"No problem," he said, eying the newcomer. Although it was harder to tell at first sight, he was definitely a she. Now that he thought about it, each of them seemed to be particularly different which seemed to beg the question, 'why were they here' to be answered.

"Thanks, and well, I'm sorry." Sky half-hoped the venom in her voice would wash away the awkwardness of falling on someone, and was about to turn away when she noticed a fox materialize out of seemingly nowhere...

...and land on the same person's head.

Oh dear god.

Sky took a few paces forward to help, then sat down suddenly as a wave of nausea swept over her. When she had recovered sufficiently, the next question was blurted out without much thought.

"The hell'm I here for?"

Trace couldn't see a thing all he knew he was falling and he wasn't sure where he was going. After a few moments he hit the ground and opened his eyes, he was in a weird place and surrounded by people he didn't know that is until looked over and saw Iris.

"Iris what are you doing here ?" he said. Wait did I just talk where the hell am i that i can talk this is getting quite weird. "Iris where are we whats going on ?" He continued as a small Nightingale flew over and landed on his shoulder.

Looking around, Fallon noticed that all of the portals were now grey. With the fox still on his head he looked at the girl who had fallen on him and stated, "I think this belongs to you," pointing to his head. He picked it up and handed it to her, turning to Deva next. "Okay, we're all here, so what now? We all have questions, and we definitely want some answers."
Surveying the now assembled group, he wondered what could have caused them all to be selected. He hoped that there was some reason for his being here at least, namely putting his combat skills to good use. With this thought the cat stretched, extending its claws. He hoped that it never had reason to use them on him again....they really hurt! A wave of something akin to an apologetic tone hit him then, and he gathered that it hadn't meant to hurt him. Holy crap! He could feel what the cat was thinking...this was starting to get a bit weird.

And the familiarity of our final person breaks that chain. We are not here to represent different groups of people, Tony thought, crossing out another possibility.

He called to Deva, disregarding the conflict between the black and white critters. "Why are we here, and where is 'here'?" he asked, simply.

Sky gaped stupidly at the fox for a moment before hugging it tight. It's so cute. ....it'ssocutesocutesocutecutecutecuuuuuute.

"Erm. ...Thanks," she muttered, trying to hide her reaction. The fox looked, or rather glared, at her, seeming to accuse Sky for nearly strangling it, and she let it go quickly.

"Wait, what...." Fallon started before the white lights appeared. After his eyes adjusted again he realized that he looked different. His clothing had changed. All of a sudden he noticed a weight on his back and reached back to find that a giant curved sword was slung there. He decided against bringing it out so as not to scare the others, but looked around to see that they had changed as well. As he reached to make sure they were real, he noticed two things. One, that there was a tribal claw tattooed on his upper left arm, and two that there seemed to be bits of water forming on his fingertips, moving with him, but not quite touching him. "Okay, what just happened here? Why did we all change?"

(Edit: creatures don't disappear)

Theresa was sure something was going wrong with the program because it felt like she was being ripped in half. She was not quite sure when it started but she was screaming. Another voice similiar to hers joined in. Theresa caught a glimpse of white before her world went black.

Annalisa felt relieved to finally be able to move freely from the body that had originally confined her but felt bad for her sister. Carefully she caught Theresa as she slid to the floor and whispered in her ear, "Your safe now, my little sister." She looked at and locked eyes with Deva. "Hello," She said pleasantly as though dividing into two people was a common occurance. "Pleasure to make your acquantances I'm sure."

And yet more contradictions, Tony thought. Other then the fact that they were all there, all thinking that this was a dream when none of them were waking up, including himself, Tony noted the reaction: A) He could now talk when he couldn't before, meaning that this place does something to the people within, B) Iris never knew Trace, but if Trace responded in like, then... C) Trace could have always talked... either way the reaction shows a contradiction in a normal human response. She couldn't just react so vividly and calmly go back to talking to Deva unless.....


More thoughts flew back and forth to the point where he didn't notice the white lights until the last second.
Transform:

Dragon's fire unleash from within me
And wipe away clean the crimes of the past
I am....The Dragon!

As Tony observed himself, he felt at one with the dragon that had stopped resting on his shoulder and now stood in front of him. It had grown to about knee-length in height and was as long as he was tall. His thoughts also grew clearer as he began to understand the situation, almost synching his own thoughts with those of the dragon's.

"I see..." he said. There was not much else to be said.

He felt a mid-length katana at his good side. Drawing half-way, it glowed a bright red, as though fresh from the forge. Weight wise, it was very comfortable, but it still felt unfamiliar to use. He sheathed it back again.

The sounds of the cafe died behind him, and Audrey was able to catch a glimpse of flashing light. He grinned walking over to his pad and reading the message. The instant his finger stroked the screen he shed of his good boy image and he, the pad and the plates were sucked into a world of blinking numbers that mirrored neurological synapse discharges. Bit's of data surrounded him until he was in his virus guise. His feet landed softly on the checkered pattern floor. Around him his shadow flickered dancing with the candle light. Gingerly he weaved his way through the lamp post that guided the way around the base of the Castle. Audrey's eyes took in the sight of the castle. It was a giant spiral tower made of old brick. Above him an intricate gold chandelier, around it in a sporadic manner that remind him of stars, were candles. He could not see it, but it appeared as if the candles were leveled in the giant space to give even light to each of the floor and rows of doors. He noted that there were many doors, thousands upon thousands of tales and above each one hung a lantern as well.

In the warmly glowing room he finally spotted the other, or whom he thought was the other. Audrey skipped to him, reaching inside his billowy jacket to produce the two pieces of cake, and tuck his ipad away. Audrey idly waved his hand, rather then audibly voicing his opinion, where his hand traveled tiny blue lcd lights formed the words he didn't speak. “Where have you taken us?” He summoned a pair of forks from his jacket as well handing one to who he thought was the elderly hacker. Around him he had gathered a few candles to aid them with more light.

Isn't that what programs like Norton and AV a--

She hadn't even finished her thought when something exploded in her head. At least, that's what it felt like. A shift in perspective: Her eyes were not at their ordinary four-foot-three height. A breeze blew across her waist and she glanced down...

...to see an all-too-familiar outfit. ...My character? But it wasn't just that: Most MMOs had outfit and weapon restrictions. What she saw sheathed at her waist included not only her in-game blade, but also a bichawa, something she'd only been able to dream of owning. She took it out gingerly and realized that the scorpion's stinger was wet.

With poison. Sky glanced at the sheathe, and, sure enough, the lower region was coated with a transparent and odorless liquid as well as some white powder. She wondered if it was TTX. She replaced the bichawa quietly.

"Well, that certainly makes sense Tony. And I'd like to know that as well." Looks around room again, and jumps in surprise when he notices an extra person in the room. "Wait a minute, weren't there only six of us here before? So where did our seventh come from?"

Annalisa answered Deva first, "I was originally called Annalisa before taking Theresa's name. To keep things simple you may call me Annalisa." She had noted with some distaste that she was wearing armor that was more ornate then useful in fighting. "And, Fallon, I am of and from Theresa." Annalisa's eyes twinkled with mischief, "It's a bit confusing altogether, I can assure you I have never taken a corpral form before now." The ord of Light bobbed happily beside Annalisa while the orb of nothingness rested on Theresa's stomach.

Theresa took that time to wake up, her eyes snapped open and she reguarded Annalisa hostily. "Who are you?" She asked wanting to know not only their name but how they got so close to her without Theresa knowing. Theresa then looked around and noticed that she was not the only one staring at the girl in white and gold. Then Theresa groaned, the girl was Light that must mean Theresa was Dark. She looked down at herself and almost balked. She was weaing black combat robes and she could feel the prensence of more knives then strickly nessisary.

"I am Annalisa." Annalisa whispered to Theresa. "I am your Light and sister, at least, that was the role originally assigned to me." Theresa then yanked herself from Annalisa's grasp and turned to face the one who claimed to be her sister..

"I've never seen you before." Theresa hissed though the story sounded familiar. She was well aware that she was an only child and could not have a sibling. "So stop lying."

Annalisa shrugged, uneffected by the acusation because she was sure her sister would remember in time. That was not the important thing as Annalisa saw Iris on the floor. She felt the need to assure herself that Iris was okay so she walked over. "Hey, you okay?" The other looked a little sick and weary.

"Well, that makes sense Deva, though honestly I've just got an itch to get out there and start fixing this." Fallon then started to pace the room, getting slightly impatient, but remembering that everyone had to be on the same page before anything could be done. The cat seemed to be getting anxious as well, but outwardly was calm and comfortable on his shoulders. It was content to observe the proceedings as they went on and to be patient enough until being able to fight.

Suppressing a grin, Sky crept a bit closer to the rest of the group. Oh, cheer up, she thought at the girl who apparently was Theresa. The pranks Sky loved pulling weren't exactly funny at times, but...Aaaaagh. It's be funny to have a blanket fall on her, right now. Like last time when I chucked a pillow at Len. That...was a great pillow fight.

Sky felt something immaterial drain out of her, and all of a sudden, a teddy-bear-print blanket materialized some three feet over Theresa's head.

And gravity soon took over.

"A...Apologies!" Sky muttered, a bit embarrassed. Was this some sort of new superpower or something? Seemed like a warped form of alchemy, energy transmuted into something material...or maybe it was her dream of being able to create whatever she drew, come true. ...Who knows.

"So how do you suggest we fix this?" she asked in her usual low murmur.

Trace looked around as a group of white bird surround him and a large gust of wind spiraled around him. As the wind died down and the birds dispersed he looked down to see his appearance chanced he has a mask over his mouth and a black leather trench coat with a fur collar with matching black pants.

I wonder why i look different Iris seemed to stay about the same. Maybe it differs from person to person based on personality.

After that thought Trace ran over to Iris to try and comfort her but also to see what the others had changed into. He noticed the others seemed to have powers and Trace was interested in what his was but he wasn't sure how to find out what his power was.

Sky gave a startled yelp, but the pain expected never came. Taking a peek at Theresa, she realized that it was a trick.

....and a damn good one, too, she thought, heart still racing a bit. With sudden realization, she figured if there wasn't any major drawback, this girl could turn anyone invisible. Perfect plan of attack.

Except...it couldn't possibly be that easy, right? And had that dragon person just accidentally set himself on fire? This was turning out to be a very interesting...group, if you could even call it that.

She ran a hand through her hair, an unconscious motion, and hit something. Something with nerve endings. Sky blinked a few times, then quickly unsheathed her blade and glanced at the reflection. Pitch black hair. No, pitch black bangs. And sidebangs. The back of her hair, down to a long sleek ponytail, was completely silver. And the ears. No wonder sounds were so much clearer now.

Red pointed ears sat snugly in her messy shag, and half covered by the long bangs were red eyes. Ruby red. What had seemed a good idea on paper had now turned a bit scary in real life, albeit also a bit fantastic.

...Wait. On paper? In real life? It slowly dawned on Sky that at some point, she had drawn all of this before. The outfit was modified from the game; she hadn't liked the way it looked originally and had drawn in her own accessories. The red eyes and silver earrings were a trademark in her character designs. The white hair was what she had wanted when she first dyed her hair, before it faded back to a light brown.

It seemed like her abilities had been...augmented.

He nodded circling his finger in the air the lock to the door twisted. The door creaked giving way to a white light and the world inside. They were greeted by loud orchestral music. Below them was a room full of swirling multicultural, multicolored dancers. On the opposite wall there was another grand stair case, where she entered. Unlike the dancers she was the only one dressed in gold and elaborately done so. Audrey gestured to the Prince at his Cinder girl. He himself seamlessly disappeared into the shadows reemerging near the make believe food.

The kit definately stood out. His dark clothing and mask made him stand out among the colorful dancers. Fortunately his accomplice was quite adept at disappearing, quickly vanishing into the shadows. Stepping into the room, Tasunke blended in magnificently. His colorful appearance and charming smile quickly won over the fairy tale characters. Stepping onto the dance floor he stopped a young woman mid twirl by grabbing hold of her small delicate hand. With a smile and a small bow, he kissed the girl’s hand making her flush before giggling and nodded her head. Pulling the girl in close they gracefully spun into the crowds of dancers.
As they danced he spotted Audrey by the food and smiled. The boy’s physique was quite deceiving. Despite being able to pack away food like it was nothing, he still managed to remain in shape. He would have continued to ponder the secret to the other’s miraculous metabolism had a sparkle of gold had not caught drawn his eye. There she was, happily dancing with the prince. Looking back towards the food table, he gave the other a knowing smirk before twirling his dance partner away and vanishing among the vibrant skirts of the other dancers.

The grin was contagious. Audrey himself cracked his knuckles and touched the food. It started to fade from its bright colors to something more muted. He wondered briefly if he could control the bits of data that were the fairy tale characters. It took some concentration from the novice hacker but he was able to do it. A pair of idle dancers burst into data bits that went unnoticed by the others. It was then that Audrey floated over to the throne where the Queen and King sat. He touched them as he touched the food. The guise of a good queen and king broke away and the Queen was now clothed in black, red and white dotted with a heart pattern. Her hair fell in dark curls around her shoulders and her scepter pointed at the golden clad girl. “OFF WITH HER HEAD”

Fallon chuckled a bit, amused at the whole situation. It seemed everyone so far had a power. Theresa, at he least he thought that was the darker one's name, seemed to be able to make things disappear, Sky could make things appear out of seemingly thin air, and Tony could control fire. Hmmmm, he wondered, I've noticed there are bits of water seeming to follow my hands. Does this mean I have a similar control over it? And if so, does that mean I can control it in all its forms? He focused on Theresa, figuring if anyone need to "chill out" it would be her. All of a sudden ice began to form around her feet and surged upwards encasing her. "Damn....I didn't think I could actually do that...." he said out loud, "maybe I should figure out how to thaw her...."