dark_slippy_thing | Candracar

Valentine was pacing back and forth anxiously. He did not want to be here. How had he let Will talk him into coming here?
What was he doing here?!

Getting permission to save the world, of course!

Will (notawitch)	Will took a deep breath and ran a hand through her hair. She knew why she had brought Valentine to Candracar, but it still made her nervous to have an outsider here in the center of the universe. " 'Kay, I know I said this before I teleported us here, but I want to go over this one more time. Past these doors are the Oracle's chamber, and we're here to ask him about saving your world. He's a nice guy, but he takes his job of keeping balance in the universe seriously, so we'll need to lay all the facts out plainly for him." She shifted her weight from foot to foot as the tiny wings of her Guardian costume fluttered uselessly behind her. "Also, he's kinda my boss and the guy who gave my friends and me our powers and duties, so ... try to be on your best behavior in front of him? Please?"
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine was doing a good deal of staring at the doors that were in front of them, nodding halfheartedly as Will spoke. Being here didn't particularly mean that he wanted to be here, but at least it was a step in... a direction, of some sort. He was pretty sure that once this case was presented to the guy in charge, he wouldn't be able to weasel out of it even if he was certain that he wanted to. "Right. Best behavior. Keep the conversation to the point. No rambling on about fish. I think that can be done." He took a deep breath. "So, here's where we go in and get permission, or whatever?"
Will (notawitch)	Fish? What? She shook her head to clear that though out. "Pretty much. Lay the problem out, ask permission, see what he says. That should be the gist of things. I hope." She took a deep breath and pushed one of the doors open. "Here goes nothing."
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	Oracle was sitting cross legged with his back towards them. "Hello, Will. And your ...friend." He sounded a little puzzled as he said the last word, but he didn't turn around.
Will (notawitch)	Will could feel her heart pounding loudly in her chest out of nervousness. Even though she'd been here a few times before, it was still nervewracking to talk to the Oracle one-on-one. Well, two-on-one but Valentine didn't really count right now. She motioned to Valentine, even though the Oracle's back was still to them. "This is my friend Valentine, from school. He's been telling me that his world is under a major attack from a bunch of black energy tentacles that have been killing a lot of people."
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	There was a pause. "I'm sorry to hear that."
Will (notawitch)	She took a nervous step forward. "So, we want to do something about it, to save all these people from the darkness." Another deep breath. "And I wanted to ask you about it first."
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	The Oracle did turn around now. He gave Will a small smile, before focusing on Valentine. "I do not believe your friend's world falls in under our authority." He tilted his head. "Or responsibility."
Will (notawitch)	She frowned somewhat at the Oracle's answer. "It doesn't? Do you mind if I ask why?"
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	"Do you remember the time you were trapped in a painting?"
Will (notawitch)	Will nodded. "Yes."
Valentine (importantman)	It was possibly very fortunate for Valentine's mental health at this point that he was distracted by the array of the fantastic and the shiny that was all over the inside of this place, and wasn't paying the most thorough attention to the conversation at this point.
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	"It was a world, but it was not a real world, was it not?" The Oracle sounded as though he was trying to hint at something very strongly.
Will (notawitch)	Will nodded. "Right. It was made by that painter guy, Elias, who was trapped in there." Her eyes opened wide. "So, are you saying that this world, too..."
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	"Yes. There are other rules for... those worlds." He gave her a small smile. "But I know you're still going to try, aren't you?" The Oracle paused for a moment. "Remember what makes you strong."
Will (notawitch)	"You know me too well," Will said, looking a little embarrassed. She paused to try and guess what he meant. "Teamwork? The power of five? The coordinated outfits?"
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine was drawn back into the conversation quite suddenly at that. "I am not wearing striped green tights and a miniskirt!"
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	The Oracle definitely didn't snort at that as he was the Oracle and obviously didn't do that sort of thing. He did look amused though. "I don't believe the outfits are mandatory on this particular assignment. I do recommend that you look to your friends. They might be able to help in ways you do not yet see."
Will (notawitch)	"I will." Will smiled up at the Oracle. "Thank you." That meant that she and Valentine had to hunt down a couple more people to help them out back at Fandom High. She didn't think that it'd be that much of a problem.
Oracle (1ordinarygirl)	The Oracle gave her a small smile in return. "I wish you luck."
Valentine (importantman)	"Yes, yes, thank you," Valentine mumbled, grabbing Will by the arm and backing out of the room as swiftly as he could. When the door was closed behind them, he looked at Will squarely and hissed under his breath. "We had to talk to some bald man in a shiny room to be told that we couldn't do this without help?"
Will (notawitch)	She stared back at him. "That 'bald man' is the Oracle of Candracar, the person who keeps balance between all the different worlds in the universe. He's also the guy who's in charge of Guardians like me. We're not supposed to go off on quests without his permission in case it messes things up, so yes, we did have to come here and ask him that."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine took in a slow, deep breath and exhaled just as slowly before replying. Mustn't freak out at the Guardian of Candracar while in her own stronghold, right? "Okay. So, now that we have permission, mind telling me more about what it all means? Because there was some gobbledygook in there about ways we don't see or something, and I'm sure it all makes perfect sense to you, but I'm not the one in the striped tights, here."
Will (notawitch)	Will took a deep breath, and tried not to get annoyed at him. "Look there's usually five Guardians, one for every element: heart -- that's me --, fire, water, earth, and air. We work as a team, combining our powers together. The Oracle says that we can go save your world, but that we need to go as a team."
Valentine (importantman)	Valentine decided then and there that he'd make a rather effective Earth, indeed. It seemed to him like he was the only one who didn't have his head in the clouds at the moment. "Okay, so we need five of us? Rikku's offered to come. Two more?" If anyone were to ask Valentine, he'd have insisted that five was not nearly enough. But this was apparently some tried-and-true cult-of-the-striped-tights-of-Candracar thing, so he didn't want to mess too much with the system.
Will (notawitch)	"Sure,"she said. "Five usually's worked pretty well in the past."
Valentine (importantman)	"Five, then. Alright." Valentine was pacing back and forth anxiously, now. "Two more should be easy to find, right? There are enough insane hero types in the school, I should be able to dig up just two." He was now going to do a headtilty-study of everyone he passed in an attempt to figure out who was air, water, and fire. This was going to be special.
Will (notawitch)	While Valentine was thinking to himself, Will summoned the Heart of Candracar and used it to teleport them back to Fandom. At least now the easy part of this was out of the way.

(Not for interaction, not for broadcast due to distance! OOC comments are welcome and are devoured like cookies-- this preplay has been brought to you by myself,

notawitch,

1ordinarygirl, the letter "C", and by viewers like you. I'm going to bed now. La!)