“Oh and here is the book on Violets. She was asking me all about them.” Angela stacked a purple colored book on the mound that was in her daughter’s arms. Peeking around the pile Sapphire’s blue eyes blinked a bit.

“Mama, not that I’m not sure of where I am going with this but why this many books when she has a god for a husband?”

“Do you think that man has any good books like this? He probably has monster manuals and other things of that nature. Keira needs books like these and as a scholar, you should know variety is the key to life.” Turning Sapphire around Angela lightly tapped her back and opened a portal for her. “Torn will let you in because you are family. Don’t be so nervous.”

The girl blushed a bit and nodded as she walked through the portal into Musalia. Her long purple hair was in wild curls about her back and shoulders. It reached her hips now and she was honestly thinking about cutting it since it got in the way of her studies. She wore a peach and gold-colored dress with off shoulder sleeves. It was honestly harder to walk with the curves that had come out of nowhere. Time death was evil in her opinion.

She was delicately walking through the streets when she finally got pointed in the right direction. “It’s this way…” She got to the Chamber of Mysteries and looked up at how big it was. She was let in after telling them who she was and that Keira was waiting for her. Though she walked through the halls mesmerized by everything she hit someone or something and the tower of thirty books came tumbling down. “Oh no! I am so sorry.” She yelled it as the last book hit the floor.

Hiro was still hanging out around Torn's Dream Arena grounds in Musaila.  He won the Prince of Epic's Warrior Gauntlet, and had earned the right to go on adventures with him.  The tall young man with the raven and crimson hair walked through the hallways of the Chambers of Mysteries on the way to the room he had been staying in.  He wondered what Trulde was up to, the angel who had given him a "reward" for his victory in the arena.  She seemed to like his youthful vigor, and Hiro had become fond of her, despite knowing there was no future with her.  It was just fun spending time with her.  He was wearing his common clothes, a black and red tunic and pants.  His mind wandered as did his feet, until he suddenly woke up to see a pile of books heading toward him.  He was unable to stop himself, and the person behind the towering pile of books did not stop walking towards him.

They collided with a sudden crash, a tower of dozens of books came falling on top of him.  He groaned in pain as for the books tumbled all over him, some of them hitting him on the head.  He heard a feminine voice talking to him, apologizing for not paying attention.

"Owww, what hit me?"  He started taking the books off himself, until the books covering his head were removed, and he could get a look at her.

Beautiful, striking purple hair.  That was the first thing he noticed.  Deep blue eyes.  Creamy skin.  A youthful appearance, and womanly curves.  He didn't recognize her for her curves, but that striking combination of purple locks and blue eyes stood out in his memory.

"Sapphire?  Is that you?  Do you Rosenites just grow like . . ." he nearly compared her to a weed, but that wouldn't leave a good impression on her, that'd be plain mean.  ". . . l-like a flower!  You've blossomed like a beautiful flower!  Over night even!  By the flame!"  He got back up onto his feet and held out his hand to her to help her back on her feet.  "i'm sorry I wasn't paying attention to where I was going either.  What are you doing here with all these books?  Lord Torn . . . isn't much of a reader or a scholar, so you're here for Keira?"

There was a blush on her face so bright that she took some of her hair and hide her face for a moment. “I didn’t expect to find you here Hiro.” She took a moment to peek out at him and give a smile. “I suppose I did. When Time Death happened I was a little too close to the problem. I suppose it did make me grow rather quickly from the last time you saw me.” She took his hand gently and was pulled up on her feet.

Nodding to his words she looked down at the books. “Mama says that Keira needs lots of books on other things than just monsters and whatever else Torn would have. Keira on the other hand, is a scholar! I want to be like Keira but I don’t have her memory skills so I suppose I’ll have to handle regular memorization on my own.”

She began to pick up the books and looked back up to Hiro. “So you competed in his gauntlet? Mama told me a bit about it while we were picking out books in the library. I didn’t expect to see you here though it doesn’t surprise me any.” She was rambling and she blushed brightly once more as she began to pile the books. “Was it hard?” 

"I didn't expect to see you here either," Hiro said with a laugh.  She explained that Time Death aged her a few years.  She now looked closer to his age.  "I think you look great, Sapphire.  You look closer to my age."  He helped her onto her feet, then listened as she explained that Angela sent her there to give Keira books to read, since she was probably lacking good literature considering she was married to a man who didn't keep good books around.  "I see, that makes sense, Lord Torn doesn't read a whole lot, but he can sing and play music though.  It's art, like literature is, just a different art form."  Though some of the songs he would sing were closer to what you'd sing in a tavern while drunk than for nobility.

Hiro was asked about the warrior's gauntlet, he was glad to recall it.  "Yes, I was able to win it too.  You can challenge it alone, or pair up with people, but I went at it alone.  They set me against a pack of wolves, then I had to fight a number of warriors who were all older than me.  But after I beat all of them, they put me against a Fire Giant.  He was huge!  He was incredibly tough too!  He tossed fiery boulders at me, and I had to dodge them, and I even managed to blast through one, and use it as a stepping stone to get closer to him.  I was gonna attack at his face, but he slammed his huge weapon down on me, and started smacking me around.  I managed to summon a Sapphire Blade with my magic though, and break free from him.  I got up into his face, started stabbing the bastard with the blade, since he was weak to cold, then I finished him off and was victorious!  It was really hard, but I managed to survive that battle and win.  It took me a few days to recover and gain consciousness again.  Everyone was impressed, though that I managed to win the Gauntlet despite me being so young.  I won the right to accompany Lord Torn in an epic quest for glory."  Hiro recalled the battles he fought in the Gauntlet to Sapphire.  He was pretty beaten up by the end of it, but he was victorious nonetheless.

Sapphire smiled and giggled softly. “I don’t really know Torn that well. I know when Mama heard him ascend that she woke Drae out of a dead sleep. I guess his personality isn’t completely to my mama’s liking but if Keira loves him that’s all there is to it.” She chuckled once more as she thought about it. “I have bard sisters and my brother Ash was a bard for a while before he pursued being a paladin!” She realized she had never had a chance to talk to Hiro about any of that.

Reaching up Sapphire gently took Hiro’s ear. “You should be more careful and not so reckless.” She wiggled his ear gently as if scolding him. “Glory is fine and dandy until it gets you killed. Then the people who admire or love you will miss you and it will be a sad day. Make sure to remember that when you are making decisions.” She let his ear go and smiled at him once more.

“We should take these to Keira. According to Mama, she is in the map room.” She stacked half of the books in Hiro’s arms. “I hope you don’t mind me stealing you to help complete this.” She smiled from the side of the mound of books in her arms as well. “Let’s see… map room.” She asked around since she had been told the room was for Keira only unless she wanted people in there. Once she found out they stood in front of the door. “Cousin!” Sapphire said it cheerfully.

A shush came from the door as Keira opened it and smiled. “The twins are napping in here.” She let the two of them into the large room. A huge drafting board was in the center and many, many bookshelves carved from tree trunks were all around with lots of books in them. The twins were in a bassinet near the drafting board. It looks like Keira was working on a map of all of Canelux. “For Torn.” Keira saw Sapphire eying it. “I wanted him to have something to display around the Chamber of Mysteries. I’m going to draw Parvpora after this.”

Sapphire’s eyes were large as she sat the books down. “It’s awesome Keira! You are so talented.” Sapphire almost squeaked as Kite started to make a noise in the bassinet. “Did I wake them up?”

“I don’t think so.” Keira reached in and took out the soft haired child. He was perfect just like his sister. He was holding himself up now without Keira needing to support him. “Hiro, you have never met the twins before… This is Kite and his sister is Tempest.”

Hiro listened to Sapphire as she talked about when Torn came a God, and he started to get confused.  "Drae?  Ash?  Who are they?  I don't know all your family members."  He scratched his head unsure of himself.  "You have a big family I guess, hah."  Hiro found his ear grabbed gently by Sapphire as she scolded him.  "Eeep!  The rules of the gauntlet say you don't die your first attempt if you lose in the gauntlet.  You just wake up fine where you entered the arena.  The second time on the other hand . . . "  He trailed off.  "It was my first attempt so I was fine, but I'll try to be responsible.  It's not just the glory I'm looking for.  I'm looking to be strong enough to make my father proud, to be a hero like him in this new land.  I want to protect people.  But yes, I'll be more careful in the future.  I don't want to die just yet."  In his eyes, his father, Sabishii Kouen was a larger than life figure.  He wasn't perfect, but he was a great father to him, and he was sung of by bards all over the land of DaeLuin.  He aspired to be like that, to make him proud.

Hiro helped Sapphire pick up all those books she was lugging around.  They weighed a ton, he wondered how she was managing to tug them all over the place by herself.  "I don't mind at all.  I haven't been around long enough to know where everything is yet."  They asked around and found out where the room was, and so they found themselves in front of the door.  The map room seemed almost like a library, but filled with maps of Gods know what instead of just books.  "Hiya."  He greeted Keira from the door, then followed Sapphire in and placed the books he was carrying in down.  She was working on a map of all of Canelux.  "That's some map, I think I can pick out the spot in Laeto Rainforest near where I met Sapphire for the first time.  There's a little village right about . . . there, I think," he pointed at a spot in the map.  "This is where the village was that I found the bounty for that ogre I was tracking down, and that's when I ran into Shawarl and Sapphire being attacked by that ogre.  And somewhere deeper in we came across the plant monster that nearly killed us."  Then Keira's twins started to stir.  Keira introduced Hiro and Sapphire to them.  "They're beautiful, adorable.  They're named after things related to the element of air, no?  A kite is a type of bird of prey, and of course a tempest is a powerful and violent storm."

Sapphire laughed a bit and shook her head. “Ash is my big brother! He is a Paladin of great strength! He used to be a bard before he decided he wanted to protect my mama.” She thought about how to describe Drae. “I suppose you could say he is my mother’s lover. She’s never been good at keeping them around long but this one has a child with her and she appears to be happy with him.” She smiled up at him and laughed.

Once they made it inside the map room Keira looked proud at her map. “I’ve drawn everything from memory. You might not know this Hiro but I don’t forget anything. I can remember everything like a book. Even the tiniest detail I can recall.” 

Looking at the twins she nodded. “Torn wanted names that could be easily sung in songs. So those were the names we chose. Rosenites generally choose natural names so their names are actually quite in line with what we name them. Names like Keira tend to be things people pick up and be like that’s cool. My mother isn’t really one for traditions anyways. Torn is in love with the idea of having her for a mother-in-law.” Keira rolled her eyes. “Anyways why don’t you two hang around Musalia. I mean I think Hiro needs something other than a Valkyrie for a companion.” She poked fun at him.

Sapphire blushed a bit. “I mean, I don’t have anything to do and I haven’t seen anything of Musalia. Would you show me around?” Her blue eyes looked up at Keira and back at Hiro. “I feel horribly set up.” Sapphire took her long sleeves and hid her face. It had been the look on both her mother’s and Keira’s face.

Keira laughed a bit. “Don’t think into it much. You are a shut in and Hiro needs more than just Valkyries. Plus I think Torn was highly entertained with him.” Keira felt sorry for him. “Actually I am surprised you caught on that fast.”

“Mama had this look on her face when she asked me to do this… and you just had the same look on your face.” Sapphire was bright red as she looked over at Hiro. “Will you still show me around?”

"Ah, I see, so that's who they are.  Your brother, who's a Paladin, and Lady Angela's lover.  Okay, probably gonna have to keep a running list of your family members, because you have a big family, my mother and father just had me as their only child, and I never got to meet my grandparents, because Grandpa Kouen lived far away, and Grandma Kouen passed away before I was born.  I don't know about Mom's parents at all," he explained to Sapphire his own family connections, which weren't much.  "Grandpa was a swordsman and renowned blacksmith, and Grandma was once a Priestess to a Phoenix God or something in another land.  They met on some quest of some kind and bickered a bit until they fell in love.  They say opposites attract, right?  I think that was the case there."

Hiro tilted his head, his eyes widening in surprise as Keira said she had the ability to recall anything from memory.  "Really?  Wow, that's unbelievable.  I know you are a tracker, but with memory like that, you could be a damn good mage.  You could memorize incantations for spells, enchantments, or other things like that."  She then explained Torn's name suggestions for his children were based on the fact that they were easily used in songs, and the Rosenites' naming conventions were based around nature, so it worked out well for them.  She suggested they hang out around town for awhile, bringing up Hiro just keeping the Valkyries company.  Hiro felt a blush come to his face, hoping Sapphire didn't inquire more about the Valkyries, or Keira didn't talk more about it.

"Uh, sure, we can hang out, I can show her around the town."  Sapphire felt incredibly setup, almost according to someone's plans, and Hiro agreed.  But he wasn't going to argue with the woman about it, he didn't really feel BAD about spending time with Sapphire.  "I think Lord Torn just likes teasing me around no matter what."  Sapphire asked if he minded hanging out with her.  "Yes, of course I will, where do you want to go?  There's mostly places for food, drink, and the gauntlet arenas.  There's blood sport or bardic competition.  Whatever tickles your fancy."  Hiro's face was almost as red as hers.

“I have over one hundred brothers and sisters. The list of brothers is… rather little, though. Rosenites have a hard time having sons. They say we were cursed so our race would die out but my great great grandmother Willow, the very first Rosenite, found a way around it so we could all live. Of course, she was the only one at the time but now there are lots!” She enjoyed exchanging stories with Hiro. “Right now I am the third youngest! Newly third! My mama had Rohan and bumped me up in the list.”

In the map making room Sapphire was interested in everything. Keira chuckled a bit and nodded. “That I could be but who says I’m not. My skills that I enjoy are map making but I know how to fling a good spell or two. I once toppled a great hydra with dozens of heads with Torn. That was when we found out about Kite and Tempest.”

Watching the two of them Keira ALMOST felt bad. “So, here’s what I was thinking.” She began to bounce little Kite in her arms. “We have gardens and with those games going on they will be empty… Why not take her there? Sapphire has problems with large amounts of people… but maybe eventually we could make a place for her and you if you so choose to view the games without being around everyone else.” She wasn’t about to make her cousin’s life hell.

“You would do that?”

“I would make Torn do that.” Keira reached out and pat the girl’s dark purple hair. “Have fun and be kids would ya? You two are still young and shouldn’t be worried about adults all the time.” She winked at Hiro as if he would know what that meant. “Enjoying each other is ten times better. Trust me. Took a lot not to punch Torn in his face from his persistence that we be a thing. Worked out though.” 

Keira gave them the general direction to the gardens. When they got there Sapphire’s eyes lit up and she dragged him in. You would have thought that a girl who lives in the Sundering Gardens wouldn’t think twice at another garden but not Sapphire. “HIRO! These are Yellow Butterfly Bushes.” She scooped them up in her arms gently as if hugging them. “Hello!” She said to the bushes. She realized it must have looked weird.

“Come here!” She gently took his hand and hugged the bush with him. “You can say hello now.. he can hear you.” Suddenly the gardens lit up with hundreds of little voices, big voices, girly voices, manly voice, and a ton of others. The Butterfly Bushes were like little children and Sapphire was in love with them. “I love Butterfly Bushes. This is what the Sundering Gardens sound like to Mama.”

Hiro's eyes widened.  "One hundred?  One hundred plus?  I don't think I can remember that many family members, and I don't know if I can keep a list that big," he gave a laugh, then listened to her explain the story of the Rosenites, finding it interesting.  Keira explained she can cast spells, and enjoys map-making too.  "Heh, I'd love to hear that story some time.  I bet Lord Torn kept just lopping the heads off instead of, like, burning it or trying to kill the body or something."

Keira gave them a suggestion, not to take her to the blood sports (which now thinking about it, Sapphire may not be interested in, who knows), and instead take her to the gardens, which would be nice an quiet, because she has problems with crowded places.  "It's settled then, to the gardens!" he exclaimed triumphantly, though not sure where they were, until Keira pointed them in the right direction.

Hiro and Sapphire made their way to the gardens.  When they arrived, her face lit up seeing all kinds of beautiful flowers all over the place.  It was very pretty.  She scooped up a bunch of "Yellow Butterfly Bushes" and started saying hello to them, confusing the young man, who looked at her with an inquisitive look.

She took his hand and brought him to the flowers, Hiro was almost thinking maybe she was a bit crazy until he started hearing the voices too.  "What the . . . I can hear . . . voices?  Voices from flowers?  They can talk?  How does that work?"  There were so many friendly voices coming from all these flowers, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.  "Lady Angela can hear them too?"