[Reeve and Kadaj haven't been around lately, oddly, and Sephiroth feels somewhat restless, though she's not one to reach out and express her feelings. The Vine is still here for her, however. Quiet companion as it is, she's always found it, a living creature with a definite function, relatable.]

I've been here quite some time. More than a year. A year and two months, approximately. It feels like a significant length of time, but I haven't forgotten my home, my friends, the war. [Yet there's a slight note of resignation in her tone. She's a bit fatigued by her long stay.]

Many people that were once here have gone. [She's not sure, yet, if Reeve and Kadaj will be included in that number.] To those of you who are more recent arrivals, I have made a study of the Gardens throughout the months I've been here. I will be glad to help you, if I can, to offer you any information.

Others, I'm sure, have learned much since they arrived. Perhaps we could pool our knowledge.

How many of you have made significant findings? How many of you wish to discover all we can about this place, to return home? Or are you content to wait?

[There is much rustling through the tree fort, and a frantic bunny person has a rather pained expression. She knows its happened, and if she had any sense, would have expected and thought about it. But Fionna was a person who preferred to put the bad things that happened out of her mind in favor of the good stuff, and there was still plenty of that, so long as there was still a reminder she had her bros here.

But that ended today. No bros. No Cake. No one to share her space with. Just a big, empty tree fort. And saying that to herself, seeing that empty space where Marceline's room was, where Princess Bubblegum's room was, that just hurt worse than anything that happened.

She just feels lost right now.]

[Video]

Uh, so Marceline is gone. So if you guys knew her...she was a pretty bombastic friend, and you oughta know so you don't find out later. *sniffs* She was pretty cool.

[Onscreen, a goodish-sized robotic cat with a large-ish egg cradled lovingly in her arms. If Cait seems not to mind the awful wailing noise the egg seems to be making, it's because she doesn't. She's a robot. A robot with what would sound to those familiar with it to be a scottish accent. Long story.]

There now, that's better! We'll have a little chat, an all-mummies chat!

[Cait hugs the egg closer, a wide smile on her face. She seems to have made a little cape for it, to match her own.]

Reeve is busy with some project or other, so since she's too busy to be this little one's mummy, she's entrusted me with the responsibility. But! Having a wee bairn like this isn't only work. No, it's fun! Sure, it cries a bit, but who wouldn't, being shut up in an egg!

But I don't want to be selfish, so I'm going to share with you my patented parenting tips! First! singing. Do lots of this. Don't worry about sounding grand, just sing out, make it up as you go along! Second. Play games! Dress-up, Hide-and-Seek, Peek-a-Boo, and the like! Entertainment is key. Take long walks together in the dark! That sort of thing. Don't roll the little one along though, it doesn't seem to like that much. Caution is key!

So! What do you have to say for yourselves, mummys? Is there anything you can teach me about wee ones? I can learn equally well from success or failure!

...

[Cait has brought up a mirror on the Vine, and it remains up. When Reeve and Sephiroth return from their business elsewhere in the Gardens, it is still up, yet they don't notice it right away.

Once they enter, the egg stops crying in their presence, but they don't turn toward it right away. Sephiroth leans in and kisses Reeve's mouth, no careful nor gentle kiss. But then she breaks away, and turns toward Cait Sith's charge. (It's nice to have a robot babysitter.)]

I don't understand the point of this exercise.

[It takes Reeve a moment to get her breath, and when when she does it takes her another moment to formulate a response. She chuckles warmly, giving the egg a glance before turing her attention back to Sephiroth, who she hasn't seen all day.]

I take it you're referring to our guest and not the kiss? I'd have to agree.

I certainly didn't mean the kiss. I mean yet another pointless, profitless task we're meant to carry out, supposed to teach us a lesson or encourage bonding. I'd say I grew weary of it, but I always have been.

I know, I know. In some ways, some of the more benign events put me in mind of the sort of tasks a child might set. It's hard to find any pattern in such a jumble! At least Cait seems pleased.

It's very childish. As long as Cait enjoys it, at least we can ignore it, for the most part. There are other things I'd rather do.

[With this, she kisses Reeve again.]

...

[[OOC: Feel free to reply to Cait earlier or directly to Sephiroth and Reeve later once they come in. Red text is Cait, green is Sephiroth, and blue is Reeve.]]

[When the mirror opens up, it looks as though it's recording through a fog. Lambda can be made out through the haze, the red optic in her visor glowing faintly, along with her sleeping pet cradled in her arms. It's a little harder to make out her surroundings, but if one tries hard enough they'll be able to see she seems to be near the outskirts of the Viridian Pavilion. When Lambda speaks, her voice is muffled and faintly tinny-sounding.]

A number of strange auditory patterns have been detected over a period of approximately the past 36 hours. I am unable to identify their source. However, running system diagnostics returns no errors.

[Her mouth twitches slightly. Could she be frowning?]

Additionally, attempting to navigate the Gardens has yielded a number of special anomalies. Attempting to perform a special transfer through the use of relative coordinates has been unsuccessful.

[In other words... She's lost.]

[video]

[Grell is outside, and she looks more serious than usual. Those who know her well might note how she's dressed down with her hair tied back.]

I know some of you are fighters. And I've shamefully let myself go in terms of keeping myself in top condition. I ask, therefore, that anyone who would like a spar come see me, at this place close to Beaumont.

No weapons, as we shouldn't be killing anyone today. Just hand to hand combat. And don't expect me to hold back, nor should you restrain yourself. Too much tension gives your face lines. [Just teasing on that point, but she means what she said about not holding back.]

[action]

[She's been bored, is the reason she asked for this. Gossip only went so far, and the tension built and built and she knew if she didn't find a way to get it out, someone would die. Oh, how she wants someone to die by her hand, how she wants to hear the screams, see the blood and pain, create thaat work of art. But she's been behaving, as annoying as that is, and so far her reputation's been secure.

Thus, the request. If she can't kill someone, at least she can do her best to fight them, and hopefully some of that bloodlust would be siphoned off. Who would show up? She had no clue.]

[Today, a certain knight has made herself comfortable by the vine, sitting down with some cloth and a few small tools. In her hand is her sword, slowly being cleaned and given a look over as she speaks. The way she sits and works with it is entirely nonthreatening, looking as relaxed and routine as can be. Her breastplate and pauldrons lay on a towel before her, the next to be examined.

Her words, however, are harsh and strong.]

This place is but a paradise. Nothing short of a genuine miracle. There is but little turmoil, most of us get along, any thing we need is brought to us at our whims without hesitation or question.

It really does appear to be a Heaven of sorts.

[She sighs, eying the edge of her blade, picking up a bit of clear oil to dab on her cloth and wiping it down.]

But even Heaven has its own problems. Pray tell, why are so many eager to put their faith in this Queen when she barely makes herself known? Nothing good can come from such, I assure you. A Queen should have her kingdom and its interests at forefront, not her own agenda.

[Agrias hrms a bit, thinking over all of this.]

Maybe it is just my upbringing, but I would prefer to see more than this before pledging fealty. A knight cannot do right under a false lord.

[With that, she stops, waiting to see if anyone speaks up, sitting by the vine and calmly working on cleaning her equipment.]

[Sephiroth is seated at a table, outside, one of the ornamental tables that one can find here and there within the Gardens, among the flowers, an idyllic spot. On the table is a curious chess set, which was Sephiroth's gift for the Winter Holiday. She is regarding it thoughtfully, alone but for the tendril of Vine coiled companionably around her wrist.

She's been quiet of late, but she's starting to feel more--what is it that she feels? Sociable? Restless?

Sephiroth has been here almost a year now, and she and the Vine are old friends. She's spent a great deal of time bonding with the plant, fascinated by it.]

I used to play chess often as a child. My favorite was the variant in which one can view one's own pieces, but not the pieces of one's opponent. It took three boards and a referee to play--one for each player, and one for the referee to view, to see how the pieces stood together. War chess, it's called. Like a general, one only sees and guides the movements of one's own troops. As in war, there is no perfect information, unlike in standard games of chess.

[She'd never lost. She picks up one of the monster-shaped pieces, turning it in her hand.]

This is like the sets we used. I wonder, does anyone else like to play? Ordinary chess will do.

Characters: Fionna, anyone
Date: 2/7, Night
Summary: Totally beat up, Fionna does her best to maintain.
Warnings: bleeding, pain, woobiness.

( She was barely there. )

[She opted to simply hold onto her clothes for now, as seen folded neatly over her arms, boots and belts included. Her sword is in her other hand, though flipped downward as she studies the Vine. She had asked all the questions she could about this place, when the questions about this place were asked, the cat had simply yawned and laid down. Deciding to leave that particular thinking alone, she idly asked to pet the cat and, with its permission, rubbed and pet the cat at the places she knew cats liked best.

Eventually, after it fell asleep once more, she decided to look into the Vine as bid in the letter and here she was, tilting her head lightly into the mirror. She'd been watching a few of the other "videos" that have gone on before she finally decided to broadcast her own.]

Well, this is certainly something I've never seen before. A Vine that communicates with others, how very unique and intriguing.

[She smirks lightly.]

Infinite in mystery is the gift of the goddess...

But I wonder... will the gift be found even in such a beautiful place such as this?

[She gives a somewhat theatrical bow.]

My name is Genesis Rhapsodos, can someone tell me more about this place?