The Jidoor Opera House

[Gabranth]

Gabranth sighed at Hercules' words of compassion. Standing tall, still in a bit of pain and disorientation he looked to Hercules. "Hades..." was all he said. There was more hatred, pain and anger in that one word spoke than anything Gabranth could have said to our hero. It was obvious the Judge still had plans of his own.

Gabranth started to look about, seeing his new surroundings and pondering what was to come of all this and where it would lead them. "You said our ship is to be fixed, find out duration of time till it's finished. As for this play, I may have to ... pass. This place has an uneasy aura about it, I fancy a look around."From this Gabranth stood straight and sheathed his weapon. His pride as a Judge prevented him from showing his own fatigue. Began to slowly walk off to search this ... Opera House. "And Hercules" the Judge uttered to him, "One must never know to much of ones future. Fate can not be changed."

[Hercules]

Hercules blinked when Gabranth mentioned his dreaded foe. "What about Hades?" he'd ask, but receive no answer. He could tell the man held some dealings with the God of the Dead, because... well... Anyone who's EVER dealt with him has that basic attitude. Based on the last batch of weirdos Hades had been sending at him, Herc wouldn't be even remotely surprised if Gabranth was halfway through a deal for his afterlife.

So, the demigod merely nodded when Gabranth abruptly changed topic. "Alright..." he said, then turned to head off, only to be stopped by Gabranth's advice. He nodded again, a grim look on his face. "Yeah..." he said, remembering his... "experience" with the Oracle of Delphi. It was when he was very young, the Oracle told him he could either have an easy but unremarkable life, or a legendary one frought with danger and turmoil. Being young and eager to make it back to Olympus, he picked the latter.

"All I want is to find out where Meg is..." he reassured himself, then went to find the Impresario once more. He'd know how long repairs would take, plus offered Herc the chance to see the mirror...

Let's hope he likes what he sees...

[Sai]

Sai eyed the girl gripping the instrument. Among Heartless, he was not prepared to take any... risks. He had seen a Nobody wield a sitar as his weapon, so why wouldn't he be suspect? Turning his attention back to Acteur, Sai kept his wand ready inside his pocket...

"I'm not here for the art..." he said simply, guaging the creature's reaction as best he could. "My interests are more... academic..." he finished, then looked off. "No minions... I would be surprised if I had a heart..." he said, then looked behind. The Impresario had not followed him. This prompted another narrowing of the eyes from the scholar. "Of course..." he muttered.

He should have expected to be ditched. The Impresario obviously had no intention of showing him the mirror, or giving him the notes. Instead, he left him in the company of the one person who would raise the largest fuss should he hear what he was after. He had to be more careful here. Slowly, he turned to look at the construct, his expression never changing.

"Many pardons... but are you familiar with the writings of Master Xehanort?" he asked, hinting just enough to see if Acteur and his companion would be a threat...

[Secondary Characters]

The Impresario was spinning around in frantic circles, biting the nails clean off his fingers, sweat beading down his seemingly glowing balding head. He stopped in place the moment he saw Kuja sashaying by and bolted to grab onto the man.

"Kuja!" he called out, and moved in to whisper several orders. Once satisfied with the male diva's compliance, he nodded his head and sighed heavily.

Suddenly the Opera House shook violently; the windows glowed with a radiant silver light for just an instant and there was a loud, thunderous boom. An eerie, ghostly voice called out "ALONE!" before fading into the chatter of the theatre once more. The Impresario's eyes went wide and he yelped.

When he saw Hercules he, like before with Kuja, dashed forward and latched onto the man with his vice grip.

"There you are!"

[Hercules]

As Hercules was walking along, trying to find the Impresario, he was stopped by the shaking of the building. He looked all around, seeing the glowing windows, and hearing that one word. It was concerning, yes, but luckily he was already on his way to finding the person who could help him answer a few questions about weird stuff like that! Hurrying up, Hercules made his way into the theater area.

He just spotted that weirdly dressed guy trot off when he held up a hand to address the theater master he had been looking for. "Hey! I was wondering if-" he started, but was cut off.

"There you are!" the man stated, then grabbed onto Hercules. This prompted the greek to blink a few times, utterly confused. "Uhm... yeah, here I am... did I do something wrong?" he asked, used to this kind of thing being quickly followed by a public outcry of "he did it" or "why do you have to be such a klutz??"

Regaining himself a second, Herc held a thumb up to indicate the Opera House in general. "Uhm... what the heck was that...?" he asked, but shook his head a bit. "Oh, and Gabranth asked how long the repairs might take."

[Secondary Characters]

The Impresario blinked several times out of a nervous tick before letting the Olympian demigod free; he poked his head over both of Hercules' shoulders and then glanced all around himself.

"Oh? The suit of armor? The repairs won't be finished until perfection is achieved, m'boy."

He chuckled nervously again and rested a sweaty hand on the man's shoulder; there was something foul in the air and he desperately needed to find the source.

"Um, excuse me! Please seek out...um, someone else! Kuja, maybe!? Yes, yes. The fluffy man over there. Go, run along. Play with him. I'll...be back."

He zoomed off without reply, and disappeared through a mysterious door off to the side of the stage. Several locks could be heard echoing throughout the room.

[Hercules]

"When perfection is- well, when's that supposed to happen??" Hercules called after the impresario as he ran off and locked himself in a room, leaving poor Hercules with fewer answers than questions, and increasingly more confused by the minute. "The heck's going on around here...?" he asked, then shrugged, opting to follow the advice and seek out Kuja...

Not that it was hard to find the man. He stuck out like a sore thumb in a speedo and wearing a feather boa, so Herc basically spotted him seconds after the operaman disappeared. "Hey! Can I talk to you for a sec?" he asked, running over and waving Kuja down. He stopped, and crossed his arms, seeming to have about a billion questions to ask.

"Uhm... your leader-guy said I should ask you about what just happened... the rumble-talking thing..." he said, pointing behind himself with his thumb. "And I was told I could talk to your guys' mirror-thing so I can find Meg. Mind showing me where that is?"

[Secondary Characters]

[glow=pink,2,300]Kuja, approached by this gigantic mountain of muscle, swooned, and tilted his head and brought a finger up to his lips. He chuckled slightly when the man called out to him.

"You have something you wish to discuss with me?" said the diva, and batted his eyes, his eye lashes twinkling under the lights. "Come, sit with me over here," he said, inching over to a set of chairs separated by a circular end table. He crossed his legs and leaned back, laying both arms on their respective rests.

His eyes narrowed a moment later, unimpressed at the Olympian's bluntness. No flirting. Just business. He sighed heavily and waved his hands nonchalantly. "Ah, yes. That mirror. I do believe the Impresario informed you that the mirror would be available to whomever...no. You're unable to access it at this time, and as for the rumbling and ghostly visage's voice? Forget about that. Delving too deep is like peeking behind the stage to get some insight into the next act."[/glow]

[Hercules]

Hercules lifted an eyebrow at Kuja's... erm... friendliness. He would just shrug it off at first, as this WAS an Opera House, and over-the-top melodrama had to be pretty much common. Besides, he'd been to Athens, nothing new here. He sat across from the man, leaning on the table a bit while Kuja spoke.

"What? Now I can't see it?" he asked, seeming a bit frustrated. "How many times is everyone going to change their minds?" he sat back, sighing a bit. "Okay, THAT aside... I'd still like to know what's going on. I wanna hurry up and rescue Megara, and all these things seem to be piling up..." he shook his head a bit and leaned forward.

"The Impressero, or however you said it, said I could use the mirror to look for Meg. Why would he tell me I could, only to be told I can't?" he asked, frowning a bit. It was clear the usually cheerful grecian hero was getting annoyed.

[Secondary Characters]

[glow=pink,2,300]"Probably because you haven't fulfilled your end of the devil's bargain, I'd imagine..." he said, tapping the table with his long, manicured nails. "His Excellency the Great Impresario is very...confusing, at times. You should learn to adapt, or else you might find yourself filling the role of stage crew. You must simply wait for him to make up his mind, I'm afraid."

Kuja chuckled and stood up, sashaying off with his hips swaying from side to side. He turned back only once, his hands on his hips, and harrumphed, before leaving Hercules' presence.[/glow]

[General Beatrix]

***Projecting from The Darkest Day, in Beast's Castle***

[glow=red,2,300]A spiral of smoke-like darkness burst from a crackling split through a rift before the young musician's eyes, and within its center an image was clearing from the fog. When the darkness dissipated the face of General Beatrix could be seen.

"You there," she called out, looking about the surroundings through her screen. "I am looking for Monsieur De La Noir, and for some reason his image eludes me; I am General Beatrix Lilian Flint, Master of the Heartless Army under the Black Queen MeadowSong, and I seek his assistance. Who, might I ask, are you to the man? An assistant? An advisor? A student? In any case, his prowess I will be needing at some point today, and if even you could provide assistance, I would be most appreciative."

She sat there on the other end of the window, leaning up against the backside of the building, awaiting Sarah's reply.

"What say you? Will you be willing to aid me? And if so, what could you provide?"[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

Sarah's eyes focused, seeing a strange woman in front of her. She was talking in an odd way, as if she had some sort of- Wait a minute! She had seen her once before. It had been quite awhile ago, when she had just arrived at Queen Meadowsong's castle.

"The lady Beatrix, decorated general and master of the sword..."

Still, it brought another memory to her head. One that she hadn't much thought to be important.

Once she managed to do so, she noticed a pile of random items close to her location. Perhaps it there would be a map fro this 'nowhere' place she now was. She began to dig into the pile, feeling two pieces of paper underneath the pile. "These aren't maps..."

There was a name on those papers. "It started with an X..." She spoke softly, as if she were in pain slightly. She shook her head after a few moments, looking back up at the image, which she had seemed to forget was there. "Why...should I help you?"

[Sai]

Sai was about to continue his conversation with Acteur when something happened in front of the girl. He turned his head sharply, seeing the screen take form before her, and when an all-too-familiar voice accompanied it he took notice.

"I am General Beatrix Lilian Flint, Master of the Heartless Army under the Black Queen MeadowSong," she declared so boldly. Well... it was clear that the good General wasn't quite what she seemed... Sai took a step back, ensuring he was out of view of the screen entirely, so as not to be caught in Beatrix's line of sight. He listened as she went on to explain she would need the girl's help... and when Sarah said something about "it began with an X".

Apparently, there was a lot more going on than everyone knew. There were too many layers to the mystery, and too many turns against one another. His best option was to remove himself from the equation and take another look at it from another angle. So it was, with a bow, he dismissed himself from their company, not once saying a word to avoid alerting the woman on the screen. Turning, he exited through the curtain to see the impresario running and hiding, while Hercules spoke with that Kuja person.

"This is not going well at all..." he muttered. Thinking on the matter. The evidence was all pointing toward a set of keyblade notes here... the question was who was the most likely to lead him to them? Upon a summary evaluation of the staff, Kuja seemed the most likely to be coerced into giving information. The only stipulation was that this Kuja person was obviously a diva. Sai had to play be other rules than simply being forward.

"...hairpin..." he remembered, then turned to form a corridor nearby. He needed to warn Daphne... and maybe she could assist him in solving this mystery as well...

*returning to Beast's Castle*

[General Beatrix]

[glow=red,2,300]"Yes, that is very nice that you saw an "x" written down on papers at one point in your life, miss, but I am more concerned with what you can provide for me."

She furrowed her brow at the girl's question and shook her head. "As I said, I am General Beatrix, and I fly under the banner of Queen MeadowSong, Mistress of Darkness. If you are dissatisfied, I would be more than willing to call in for her aid."[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

"If you truly are a general in her army, then she would have a similar story, yes?" Sarah's eyes narrowed. She respected Queen Meadowsong, but she had never received any word that Beatrix was her general. A woman who merely introduced herself as something wouldn't be so free to walk around.