, a sudden moving of the snow near it caught her eye.

Not wasting any time, the cat vanished, the laptop suddenly shooting through the air, only to land, clattering on the ground nearby Ritka.

Within a second's notice, the cat reappeared, the laptop now in its hands.

"Damn. It's not him."

The cat seemingly ignored Ritka, staring at the marble she chased.

"Is that yours? It's powerful."

[Ashen Rain]

Her tail nearly untangled, Ritka was suddenly distracted by the loud, clanking thud of a square... thing, landing in the area around her. The young snowy female sat staring at the thing in utter confusion, trying to decipher exactly what it was, when all of a sudden, a cat appeared with the thin metal box held neatly in its paws.

Needless to say, Ritka scrambled back a few inches.

When the cat cursed (and Ritka had moved back a good foot or so), the young Celanthros finally decided to open her mouth.

"... Um... is something the matter?" she asked curiously. However, the cat appeared to be ignoring her. Frowning slightly, and forgetting that this was indeed a talking cat (and something living in Psychotopia, which meant that it could quite possibly be dangerous) she sat up on her hands and knees, and crawled foreward a bit, attempting to speak again, to get the cats attention.

"... Pardon me, but are you al-" she began, before being inturrupted.

"Is that yours? It's powerful."

Ritka blinked and stared a moment, before tilting her head up to look at the marble floating ever farther away. She grimaced and stood, dusting her pant legs off and wondering how she would get to it...

"... Why do you say that?" she asked the cat, still staring up at the floating red sphere. "About it being powerful I mean?..."

As much as Ritka wanted the marble, the cat was indeed confusing her. She thought that she (and the person leaving the marbles for her to find) was the only one who knew what the marbles could do. How could that cat even tell...?

[Shaon]

" These... these marbles of yours. Godly, would think. As powerful as my GTILD, perhaps..."

The cat absentmindedly shifted her paws, revealing the laptop to have the initals 'GTIL' engraved, on the exact center of the lid.

The feline suddenly rolled her eyes at apparently nothing.

"I'm looking for an old... friend, you could call him. Tall, wearing black cloak, glowing red eyes. Didn't happen to see him, did you?"

[Netdroid9]

...Marbles? I remember that game, the younger spirits used to play it in their free time. Ah, such fun. Until someone came along, beat you half to death, took all your marbles and made a mockery of you behind your back. Still, it was better than doing nothing.

*A cloaked figure steps out of the shadows.*

Now, enough about that. What do you want these marbles for exactly? They must be important, otherwise you'd just buy them from a store like everyone else.

[Ashen Rain]

Still staring up at the ever floating marble (which by now, I might add, was quite tauntingly sitting within it's now greenish bubble, tottering around in circles just out of her reach) Ritka blinked at what the cat had said.

"... Godly?" the young Celanthros repeated, turning to look at the feline in a mix of shock and slight discomfort. "Like your... what is that thing?" She asked. The cat had just revealed to her the initials of the thin sliced metal contraption. She shook her head a bit and looked up at the cat once more, but the feline just rolled it's eyes for one reason or another.

"... I think you may be mistaken. These aren't... Godly at all..." Ritka tried to explain, even if she hardly knew what she were talking about. "No, they couldn't be... I mean, if they were Godly, and I was in control of them, that means I would be something close to... a... a..."

She trailed off, her eyes slowly moving back up to the marble floating above her. Idly, her hand moved to press tightly over the pouch of other marbles. Ritka? With the power of a God? It couldn't be... Gods had amazing powers... and yes, with these things, she had quite a few nifty ones, but she couldn't be... Gods were immortal after all, and she wasn't...

Her eyes still upon the red sphere, blinked suddenly. When had been her last birthday? She hadn't been keeping track recently... She had been too into finding as many marbles as she could. But... how much time had she actually spent searching? She remembered not finding a marble for weeks, maybe even months at a time, back tracking and the like... but she always payed attention to the surroundings, and never the time.

And when, she wondered, had been the last time she had been hungry, or thirsty? Once more, she had been too preoccupied to think of those things, but now it was all strange. She didn't feel quite anything right now... maybe a little thirsty because of it being hot out here and all, but she wasn't... But then again...

... Could she be?

"I'm looking for an old... friend, you could call him." the cat said to her, startling the white girl out of her thoughts. "Tall, wearing black cloak, glowing red eyes. Didn't happen to see him, did you?"

About to open her mouth in answer to the cats question (which was apparently going to be 'no'), a dark cloaked figure popped up out of the shadows infront of them, speaking of the marbles that she and the cat had been talking about. Pointedly, Ritka lifted a finger at the new comer, and tilted her head off to the side a bit.

"... Would that be him?" She asked the cat curiously.

Upon hearing the rest of the cloaked figures question, Ritka blanched. She didn't quite know if it was alright to be spouting off what these things could do. The last time she didn't tell, bad things had happened... but after she did tell, even worse things occured. She also didn't know if this 'person' would leave her alone about the marbles once she told him. She didn't want him to begin collecting them, nor did she want him thinking about ripping the mecanism at the base of her neck out, to use for his own purposes.

"... Well, yes actually," She carefully began, swallowing a bit and taking a tighter grip on the pouch at her side. "They are quite important to me... They're very special. Indeed very special... and I have, actually, bought a few at times, when people who had found them before me were selling them.

She gave a slight cough, knowing she was rambling on purpose. "They're... very neat you see. They have interesting little figures in the middle, and I like... to... look at them, I guess..."

[Shaon]

The cat smiled, her silver eyes suddenly fading into a deep gray.

"I know what you're thinking. You don't need to be a god to weild a godly artifact. In fact, I vividly remember a girl, a shaman, who used a more powerful pocket demension to make sure one of the more... misunderstood slaves wouldn't return as easily. If I remember correctly, she lived here, in Psychotopia.

However, I wouldn't rule out the gods looking at you. If the worst case is true, they're trying to replace me."

The cat didn't even move when the cloaked figure appeared, her eyes returning to their original silver.

"Him? He is Net. He is quite closely connected to my... friend and I, but still is different all the same."

[LordPsycho]

*A red mist settled nearby, and began to coalese into a solid shape. White shirt, grey hair, and urbon camoflauge pants replaced his black cloak and shirt with the regular camaflauge pants. And his eyes glowed now even without the cloak, but now they were a deep, icy blue. However, when he spoke to the girl and the Cat, it was still the same voice*

So, the cat has come looking for the Lord of Psychotopia? Why do you fill this girls head with old legends. We both know what really happened to my brother...It's the exact same fate that was in store for me, no doubt. It's the reason why we were both banished, and Why I had to create this place.

*The Sensei, as he now liked to be called in order to reflect his new found freedom, turned his attention to the girl*

My dear, you must be freezing! How about I take you into my Palace, get you something warm to drink?

*With that, The Sensei offers out his hand to Celanthros to help her up*

[LordPsycho]

((I'm not sure which of the stories Shaon references everyone has read, but to be safe, I have added them both into the Archives: http://blackstar.inkwell.com.ru/viewtopic.php?p=2605#2605 ))

[Netdroid9]

Hmm... I guess I've no reason to disbelieve you. May I...

*Noticing her grip tighten on the pouch at her side, Net decided to retract his request.*

...Nevermind. I believe there's a device attached to your neck. May I inquire as to where you got it? I didn't know humans had mastered neural interfacing technology yet. I'll have to have a look at it later, if you don't mind.

[Shaon]

Shaon snapped up, glaring at the god with her now deeply dark grey eyes.

"Ah, Au'Marui. Where have you been? Hiding with your fellow brainwashed ones in the facade of paradise?

The old legends are even more important in this day of destruction. You cannot fool me. You were playing with Warp Portals when it happened,
Psychotopia had existed for a long while. This dojo was created under the bidding of the gods, and you may not be aware of it, but I can tell when this happens. I have no idea how Shaon managed to convince me to go with her stupid plan.

And as a last warning, don't ever remind me of my origins. That region was invaded as many times as it was for a reason."

[LordPsycho]

*The God of Insanity now glared at the cat*

HOW DARE YOU EVEN THINK I CAN STAND TO BE WITH THOSE GROUP OF EGOTISTICAL, ARROGANT BEINGS THAT DARE CALL THEMSELVES GODS! AND TO EVEN SUGGEST THAT THIS PLACE WAS DONE FOR THEIR BIDDING IS UPSURD! I HAD TO PULL SOME STRINGS TO GET A PLACE FREE FROM THEIR TYRANNY!

*The Sensei, pauses, closes his eyes, and takes a breath*

I thought of all the beings here, you could appreciate what I am doing. This is for the people, not the Gods...they seem to forgotten that they exist to serve the people as equally as the people exist to serve them. That is a mistake I intend not to repeat. Why bring out old grudges because of other Gods? Let us away to my Palace, where we can talk, and I can explain to you what is going on, no doubt your curious over the whole situation?

[Ashen Rain]

The fair (fair as in, white and easily burned) young woman looked back and forth between the two there- Cat, and Net. Simple to remember- listening to the questions and statements of both.

"... Don't rule out the gods looking at me?" Ritka said in response to the cat. "... Erm... But I... there are only two gods, aren't there? And why would the 'other one' be looking at me?"

She nibbled on her bottom lip in thought, even as yet another figure appeared- maybe a tad to close to her. With a slight squeak, the girl fell down, staring disheartedly up at the, for some reason, odd new person who had appeared. Camo pants... white shirt... and strangely icy blue eyes...

"So, the cat has come looking for the Lord of Psychotopia?" spoke the newcomer. Ritka basically missed some of the next things he said, as her eyes went wide.

The Lord of Psychotopia? she thought to herself. I'm in the presance of the Lord here, and... his friends? But... then that means that these are all high ranking peop- er... things. And... wait a minute... where's his dark cloak...?

"My dear," spoke the Lord again, breaking her from the place in her mind. You must be freezing! How about I take you into my Palace, get you something warm to drink?"

He held out his hand to her, and, with a tight grip around the pouch at her side, she took it, and allowed herself to be lifted up. She felt slightly... worried about all of this. All she wanted was her marble and...

With a blink, Ritka looked up at the marble floating above them all. "... But..." she began, before biting her bottom lip...

At this point, Net also began to speak- but in her direction.

"I believe there's a device attached to your neck," he began. "May I inquire as to where you got it? I didn't know humans had mastered neural interfacing technology yet. I'll have to have a look at it later, if you don't mind."

She swallowed, but frowned. "I'm not a human." She said, somewhat sourly, as she chewed on the inside of her cheek. "I'm a Celanthros. We're humaniods, but not actually human."

Almost to emphasize her point, she reached behind her and grabbed her tail, pulling it to the front to show him. "See. Humans don't have tails."

Still frowning a bit, she realized that he had also asked a question along with his 'human' comment. It wasn't really one she wanted to explain, either.

"And, as for this thing..." she said, her free hand fingering over the device slightly. "... I really don't know where I got it. It was just... I woke up with it implanted in me one day... I don't honestly know what it is, either..."

Her eyes lingered back up to the floating red marble, before something Net had said popped back into her mind. He wants to 'have a look' at it...

She swallowed slightly, other vivid images of her, laying on another one of those stone tables where she had gotten this thing put into her. Or at least, she thought it had been done there. In any case, this mental picture was not as good as the origional. The first one, where the thing had been implanted in her, she visioned herself being asleep somehow. The second one, this time with the thought of Net working on looking at the thing, involved her being quite dead, with a gaping hole in her neck.

She was greatly nervous to be around Net now, even if her thoughts had not been what he intended. In an effort to get away from the area (she'd retrieve the marble later...) she turned to the Lord of Psychotopia, and smiled politely.

"... It... is rather cold out, isn't it?" She said to him. "I would love to visit your palace then, if you don't mind at all."

In the back of her mind, she was thinking about getting away from someone who might want to tear her open to get a better look at her 'device'. What she wasn't thinking about, however, was what might happen should she have a house visit with the Lord of Insanity. No offence though, DP.

Though, shortly after these words had spilled out of her lips, the cat began to speak to the Ruler of Psychotopia. Quite harshly, I might add. And in turn, he replied with the same, if not greater force. This thought sent Ritka's teeth chattering (though this could be mistaken for her being cold). Aren't they all... friends? she thought worriedly...