Yuki sat up with a start. Phineas was gone. He thought he heard him leave, but he should have been back. His mother he wasn't too worried about, as she had stayed outside. But Phineas was gone. He grabbed his shirt and shoes, putting them on as quickly as he could with the sleepiness and running towards the hall. Then he spotted Ari. "Ari-san!" he called as loudly as he dared. "Ari-san.. have you seen Phineas?" Yuki rubbed his eyes, in hopes that he would be alert enough to stay active in case something had happened.

"He's not in your room?!" Yuki's questions chased the sleepiness straight out of Ari's eyes, and he spoke, his words were hissed quietly for Yuki's ears only. He was completely alert as he stood up and looked about - in particular for that bizarre waitress - before taking controlled steps to the stairs and taking himself to the chamber shared by the three.

"Shan?" He inquired before entering, and his facade of calmness disappeared as soon as he stepped in. "I heard Phineas go downstairs about perhaps an hour ago, and it appears that he's gone!"

Yuki stood motionless for some moments before finally realizing it was not a good idea to be standing there. He ran back to the room he had just left, and where his mother and Ari now were.

Shan, who by now was at the window, turned around with a start. "What?" she said, her brain not fully grasping what she dreaded was coming. She looked under his pillow, and his clothes were still there. He would not have left them voluntarily, she was sure, especially after seeing his dragon's affection for gold. "Is he not in any other room?" she asked as she wandered into the hall looking around.

"I didn't hear him come back up," Ari said as he followed Shan into the hallway, frowning with worry. "I was so sure, at first, that I had simply fallen asleep and missed him when he came back up... but when Yuki said he wasn't in your room, I started worrying - I don't think it would be like him to wonder away from you too far, or for too long."

"Lord," Shan whispered nervously. Then she turned to Yuki. "Look for him, please," she told him anxiously. She went back into her room and dressed herself. She was ready to pick up everything she needed to and start walking that very moment if they had to. If Phineas was gone, they would not be able to search for him; and it was definitely no longer safe here.

Yuki knelt, placing his palm on the wooden floor. To search for something, he always needed to be touching ground, no matter what kind of ground it was. He could track through the air too, but that was much too energy-depleting. The hand he placed on the ground began to glow white, just as his eyes did. He searched every room, occasionally detecting strangers that they would not meet. Not one of the people he had found was Phineas. Once he determined Phineas wasn't there his face hardened. He continued searching through the rest of the town. "Nothing," he said at last. "He is nowhere close by," he finished as he stood up, no longer glowing. "Layla is not here either."

Shan sat on the bed, dismayed. "I should have been more careful about her," she said, keeping the pain deeply hidden in her voice. She had become attached so quickly, and just as quickly he had gone. "We cannot stop to look for him. There is no time," she said, standing up, and picking up the bundle under the pillow, then the other bundle under the bed. "If our paths do not cross again, Yume can find him for us, but we cannot stop." As she readied herself, she gave herself a mental beating. How could she have trusted that woman? Everyone felt uneasy around her, but she had let them all stay here, and now Phineas was gone. What would happen to him? How would he be treated? What would they do to him? The more she thought, the more her discomfort grew, until she almost felt like screaming, or punching a hole in a wall. Why hadn't she payed more attention?

With a huff, she stepped out into the hallway and awoke the others, tapping sharply on their doors without a word.

[[Has anyone bumped into Elektra lately?]]

((So sorry Ive been away for a bit. I had have lots of work to do for my classes. Not to mention that on Thursday I leave for Florida. Im still debating whether or not to take my laptop with me. If I dont Ill let you know and put my character in a nullified position. ^^))


Ani was awoken by all the bustling around the outside of her door. She looked from her bed to the other girls who were still asleep. The sleep drained from her face as she got up and dressed. When she had her daggers in place on her legs, she opened the door quietly and walked down the hallway, to only room that was open with light filtering from it onto the flooring of the hallway. She peered in, standing in the doorway. "Whats happening?" She asked, her eyes darting from everyone in the room. She didn't realize at the moment that it was Shan and Yuki and Phineas room, until a second later when she asked, "Wheres Phineas?"

[[It's okay. I totally understand. I wonder what it will be like for me when I get to college XD ]]

Seeing as how his mother was in a need to keep her mouth closed, Yuki answered instead. "He's gone. We can't find him anywhere. He's not even in this town anymore." Something about Yuki looked tired, but it was no longer the sleepiness, or even the use of magic. It was a tired that seemed to linger there. He was tired of something. It was the same kind of tired his mother was experiencing.

((Lolz...^^ Depends of whats your major. ~.^ Some people have it super easy, others got the wrong end of the poker.))

[[I'm in the honors program 8D; I'm going into Graphic Design but that doesn't matter in Foundation year XD ]]

[[Engineering or Architecture... as of right now. :O Haven't decided. ANd I think I know already that Engineering won't be any sort of fun.]]

"Layla," Ari muttered the name and narrowed his eyes. No wonder she wasn't there to bounce to him in greeting when he first arrived downstairs this morning. "What could've she done with him, though?" He said, a little dispirited. After all, the woman's face looked like she could've eaten a human - or a dragon - and still acted chipper about all of it.

Kira woke up lazily, hearing something outside. What had happened? She got up, off the bed, rubbing her eyes as she grabbed her sword from next to her. She walked into the hallway, looking around for the others and walking towards the room of Shan, Yuki, and Phineas. They would know something right? She made beeline, rushing in there, hearing Ari utter Layla's name. She poked her head inside, noticing that Phineas was missing. Had Layla taken him away or something?

"Layla...of course." Ani said running a hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear in the process. "Shan..what do you know about Layla? Is she most likely after blood? Money?... Something to eat?" Ani asked unsure about the last one. She already kinda knew that it was money the woman was after, from the way she had eyed the coins Shan had given her for the meal and the rooms. "We have to find him." She said looking at Shan, "We dont know what they would do to a dragon." She said turning to look at the others in the room. If they agreed to go looking for him, she knew who could help in a big way, Micheal.


((The first year, foundation year as you call is always boring because its like high school classes all over again, math, english...etc.
I have a friend in Graphic Designs and I envy her cause it looks like fun. XD
Engineering will be hard work, Architecture would be fun I think. Just a bit of hard work in the beginning.
Im mostly taking classes in the summer so that I can qualify for the clinical phase by dec, or Jan09. ^^

[[I don't have math, that makes me happy XD I DO have history though, but it's art >w<]]

Shan turned to face them all, clearly frustrated. "Layla is after the money. She wouldn't dare hurt him for fear of damaging what she sees as merchandise," she said. "What I'm worried about is the person he was sold to. We don't know what that person is like." She leaned against the nearest wall, shoulders slumped. "But we can't go looking for him now. If he's not in this town, and we've determined he's not, then it will take much too long. We have to keep moving on, and hope that we will cross paths. I don't want to know what they could be doing to him. But we cant' stop," she said with finality. She knew her decision would haunt her until they saw him again, if ever.

(( I will be away from July3rd to July 8th. Have a wonderful 4th of July. <3))

[[Happy 4th of July to you too!

Also: Elektra PM-ed me saying she will no longer be able to keep up >_<; ]]

"So are we going to go ahead and keep with the original plan and ... continue moving on?" Ari asked, leaning against one of the walls. He frowned at the thought of having to leave someone behind - especially when it was Phineas, a child. He was sure, however, that the decision was far more difficult for Shan who had taken such a liking to the child.

[[Yay 4th of July. I'm almost 18!!! Might be going somehwere... not sure yet lol.]]

Shan nodded. "If it were simply up to me, I would search as long as it takes, but..." She grimaced, struggling to keep her composure. "There is much more at stake than the fate of a single boy. I want to stop, but we must not."

((checking in from Nerja, spain... can´t wait to get back into this, I´m going to have so much fun with y`all...
Faith, if you´re interested in architecture, feel free to ask me any questions about classes and such and so on. I just graduated from it and would love to give the help I didn´t get when I was starting out. of course to be answered when I get back. :)
sweet dreams! back to the hotel room for me before my mom notices I am gone at 1 am... XD hehehe))

[font=arial][[Oh wow, that's early XD Goodnight, Steff >w<

Fai, I don't turn 18 'til september ;_;]]

[[XD It's not that exciting really. Now my parents want me to do everything by myself since I'm 18... it kinda sucks lol. Are we waiting for someone to post?]]

[[me, maybe? But I've been outside since six in the morning and just got back, so my brain is fried.. I'll have to wait for a while XD]]

((I'm home!!!! I guess I will be lurking for a bit as not much time has passed in the RP... I shall work on some art!))

[[Yay, ish Steff~ *jumps*

I was going to post something but my BF came from Canada so I've been busy XD I dragged him all over Disneyland yesterday and managed to get lost once XD I'll come back to edit this when I finish cleaning my room. Haven't had time for that either LOL

okay, editing now ^^]]

A few months had passed and by now Shan had lost hope of finding Phineas. No one dared mention the subject to her after she had spend a substantial amount of sleepless nights looking in the direction of Layla's Inn. It had not been a pleasant sight when Layla bumped into Shan of all people. It had probably looked like she was ready to commit murder, but she did nothing. She simply turned on her heel and walked off. Shan had been pretty quiet in the past months, speaking only when necessary.

Yuki had tried to break her silence, but had hardly succeeded, and so he too was quiet, walking about a foot behind her. Her silence was very uncomfortable to him. He had wanted to try again yesterday, but found it impossible. So when he heard his mother break the silence herself, he looked up suddenly.

"There's something unusual about that tent," she said. The tent she was speaking of was visible to all of them soon enough, because it was huge and golden, reflecting the morning sun in a blinding fashion. It was one of the most obnoxious things Shan had ever seen. The large sign in front of it read "The Circus of Many Dreams". "Somehow it feels like there are too many different things crammed together into a single spot. It's almost physically sickening."

Inside The Circus of Many Dreams was the Dreamcatcher. He was an ambitious, good-looking man with dark hair and eager eyes. Hidden under his dress shirt was a magic pendant that allowed him to make things disappear. This he used to create the underground level of the circus, where he kept all sorts of impossible creatures. Elephants the size of one's hand, flying penguins, dragons, and things that look like they should be dead with their bones clearly visible. There were even flying ships, and other strange objects. On all of these items the Dreamcatcher kept a close eye, but the item he was most careful with was a single white whistle lined with gold. This whistle was always on his person, even when he was bathing. It was either in his hand or in a special pocket inside one of his many shirts. The vendor had called it an Angel's Whistle, and it had cost him handsomely.

He touched his chest where the whistle was and thought proudly of how careful he was with all his prized possessions. None of his items were ever damaged in any visible way, so that all who came to his Circus would be pleased with the quality of what they saw. However, if one of his dreams were to disobey, he would see fit to punish them. He had plenty of interesting torture items too. He was a great collector, by his own standards.

[[Yay! We've restarted!]]

Ari has grown, clearly, in the months following the incident at the inn. He had become more sensitive to the emotion and thoughts of the others and better at deciphering their expressions, though his fellow group members never failed to surprise him. A few times, though he never mentioned to to Shan after her first explosion, he thought that they had stumbled onto the 'memory place' of Phineas. He never brought it up to anyone, but at those strange moments when the leftover imprint of someone else's memory and emotions washed over him, he had been so sure that they, strangely enough, were in the steps of the one who held the dragon boy captive. The boy had learned to shave for the first time as well, as stubbles had begun appearing persistently day after day on his once smooth cheeks. Now his jaw bear a few cuts from his more unsuccessful tries, and he looked different with the injuries decorating his youthful visage - more... menacing, perhaps, especially with that mysterious half-smile always tugging at the corner of his mouth.

He was uncomfortable with the air that their little group had taken up, that air of melancholy. I wish Shan wouldn't act as if the kid's dead... Ari thought, softly whistling to at least surround himself with sound. Things always had a strange way of working out in this world, in stories like theirs. When the woman suddenly spoke up in what seemed like ages, he was attentive to her words. "Well, isn't that how a circus is supposed to be?" He asked her, not sure if he understood her words as he looked at the tent. "I admit that it's a bit... glaringly ostentatious, but I thought they are always supposed to be showy to incur others' attention... and have, you know, lots of attractions and acts inside to give people interest."

"This is a bit different," Shan said, already speaking more than she had in a while. "There are too many types of magic trapped together, pushing out in all directions and closing in. It is much too unnatural. It's suffocating." She stopped as if to catch her breath and stared at the large golden tent.

"There might be nightmares in there," Yuki suggested. Because he was a specialist in magic, he could feel something strange. "It almost feels similar to those moments right before we engage in some sort of battle, but it feels different too, so I'm not sure."

Shan listened with interest. She now realized why she felt so bothered. "How do you all feel about taking a look inside?" she asked. "Somehow this feels like a place of opportunity."