Welcome to Gaia! ::

"I'm going to the portal!" Solana jumped up from where she lay and her Djinn flew about her in sudden confusion.

"You were just asleep!" Everest let out a strange squeak as he landed on a pillow and Star.

"Yes, and dead to the world!" Beacon had rolled off of Solana's stomach, and now two Djinn, Cannon and Dust, joined her on a pillow.

"You cannot neglect your duties here, Solana." Star flew in front of Solana and landed on one of her notebooks.

I am no longer needed. The Jupiter's are scattered and will never be established in this Lighthouse again. Some might be born here, but they will be very few and far between. As we speak the Elders are coming to tell me this news. This city is abandoned." as she spoke the group of elders entered her chambers.

"I suppose you already know why we are here since you are packing your things." One of the elders spoke.

"Yes I do. The city is emptied?"

"Yes it is. We have made the preparations to seal the Jupiter Lighthouse. You will finish it and take the Jupiter Star with you."

"Thank you. You may all take your families and leave the city as well. Peace be with you till we meet again." The elders left Solana's chamber and the Lighthouse and the city.

"You are going to join Kassion and Leer in the Dark World? I do not advise it, but you are more stubborn than Idele ever was."

"The Dark World is no place for you, Lady Solana."

"True, it is no place for any human, let alone a woman."

"Everest! Geode! Lady Solana is able to take care of herself!"

"They know that, Beacon. Still, Lady Solana. Do you think you will make it in time to enter the portal?"

"Dust is right, you are not able to make a portal yourself. Only Leer and maybe Kassion's apprentice Maxwell would be able to."

"You are right. But at least I can be there when they come back out."

"Yes, and you can make sure that the Venus generals do not try anything."

"I doubt they would, Sour. After all, Matt is there with Kassion."

"Yes, Bane, that is correct. Lady Solana, we will travel with you and await what will happen next. Let us go get the Jupiter Elemental Stone."

"Yes, Star. We leave nothing behind except for a few archives about the Jupiter Clan and these wars. All sealed from age by Psynergy and your powers, Star."

"Yes, m'lady. Get to work, the rest of you, and help Lady Solana pack. Within an hour all was packed and Solana took the Elemental Star from its place and put it in a mythril bag. She walked out of the Lighthouse and looked down on the destroyed and abandoned city.

"Leer will be heart-broken when I tell him about this. This was the only home he knew since Idele took him in." Solana sighed. She walked out of the city and out the gates. She sealed the gates with Psynergy and entrances to the Lighthouse were hidden. She took a small teleportation stone with her and would leave it to a descendant to give to a nearby village that would form in the near future. Small tears of sorrow hit Solana as she turned away from the city and the slightly sunken Jupiter Lighthouse.

"My brothers, my family, my life. All are over as I know it. Somehow I am left to take the legacy of the Jupiter with me." Solana walked only a little ways before she disapeared in a sudden flash of white and purple light. She appeared at the same instance just outside the portal where Kassion and Leer and the others were hidden.

***

"Where did Lady Solana go? Well, I guess I'll just have to hoof it. Gale? Can you help me? A small Djinni came out of Eira's cloak.

"Yes, Miss Eira. We go to see brother Star?"

"Yes. Can you find them?"

"Surely as the sun glows right now. Eira smiled at the gentle Gale. She was a powerful ally in battle, but she was so cool and collected in daily life. Eira had been given Gale after he became an Adept in rank. She would have been a general if there had been a Jupiter Army.

"Let's go!" Eira began to run and Gale helped her with the power of the wind. They would soon be at the place where Solana waited for Kassion's return.

Kassion peered through the dark hue of that plane and saw an opening, "We are almost out of the ravine, so stay together and pick up the pace."
No sooner did he say that did Matt speak up, apparently not noticing his observation, "Well, those your buddies up there?"
Kassion came to a slow walk followed Matt's gaze.
They were, indeed, being watched.

Responding to Matt, "I guess you could say that. Solana was right about the man-demons. Though..." He paused and squinted, "Oh... Well, whatever it is they're doing, I doubt it's baking a pie for a warm welcome. Keep your eyes peeled and keep moving. We might be able to just avoid them if they're just defending their territory."
Kassion drew out Helios and let it rest at his side as he increased his pace to a slow trot.

A moment later his belt twitched and the pouch on it began vibrating. Rage flew out and landed on Kassion's shoulder, taking his not-so-humble form and angry as he had every been before.

"We're not being watched. We're being hunted."

Kassion sighed, "Well, I was hoping that wasn't the case. Thank you for that grim reminder."

"No problem," Rage said, obviously missing the sarcasm.

"Why are you helping me all of a sudden?"

"I like you. This place looks like fun. Lots of things are angry with you in here and I like things that are angry with you. It usually means that I get a chance to hurt something!"
Kassion chuckled a little and looked at the little demon. He was growing fond of him already. He had a strange sense of humor when he showed it.

Artica formed on Kassion's other shoulder soon after Rage made his appearance.
"Solana was right. I don't know why they are here now, but the things that she told you to watch out for are shadowing us. They're all around us. I can feel them. Also, they're not very sneaky. They cast a pretty big shadow..."

Kassion looked up and saw enormous shadows moving along with them.

"Oh..."

Kassion picked up the pace and shouted back to the group, "They invited friends! Ready yourselves and remember to avoid your specific creature! Let the others handle them! I call the tree! I'm sure it won't like fire all too much! Haha!"

"Fair enough. Don't die one me, Iden."

he shook his head to stiffle a laugh as he threw his hood off his head. no need for that interferance. His hair hung across his face in unkempt locks, everything aobut him seeming darker and blacker now. As if the primary colors had been drained off him for a time.

Pushing his sleeve up his arms for better movement, and pulling his cloak tighter, he began weaving shadows around him as he walked. indigo light spiraled on the winds, twisting amongst shadows in a rapid spiral till in his hand he held A cross shaped beam of indigo, forming around which was the shadow-solidified claymore blade.

"Bloody picnic this is, eh!"

In his other hand, runes danced over the fingers.Twisting along the lines of his tribal shadow marks.

~Demon World, Matt's Perspective~

"I guess you could say that. Solana was right about the man-demons. Though...Oh... Well, whatever it is they're doing, I doubt it's baking a pie for a warm welcome. Keep your eyes peeled and keep moving. We might be able to just avoid them if they're just defending their territory."

Matt observed Kassion draw his own weapon and walked at a brisker pace.

"Well Jin, you know what this means right?"

Jin nodded as the massive shadows shifted around them.

"They invited friends! Ready yourselves and remember to avoid your specific creature! Let the others handle them! I call the tree! I'm sure it won't like fire all too much! Haha!"

"Finally."

As soon as Kassion said ready, Matt sent a surge of psyenergy to the 'ground.' After several seconds of pause, the organic mass below him formed into a deformed looking pillar holding the two Venus Adepts and leaving the others below them.

"Well, good enough."

Matt scanned around for the tree, spotted it, and hopped to the side of the ravine on the opposing side. He heard an ear-shattering screech as he landed on the cliff and turned his head to see a titan-sized Phoenix dive bombing at him.

"Crappage! Coal!"

Matt nearly rolled out of the hit, but in a moment of nauseating dizziness from the environment, had his leg caught in the giant bird's beak. It crushed the armor around his leg and dug into his flesh to get a solid grip. After a pause to wince at the pain, Matt responded and spun his body to slash at its head, but was repelled by the fierce flames it emitted. If the bird wasn't flying at such a velocity that most of the flames were trailing it rather than radiating from its body, Matt would've surely been burned alive. As soon as it scooped Matt, it flew back into the air beyond reach of the others.

"Well, this is going to suck. A Venus Adept fighting in the air. Sometimes I wish I were a Jupiter instead."

Matt frowned as he twisted as much as he could to [Cure Well] his wounded leg. He then utilized his psyenergy to draw his two side swords to slash at the great Phoenix. This managed to irritate the bird well enough that it loosened its grip on Matt and he quickly ceased his assault in fear of the drop. Matt looked down to the 'ground' and pondered while the Phoenix flew in circles around the battlefield and shot flames in random directions to make things as difficult as it could for the Adepts below.

"Just where in the world is this thing going to take me? I wonder if it's really a better idea to just get it to drop me. I mean, since it's not that solid, maybe I'll bounce on the ground or something."

Matt twitched a bit more from the pain in his leg.

"Well, at this rate, my leg's going to break off. Might as well try to get out of this turkey's grip."

Matt then did his best to clear his mind and focused chi energy until he stored enough he felt sufficient.

"Force!"

Pure energy struck the eye of the Phoenix, and it finally opened its mouth. The bird then shot a stream of lava hot fire as a return hit at Matt. Still free falling, Matt shot a blast of psyenergy in the air right in front of him.

"Ragnorok!"

The massive sword solidified and blocked the flames of the Phoenix, although part of the inferno still scorched his armor.

"This guy makes Kassion's flames feel like hot water."

In the end, Matt survived the attack, but the threat of the fall wasn't over yet.

The ravine opened up enough for Maxwell's "dragon" to fly low for them so that they could jump on. Kassion wasn't particularly fond of the undead thing, but it was a dragon none-the-less and he was excited to, once again, be riding atop such a magnificient thing. Plus, it seemed to take on a more complete form in that particular realm. It's actually far more alive-looking than it was before we got in here, he thought.

They glided along the inside of the ravine and just before they came near the tree, they whipped upwards and away from the tree. As they did, the tree took on the Hellish form that Solana had mentioned. Its branches lept out for them as they passed, barely missing them. Its branches retracted and it spun around. It had legs and a face and it could stretch its limbs to reach them, so long as it felt it had an advantage in doing so, it seemed.

"We need to split up. You continue to fly atop Silivious and I will use my chariot. We have a better chance of getting it while it's attacking two targets. Just keep firing from a distance!" He tried to sound calm and relaxed at first, but got louder and more anxious as he finished. The entire realm seemed as if it was barring down on them. The air even felt heavier, though it must be because we are higher up than before, he thought again.

Before separating, he called on Artica for speed.
With that, he climbed up and lept off Silivious and finished conjuring up his chariot as he did so. He burst into flames and was immediately surrounded by his Orb of Fire. Even in that, he felt heavy.
"I hate this place. This does not help my headache!"
He and Maxwell pelted the walking tree from a distance, burning its surface and causing it to howl out in agony. It lashed out in desperation, trying to catch its assailants.
Unfortunatly for Kassion, he caught a glimpse of the Phoenix. It was flying irratically, but then he knew why. A humanoid form dropped from its mouth from a great height.

Kassion quickly ran through another one of his favorite spells, casting it on the tree. A giant dome of fire and earth erected around the tree, intending to keep it there for a short while.
"Maxwell! Keep firing on it! Your attacks will make it through, still! Just keep it here!"
With that, Kassion rocketed out of their skirmish towards the falling figure.
Those who had not gotten into their own skirmish yet ducked out of the way as the firy orb howled past them, shaking the ravine walls and knocking a few loose rocks out of the them.
When Kassion was in range of the person, he got a good look of who it was. He didn't even think about it, but as soon as he dismissed the orb and continued to fly towards the descending figure he had one rouge thought make it past his adrenaline barrier.
Damn, it just had to be me that saved his sorry arse!

He was moving in a horizontal line, intending to intercept Matt as he fell.

A split second before Matt went past, Kassion realized that the distance was still too great.
Without a second thought, he summoned up a simple, innate wind burst, sending him a hair faster towards Matt.

It was just what he needed. He hit Matt with a force that nearly knocked with wind from his lungs, and from the sounds of it it had a similar effect on Matt.

Fortunately, they were only a dozen feet from the ground when they collided.
Kassion called on his Jupiter abilities, again, and slowed their descent and righted himself so he could land on his feet.
It was hardly enough. Luckily, Kassion had already activated artica, a Jupiter Djinni, so when he and Matt landed in a heap, they felt as if they had just lept into a soft mound of dirt.

Kassion coughed as he stood, wiping the fleshy substance away from his face that he had hit when they landed on the obscure ground.

He brushed himself off and spun back towards the battle. He was nearly out of breath, but managed to cast his Chariot spell again. It had only been a few seconds since he last used it, but he needed to reach the battle quickly. His battle was on the complete other side of the ravine!
He caught a glimpse of Matt as he finished the spell and was engulfed in flames, once more.
He looked at Matt and spoke with complete certainty, "You owe me for that one."
He pulled out a psyenergy star and tapped into its power, refilling his own psyenergy completely.

He then shot back off towards his own battle. He managed one word as he passed the rest of their group, "Team-"
He went by too fast to finish it, but he knew they heard his amplified call.
They knew what it was supposed to be.

While atop the dragon, Maxwell continued his assault of the demon tree, using psynergy after psynergy to drain it's energy and life force. The other demon, Silivious of the Blade, with his arms formed into a blade shape, moved closer and closer to the whale, since it was the closest creature like himself here in this realm. Leaping up, it slashed across the bottom of the creature, and in return got a scream of pain as flesh was rent asunder. It's dark red eyes looked back at the adepts, and then back up just as the tail of the creature slammed into it, sending it flying downward into the ground, impacting hard. Shaking it's head to clear the double vision, it looked up and concentrated it's two arm blades into one large blade, like that of a b*****d sword, and stood up.

"I hope it knows what it's doing against that thing..."
Maxwell said as his dragon released another breath attack at the creature, sending out waves of demonic energy mixed with fire, forming a deadly embrace of heat.

((Quoted for da lulz))

~Poseidon Deck, Makko's Perspective~

For a diplomat, Pelleas was a pretty skilled fighter. However, he was still no match for the Mercury Master's very own apprentice.

"Checkmate."

"Wow, that was exhilarating. I'm actually not that much for fighting, I prefer a more tactical standpoint, but I had fun."

Makko clapped as the two lowered their weapons and checked around for damage from the fights. However, some of the sailors were less than enthusiastic about their new work.

"Well, guess I might as well help a bit with that. I did kinda wreck a few spots myself."

Makko sent a small pulse of psyenergy into the wooden deck and the holes were replaced as if they were nevere there. Despite the fact that they were surrounded by water, the ship was all he needed for his Venus psyenergy to remain intact.

~Portal Entrance, Isaac's Perspective~

"Well, good day Master Solana. And yet another apprentice of yours?"

The Elder's psyenergy abilities were undoubtedly acute, as he spoke when he felt the Jupiter winds closing in to the portal region. The rest of the Venus Brigades were following Matt's orders to rest at a local town for several days, but the Elder decided to hold watch near the portal.

"Do not worry. I'm not quite as rash as Master Strider is, so leave your hostilites where they were. But do enlighten me on how you and Master Kinshou plan on destroying the evils within the portal."

~Demon World, Matt's Perspective~

"Ugh!"

Matt prompted vomitted from the cumulative effect of the strange gravitation and the fall. He pulled out a vial from his pocket and downed it, for his health and to rid of the aftertaste in his mouth.

"You owe me for that one."

Matt slowly lifted himself from the ground and brushed off some globs of the fleshy substance off his armor.

"You sure you're really Kassion and not some imposter?"

Kassion rushed off without a response, but did send off an incomplete message.

"TEAM-"

Just then, he saw the the Mercury Adept, Iden land near him. Matt spotted a magnificent dragon not too far off in the sky from the direction of where Iden flew from. The phoenix was not in sight, so Matt decided to settle for the only target he could find.

"Pound!"

A wide psyenergy force slammed the dragon into the ground. Although the dragon was not damaged at all by the neutral psyenergy, it completed what Matt needed the move to do. The dragon was out of the sky. Matt, with his speed still amplified with Coal, closed in the distance to pull off his next step before the dragon could lift itself back into the skies. Matt drew his Gaia Blade and slammed it into the ground, sending a massive surge of psyenergy that was then further amplified by Matt's resonating armor.

"Gaia...Slash!"

With the heavily focused Venus Psyenergy and elemental advantage the strike had against the dragon, the metallic stalagmites pierced through the dragon. It screeched in pain, as it attempted to lift itself back into the air and out of the field of bloodied stalagmites. The bad news was that when it was back in the air, it showed little signs of weakness from its wounds on the underside.