Valdis sat looking at the mark on her hand; she was surprised how easily that had gone. She certainly wasn't inspecting to run into a Zodiac at such a convenient location. While she had been slightly disappointed not to have gone to the Venus castle, the learning experience was certainly worth it. She closed and open her hand; it would get tougher from this point on...but then again 'it's going to be fun'. A grin broke on her face; it certainly would be fun.

She pushed herself off her bed; she might as well go and practice. It was better than waiting around for Gemini. Valdis checked herself in the mirror; her purple hair fell down past her waist. She was in a black silk tang top and black lace pants. Black boy shorts were worn underneath those pants; but the rest of her long legs could be partially seen through the material. Her feet were bare; so she went and slipped her feet into some black ballet flats. She wore this outfit often for dance, or for bed, either one would work. She braided her long hair up and out of the way, letting the long braid fall over one shoulder. Valdis then walked over to her bed and plopped down, closing her eyes she decided to try to get back to the Youma world. It seemed the best place to practice after all.

In a few moments she found herself sitting in a tree, her hair had turned snowy white as she had transformed into her Youma form. Her leg swung off the branch as she gazed around; not much had changed and she still had many unanswered questions about this place. She looked down at her palm; she concentrated on it and it began to glow...........that was interesting.

"...I was hoping you would have taken longer to figure out how that worked." the gruff voice of Gemini states. When she looked up, she would see the skull faced man standing on the very tip of the tree that Valdis was sitting upon.

"What do you want? I hadn't called ya yet." he says with a slight sigh. "You to realize I had an identity outside of here that I have to tend to my duties, thought you were actually getting yourself killed this time." he says, hopping off the tree and landing at the ground.

"Normal world much prettier than this, dunno why you'd want to be here any more than you had to"

When a voice sounded above her she looked up surprised; well that answered the question on what would happen if the mark glowed. It was like a pager! A smile spread across her lips as she rested her head against the bark.

"I'm a quick study, when I feel like it"

She watched him hop off the tree and down onto the ground; a preferable position; mainly because she was more than sure the man probably could see down her cleavage from his position on top of the tree. She shifted on her branch so she lay on it looking down at him.

"I'm touched that you cared enough to come running to my rescue then"

Her voice was like a purr as she chuckled slightly; she hadn't meant to disturb him.

"At the moment I don't have anything I want; it wasn't in my intentions to summon you here....but if I did have a question you have already answered it by appearing. I was trying to figure out if there was more behind the mark. So I was experimenting...but now that I have you here I do have a question. What does me activating this mark do to you on your end?"

When he asked why she wanted to spend her time here she yawned and stretched.

"Its warmer here; and you said before this is a place for youma to get use to their new forms. Well this form is quite new to me with little to no instruction on dark energy... so this is the safest place for me to explore those powers. Would me practicing in the real world really be a wise idea?"

She looked around, yes there world was prettier......but this place had its charm as well.

"What was this place like originally; I assuming it wasn't always like this due to the ruins"

"Rescue isn't necessarily the right for it. What use is any asset that has to be frequently 'rescued'. One must fend for themselves as much as possible." Gemini says with a sigh as his expression shifts to a scowl. The girl was still playing, still posturing with her words and her behaviors. This seemed to be still mostly a game.

"The mark has a number of functions, the knowledge of which are on a need to know basis and some of them irrelevant to anything you can do. When you activate the mark, it will call for attention through the link. I will then remotely view the area around you to determine if there is a cause to show up and then manifest in the area around you."

As Valdis explained her reaction to be here, Gemini exhibited a dark chuckle, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Yeah...I guess logically that makes sense. Of course if you flaunt your power too much you might get attacked by someone else trying to prove themselves." he says, jumping out of the tree and landing on the ground, looking to the horizon when Valdis asked about what the place was like originally.

"I've never seen it myself, but this was once some kind of paradise...but the rule of that paradise put his own interests before those of his people. At that point, his people rose against him...which caused a war culminating in the destruction of two civilizations which were the seeds of modern civilization today. Virgo commanded those whom turned against the prince who sold out his people for aliens...Elysians. Unfortunately in the aftermath, the alien civilization's survivors were the dominant ones, and Elysian blood was thinned out beyond the point of being relevant, magic died out, and humans evolved as you are likely aware to from history." he says with a small shrug, holding his hand out and manifesting a single perfect sphere of black energy.

"When a human uses 'chaos magic' as it's commonly known, they are actually channeling their latent Elysian heritage. While it is for most people less than 1% of their makeup, it is enough to rise once more against the enemy. As you've seen further devotion leads to great personal power." he then says, as several bolts from the energy seep into the ground, causing a small number of black, lotus-like flowers to grow in the darkened soil below.

Well that was good to hear; she liked it when men didn't try the whole knight in shining armor thing every single time. It was part of the reason why she found herself attached to Nazo....Nazo did seem to have a bit more humor to him. She grinned as she swung upside down to hang off the branch by her knees; she was face level with him now. Her arms were crossed over her chest as she rocked back and forth. Val could tell her seemingly carefree attitude was getting on his nerves, but that was simply how she was.

"If you could see the area..and saw I was just lounging about in a tree...why did you come?"

It was a legitimate question; it was these seemingly pointless questions that she got a good gauge on a person personality. That and she got the useful tidbit that this mark could work in more ways then one...if he could see her then perhaps she could see him...she did have seeing powers after all.

"I assume the mark works in reverse"

It wasn't a question, it was more of a statement...she had found her new project...well side project. Perhaps the information she just assumed was part of the need to know basis he was talking about....he was going to learn that need to know basis didn't often work with her. She had a bad tendency to work things out quickly.

"Exactly how much does this mark connect us?"

She stretched her palm a bit; itching the palm of her hand; this mark had both the potential to be annoying and fun. Her demeanor mimicked his dark grin when he mentioned flaunting her power would cause for larger problems to come about.

"Well considering I have nowhere else to train; and there is no room for the weak. Then it leaves me with just the option of crushing those who come looking for a challenge until there are none left yes?"

Valdis looked surprise when he mentioned that this use to be the land that she saw in her vision...She blinked and flipped on to the ground landing right side up.


"Wait...that was here? I thought that place was earth a long long long time ago....How did this split off from there?"

Her playful demeanor was gone as she bit her lip in thought; this was a piece of the puzzle that just didn't fit with what she had seen...She paused in her path of mental thought to watch the flowers bloom on the ground...she sighed the flowers were but a mockery of what this place use to be if what Gemini had said was true. Valdis stepped over to them and bent down, her finger poking one of the gentle petals.

"These are pretty"

Her demeanor took a solemn tone, flowers were often a bitter sweet memory for her. She absently mindedly continued to stroke the petal of the black flower. Her other arm wrapped around her knees as she crouched down beside it.

"This war...I wonder if our planet will turn to a barren wasteland like this...or what will come if the snow does melt....the melting is bound to do as much damage as it did while it froze....Or is it meant to stay a frozen wasteland....Tell me why did the planet freeze when the covenant came? Do you know? Also how exactly do you plan to train me?"

"Because I had my reasons, no, and enough." the man says in response to the first handful of inquiries that Valdis had made, more or less establishing that further elaboration would not be given were it pursued and demanded of him. Of course, the comment of training and crushing those who come for her made him chuckle.

'Vicious little thing aren't you?"

As she asked how exactly it worked, he shrugged.

"Something about the world being reset so that the survivors had a chance at peace...like the first humans of what could be considered the ancestors of modern civilization, it broke off the old world from Earth so that it could keep the youma and whatnot away from the infant new civilization. That's how I understand it, and I really don't care enough to find out the fine details." Gemini says with an apathetic shrug. It was clear that he only chose to pursue information that was really of important or interest to him personally. Perhaps it was a mere sign of laziness.

Gemini makes no response to the remark about the flowers being pretty, but when Valdis asked about the planet, he turns to look into the distance.

"When it's over, the world will be remade once more as Virgo sees fit. It will be whatever she wants it to be, but it will probably be better than what it is currently. As to why it froze...well it's hard to explain. Magic inherently is a malleable energy that can take any shape or any form with enough will. That is why it is commonly called chaos energy: there are few consistencies between any given exhibition because they are subject. This probably isn't the best explanation, but each user's magic has it's own genetic code, but the genes themselves are made up of the same base material." he says, pausing as he takes a few steps away to let it sink in.

"The Obelisks manifesting were a way to introduce this form of magic on a massive scale to the world, as well as to harvest energy from emotions of humanity. Theoretically, anyone can use this form of energy, but it takes certain attributes in the soul and disposition of the user that I don't really know how to adequately describe, but let's just say not everyone has it or it would require nearly impossible effort to achieve on their own. When the Obelisks appeared however, it responded to the masses' subconscious wish for it all to end. The world before the freeze was arguably more fucked up than the one after: mankind would often shun, exploit, and harm their fellow brother for personal profit. Many people would feel hopeless, that their individual lives were meant to serve the few 'elites' that controlled the vast majority of the world's resources. Deep down, the vast majority of people had a feeling of hopelessness and wish for something else to bring an end to it...the ice age is a physical manifestation of those latent feelings within humanity: to watch it all slowly wither and die." he says, with a dim chuckle.

"That is why the Covenant is formally known as the Covenant of the Nihil: You know what Nihilism is yes? As powerful as Virgo is, she didn't directly cause it to happen: it is almost more like a natural response to the will of humanity itself."

When asked how he will train her, he paused.

"You must improve your mastery of energy, your loyalty to the cause, and to achieve tangible but substantial accomplishments in the name of the Covenant and it's needs. I won't tell you fine details on everything you will be expected to do but you will need to do them regardless. As far as personal training, your technique is wild and unstable. While it works on some of the dumber mutts, against a true master of energy you would be promptly turned into a mass of quivering flesh...so you must learn how to handle yourself in combat with discipline and strategy, and not merely lashing out when you lose control and hoping your inherent power is enough. The reason I bother is that you do show some promise of strategy, but I've seen where you also just rely on brute force."

A cute pout formed on her lips when her questions were brushed aside; she was pretty sure however if she attempted to reverse the link it would work...although the results would probably piss Gemini off...at the moment she didn't want to push it to far so that would be a project for a later date. However to what else the mark did her curiosity wouldn't rest until she discovered all its secretes. After all who knew maybe one of those secrets could give her an advantage. As he went on to explain it became abundantly clear that this man did not believe in the whole learn from history or its doomed to repeat itself thing. She looked at him with somewhat of a disapproving stare. That reset if he bothered to learn more about it was the key to bringing down the covenant....that would be information worth knowing.

"Do you know how Virgo plans to remake it?"

She listened with interest as Gemini spoke of chaos magic, she was defiantly intrigued

"So what your saying is that chaos magic is only limited to ones imagination? For example I usually use flames, or I can use my venom.... But in theory if I understand the genetic makeup of chaotic magic I could like you create a flower like that if I had the will to do so? Or even create a weapon like your guns or one of the short skirt squads bows?....or if I get creative enough make a communication device like your mark?"

Her lessoned continued as he explained the Obelisks were indeed like an antenna, only it amplified the user's ability to use chaos magic. Along with why the earth froze over as it did.

"So in order to unfreeze the planet Virgo will have to give hope to the masses and yes I know what Nihilism is"

Valdis took what he said about her technique in stride, was sloppy and undisciplined she could accept that and acknowledge it.

"I don't deny that...but when do we start?"

"Probably magic. It's not a project I am actively involved in." he says with a tone that in a way said 'did you really ask that?'. Gemini scratches his chin thinking of a way to word a response to what Valdis was inquiring upon.

"With practice, in theory, yes. But people usually have a natural tendency toward a handful of attributes and to acquire or emulate new ones is considerably more difficult. The flower is possible, my gun is not. My abilities are on a different scale than most are capable of...but yes, ultimately, most things can be made reality with chaos magic...the question is what cost would you pay to make a certain result happen? How would you get that energy?" he says with a slight shrug, then when she made a remark about hope.

"She doesn't give hope to people, people just see hope in the absence of what the old order of the world is, hoping for a second chance in a new, more wild world."

When Valdis mentioned when do we start, the skull contorted to a smile, as Gemini snapped his fingers, the ground around him trembling as a large number of skeletons begin to rise, each armed with some form of melee weapon, though others in the back seemed to have staves of some sort.

"Now." he says as the skeletons move with surprising agility and ferocity charging Valdis with full intent to kill. Meanwhile, the stave wielding skeletons begin to conjure and launch bolts of black energy at Valdis which seem to have no impact on the melee skeletons but would sear and burn Valdis on contact.

Valdis kinda just gave him a dead pan stare at his response...that's not quite what she meant. But apparently she was dealing with captain literal here. Though it was interesting to hear that the flower thing could be recreated...and the whole energy cost thing...wait. A look of realization came across her face.

"OHHH is that why Scorpio was using my concerts to gather energy so Virgo can reattach this realm to the earth? Large spells like the obelisks and such take more than one person to complete it?....I wonder how that would work though would it take the whole aiming for some goal or is there a roundabout way to take the energy then give it to one soul being to use and to decide... then again maybe that's what the obelisks are for but then I would be curious to how that would work "

She and new new mentor differed when it came to wanting to know about tedious things. Val was the sort to want to know the inner workings of anything and everything. However she didn't get to think long before she noticed an unsettling grin cross her mentors face. Her face paled as the undead began to burst from the ground, her only thought

"...Shit"

Valdis scrambled to her feet and ran like a bitch; nothing quite made you run faster than having an army of undead chasing you. A sharp burning pain in her shoulder told her she had gotten hit with one of the bolts. The burn quickly steamed away leaving perfectly pink skin in its place...Casters were a freaking pain in the ass...literally! She yelped as one blast came dangerously close to burning a hole though her pants. She could out run the melee but the casters proved a problem. Valdis put on a burst of speed before closing her eyes and 'pop' she was back in her room at home.

Valdis quickly went about her room and grabbed her sheet of her bed, she rolled it up and slung it over her shoulder while running to her closet where she dug though her supplies for taxidermy. She pulled out a large container of battery acid, something she used in the mix to tan hides. A devilish grin spread across her face as she concentrated once more to return to the youma world.

Valdis popped back behind the casters and flung her sheet over them, pulling on the sheet and hopefully yanking them off their feet. She then tossed the container of battery acid at the group of most likely oncoming melee skeletons. She shot a blast of her fire at the container as it hit the ground creating a very large fiery explosion that managed to give her burns even while being far away from the blast. An evil giggle escaping her lips as she was flung back a bit causing her to land on her butt. Valdis scrambled back to her feet and to see what she would have to do next.

"That crap is way beyond my pay grade" Gemini says, shrugging and indicating that his own interest and knowledge in magic was limited to his own field of expertise and not quite the 'world changing' tier. He exhales, scratching his bony chin as he watches Valdis turn to a total retreat nearly immediately, then coming back with some sort of chemical.

The chemical would burn and sear the caster skeletons, but much to Valdis' horror, the melting and damage she does causes the skeletons to begin to reassemble among themselves, forming a variety of new mages, half of which were now double headed. The double headed spell casters begin to cast much quicker and larger bolts of energy at Valdis.

The melee skeletons are blown to bits, their skeletal bones fractured and damaged. They begin to regrow slowly, but the vast amount of damage would inhibit the healing process substantially. Meanwhile, when Valdis is focused on the task in front of her, she feels a sharp, bone crushing hit to her lower spine.

Gemini had taken the initiative to lunge and strike her when she wasn't looking, a bone covered fist nailing her while he grabs her shoulder while she is reeling from the hit. The grip was firm, not intending to let go as he whispers in her ear.

"...You have to fight to win...not to be fair or show some deluded sense of honor...the people on the sidelines aren't always going to watch." he states while a volley of magical blasts from the skeletal 'casters' begins to fix in on Valdis' location.

Valdis was annoyed that the chemical explosion hadn't eroded all the bones. Yes it had blown them to pieces but she was hopping the acid would have eaten away at the bones as well. Suddenly it as if a car had hit her, her mouth opened in a soundless scream as she felt her spine crumble. If Gemini had not been gripping on to her she would have collapsed. The wind was knocked out of her she struggled to catch her breath again as her own healing process mended the broken spine. Her teeth gritted together in a snarl as he whispered in her ear.

"Lesson learned"

She grabbed his hair; using her full strength to pick him up and fling him towards the oncoming attack. Fire whipped up around her; the deadly inferno fallowing his flight in a massive wave. The ground below the attack rapidly splitting apart into a magma like state. She extended her attention to the casters, focusing on the crumbling grown below them she initiated a fiery explosion mixed with the melting stone below them. She would drown them in manga and let their bones turn to dust. The explosions would happen regardless of Gemini's location...on an afterthought she put a few blasts his way as well.

Gemini surprisingly allows himself to end up being flung, or perhaps Valdis' raw strength in her enraged state took even the darkened soul off guard as he finds himself used as a thrown shield in the direction of the oncoming fire, causing a small series of explosions and sparks flying from where the zodiac made contact with the various spells.

The ground beneath the skeletal casters begins to melt, and the rather vicious attacks executed by the violet haired one would make the spellcasters begin to fade. Gemini seemed to disappear when Valdis sent more attacks in the direction he landed.

For several moments there would be an eerie silence, as the skeletal creatures would be at rest, only the sound of bubbling magma to keep her company. Valdis would feel a tug at something deep within, a chill would pervade her body as something seems to step out of her. When Valdis turned around, she would see an inverted color version of herself smiling at her.

"Hi! Want to be friends?!" she exclaims, suddenly hugging Valdis tightly.

Valdis grinned, her eyes glittering with her inner craziness. The soft sound of bubbling magma was all she heard, along with her own heavy breathing. To not have to hold back in fear of causing harm to bystanders felt good. No wonder others preferred to work alone; that or just didn’t give a licks worth of care to what was around them. Her guard however was not let down, Gemini had disappeared off somewhere, but she doubted that would have actually killed him. Suddenly a chill went down her spine, despite the heat that the magma was emitting around her. She wiped the sweat from her forehead; and looked around….and there it was….the most horrifying thing she had ever laid eyes on. It was unnatural….an abomination of nature of itself. Then it hugged her.

Her eye twitched and the hair on her neck stood on end….she fought back the urge to let out a high pitched scream. This was surely another trick of Gemini…one that would have to be extinguished….There was a long silence as she forced her panic mind to slow and think. Blowing this thing up….felt wrong…and was likely an image to stay stuck in her head for this life and beyond. Her stiff body relaxed as she forced herself t acknowledge her new twin. She reached up and took hold of her twins hair pulling her head back before sinking her fangs into the others neck. Injecting a large dose of the poison in her fangs.

Only when her twin would drop to the ground would she let go or stop. This attack was vastly different from the fiery outburst she had beforehand.

As Valdis attacked and chomped down on the clone, the clone merely giggled and tightened her 'loving' embrace around Valdis. The poison seemed to only intensify the giggling, and the clone would whisper softly just one time while Valdis was attempting to incapacitate her.

"I will always be a part of you, deep inside...."

As Valdis continued to poison, she herself would begin to feel incredibly numb and drained, as if the Poison had somehow been turned against her. Bit by bit she couldn't help but to lose strength in her body and eventually the clone will be holding Valdis up, keeping her from hitting the ground.

The clone begins to stroke her hair softly, just an added moment of insult.

Slowly she felt the numbness creep through her, she released her clone as soon as she realized her poison was back firing. However she had delivered a large dose, and it was affecting her strongly. Her head become light headed and she began to feel a bit flighty. Her face turned into a snarl as she lost all feeling in her lips, causing her to become weak. Even worse she felt her senses dulling; this was the giddy high that Kail had been talking about…even to the point of her giggling along with her clone. As soon as she found herself giggling, she shook her head. Trying to regain control of her actions…a shiver ran up her spine as the clone spoke. There was no place for this version of herself.

Her breathing would shallow out, she hadn’t dosed enough to die on it but consciousness was leaving her. In the back of her mind a voice was screaming to fight, but it was clouded over by the giddy fog that the poison had brought. Slowly her eyes drooped shut, a soft pitiful giggle escaped her lips before she fell unconscious.