Dawn of a New Day

[Oeilvert]

Masheck chuckled lightly at Wall-E's new erratic movements and glanced over to his crow companion to see if the tiny robot had made contact with his heart. Locke was not pleased by the antics of Wall-E and so squawked, but the sorcerer could tell he was just dying to sing along and dance...too much pride.

"Oh, Locke," he said, patting it on the back, causing the bird to fly off his shoulder and onto the spinning golem. "Lighten up."

[glow=red,2,300]"..."[/glow]

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Ms. Go, with her ever curious ways, set eyes upon the note and imitated a sound similar to the construct in her party, "Oooooh" she would sound, reaching to get it before giving the esteemed actor a dear embrace, "You are such a sweetie! For me?" the thief asked, and opened the invitation, reading it for a few moments.

"Woow...!" She grinned, "This sounds fun! Oh.." she looked over to Masheck, the prince, and raised an eyebrow, looking down at her note a moment, and hovering quietly to Acteur, "Will Atticus Nobody Number 1 and his companion cube and parrot be able to come?"

-- It was then she heard Acteur speak of doing a service to Atticus, and she swooned a little in place, resting her shadow-like hands upon her cheeks, " Oh! I would do anything to help Attikins!" she nodded, "Oh! Wait! That's right! I'm supposed to be finding a Heart Steel for Shego! Aagh..!" she shook her head and smacked her own forehead, "Oh dear... how long has she been waiting...? I don't have it yet..." [/glow]

[Sai]

Sai took the letter with little or no circumstance, and opened it. A quick read from his eyes would take only a few seconds, and he'd have all the pertinent information he needed. Looking near the end generally cuts past the proverbial bull, especially in the case of the long-winded and apparently long-penned, heartless shakespeare reject. There, he found what was most important: they needed actors, Sai was being called for it, and the prize should he succeed in fulfilling his obligations was a chance to find what he needed.

This, however, offered another bit of information which was somewhat distressing. Acteur knew about the notes. This meant that the heartless more than likely, he had informed Sai's other of the plot and very soon, the heartless would be mobilizing to make this a much more difficult task than before. He didn't have all of them... who knows where the rest were. But why would Acteur open a pathway to finding them? That did not add up in the slightest.

Slipping the invitation into his coat next to the notes that Ms. Go had uncovered for him, he looked over at the heartless woman. She seemed happy to have finally connected the dots and come to a conclusion of her dilemna, but unfortunately, this also came at a price. Now, Acteur would know that this merry group was looking not only for the knowledge, but also the means of creating the very weapon that could end the heartless once and for all. But what would the actor do?

Looking to the odd chap, Sai remained as blunt and dull as always. When asked if a smile would kill him, he replied in as obvious a way he could. "I wear a scarf... what difference does it make if I smile or not?" he stated, then moved on. "Regardless... your invitation is interesting. Might I inquire as to who else has been contacted?" he asked, wondering if perhaps... Daphne could be among them...

[Oeilvert]

Masheck turned away from bird and construct, pulled out the Grimorum once more and began flipping through its ancient, dusty pages. He still had work to do in locating the Rose, or whatever the Nobody had been looking for.

Glancing up between intervals he listened to the conversation happening between Heartless and Nobody, as well as goofy Heartless speaking to herself and growing confused.

"Ah-ha!" he exclaimed dramatically, throwing down a finger directly on a page he'd found what would get them to where they needed to go. "Scrying. Excuse me, 'Atticus Nobody Number Two'...a name, place, scent, something from the body, whatever I'm able to use in order to locate your associates."

He began reading over the spell, memorizing it and preparing, dipping into his component pouch at the side and seeing what he would need. As he readied the spell he watched Sai, waiting for a response.

[Sai]

Sai's attention turned away from the heartless when Oeilvert spoke up. He paused a second, then lifted his head. "Find Daphne. She's the head scientist aboard the red rose. That's where the majority of my notes are collected." He began to walk away from Acteur without so much as a thank you or a goodbye, opting instead to look over the man's shoulder to look at the book.

"Scrying... a locator spell?" he asked, his attention easier kept by the academic. "How long before you can set the enchantment?" he continued, scanning it over a moment with mild interest... Then another thought hit him.

"... can this be used to divine the location of objects as well?"

[Oeilvert]

Masheck poured over the workings of the spell for several more moments until Sai's reply, and nodded, plucking two feathers from Locke's back nearby, his own body shuddering and wincing at the assault; quickly he dropped them onto the book and soon the sorcerer started waving his hands over the page.

"Through the ethers of space and time, I command you, she to find! Daphne, Mistress of Technology, grant me the ultimate power to see! Show me the Red Rose!"

Soon Masheck's head snapped backwards, his eyes alight, scanning throughout Hyperspace while he chanted in a strange, foreign and ancient language. Locke ruffled his feathers, quite disgusted by the strange, zombie-like pose, and even squawked, flying off Wall-E's head and on top of the Nobody's head the moment Masheck's hand raised up, and a finger pointed to the west.

"An 'Alexandrian' flagship is heading away from this place; they can't be more than a day ahead of us; I am unsure of their destination, but if we can keep a level concentration, someone could gate us to your wife."

[Secondary Characters]

Wall-E had been "dancing" with Locke for a moment, singing his little song from Hello Dolly and roving around in random directions while the bird perched atop his head. Not exactly graceful, but between a raven and a living trash compactor, it was rather cute. He would bounce a little, trying to liven up the bird, but apparently it didn't do much for Locke.

When the bird flew back to his master, Wall-E watched before looking off to spot... a girl! He let out a little whistle, then roved over to her and held up a metal hand. "Wawwl-eee!" he said, offering to shake hands to meet her properly. After all, she seemed to be waiting on them, and it was rude to just go on with ones business with people waiting on you!

Wall-E even looked to the others, whistling to get their attention while pointing to the girl. He didn't want them to be rude to her either!

[Sai]

Sai looked down a moment, thinking. She was on the Rose, that much was obvious. If they were moving, simply corridoring in was difficult. Not impossible, of course, as all places are in fact moving, but one that was at such a speed as the Rose at full speed? He didn't think it wise to attempt it with those that can't breathe in hyperspace present. His arms crossed and he began to think, though sparing a moment to comment...

"...she's not my wife..." he muttered, then walked off, rubbing a gloved hand over his scarved chin. Presumably, others were being invited to perform, as a lack of actors suggested that many roles were in need of being filled. Acteur had as of yet not spoken on the matter, but Sai had a hunch. He looked to Oeilvert again with a raised eyebrow. "Do you have enough strength to do the spell once more? Seek out the Jidoor Opera House, and compare its position to the direction of the Red Rose... If it's going that way, then we'll know for certain to meet them there..."

That was when Sai heard Wall-E's whistle, and was directed to pay attention to the new woman among them. His arms dropped to his sides, shaking his head a bit. "We're busy..." was all he would say to them, rude or not.

[Acteur de la Noir]

After Oeilvert made his announcement, Acteur de la Noir stepped spryly between him and Sai, leaning forward to look over their shoulders at the direction in which the Emerald-clad sorcerer was pointing with jovial interest. "The Red Rose, you say? If your allies are on that ship, then mayhap my business shall take me there, as well--I daresay my list of written invitations would extend to your peers!" Then he paused for a moment, looking thoughtful as he considered both the magus clad in Lincoln green and the short, boxy automaton that puttered around with such lovable personality. "Hmm...come to think of it, did I have invitations for the present company, as well? Let me have a look..."

With that, the Heartless Puppeteer took a step back and began rummaging about with most peculiar animus--flicking his wrists to produce a few more envelopes, along with playing cards, a slender dagger, a ring of keys...oh, and several bursts of dusky black-and-purple smoke. All the while, muttering with the most melodramatic irritation. Then, with a crow of delight, he produced another invitation--embossed with, in flowing script, a rather familiar name!

With unnatural dexterity, Acteur flicked the envelope through the air, sending it gliding into the hands of Oeilvert. Then it was back to rummaging, to see if perhaps he'd misplaced a letter addressed to that strange, stubby construct that regarded him with binocular eyes.

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]"Oh, YAY!" Cheered the ever innocent Ms. Go, hovering over to Acteur to give him another warm hug before moving to the other two, green mage and robot, "You get to come, isn't this great??" she grinned.

The eager thing made a twirl about and faced the puppet, giving him a kind, "heartless" smile. The antennae that had been merged with her hair moving about randomly to any other, except those of her kind.

You are amazing~! the wire like antennae would signal, before hiding back into that shadowy hair of hers.

Her emerald circles would look over to Sai, and hover over to him now, wondering what he as thinking of doing. "That seems like a good idea... ~ We should totally meet them there! We could get front row seats, OH, and some food... you must be hungry, right Atticus Nobody number Two?" her attention took her to stare at Masheck, " and number One?"[/glow]

[serpentoflore]

Nivea didn't speak, letting Attra figure out what they should do next. Her eyes remained on the strange creature that had greeted her first. A mechanical thing that seemed to be almost completely happy to see her.

'Where do we go Attra?'

"We'll go to the place that that strange puppet is inviting him to. Then we can find out what's really going on. This Daphne character might be our ticket to killing this guy and finding your parents."

She was tempted to touch Wall-E, so she put one hand on his head for a mere moment. Turning around, she barely acknowledged Sai or even Ms. Go for that matter. Even the wizard seemed to be ignored. She could only trust Attra now, and Attra trusted that Atticus could find her parents.

After she had walked to where she had come from before, she focused on the location. Slowly, Attra took over in order to corridor them out of the Beast's Castle world. Their next stop would be the Jidoor Opera House.

**To The Jidoor Opera House**

[Sai]

Sai lifted an eyebrow slightly. Acteur pretty much stated that he had sent the others to the opera house, so his plan of having Oeilvert double-check the factor was pretty much a moot point now. He shook his head a bit, then tapped the book. "Nevermind," he said bluntly, then took a step away.

"It seems our course of action is laid out before us..." he said, speaking to both Acteur and Oeilvert. Looking back to the wizard, he lifted an eyebrow once more. "I trust your heart is properly shielded? If it's not, we'll have to find another way of travel, as the corridors infuse one with darkness... making you like them..." His eyes looked to Acteur and Ms. Go.

"That business now aside..." he said, looking over to where the woman was, but now was absent. He blinked, then looked away as though this mattered not at all, and it didn't to him. With a wave of his hand, the corridor would appear. "... I think we should make our leave..." he said, even if he was somewhat distracted by Ms. Go's bubbly questioning of if they were hungry.

"First thing's first..." he reminded her, then looked to Oeilvert again, waiting for an answer to his inquiry...

[Oeilvert]

"Thank you," said the sorcerer, collecting the delivered letter given to him by the Heartless Puppeteer and slipping it into the confines of his robes. He then began working on putting away his materials and Grimorum, as Sai had just announced they would not be needing him to waste energy again.

It was good, because the Sorcerer Prince was unsure whether or not he would be able to cast another Scrying. He was exhausted still from Oz--he'd had no sleep in several days; he was biting into his magical reserves for the past couple of days since he'd met Wall-E just to stay awake and alert.

"About my heart..." he began, glancing to his shoulder to meet Locke's face. "I felt a tug..." he paused, glancing over to Shego and Acteur, then moved in to whisper to Sai. "I'm sorry, but if those people are anything like the Witch's...minions, then I'd rather not discuss this with them. You see, Locke is my heart...and last time we passed through one of your rifts I felt a dangerous pulse...perhaps we could find a means of protecting and shielding him as we trek into a Corridor? You seem to be protected, right? How is that?"

[Sai]

"I see..." Sai muttered, listening intently. He understood why he chose to keep this information to himself, and even saw some wisdom in it. Looking to the bird, he considered his options a moment before speaking again. "I'm... technically protected, though I have no need to be. I have no heart to speak of..." he said with that dull voice of his before going to collect the bird gently.

"However, my coat is a prototype of the black cloaks once worn to protect one from the darkness. It is only partially effective, but with a parcel of this size..." he opened a pocket and gently lowered Locke into it, clasping the top over it as carefully as he could. "...perhaps it will be enough."

Turning to the corridor, Sai began walking. "If you feel discomfort, alert me the instant we reach the other side. We cannot linger within, as prolonged exposure increases the likelihood of infection..." he said dully, then disappeared into the darkness without another word...

***To Showtime!***

[Shego]

[glow=green,2,800]Ms. Go watched as Sai and Masheck made it through the corridors. She still stood next to the talented Acteur, as if waiting on something. A time alone with her 'brother.' When they were both out of sight, she slowly turned her head to look at the puppet, a smile on her non-existent lips, " I need to find heartsteel for Shego... but... I don't want to leave Atticus nobodies number one or two alone-- I'm conflicted." she pouted, " Now I want to help Attikins... what should I do?"

The confused thief looked down at her gloved black and green checkered fingertips, and twiddled her index fingers together, "Hrm... Acteur... my heart tells me to do so many things... but what it tells me the most, is to help Attikins... and all of these things help him... I'm lost." [/glow]