Crumbling away (open)

[deus]

Deus slowly paced himself through down a street of Amity Park, not really focused on where he was going, then again he didn't even know how long he had been traveling for, he hadn't really been paying attention.

Not that he'd care either, focusing on time wasn't the best distraction after all. He wasn't even focused on the odd looks that the people of Amity were giving him. He looked like as if he had been awake for days, walking the whole time. Then again he probably had.

No the tall half-demon was focused on two things and two things only, retaining control and attempting to find his new friends daughter. Although keeping control was the more focal point at the moment. However there was another making it all the harder to remain calm, he had been hounding him since he had left New York.

'Do you really think she cares about you?! She's just using you like everyone else does! Even I use you!' within the recesses of his mind, the dark voice hounded him, scraping away at the built walls of sanity he had left. 'Oh come on how long will it take before you finally realize that all your good for is being used! And especially if you just drop everything to help a pretty face, I mean what good has that done you?' 'Be silent' 'Oh so the big man care to finally grace me with his thoughts!' The dark voices cackling echoing in his head like a recurring nightmare. Those that the giant man passed not knowing of the internal war that waged.

'So how much longer do you think you can hold out hmm? An hour, a day maybe? A week tops. But sooner or later you're gonna slip up, and I'm going to enjoy taking over!' 'Shut up........' 'But what to do first once I have your body.... Well obviously I'll trash everything within sight and kill them all, but after that decisions, decisions.... OH! Maybe I'll go back to the sweet little thing you have in New York and tear her apa-' "I said SHUT UP!" Deus suddenly yelled out, scaring the daylights out of everyone near him with not only his sudden outburst but the fact that three feet around him everything stone and metal had suddenly cracked like as if a meteor had struck. The half-demon then realized what he had done, and was now aware that he was in fact in a city. Those that hadn't quickly left the area did when the giant man gave them a loud snarl.

'Making friends wherever you go aren't you?' The voice cackled madly as he shook his head. 'Remember, you can't keep me out forever Deus...... And when I do finally get my hands on you, I'll be sure to make you watch!' the dark voice continued to laugh maniacally as Deus slowly continued forwards

[Sarafine Duchannes]

Well this was interesting.

A human who wasn't quiet human - and whatever else he had in him, Sarafine was sure it was a vast improvement, despite the fact that he felt like something that had crawled right out of hell. If hell had actually existed, of course. But whatever was going on here, with this...unusually tall man with the bewilderingly long silver hair (really, how strange), he'd caught her attention. And yes, it would have been easier and much more straightforward to simply approach him honestly - to reveal who and what she was - but knowing next to nothing about him, she wasn't quite sure how to predict what his response would be. It wasn't that Sarafine particularly enjoyed hiding from the humans - in fact, she rather despised it - but the world currently being what it was, there was little other choice. To risk exposure over trivial curiosity was...well! It was just silly. Why make things unnecessarily difficult for herself?

And while...possession (she preferred to think of it as borrowing someone else's body, though) might have seemed unnecessarily difficult to some, for Sarafine it really wasn't. Especially where someone as sheep-brained and weak-willed as Mrs. Lincoln was concerned.

Certainly Gatlin wouldn't miss its resident God Warrior for a day or two?

So it was as Mrs. Lincoln - bland, conservative dress, ridiculous hat and all - that she strode up to the young man. ..My, but this was already tiresome. She could hear the woman's thoughts screaming and shrieking at her, practically hysterical - on the bright side, some of the insults she was spitting at the Dark Caster possessing her body were giving Sarafine plenty of fuel to throw at this...creature. Whatever he was. Dare she call him a demon? She couldn't be quite certain yet, but...she was optimistic that that would change, in time!

She kept her head down, appearing subdued as she hurried along the street. All in all, she managed to make nearly stumbling right into the demon-man look quite accidental, stumbling backwards and staring up at him with wide, seemingly surprised eyes. Then, the moment their gazes met, her expression changed. As if seeing some untold horror within his eyes - golden like twilight and dawn - she flinched backwards sharply. "You dare show your face in the light, demon?!" she hissed, drawing herself up. Fumbling for a moment in the little purse, she soon found what she was looking for, and in the next moment had whipped out a cross and all but thrust it into his face. "I've seen the fires of hell in your eyes! Be gone from this place! Go on, get!"

[deus]

The silver giant was struck out of his single-minded focus from the outside by some force. Eyes snapping back to reality, he lazily looked upon the one that ran into him. However he did not see the reaction the woman gave him coming. And of course being called that had made him nearly lose it.

His eyes hardened on the woman, going from a lazy glaze to a murderous stare. Pupils dilating into cat-like slits, flashing red with rage instead of yellow. An aura of dread and predatory rage seemed to exude from the silver giant as his hands clenched. Canines seemingly becoming more feral as he snarled at the woman who cried demon at him and shoved a cross in his face. The ground beneath them suddenly being reduced to fine sand from the barely constrained pulse of rage that the half-demon felt.

All of this happened in seconds, before the half-exhausted glazed yellow eyes returned, the man returning back to his state before he had been called a demon.

"Look lady, I don't know what the hell you're talkin about. But I'm not exactly in the best of shape to deal with someone off their meds....." 'Even random bats on the street can see you for what you are! Just accept it and give in to me......' "Just..... Don't call me that...... We'll both live longer" He muttered the last part, turning around in a vain attempt to ignore the woman.

[Eridan Ampora]

The land dwellers on Earth were even worse than the land dwellers on Alternia! It turned out that apparently the human he'd spoken to had lied to him - the humans didn't actually have anything close to the hemospectrum. They just... did what they wanted! The humans were in absolute chaos, especially considering that he hadn't been able to find anything remotely like a sea dwelling human. On Alternia, society had relied on the presence of sea dwellers. Earth was just... garbage.

On the bright side, he had run into Her Imperious Condescension - the Queen of Trolls, Feferi's ancestor and someone who Eridan had respected and been loyal to for pretty much his entire life. Of course, that had been his first time meeting her and... it went pretty much how he had expected it to. She wasn't exactly his friend and none of his other friends were on Earth.When on Trollian, he had been highly disappointed to see that the only active names there were "carcinoGeneticist" and "arachnidsGrip". Since Karkat had sort of given up on him and Vriska had him blocked, he was pretty much on his own for now.

After his meeting with the Condesce, Eridan had decided to walk around Earth for a bit to explore his new home. He found himself at a human city named Amity Park... a name that didn't mean anything at all to him. In his opinion, humans had the weirdest names for places. As he wandered, Eridan heard a female voice with a strange, human accent nearby. Glancing up, he spotted two human-looking people arguing with each other... or he figured it was arguing, since the woman was shouting. Human relationships were so hard to understand, for a troll.

Having nothing else to do (and having been sufficiently annoyed by the argument), Eridan approached the two. When he got closer, he saw the man's eyes flash red. That wasn't exactly normal, especially among humans, who very rarely had red eyes. Eridan crossed his arms, looking the man over. He was unnaturally tall and had hair so long that it was sort of ridiculous. At least, he figured it was ridiculous for humans since most of them didn't have it that long. The woman was no better, with a had so ridiculous that it put Karkat's silly nub horns to shame. "...so wwhat is evven goin on here?" He asked, obvious disapproval in his voice. He wasn't particularly happy about human affairs interrupting his walks.

[seahitler represent]

When first employing a new tool, especially one whose loyalty was questionable - though everyone's loyalty was suspect in the end - it was always a good idea to keep an eye on them. Eridan might have been a highblooded troll and thus inherently chained to the hemospectrum, engrained with the idea of loyalty to her, but... that could be tested and challenged. It had been a long time since she had been on Alternia, and he had other bonds, those he had once considered friends, or romantic prospects.

It wouldn't do for her sole ally - hers alone, not some minion of Scratch or English himself - to be lured away now, would it?

So Her Imperious Condescension, Empress of Alternia and envoy of Lord English, had taken it upon herself to venture aboveground, ignoring the revolting feeling of dry air around her and land beneath her and humans all around. At least there were ghosts here, though her ill-gotten powers thankfully didn't make her have to listen to their despairing cries and whispers of madness and doom. Long black hair cascading down her back - and not touching the ground through a light touch of telekinesis, rather having it float out and coil restlessly as she moved - she spent a bare modicum of time looking down at her sadly not flooded surroundings. Too much land, too many soft, fragile humans, too many ghosts....

And Eridan! And two other human-looking beings, though she had heard that there were many misleading appearances here. Ignoring the odd looks she garnered, she stalked forward, lips curving in a smile that wasn't predatory just yet.

")(ello, ---Eridan!" she crooned, glancing down regally at the human woman who seemed to be trying to cover her embarrassing lack of horns with a hat. And then there was the long-haired, significantly taller human - one conveniently surrounded by dark energy. Whale, this was interesting.

Really, he couldn't be planning to grow out his hair like that, could he? Land-dwellers didn't have the environment for any kind of reel style. "And who are our companions?"

[lynnwhisper]

Getting lost was becoming Lynn's specialty as she found herself, yet again, in a new, unfamiliar, place.

It made her fear everyone around her. She couldn't tell who was trying to come after her and who was trying to ask her why she looked so scared... So many times she'd run from those who were just trying to innocently help her.

Being away from Kalypso for so long she began to make her panic more and more easily. But she had to find her way home, and she knew the only way of doing that was finding help...

She was lost in thought as she moved along until she heard voices up ahead of her.

That's when she noticed two grey creatures with candy corn-like horns...

Lynn couldn't help but stop and stare at the scene.

There was a man, a woman, and a grey skinned male as well as an older grey skinned female.

She tilted her head curiously at the grey toned people, not understanding why they had horns or why they were grey in the first place. She found herself moving closer to the group, trying to see if she could eavesdrop without being caught. She knew that she could most likely outrun the humans...but who was to say the grey people weren't experiments like her?

[Sarafine Duchannes]

Behind Mrs. Lincoln's absolutely appalled facade, Sarafine mused on his rather over-dramatic reaction. Touchy subject, was it? Most non-humans who paraded around pretending to fit into the human world were generally a bit more...collected. They could handle such 'bizarre' accusations a bit more calmly - and convincingly. So really, she had to wonder just how long he'd been at this. Maybe he'd be willing to accept a few pointers? Of course, her help never came without a price, whether she made that price immediately known or not....

She didn't get to consider her options for very long, however, for before she could even open her mouth to rebuke the man for turning away from her, a very curious little crowd began to assemble in the park. The first of them actually caught her somewhat by surprise - speaking of non-humans who had difficulty (or perhaps in this case, didn't bother) blending in, this was a creature she'd never seen before - and that didn't happen very often! Grey skin, gills...and a rather sour expression as he demanded to know what was going on. Hm. An unexpected intervention, but...why not have some fun with it? "Now look at what you've done, demon." she snapped, rounding on the long-haired man again. "Drawing ungodly abominations here from all shadowy, hellish corners of the earth!" He really seemed to loathe being called a demon, and judging from that sudden surge of power, his control was slipping. This would be easier than she'd thought - perhaps this strange...grey being would even be of some help as well!

Speaking of which. She'd barely finished ranting, in full-swing god warrior mode (and quite enjoying herself; mortals were just so easy to mock) when yet another being - not unlike the other, though quite evidently female and significantly more regal - came towards them. Well! These two were quite the fascinating pair, weren't they? Whoever or...whatever they were, they might very well be worth investigating. Just as soon as she finished up with her new friend here, that was. She still had a charade to keep up. Practically scowling at the newcomers, she took a step backwards. "I'm no 'companion' of his or yours!" was her sharp protest. "Especially if either of you are in league with that...ungodly monstrosity over there." Jerking her head towards the demon-man again, Sarafine put on a good show of...well, bristling. "Can't you sense it?! He's been tamperin' with dark-sided stuff!" Focused on she was on this little scene, she allowed the approaching child to slip beneath her notice - for the moment, at least.

[deus]

The poor silver giant nearly had another episode from being called a demon once more, but managed to reign it in at simply more cracks snaking out in the ground around them. The half demon let out an exasperated sigh, clearly frustrated with the crazy woman. 'Oh come on! Teach this bat a lesson! Show her what a real demon we can be!' "I really don't have the time to deal with you right now" He said, his tired eyes becoming more focused on the task at hand. "All I'm trying to do is find some poor lost girl and get her back with her mom, and all I get for my efforts is a bunch of crazies coming out of the woodwork...." The giant didn't seem to be talking to the woman however, or the new arrivals, more to himself. His eyes shifted to the two greys, hoping that they would be of more help then the demon shouting crazy that ran into him.

Slowly pacing away from the crazy woman, but not getting too close to the greys. He sighed, standing strait as he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes with his large metal hand. "A friend of mine's daughter got lost, and I'm trying to find her....." He then focused on the less regal looking grey, he seeming more likely to give a response. "Have either of you seen a girl, about this tall" His hand hovered just below his chest close to six feet from the ground. "And hair somewhat the same color as mine? If your not feeling to helpful for free I can offer payment" Deus had learned that normally people aren't very helpful for free, but offer a reward and usually they would say something at least.

Now he only hoped the crazy lady would just leave him alone, and not screw over his mission

[Eridan Ampora]

Before Eridan could speak another word, the tall, slender form of Her Imperious Condescension strode towards the group. Eridan gave her a small, yet reverent bow. He had an immense amount of respect for the Queen of Trolls. Pretty much every sea dwelling troll had some amount of Eridan's respect, though that could be swiftly done away with by rudeness or any form of disrespect. Eridan had a certain pride that he hated to see tarnished.

"hello, your imperious condescension." Eridan replied, turning his eyes to the humans she'd called his "companions". "these humans? they aren't companions of mine... as you can see." He answered, giving the humans, particularly the long-haired one, judgmental looks. His condescending, superior attitude was actually a way of trying to impress the Condesce. So far, he hadn't really shown her what he was capable of and he felt that he had more to prove.

Eridan watched the man began to explain why he was there. Apparently, he was looking for another human. A smaller, female human who was apparently related to him. Humans had such weird systems for everything, especially raising their children. Eridan wasn't quite used to hearing about brothers and sisters, since they didn't exactly exist on Alternia. "i don't really care about your wweird human problems."

Eridan rolled his eyes when he offered some kind of... monetary reward for his sister. As if he really cared at all about that. He didn't need money, since he lived in a sunken ship under the sea and all. "wwhy are you evven askin us this?"

[seahitler represent]

Was that... another human lurking about near by? Instincts honed by centuries of assassination attempts alerted her to the other's presence, but... it's not like she needed to do anything. Just being aware that there was someone trying to hide nearby gave her the advantage, and besides... it looked like yet another human. There really was no point in attacking first - there were very, very few people in this world who could hope to even provide some entertainment, let alone a challenging fight.

Besides, why go looking for conflict? She had priorities and right now, staring down the whole motley group was a little more important.

"Dark-sided?" she repeated, not bothering to hide the mocking in her voice. "Whale, we can't have that, can we? Reely, his hair just proves it, I think." Ignoring the silver-haired one's attempts to request help, she only waited until Eridan was done rebuffing him before interjecting with her own opinion. "You likely scared her away all on your own! Just what do you think you're doing walking around like that, with that hair?" She shook her head chidingly, her own hair trailing out behind her and still conveniently floating a few inches above the ground despite being longer than she was tall.

"The colour is grimy. It needs something to add spark to it, but then... it would be pointless anyways! )(ow do you expect to care for hair that long on dry land? Land-dwellers. They can't do anything right," she declaimed, studying her hand and twisting a few of the rings to better show off the gleam of gold. "Besides, any payment you could offer for finding some wriggler pales in comparison to being stuck looking at you. Such a... dark-sided abomination should be culled!" And then she laughed as if it was a wonderful joke. Of course, the idea of culling everyone here made any situation a little more pleasant - being surrounded by so many humans made her long to properly raze the planet.

It would have made a good colony, once flooded. What a shame.

[lynnwhisper]

Lynn pressed herself against the wall when she felt like someone was watching her.

It made her feel queasy and a little light headed. Her heart pulsed quickly inside of her as she forced herself to stay. She didn't know who these people were, or why they were here, but something about what the male said made her want to stay.

Was the girl he was looking for her? He described the lost girl with silver hair, and as far as she knew she was the only person she'd seen so far on her journey with long silver hair.

Did this man know Kaly? Did she ask him to help search?

Was this man they key to finding her way home after all this time?