Welcome to Gaia! ::

The voice paused for a moment as Vaati stared down at her hand, his face a little calmer now than it was when the voice bothered him. The worst part of the voice was that it was his own voice insulting him. Vaati suddenly transformed and weakly curled up in her lap, a tiny meow ringing out in the air.

Alyssa scurried into the kitchen and pulled out a basket of fruit. "We can eat in my room. I'm going to be home alone for the night. Or are you too nervous to stay in my room?" She didn't wait for an answer and quickly skipped up the stairs to her room.

"Hmm... a couple of apples, some blueberries, raspberries and some strawberries. I think grandma washed them all before she left." Alyssa answered, sitting on the rug in the middle of the room. "Are you sick of strawberries yet?" She asked popping one into her mouth.

Alyssa shrugged. "I don't like sour, or spicy for that matter. And I thought Vaati would have annoyed you out of liking strawberries. Even when he's behaving, he's a little... hm.. messed up, I guess." Alyssa grabbed some raspberries out fo the basket.

Zathier shook his head. "Vaati... Sometimes I wonder about him..." He muttered, remembering the cat's craving for strawberries. He looked at Alyssa and thought for a moment. "I wonder if she has really noticed how much I like her..." He thought, continually glancing at her while he ate his fruits.

Zathier shook his head and looked at Alyssa. "Huh? Oh, nothing. I was just saying how Vaati had a stange craving for strawberries." He then looked back down at his food. "I guess she wasn't listening before..." He thought and gave a slight sigh.

Liam smiled. "I'm glad you finally have a name picked out for him. Though I wonder... if he will like me when he is older..." He kept his thoughts away from his disturbing dream.

Shadow stared into the dark mirror. He looked in, his eyes burning reddish violet. He could feel what was coming: great tragedy. Then suddenly he was over washed with a feeling of happiness. Shadow let go of the mirror and staggered backwards, his eyes returning to their normal shade of dark red. "Darious.." He whispered, a little shocked. "Long before you were created, Arious gave me half of a human heart that was made of his magic... Just now though.. I think... I experienced some of his power... the power of permunition. I think I just had a vision... of what is to come." Shadow sat his mind clear of its grogginess from earlier. Perhaps that shadow had adsorbed the over consumption of alcohol.

Arious bowed his head. "I promised not to lie to you and to be a truthful husband." His head then rested in his hands. He couldn't bear to see her angry. "Silver... I borrowed Liam's maic with a leeching spell, leaving him helpless... I did not know that his magic was the only thing keeping him here in this time period... He began fading back to the future... Saya then came to retrieve the magic, which I had. However... when she pulled me into the Shadow Palace, she pulled April with me because I was holding her hand. April had started to show symptoms of what I had, but at a much greater speed. I don't understand WHY though... She never used the shadows powers as I had.... Forgive me... I wish I could do something.. But I just don't know what to do..." Arious buried his head in his arms to hide the fact that he was on the verge of crying. He could not stand to be helpless.

Rugen chuckled. "Ah, but you do not know my dear Bonedancer. He has fought a great many battles... and he has also succeed in killing an army of soldiers... But let us not talk about such things. It is a happy day." He gave her a smile as he dusted off an old picture frame. It was of him, Helios and Helios' deceased sister, Serina.

Silver's face darkened when she heard this. Not only had Saya taken April to the one place she want her to avoid going, but she also almost killed April by almost letting her being consumed by shadows. April could have died, or worse... become one of them. "That... little... b***h..." Silver murmured under her breath, looking over at April. She breathed, trying to look for a way out of this, and being angry would not help their situation... if April continued to have the shadows in her, she would possibly be consumed by it, like a poison... "Arious... did you say you were almost consumed by shadows... but Darious told me he saved you... is there a way he can help April as well?" Silver asked. She would be angry at Arious and Saya later. Arious for stealing Liam's magic and starting this whole mess, and Saya for not even thinking of what could happen to April if she was taken into the shadow realm. She had to help her child first.

"Well, are you a powerful dragon, aren't you?" Din asked, smiling as Bonedancer continued to rub his bony head against her hand. Begging for even more petting. Suddenly when Din moved to stand up, bone dancer raced up her leg and into her arms. She immediately smiled down at him and approached Rugen, looking at the picture of Helios, he looked pretty young, around the age of 10 or 11. She studied his blue eyes and blonde hair, beaming for the portrait. On his right hand side, there was a little girl. Who looked 7 or 8. She had blonde hair and blue eyes like Helios, she was guessing they were siblings. The girl more a white fur cloak and a white dress that almost blinded her. She glanced over at Rugen, seeing his face fall. As if seeing this portrait saddened him deeply.

Liam nodded as he interlaced his fingers and rested his chin on them. He was curious though. "Saya... I wonder... How is it that you hate my father.. my mother... and Shadow.. yet you find me to your liking? It just doesn't make sense..." He studied the woman's face. He cleared his mind, stopping the thoughts from entering his head. He hated to read minds unless he had to. It really wasn't his business what was going on up in other people's minds.

Arious looked away. He hated that his Shadow was the one saving the day, but he didn't let the emotion out. He had to think of his daughter's safety right now. "It is quite possible. You should ask him before we move her anywhere. I shall stay here and make sure she doesn't exhibit any more symptoms." He immediately rose from the table and sat next to his daughter.

Shadow shook his head. "Darious, that is the thing. It is his OWN magic that created half of my being. It is why I can feel emotions.. eat.. sleep.. It is quite possible that I have just... seen something... but still... It was only a feeling. Not even a full vision. Not to mention the creepy tinge of violet in my eyes..." He rubbed his head where Darious had hit him.

Rugen sighed, hearing her thoughts her curiosity. "Yes.. that is Helios' sister, Rina... Princess Serina. She was murdered when she was just nine years old..." ... because I couldn't protect her... and I abandoned my post... If it weren't for me... she would probably be alive. He touched the picture. "It was a very emotional time for all of us. We were the best of friends..." He trailed off remembering how he had lied to Helios and forced false images into his friend's mind to cover up mistakes.