[IC] That's Weird

[Zmerr]

There was a weird feeling in Wheatley's limbs. A tingling feeling. Like millions of bug crawling all over his skin. He opened his eyes slowly and thought he must be in sleep mode. He was definitely on the ground. That was obvious from the pull of gravity. He could feel that he was on the ground. His surroundings were blurry even though, by now, his eyes were completely open. He brought a clumsy hand to his face and, with difficulty, straightened his glasses.

Everything seemed off. First off, why was he not in space? He brought himself up into a sitting position and looked around him, taking in the scene. Tall green grass as far as the eye could see. The gray, cloudy sky hung low, making everything seem dark and evil. And that was it. No panels, no Thermal Discouragement Beams, not even GLaDOS' glaring camera.

Perhaps the most disconcerting part was... him. He had hands. Since when did he have those? Or two eyes? Or glasses? Or anything other that his management rail and his useless flashlight. He began to tremble. What was going on?

He was glad to be out of space. That was for sure, but he wasn't particularly fond of the vacuum's replacement. It was too dark and uninviting. At least in space, things were quiet. He could see forever and know if there was something or someone there. Here, the grass moved in the wind making an odd brushing sound. And there were creatures making noises and he couldn't see any of them.

Suddenly, there was a flash of greenish light. It only blinked for a moment and, to Wheatley, looked vaguely like computer code. And then it was gone. Was it some kind of lightning? He'd never seen lightning, but he supposed a flash of light would certainly fit the bill.

He tried to stand up so he could get a closer look at the spot where the strange light had met the ground, but almost as soon as he got up, he tumbled down again. He never had legs before either and they were proving quite difficult to control.

He hit the ground with a muffled oof. He landed face first in the dirt and he was not happy about it.

"Ugh this is awful! What is this stuff? This is bloody nasty- oh what is this?!" He picked up a muddy stick and examined it. Water dripped off and fell into a pool. His eyes followed it. He screamed and jumped when he got a look at himself. "I'm human? What is this?! This is ludicrous- what did she do to me? I -"

He was cut off by another flash of light.

[czechmate46]

The first thing John heard was sound. The soft continious sound of tall grass being manipulated by the wind. The inconsistent tweets of the birds flying over head. And the very faint but existant voice of a man. Next was the sight. John's eyes cracked open slightly, allowing the bright sun light to sting his eyes. He was slowly awakening. Soon he eventually began to move his arms and legs, pulling his torso up to look around. He saw nothing but a wide open feild...perhaps a humanoid figure in the distance but he was too far away to tell. He tried to remember the last thing he saw...the last place he was. All he remembered was locking the barn door back at home, when he got a terrible head ache and sat down before passing out. Which raised the most prominent question; where was he?

Standing to his feet, he suddently remembered his hat - somehow that hat had stuck with him through everything and he wasnt about to lose it. Miraculously, the hat was resting on the grass, right near where his head had been. Taking slow and large strides, the confused Marston made his way through the tall grass and closer to the figure he could faintly see in the distance. When he began to near the figure, he decied to call out to it. "Hello?"

[Lady Seraphina]

Something was wrong. Terra could feel it before she opened her eyes. She could feel grass beneath her but she remembered falling asleep on the airship, the gentle rock of the ship lulling her to sleep. Terra opened her eyes. She was lying in a field of tall grass that waved back and forth in the wind. It seemed to stretch on for eternity. Perhaps the airship had crashed without her waking. Could this be the afterlife?

Just then a bird flew right over Terra's shoulder startling her. She gave a slight yelp and as she did so sparks snapped and crackled between her hands. She raised them up to look, she couldn't stop starring. It couldn't be, they'd destroyed the Warring Triad, the Espers and all of the worlds magicite had returned to the earth as energy. The esper part of her had returned with them so how could it be that she still had magic.

Feeling scared Terra raised her hand and snapped her fingers, a small flame lept up in her palm. She gave a yell and the fire grew encompassing her hand. She collapsed to the ground, opened her mouth and let out a blood curdling scream. The flames responded to her terror growing larger and larger until they were an enormous fireball encasing her. She did not fear that the flames would harm her but rather that they would destroy everything else.

She curled herself into a tight ball. "No no no, stop, STOP." she said to herself over and over. She tried to picture something to calm her, the inside of Figaro Castle, the orphans of Mobliz Village. None of it worked until finally she remembered the night before she'd woken up here. She'd stood on the prow of the airship, let her hair down and let the wind rush through her being happy in the knowledge that she was free. It was not so anymore but the memory was enough to douse the flames leaving her curled in a ball in the center of a huge scorch mark were her flames had incinerated the grass and cooked the earth. She muttered to herself over and over rocking band and forth. "Calm, safe, collected, calm safe collected." in an effort to keep the magic from rearing itself again.

[Lady Seraphina]

Terra cried, she was by no means weak or emotionally unstable but in the last twenty four hours she had thought a curse that long rested on her had been lifted and the next moment had that hope snatched from her grasp. So Terra cried, letting her impressions of time slip away, she let the tears fall. Terra could have sat there cradling herself for minutes or hours or years but no time would be enough to melt the fierce desperate longing inside her, the longing to be able to touch someone without turning them to stone or to be mad with someone and let her anger run free without the fear of her rage turning them to cinders.

Terra didn't remember how long she stayed there in the center of her scorched earth. The next thing she was aware of after the tears was a voice. "Little lady! Where is Pyro friend?" the man's voice sounded gruff and foreign. He spoke like the inhabitants of Narashe far in the north, you or I hearing it may have called it a Russian accent. "And how did you survive burnings?" He added it as a sort of afterthought like it wasn't really his main concern.

Terra gave a sad almost pathetic smile into her knees. 'Little Lady' he said it like she was gentle and safe... and harmless.

"I'm... s-s-sorry." Terra said her breath coming in raged gasps because of her tears. "I-I d-don't kn-now anyone n-named Pyro." She struggled to speak through her tears. Another shuddering sob wracked Terra's body and she clenched into an even tighter ball. When it had passed she moved her head slightly to get a look at whom she was speaking to.

He was a very large man, two feet taller than her and built heavy with muscle, unlike Locke and Edgar whose toned builds had been subtle this man's screamed of the kind of work he did, messy manual labor, combined that with the scars she could see on his arms it was clear what his occupation was, wet work, putting bodies in the ground. He was dressed oddly in a kind of red clothing she had never seen before; it was so bright it seared her eyes. Lastly he was carrying a strange weapon, she'd seen designs for such things before, built into the arms of Magitech armor. That could mean only one thing; he held her former rank as a Magitech Elite. He worked for the Gestahlian Empire. He worked for Kefka.

Upon realizing this Terra hopped to her feet adrenaline running through her system, her fight or flight responses warring with each other. Terra took two steps back. She'd once destroyed fifty of the Empire's best soldiers, burned so hot that not even their bodies remained. She had sworn to herself never again. She would defend herself but if she could help it there would be no casualties today.

Fire burned behind Terra's eyes and flame lept forth over her arms, cloaking them in red hot light. "Stay away from me!" She shrieked at the man. "I don't want to hurt you but I will never go back to the Empire! Kefka will never use my powers again! I'd sooner die!" She screamed for the entire world to hear, and in response the flames coating her arms danced more violently and the fire in her eyes burned brighter, more intense, ready to incinerate any threat.

[Lady Seraphina]

The blaze that Terra had created drew the attention of several other people who seemed to have some sort of connection to this heavy set Magitech Elite. One was tall skinny and had startling blue eyes that sort of unnerved Terra almost as if they were glowing. The next was dressed in rugged travel wear that would have served him well in the Figaro Desert. Lastly was a man with ruff features, his cloths were as strange of the one wielding Magitech weaponry but of much more somber colors.

Terra used one foot to pivot to the side so her flames were turned on every threat present. The one with the ruff features was the first to approach her and though he seemed to be speaking English the words he said made no amount of sense to her. He used strange words such as 'DUP' and 'bio-terrorist' to which Terra could connect no meaning. He seemed to be referring to both of them as something called 'Conduits'. She considered briefly that it might be his people's word for Espers but disregarded it immediately, Espers resonated with one another, even if he was gaining magic through the artificial application of magicite she would feel it.

The next to speak to her was the Magitech wielder, he did not look particularly intelligent which surprised Terra, most of Kefka's guards were at the top of their game mentally and physically. His facial expressions seemed to say he was running through a very difficult problem. When it broke he did the last thing Terra would have expected, he placed the Magitech Weapon on the ground beside him before stepping forward. He seemed to be under the ridiculous impression that Terra was someone he knew who apparently never took off some sort of mask.

The last to approach her was the tall one with the eerily blue eyes. He talked of them all being in the same boat, about how her magic the only thing keeping her safe was unnecessary and how everyone should calm down.

Terra couldn't concentrate properly, there were too many people crowding her field of attention saying things that didn't add up and didn't make sense. She couldn't process everything that was being thrown at her. She couldn't think properly, her tears had dried on her face leaving streaks behind; she must have been a sight to behold.

"EVERYONE JUST SHUT UP!" Terra yelled breathing hard. Looking at the Heavy she started to yell again. His stupidity had finally convinced her he was not with the Empire. "You!" She yelled at him. "Back off or I swear on the power of the Warring Triad I will end you."

Terra took three steps back as the flames coating her arms grew and spread till her whole body was covered in golden fire. "None of you know who I am, and you," she said looking at the man who had referred to her as a 'conduit' "Never again try to label my people just because you are too foolish to understand what is before you, our world is older than you could possibly dream, so just back off." She turned to the blued eyed one "As for being safe," she smiled viciously "I'll never be safe with anyone who wields Magitech weapons without a thought for the blood that when into building them."

Terra felt energized and ready for a fight, her eyes glowed fiercely with fire daring anyone to challenge her.