Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Mon Jun 6, 2016 9:10 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

This had become more than guilt. The weight of responsibility had become crushing. Why had Bryony been so foolish as to set out with intent to engage in combat while emotionally compromised? Had the sleight he had given her in softly denying the one moment they had been enough to set her off? In all honesty, that was not a question that he wanted answered. One gaze at the bundle that was passed to him in the vision was all the answers he needed in ascertaining where her heart was at when it came to himself.

"Damnit!" Sebastian spat. "I didn't ask for any of this! I can't leave knowing that I let this happen…You…!"
He shook his hand at Eldora, only to drop it to his side in defeat after some pause. "Thank you," he sighed at last.
Sebastian embraced the odd woman in a quick, but heartfelt hug, kicking up dust from her as he pat her on the back. With that, he was gone from the library. Papers flew about wildly, and the younger Oracle's robes blew as if in a storm from the velocity of his departure.

Sebastian had blinked out into the hallway, and began a mad sprint towards the balcony from where he had just come from. Angela had not visited the grave yet during his training, so perhaps she would be there. He reached to his inner coat pockets and donned his gauntlets as he ran, then began shouting out the Goddess' name through the halls. "Angela!"

Thoroughly winded by the time he caught up with her, he stopped, nearly kneeling at the Earth Mother's feet for a second time in their brief acquaintance. He leaned forward, resting his metal-clad hands on his knees as he caught his breath. "Angela…! Need…to get to…Apoy. Bryony. She's found some trouble. What's the quickest way there?"

Author: Eldora, Posted: Mon Jun 6, 2016 6:28 AM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Eldora stared up at Sebastian and smirked. “My name is Eldora and I am one of Bryony’s students. I, who see time, have come to tell you about your flower.” She had a smile on her face as the clergy member came forward. She was silent after the clergy member came. She had much to show dear Sebastian.

“Bleeding dust mite?” She chuckled a bit. “You need to do better than that.” Tilting her head she smiled a bit more at him like a cheshire cat. “I know much more than shite.” She reached forward once more and smiled. “Let me show you.” She couldn’t stand sitting around and not causing some drama.

She put her finger to his forehead. It was more so less powerful than Bryony had. “Let your mind be open. Think of her and be clear.” Her blue eyes watched him. “Close your eyes. I am serious.”

When he did he would see his flower from his eyes. She was speaking but he wouldn’t be able to hear her. She was in bed and she looked so tired as she offered him a bundle. The bundle moved softly and the blanket moved to reveal the tiny face underneath it. The child was fussing.

The scene cuts out and goes to something new. He’s rushing now towards a group of orcs. It was of twenty or so. He seems more panicked in this vision. He is able to get through the twenty. They had already been weakened severely as if they had been fighting something tough. In the center though, he would find his flower. She was bloody and missing some parts of her body. Her eyes watched him as she reached up and tried to stroked his hair. She lost the final fight in front of him and Eldora pulled her hand back.

“I know a lot more then foolish man says.” Eldora paused as if keeping him there. “Apoy Island. If you hurry you might make it just as the fight starts.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Sun Jun 5, 2016 10:53 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Moisture still clinging to his brow from training, Sebastian strode through the temple, coat over his shoulder. His steps matched his demeanor, boots thudding heavily through the halls. Exertion had done little to mitigate the weight of emotion clinging within. It wasn't guilt. At least he didn't think that it was. If it wasn't though, why did he feel the need to apologize to Bryony?

Sebastian found Bryony, or at least what looked like her, already waiting for him. Her posture seemed somewhat sunken…sultry. Almost predatory. Her voice had thickened. It was more husky, with a heavier accent. If he did not feel guilt before, he was certainly starting to now. It was as though she had lushed in their short time apart, and was now taking a more direct, booze-fueled strategy in approaching him. It took a moment to process it all, a time which this utter stranger that was even more strange than the woman he just met rubbed upon him lewdly. His eyebrow quirked. He was for more distracted and dumbfounded by the dust that kicked up in the air when his hands grazed her robe, and the other side where the flesh was exposed than the actual contact. He jumped away from her when she changed before his eyes.

"My flower?" Sebastian snapped incredulously. "Who are you, and what are you on about, lass? Surely you don't mean Bryony? We've known each other all of but an hour."
Sebastian looked up when the clergy member came in. He frowned at the news. Had she known he had planned to leave, and beaten him to it? Why would he leave him a message that she had gone, then? What emergency?

Yes…it was definitely guilt now.

When the strange woman went to touch him a second time, he bristled, autumn eyes venomous. The offense taken was visible and tangible, for the air about him distorted with the energy that repelled her back. There was a bit of a pyrokinetic spark that hung in the air about him, for the odd energy field singed when touched. Sebastian donned his jacket, which he had not even gotten around to mending yet. "You know where she's gone," he said to her knowingly as the energy gradually dissipated. His glare softened a bit. "You're going to tell me…no games. I know your sort, you bleeding dust mite."

He sighed immediately after. His mind had jumped ahead to all of her possible responses. "So you know shite. Then, to answer your inevitable question, I think you and I both know…that I damned well don't know what I'm going to do when I find her." The initial surge of confidence had filtered out of his voice.
"Just tell me she hasn't gone and done something reckless."

Author: Eldora, Posted: Sun Jun 5, 2016 4:06 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony gave him a sad look but there a look of shock on her face too for a single moment. She closed her eyes to sort through her own thoughts. “You are not the only sinking ship. Maybe loneliness isn’t a void that can be filled.” That was fear in her voice.


She was shaken by something. “Sure. Sure, the library.” She took her leave from him without too much more thought. Taking that glaive in hand she walked down past the library and out of the temple. There she didn’t hesitate to leave him.

–

There was a purr on her lips as she watched the elder leave the temple. Nothing was hidden from her blue eyes. Nothing. There were things in this world that still scared the elder Rosenite and it amused her younger oracle apprentice.


Wandering through the temple made her giggle a bit as she neared where Bryony had exited. Oh, she had seen this outcome coming. Waiting she transformed her whole body to match that of the elder. She waited in the library for him. A mischievous smile crossed her face. “Do you not like what you see?”


Her accent was heavier than Bryony’s was. It was the lack of traveling on her part that did it. Not only that but her appearance did not mask the smell of dust that engulfed her around her. “Or… are you both stubborn?” She smirked as she was quick to come up to him and slide herself down him. She took his hands and put them on her hips. “Yes… You don’t understand.” Her appearance broke and she chuckled towards him. “Both are foolish. Both are scared.” Those same eyes stared at him.


Her black hair was much longer than Bryony’s but her body was covered by dust. Her clothing was much more noble looking than Bryony’s as well. Though they were coated in the same dust. “I move just for you two, yes? I see something interesting and I come to check it out.” She tapped his chin. “You are scared like mouse.”



Eldora smiled at him. “Your flower has wilted and run away. She doesn’t wait for you and runs. Why? It amuses me. Teacher has never been good with her feelings even when I was a girl. What did you do to make her shiver so? I bet her vision blurred. Oracle is no good if she can't see. That's why we don't have family nor friends. You are a liability. I don't know why she wants one." She grumbled a bit but that smile remained on her face. "Yet, she blurs over you. Maybe she knew I was here."

A clergy member came in and stared at Eldora who had tracked dust. "Lady Bryony wanted to let you know plans have changed. She had to leave for an emergency."

Eldora chuckled, "Sure she did. To think she even took the time to let you know… You must be special." She reached over to touch him again.

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Sun Jun 5, 2016 3:35 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony's hands on his face made his pulse quicken again. Her talk of taking a lover felt more than a little suggestive, as her body moved closer to his. He bit at the inside of his lip until he could almost feel it bleed. The tension of the moment was palpable. One could almost reach out and touch it…

Palpable, but fleeting.

"Sometimes choices are already made," Sebastian said somewhat tersely, taking a step back from Bryony. "It is only left up to us to understand them." He shook his head. "Good is what I aim to do, but only so much can be accomplished on a sinking ship. I'll not take anymore down with me."

"…Sebastian?"

One of the clergy had come, bearing his jacket. He thanked them profusely for its return, then turned back to Bryony. His fingers traced the hole where the dagger had punctured thoughtfully. "Length of one's life can change perspective. As can the knowledge of what happens after death. Loneliness was never a void I was meant to fill."
Sebastian closed his eyes, letting out a deep sigh. He needed to ground himself. Everything was still so erratic in his mind and heart after that vision.
Cracking his neck to release tension, Sebastian dropped his coat on the ground, and kicked off his boots. He started to unlace the collar of his tunic. "I need…a moment. Can I meet you in the library? I remember where to go."


Though not entirely certain of what had just happened, he felt he needed to space himself a bit. It was entirely possible that he was reading into things too much, as he was often prone to do. It could have been an entirely innocent gesture with words of encouragement. Sebastian could not help but feel there was something behind them though. He wasn't daft, after all. His empathy extended to the living as well; he'd had a hunch about it since she first began walking with him. He had been stabbed, and wound up in everyone's lap here unintentionally. That was all. There was no intent on making such intimate connections…he had not ridden in here on some steed, sporting armor, looking to sweep a near immortal off her feet.

Perhaps when evening came, he would simply take his leave. Lingering to let the picture she had begun to paint of him in her mind be complete would only make things worse, in the end.

Author: Bryony, Posted: Fri Jun 3, 2016 8:12 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony’s ever moving ocean eyes stared at him for a moment as he touched his lips. It had been a long time since she had shown someone just what she went through on a daily basis. She could tell it effected him as well. 

Listening to his words she gave him a sad smile. He was right and that much was true. “I remember his voice all too well. The fact that he chose to stay as a spirit and guide me… Tells me all too much how he felt when he died. It’s hard when I hear him everyday and wake up… The spot next to me is empty and I remember what happened. Even after all these centuries it just hasn’t gone away. I expect his face to be next to me even if I can’t remember what he looks like.”

She watched him get up and she put her fingers through her long raven hair. “We both have said the same thing to someone. I have told Kalyani and now you are telling me. Either we don’t learn easily or we are much too stubborn and afraid.”

Getting up she made her way over to him and gave him a smile back. “What I see for you… is not your past. You have a future that only you can write if you will it. Change the outcome of whatever path you think you are on and grab hold of the new fate string. Everyone has multiple endings but it is how you decide it is going to be that determines it. I know that I can’t see my end but I can see the past… I can see your future and it looks nothing like your past. Like the multiple pasts.” She gave him a smile as she tried to understand everything she seen.

She came around him and put her hands on his cheeks. “You can be whatever person you want to be. Starting right now decide and don’t let anyone else tell you otherwise. If you want to do good than do good. You have self doubt and I think that is what you need to let go.”

She covered his eyes with her hand. “Even if it were a mask of what could be… A lover that breathes life into you can change that. It’s a very lonely road and I think you understand that as well as I do.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Fri Jun 3, 2016 7:40 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Just when Sebastian thought he was getting very mixed signals - that Bryony was now being serious with her intimacy, his eyes widened, pupils dilating, before they fluttered closed.
As their lips touched, he felt, saw, and heard everything that he could when he did not put his psyche on constant guard…and then some. It was a swirling abyss of voices, faces, and feelings. There were several that stood out. He could hear his parents, distantly. He mostly heard the voices that surrounded Bryony; though, he half-expected to be subjected to the people he knew only in dreams.

When Bryony pulled away, Sebastian's eyes remained closed for a time. He softly touched at his lips, the imprint of hers lingering like white hot fire. The emotions of what just transpired also still lingered, clouding his thoughts. Being empathic as he was, he felt the anguish and love of the last and strongest voice as the vision faded. He felt everything as if it were his own. He had to resist the urge to take the Oracle up in his arms himself and embrace her as a familiar lover. Taking a deep breath, his eyes slowly opened again. Still lying on the grass, the sky reflected deeply in his fiery autumn irises as tears began to well. He blinked several times and wiped them away with his sleeve.

Sebastian offered Bryony a comforting smile after she spoke. "You can't hide away for fear of hurt forever, though," he told her. "That's just life. As an Oracle, I should think you would understand this better than most. Life is full of the the dark and the light, the good times and the bad. I think we have a sort of need for the bad times, to know and appreciate the good that life has to offer."

He sat up, and took her hand in his. "Life is also a delicate balance of holding on and letting go. If I've learned anything from my direct experiences with those that have passed, it's that they wish their loved ones the best. They also want to move on, but sometimes they can't. Love is a wonderful and powerful thing…but it can also be a force that binds things down where they shouldn't be."

Bash got to his feet and paced about the flora-filled balcony. He looked up to the tree before them. For a moment, his eyes played tricks on him. He swore that he could see the gnarled, blackened branches of the trees in his nightmares, reaching towards a silently stormy sky. In that moment, he imagined that awful, dying sun again, and the dark tendrils that spanned through the clouds towards him, beckoning.
He chuckled to himself, and looked to the ground. "You would think I could take my own words to heart," he mused to her bitterly. "If I knew what it was I had to let go of, I would be rid of it in a heart beat. Not even knowing who, or what you are can be damning. Not knowing if feeling like you're a good person is real, or just a dream…no…a wish. A mask, rather, to conceal a monster that you are not even fully conscious of."

Looking over his shoulder at Bryony, Sebastian, despite his somber words, was still smiling. "What is one to do when their past will always dictate their future?"

Author: Bryony, Posted: Fri Jun 3, 2016 1:40 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

It was fun to watch the human squirm. A chuckle left her lips as she watched teleport back up to her. The touche that left his lips made it even more entertaining. At least the man could play her game. “Aye, portals. Long ago, many people ended up there from here. We traveled the world of DaeLuin until finally the day came when the portals swallowed us whole once more and brought us home.” 

Listening in to him as he stopped his exercises she gave him a small smile. “You are not crazy at all.” She came forward to him and touched him lightly on his forehead. “I too fear for everyone around. The spirit ever whispering to me.” She drew herself in and lightly connected their lips but not in the intimate way. No, this was something else. It the powerhouse where mana could exit in a more powerful way.

”Do you hear it?” Her voice flooded his mind before countless others. They all were whispering the fates of many people. His, Angela’s, but they were more of what could be, not would be. 

There was that child’s voice again from Angela’s trial. Da? Then it vanished into the sea of other voices.

Another voice came. I miss you. Tell her I miss her.

Bryony ended up there as she withdrew. “His voice is a constant one. I never thought he would become one with the spirit line and talk to me constantly. I don’t want someone that I love and cherish to think they have to benefit me even in their death.” She remained close to him. “Thousand years go by and my head no long remembers what he looks like on its own.” There was sadness in her voice now. “Yet, his voice remains with me because he willed it to that hard.”

She collapsed to the ground to sit and held onto her glaive tightly. “I’ve wanted to die before because my heart felt wrecked. Time doesn’t heal everything and I would give anything to have gone back and change what happened. We could have raised Kalyani together and maybe had our own children.” She shook her head. “The Oracle blood is a curse and a blessing. To know you have the power to change the future but not your own is… terrifying.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Thu Jun 2, 2016 8:44 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Sebastian's smirk became laughter when Bryony smacked the back of his head. This was short-lived though, following her comment. The way her voice purred as she came near..eyes locked, her sensuous lips inches from his…it caused gooseflesh to ripple in a wave up his entire body. His own lips unconsciously parted. "I…uhm…" he stammered. It was such a sudden advancement that it caught him entirely off guard. His reaction to plummeting over the edge this time was definitely genuine.
The second fall was not nearly as long as the first; but this time, he found himself out of breath after the ascent. His heart was still thundering rapturously in his chest. He shook his head at Bryony and waggled a finger at her chastisingly, wordlessly voicing a "touché" at her response to his mischief.

It did not take long for Sebastian to settle down, and he listened to Bryony as intently as ever after his questions.
"DaeLuin," he repeated, his accent playing over its pronunciation. He furrowed his brow. "I know of it, but not from stories. I'd heard rumors of people coming through portals from a place with that name, among others. I was not one of them. I've seen it in dreams, though."

Sebastian tilted his head, mulling over what she confessed about intimacy to him. "I share that sentiment, but in a different way."
He rose to his feet, and began pacing about, throwing his arms out and backward, twisting, and lunging in several directions to warm his muscles up. He breathed in deeply, letting the air expand his chest, held it, then slowly released it. Squeezing every last bit of air out with his abdominal muscles, he contracted them further, envisioning touching his belly to his spine, then relaxed. He repeated this breathing exercise once more, but with tensed outward arm movement.
"I've never been too worried about my own emotional well-being. It's anyone I become involved with's safety that I've always been concerned about."

Sebastian sighed heavily, pausing in his exercises. With the way Bryony was looking at him, he realized that this statement probably needed some elaboration.

"Taking work sometimes has me dealing with some less-than-savory people. But…" he began, sitting across from her. "It is myself that is the reason for hesitation. There are parts to me that I have never understood, you see. I've seen more places than DaeLuin in dreams…and nightmares. Most I would not care to revisit."
He huffed as he lay back onto the soft grass. He let out a small laugh as he paused.
"You said before that spirits told you things about me. They've spoken to me for as long as I can remember, and beyond. I have these dreams that seem like other people's memories, and yet…I've always been sure they were real. Always been sure they were my own."

He plucked a blade of grass and rolled it between his thumb and forefinger thoughtfully. "Am I sounding crazy yet?"

Author: Bryony, Posted: Thu Jun 2, 2016 5:53 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony smiled towards him. “She always has been detailed. Even when she was a full time herbalist, she measured everything and the detail of her potions were unmatched. They were potent and people bought many from the Academy. Til this day they use her recipe.

Her eyes followed him as he went over the edge. She crossed her arms and came over and looked over the edge. “Oh dear my ass.” She chuckled a bit. When he showed back up she slapped the back of his head. “I’m sure it was. Is it as good as sex though?” It was an off handed comment to throw the man off. She got close to him. “Must have felt so good.” She got close to him, almost too close. Their faces almost touching as she backed him off the edge and watched him fall again. “Oh dear,” she echoed his words.

When he showed back up they continued their little adventure. “Angela has loved three times truly. At least here in this world. When timedeath occurred she was married twice over on the plane Daeluin. Here was only three. Wyatt, her first husband, married to her at sixteen. He died when she ascended, she also killed their daughter Lyre. That was when she took up the mantle of death in her sorrow. The second time was five years ago with Iva’s father. Then there is Drae. Each time she lost someone I swear even the plants were sad.”

Bryony frowned. “Angela is a far braver woman than I. I lost someone a long time ago and I have never trusted anyone else not to die. It’s a long lonely road when you want to avoid everyone that could even get remotely attached to you. Even when you want to find someone and you remain scared because that is the last way the world can truly hurt you.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Thu Jun 2, 2016 5:23 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Sebastian tried to imagine what all of the women he had met thus far would be like in the same room together. Two alone were enough to be hysterical to watch. He, too, chuckled and shook his head at the prospect of some poor boyo being forced to play dress-up for Iva. His grin lingered when the Oracle led him along once more.
Her general ease with physical contact was something new to him, something he had to stifle a reaction to initially. Now, walking arm-in-arm with Bryony seemed quite natural.

The lights that danced before Sebastian's eyes were what gave him vertigo. He had no trouble at all with crossing the glass bridge. "Symbolism can be a powerful thing," he observed as they walked over the gorge. "With all that I've seen thus far, it would not surprise me if Angela has appreciation for such subtleties in every minute aspect of this place."
His thoughtful expression turned to a slight smirk at Bryony's comment about the dizzying height. He sensed her discomfort, and a wicked thought came to mind. He kept it to himself for now. "Rather exhilarating, I think," he commented while staring directly downward.

Being able to accomplish a transversal without too much effort tended to defeat the fear of heights in a person. He had put the mettle of his abilities to the test once before, when he had come across an adversary he could not conquer during shady dealings in Hoja Mesto. He had been forced to run…starting from high rooftops, through the jungles of a central garden, and through residences, all the while avoiding a supernatural pursuer who could keep up with ease. It strained his mind and body to the limit, and gave him a very healthy dose of confidence in the end.

Following Bryony to the end of the bridge, Sebastian let her arm go to stop and admire the whole of the courtyard, and looked up at the tree. "Gorgeous," he said after a long while. His eyes had rested on Bryony herself before he spoke, but her gaze had been elsewhere. Stepping forward, he feigned a slip upon the glass, tumbling over the rail quite suddenly, and over the edge. "Oh dear," were his last words, a hint of sarcasm in his tone, before disappearing into the gorge.

Sebastian closed his eyes, and spanned his arms out as he fell head-first. He did not let himself descend for long. Mere seconds. Just long enough to feel the velocity of the fall…the wind billowing through his tunic.
Opening his eyes, he concentrated on the space above him, willing himself forward. It was much the same sensation, mentally, as moving an external object with the mind. It took a few quick efforts for him to gain height, and to redirect the kinetic energy. He had found out the hard way that if he let himself fall for too long and Blink carelessly, that his body would still feel the impact of the distance traveled. He was much more adept at it now. He managed to make it to the exact point he had purposely flipped over, vaulting himself over the rail and onto the bridge once more. "Exhilarating indeed," he repeated with a wry little smirk.

With that bit of mischief out of his system, Sebastian sauntered across the grass towards the statue. He took in the many carefully arranged bouquets, and the sheer detail and care that went into maintaining the shrine. "How often is it that a deity loves?" he asked while sitting cross-legged beneath the maple. "What happens to the realm when they experience such a loss? They seem very closely tied together…one affecting the other."

Author: Bryony, Posted: Thu Jun 2, 2016 3:54 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony was entertained by the human and watched him get down to look at the fish. “I agree, I had never seen anything like this in my entire life before Angela made this place.” She went over to a chair and sat down while he looked around. “I have spent weeks in here, trust me, it’s a lot more than you would expect. She has old maps and scrolls as well towards the back that the children can’t reach. You would probably be interested in those the most.”

She leaned in the chair and crossed her legs. “Well, I do suppose I know one location. Sapphire, is the worrisome one there?”

The purple haired child looked over the book. Her name came full circle as eyes of sapphire stared from Sebastian to Bryony. “Probably not, Drae came home. She is probably forcing him into Mother’s dresses.”

Bryony chuckled a bit. “I will have to give Drae my apologies.” Hopping up out of the chair she immediately took Sebastian’s arm and led him to a set of giant mahogany doors. “These doors have the cycle of life carved into them. Angela has seen both sides. Long ago she was once the Goddess of Death though that was never her official title. Now that she practically gives life to things, it is interesting how it all comes together… The doors are what she has experienced on both sides of the coin.”

She took the rings on either door and pulled on them. They were surprisingly light as she flung them open. Colored lights filled the hallway. “This bridge of glass takes us out to the courtyard you seek.” She walked across the glass easily enough even though the gorge below clearly made her agitated. “For someone who doesn’t like being off the ground she certainly likes her bridges.”

Once they got to the large courtyard of sprawling green grass she looked up at the red maple and smiled. “The tree is blossoming. Angela has it cycle through stages.” There were giant purple lily-like flowers blooming all over the tree. In the center was a statue of a man. There were flowers placed at the bottom and in vases around him. “That’s Iva’s father. This is one of her father places. Though since she has met Drae she got rather attached to her new father figure.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Thu Jun 2, 2016 2:47 AM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

There it was, that question of ascension again. When Bryony spoke of her own, however, Sebastian's inquiry became much more introspective. Did he, too have it within himself to become something else? If death and rebirth were a part of that, he would have nothing to do with it. He did not wish to feel the River's cold embrace again until it was ready to take him.
Sebastian studied Bryony carefully as she spoke, and he also thought of Angela. Did the soul become stronger with such a long existence, or did it become stagnant to a degree? He supposed being cursed with having the memory of every life lived was very much the same thing as having lived a long one. That, for the most part answered his question.

Ironically, despite the uncanny similarities that Sebastian knew lay in the past compared to what he had experienced now, he was not a very strong believer in fate. He could not help but feel its pull, though, as he listened to Bryony speak. He realized, as he laced up his tunic, that he wanted to hear the colorful and storied past of just about every Rosenite name he would hear. The unseen threads that connected people and places were not accidents, nor imaginary. He could not help but feel that crossing paths with Kalyani was for good reason. He just didn't know what the reason was yet, other than the intense sensation of synchronicity; that, yes, this was exactly where he was supposed to be at this exact time.

The library only intensified these feelings.

Sebastian smiled and waved back to Sapphire as they entered. He remembered a time being that reserved, nose constantly stuck in a book. The only thing that had really changed was his freedom of expression. He jumped a bit as his hand went down, and he unconsciously reached it towards Bryony's hand. He had been so distracted in listening and following that he had not realized that they now stood upon nothingness…solid nothingness. With fish beneath. Lowering to his hands and knees, he looked at the colorful fish with a sort of child-like wonder. Having been at the Mage Academy for some time, he had a familiarity with enchantments. This had never really desensitized him to the miracles that were possible; in fact, he thought that people took a lot of "mundane" things for granted. Airship travel, for instance.

"This is amazing," Sebastian mused ecstatically as he arose and ran his hand over the pristine bindings of several titles. "I could spend weeks in here. Many of these books I know, but there are many more that I don't, or have only heard of."
His autumn gaze traveled and lingered on each floating floating shelf as he sauntered about, but he turned on his heel to face Bryony before he was done browsing. "I would very much like to sit here for a time…but first, are there any good open-air places off the temple? My body feels right stiff, and could use some training. There is a regimen that I always stick to."

Author: Bryony, Posted: Wed Jun 1, 2016 2:19 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Bryony looked puzzled for a moment. “Oh that asshole? He was not Zanar but more of a trouble maker. Zanar was the one before him. No one really knew what happened to him but Kalyani had lost everything in a fire and someone killed her horse. I had given her that horse as a present so call me a bit miffed. Silver steeds are rare to come by in pristine colors. If she is thinking about him I know where she went.” 

She smiled a bit as they walked. “I was born within the first century of Rosenites existing. I’m very old but I tend not to act my age. Being around all the young oracles and teaching them is what I do best. Kalyani must have not told you much about me. While Willow is the Matron Mother the first of the Rosenites… I suppose that would make me the Matron Oracle. I was the first one to be born and die to ascend with the spirits. 

Angela smiled when they began to speak. “Think nothing of it. You saved Kalyani and that makes Bryony and I at least a little more even. I tend to help all who come through my gates but you helped someone that is like family. Family is important.” Thinking about his coat she nodded. “We have it and one of my clergy members will give it to you.”  Reaching over the goddess’s patted his head. “Carry on, Bryony please show him the temple.”

Sighing a bit. Bryony looked rather annoyed. “I hate being ordered around by you. I was going to do it anyways.” Angela looked amused but Bryony took Sebastian’s arm in hers. When they got out of the courtyard there was a look on the oracle’s face. “Well, you remember meeting the girl last night? She is  normally with Angela. That is Iva and the man’s daughter who she was picking for. Angela had originally made a deal to expand his life as  he wished to have a baby. Angela got pregnant and the two of them gradually over the course of her pregnancy came to care for each other. When Iva was born the deal, he reminded her, had to be sealed. She let his illness consume him after he named the girl Iva or Life. Angela was never the same after that. It took her a while to regain herself and take care of the little girl. Iva is too much like her mother even if Angela refuses to admit she was ever a trouble maker. I remember the goddess being born and her trying to neglect her lessons early on, just like Iva does now.”

After he got dressed they moved on.

Thinking for a moment she laughed. “Kalyani told Angela that you would be able to see the library. Let’s start there.” She pulled him along until she opened a mahogany door. The room opened up to a glistening cave. Bookshelves levitated over water and tiny jeweled fish swam in the water. “Welcome to the library.” Bryony stepped onto the invisible floor and smiled over at a teenager in the corner with purple hair. “That is Angela’s daughter Sapphire.” The girl shyly looked up over the book she was reading with a wave.

“The library here has many books that Angela hunted for. We can take our time here, if you wish.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Wed Jun 1, 2016 9:23 AM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

"When we first met, Kalyani mentioned something about finding a lost lover," Sebastian offered. "That was why she went about acquiring the wagon from the hag. I remember though…she seemed more than surprised at what she witnessed in the first trial up to the temple. It brought up the memory of someone forgotten…Zanar, I believe she said, if that means anything to you. Might start there."

Sebastian kept what he had seen in the trial to himself. The mere concept of having seen anything at all boggled his mind. He rarely, if ever let anyone in close enough to become intimate. His relationships had always been few and far between. Guilt would have hung over his conscience, if it weren't for the knowledge that the child he saw was yet to be. Bryony spoke of spirits telling her things about him though, and he wondered just how many things that may be. She had not tried to peer into his thoughts. He would have felt it.

"Centuries…? Hm."
He found himself giving Bryony second and third looks as they walked, both over mention of her age, and the injuries that she had suffered at one time.

Sebastian tilted his head and observed with a grin as he watched Bryony and Angela interact. He was yet an outsider, but he felt welcomed not into a temple of a divine, but in the house of, quite possibly, the largest family in Revaliir. He bowed his head to Angela.
"I cannot thank you enough. I only regret I could not see the trials and sleep in such an extravagant bed for longer, in a healthier state. I should hope you still have my jacket about, at least? I've…a bit of an attachment to it. It was made for me by someone that was very close to me. Hematite buttons and all. Judging by what I've seen in the room I awoke in alone, I need not explain the esoteric meanings of stones to you. I can mend it myself."

He looked to Bryony, then back to Angela. "I would love to have a look around. Though…I do have to be going sooner rather than later. There are several books amongst my things that I cannot delay in getting to come clients of mine."


As he walked with Bryony back through the temple, he could not help but ask, "Whose grave is Angela cutting flowers for?"
Before she could speak, one of the clergy ran up to Sebastian, carrying his backpack, and a fresh set of clothes that were an exact match to what he had been wearing. He did not think he would ever cease to be impressed with this place.
He nodded to Bryony to assure her it was quite alright to follow as he was led into a nearby room. He stepped behind an ornate mahogany dressing wall, and threw the sheet over the side of it.

Author: Bryony, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 6:27 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Stopping her rage for the moment she took a deep breath. “I know who you are. The spirits tell me a great number of things about you, but yes I am Bryony.” She settled her glaive down and the teeth and rocks that hung off it made a clatter. The staff itself had many carvings on it. “Hags tend to know a lot more than just toxin, it is a good thing you dealt with her quickly.”


She took his hand and chuckled at the sheet now. “Angela can afford to get new sheets trust me.” That was the first thing she responded to but another sigh left her lips. “Angela told me Kalyani was distressed about something when she left. Probably not over me being here but still, I worry about her. To be honest if they were too much of a mess they probably got you new clothes. The clergy here are very helpful in that manner. No amount of sacrifice is ever too great for them. I just got done talking to Angela so she should still be around.”


She began to walk with him and chuckled. “Kalyani has always been rather reckless. It makes being a mother to her harder than you can ever imagine. I thank you for dealing with the hag, that was very brave. I’ve dealt with many in my centuries of life and none were ever pleasant.” Bryony’s eyes looked him over well and good. “Angela did a good job patching you up. When I went against the sand wurms of the desert I had just about lost a limb, you can’t even tell now. All thanks to Angela that is.”


Finding Angela wasn’t that hard. They made their way to one of her many gardens. There she stood snipping flowers. “Going to his grave today?” Bryony stabbed her glaive into the ground.



“Always, glad to see you’re done being a bitch. You absolutely terrify me when you go off like that.” The women laughed and Angela smiled up to Sebastian. “It is good to see that you are well. I checked up on you several times during your sleep. Kalyani has departed for now but Bryony can probably escort you around if she has the time. As for your clothes, I’ve sent for new ones they should be coming any moment now.” She waved a pair of gardening shears around.

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 5:54 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

The sudden crash brought Sebastian to a halt. He looked on in horror as an armed, and extremely ired woman strode around the corner and down the hallway in his direction. His Autumn gaze met her watery blue one. Standing awkwardly in silence a moment to gather his bearings, a spark of recognition came to mind when the woman mentioned her daughter. He remembered what Kalyani had told him on their journey up to the temple.

"You are…Bryony, correct?" he asked, the stirrings of a smile playing on his features. "Your daughter's just lucky we were headed in the same direction at the time is all. That hag knows how to brew a toxin with a wee bit of a punch, let me tell you. I'm Sebastian, by the way."
Sebastian closed the gap between them and extended his hand, while holding the sheet in place with his other hand. There was still some modesty to his demeanor, but he mostly did not pay much mind to the state he was in. Not when he knew he was in good company.
"Kalyani left, then? Is Angela still about? I was hoping to thank her. I was nearly a goner. Getting my clothes back would be good as well. If the clergy went about tending to them, that's really too much. I'm quite capable of mending and washing my things. Plus, these sheets feel a touch too fancy to have wrapped about my bare person. Would you mind taking me to her?"


Bryony was clearly very protective of her daughter. He admired that. He only hoped he could ease her mind a little, so she would not be too hard on her when they did inevitably meet again. Besides, it would take his mind off of the disturbing visions and feelings he had experienced in his brush with death. What he had felt under that terrible, dying sun…on that barren, twisted earth…it felt worse than dying. Sebastian shivered at the thought, and started walking in the direction he had seen her come from.

"While it's true I would have never wound up in this mess if it weren't for Kalyani, I would also be dead if not for her. I was a bit careless in being overly cautious with the hag. I should have been more direct. She was dealt with, though, and that's what matters. It needed to be done, whether she had been after your daughter or not. Many lives were lost to that dagger, I'd wager."

Author: Bryony, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 5:01 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Angela held up her hands towards a rather distraught Rosenite. “I’ll find her! I know you are hiding her in here! I may not be able to see that girl’s future but I can see her ass getting paddled into next week!” Bryony was furious as she thought about her adopted daughter’s reckless move. The goddess was chuckling now as the oracle grabbed her glaive and stormed out of the room.


“Kalyani!” She kicked the first set of doors in to find two clergy members having sex. “Oh get a room.” She was too angry to realize she was the one who burst into their room. The Rosenite had heavily tanned skin and long raven hair. A robe was tied around her but it only had one sleeve on it. It looped under her other arm to her hip where it tied. Her breasts were bandaged so they weren’t slipping out of it. It was cream with gold detail on the ends.



It was her strange blue eyes that first landed on Sebastian. “What the hell’s wrong with you? Put some damn clothes on,” she was about to take the staff end of the glaive and jab it at his toes. “Wait fucking minute! You are the little bastard that helped Kalyani aren’t you?” She let out a groan and mumbled under her breath. “Thank you for helping my idiot daughter. Guess Angela really did let her get out of here then if you are all alone.”

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 4:06 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Sebastian would have preferred a visit to this place under less dire circumstances. Now, though, he could not complain. He slept deeply, and blessedly without dreams. It was the best slumber he'd had in…well…ever, actually. Where normally he would avoid resting for too long, here, he found he never wanted to wake up.

The room slowly came into focus as he opened his eyes. What he noticed immediately was his lack of clothing. He had probably been stripped by the clergy. His clothes were filthy, and his shirt and overcoat had the puncture tear in them that needed mending. He'd hoped his effects would be sitting nearby somewhere, but they weren't. His face contorted as he yawned and stretched. There was a sour pallor to his pallet that made him a little queasy. The large bedside table was covered with bottles of all colors, shapes and sizes, containing what, he knew not. Best leave it all alone.

Sebastian rose from the bed, and strode towards the curious spring on the other side of the room. He reached his hand into it, and drank from his palm, sloshing the water about in his mouth before swallowing. He also splashed his face a few times, running his fingers through his beard and perpetually mess hair. He felt oddly clean, considering how long he'd gone without bathing. Glancing about the empty room, he lifted his arm and smelled himself. Was that…roses? Chuckling a bit, he sauntered back over to the bed, and pulled one of the silken sheets off it. He stopped short when he saw only unbroken flesh where the dagger wound should have been on his shoulder. He touched at it thoughtfully.

Wrapping himself in the sheet, and creating a makeshift kilt for his lower half, Sebastian ducked his head out the door into the hallway cautiously. "Kalyani?" he called out, his voice echoing. "Angela…?"
The floor chilled the bottoms of his bare feet as he wandered out into the temple.

Author: Angela Rose, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 3:37 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Angela was no fool not to think of everything beforehand when Sebastian entered her realm. Moving calmly as the man spoke she was ready to catch him in her arms. Kalyani reached only to realize Angela had been planning for this to happen. “He’s alright Kalyani but you should probably hide with us. Bryony is visiting and she said something about a hag and killing you first.” There was a nervous gulp from the halfling as the goddess pulled Sebastian into her arms like a child. “This way,” she sang it as they moved into her bedroom.


It was after all the safest place for Kalyani to be until they were able to deal with the wrath of the oracle. Angela’s room wasn’t much of a room at all. There was a dampness to it as a waterfall roared in the back. The water gave off steam as if it were a hot spring. In the middle of the room was a large four post bed decorated in the finest silks and pillows. With a heave she tossed him on the bed and it made Kalyani yell at her.


“Oh hush, what else could go wrong with him? It won’t kill him and in the position he is in, he can’t feel it either.” There was a grave look on her face as she went over to the opposite end of the room. It was lined with potions, wines, her floating golden cornucopia, and all other sorts of trinkets. She grabbed a few bottled and batch of herbs before blending it. “His mind is certainly taking a toll from the fight. I can tell just by looking at him but not only that he’s physically exhausted. This should help him sleep easily and make his mind strong.”


Making a rather bitter drink she came over to him and lifted him up just like how Kalyani had. “Okay, you won’t like this.” She let him drink the whole thing and even helped him swallow. After she got done with that she undid his bandaged wound. “You used our blood to cure the toxin?” Kalyani nodded and Angela sighed. “Would prefer if you didn’t do that since it makes a mess but you did good with what you had.”


Taking a rag soaked in water from her hot spring she washed his shoulder free of Kalyani’s blood before using her magic to heal the wound further. “Alright, it is my advice that he rests here and stays here for a bit… You, however, should probably get out of here before Bryony finds you and strangles you. I don’t want to know what you did or didn’t do but shoo.” She moved her hands in a good-bye motion and laughed.


Kalyani and herself left to let him sleep. Angela sent Kalyani back to the over world before she was slaughtered for being trouble. Angela rested in her throne room and periodically checked in on him.

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Tue May 31, 2016 1:01 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Sebastian stared after the little girl as she followed Kalyani's figurative child into the surrounding void. She turned to him, and waved shyly before vanishing completely. He waved back, slowly, in a stupor that extended beyond the poison coursing through his veins.

In a very real sense, Sebastian had been running all his life…Traveling the world, worrying about other people's problems. There were times, however, when he had been forced to confront a past and a nature he did not fully understand - like now, for instance. Something about this place gave him the feeling that more than just his wound and the poison could be healed. He could not chalk it up entirely to his intuition, for he was in a place of divinity. He could feel the influence of the Goddess that dwelt here, even this far from the actual temple.

This raised the question in his mind - what was ascension, really? As Kalyani spoke briefly of Angela's history - her family's history, he pondered over this question. Was it a state of consciousness, or were outside forces at work? As far he could tell, it boiled down to possession of a will so powerful, that one's dreams and essence became reality. Truly a thing to be feared and admired, yes; but he knew that even deities had their limits. The World Tree that he had gleaned knowledge of from dreams and reading was the only sentient physical being that had the closest thing to omnipotence that he could think of. Its consciousness was the planet's consciousness.


Secular reasoning did little to quell Sebastian's sense of awe as they traversed the Goddess' trials.
His eyes lingered on the expanse of colors before them in the cavern before he was stirred to movement. For now, he felt he could make the entire trip. He'd asked Kalyani if it was safe to drink of the fountain here, as it was a trial, after all. He drank freely, and had felt somewhat refreshed until they had reached the salt flats. He shared her sentiment about the place, stumbling several times from her support, face-first to the ground. Nonetheless, he persevered.

The wheat fields, more than any wonder he could have witnessed, gave Sebastian the most pause. Since his mind was hazy, he had to grip Kalyani's hand to be sure he had not fallen in the previous trial and had not gotten back up. Tears almost came to his eyes, regardless. Several of the workers tending the fields gave him an odd sidelong glance here or there, but mostly kept to their duties. He was not staring at them. Only at the rolling fields of grain. "Reminds me of home, a long time ago," he commented, somewhat breathlessly. The physical exertion was beginning to take its toll. It got worse after the next arch.

The air was thick and humid. Kalyani's voice kept him moving. This was turning out to be more of an emotional journey than he had imagined. "I'm sorry," he told her, after hearing of her parents. It was becoming more difficult to speak. His throat felt tight. "I know what that's like…I'm glad there was someone there for you. Did…a good job bringing you up, I'd say."
He dropped to his knees. Forcing the words out, and hearing the falls and the singing had caused him to wretch violently. He had nothing in his stomach to expel, so he only dry heaved.

The remainder of the trek seemed like a blur. He remembered nodding to a clergy member when he was addressed, but he did not remember what they had said. He remembered seeing fireflies a second time. Had he collapsed at the very start of the trials? Were they now back at the beginning? Maybe he had dreamt it all up.

Angela, in all her glory, stood before him, the very picture of sublime. No…two Angelas. Three Angelas. The tenement hall spun, his vision fading. He heard her voice, introducing herself, but could not form any words. He knelt before her. He tried to raise his arm, but it would not budge.

"Se…Seb…" he managed to choke out, before sinking onto the floor, darkness taking him.

Author: Kalyani, Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 3:51 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Kalyani helped him move the best she could. There was a part of her that had seen too much death and wanted to help him above all else. She looked down to the child who was now escorting Sebastian and winced a bit when he asked her. "In the words of Angela, this is what could be not what is. To have these dreams come true we must leave and let it happen. Though my first time here Angela's daughter was actually here and was being a little ass." Kalyani chuckled.

"Iva is five and tends to play here. She doesn't see children because her fate string is too young but she is the youngest of all the goddess's children so she doesn't have many playmates her age. I think she wants to play with the children here but doesn't yet understand everything about this place."

Kalyani moved up the stairs and finally they reached the archway to the next trial. She turned to the little boy. "Who are you?" The look he had. The smell he had. She knew that smell and look. "Your father I mean." She knelt down and pushed his hair back. He just gave her smile and giggled towards her as he embraced her. She was scared but eventually hugged him back.

"You'll find out someday."

It was impossible. She let the child go and gave him a smile. "Then I will see you one day." She stroked his cheek and let him go into the abyss. It broke her heart. "I've never seen him before. Always a blonde girl… Fate strings change a lot but…" She took a moment to breath before taking him into the other area away from the children. "I know his scent. His father is Zanar… and he died a long time ago, at least to me." Or did he?

They were in the caverns now. Giant crystals sprawled from one end of the walls to the other. "Let me help you. This will be faster if we can get through this without hurting you too much." She helped him through the crystals until they reached the end of the cave. The saltflats were after that and she couldn't tell what was up or down. The water was like a mirror and the only reason she could tell she wasn't standing on the sky w s the ripples at her feet. "This place makes me dizzy."

They moved quickly and finally she found the sprawling wheat fields. Members of the clergy were out cutting it down and gathering it. "We're halfway now." She took a deep breath before turning to him and checking his wound. "The next part is being rebirthed or at least the senses of it." 

She helped him up the mossy stairs after they got through the endless fields. "She out does herself with this place… Angela always has. I am older than she is, I remember her birth being celebrated and I asked Bryony, my adopted mother, why she was so special. Bryony told me that each child was special but Angela's birth was predicted to be extra special. She graduated the top of her class from the healing academy at sixteen and ascended when she was eighteen. The oracles have always been right like that."

The next arch came and there was dead silence. She held onto him tightly now. The air was hot and sticky like the tropical forest. As they walked the dead silence began to leave and slowly the bird began to chirp and the area around them became lighter. Finally the voices of their mothers filled the air as they sang their sickly sweet lullaby. "I always wanted to hear her voice… When I first heard it I cried. My mother died during childbirth, she was an elf, and my father was a Rosenite. It was still on the edge of taboo at the time but it was more accepted. My father died in war not long after that and Bryony took me in."

She didn't want Sebastian to get lost in the magic of this whole place. "Alright… We're here after this arch." She took him through and they were standing on the long bridge. The warm mahogany woodwork always made her smile. It was the dead of night now and the bridge was lit up the same cluster of fireflies. The rushing water of gorge below filled the air. In the distance the great tree stood. Its branches reached high into the dark clouds of the midnight sky.

Getting closer the temple itself could be seen as it was one with the tree. The windows held a warm inviting light. "This whole place is artwork, isn't it?" She turned and gave him a smile as  two clergy members opened the tall doors for them.

"Lady Angela is waiting for you in the throne room," the younger one said to Sebastian. 

"It's good to know she's so informed about what's going on."

"Perks of seeing everything in this place, I suppose," the girl answered Kalyani as they got led deep into the tree temple. Going to a set of large stained glass doors the clergy opened them and let the two inside. The red haired goddess sat in her thrown of twisted wood and flowers reading a book to a young red head. 

"Iva, it's time for bed. Remember, I told you when Kalyani got here with her friend you needed to go for the night," the goddess's words were calm as she kissed the top of the child's head.

"Can't I stay and watch?" Iva's curious little voice sprang up as Angela slid her onto the ground.

"Absolutely not," Angela tapped her on the nose before motioning the clergy to help put Iva to bed. The child groaned and left unwillingly. "I am sorry that you had to endure my trials. I'm sure that Kalyani has told you that I am Angela."

Author: Sebastian Black, Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 2:21 PM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

The half-sleep that enveloped Sebastian was not wrought with nightmares; at least, not the sort that had come when the poison almost accomplished its intended purpose. He did not return to the Betwixt, that river between life and death, nor the strange, twisted countryside that lay somewhere Beyond. Not a land of dying sun and dead leaves did he return to, but one of slain innocence. His past that his spirit remembered, but his flesh did not.

At a point, it all become so jumbled. So…convoluted, that he was not sure what he was seeing any more.

There were grain fields. Paint brushes, making sensuous shapes upon a canvas by his hand. He had never taken up visual art, though. Not that he remembered.
He also did not remember how he learned to fight. He only knew that he could - and quite well, at that.

Fire. There had always been fire. No matter which life he was looking at.

Kalyani was always there to comfort him and keep the toxin at bay whenever he had felt himself slipping too deeply. The gentle rocking of the wagon, and the rhythmic sound of Sehr's hoofs on the road outside had begun to lull him into a blessedly dreamless slumber. The time had passed like a blur, for no sooner had he shut his eyes, they had reached their destination.

Walking was…difficult, but he could manage. He leaned on Kalyani for support, only at first. Sebastian's head pounded in time with his heartbeat, and his whole body felt ablaze. Every muscle proved difficult to control, but with enough willpower, he found he could stagger down the darkened path without aid. He felt small fingers lace into his. He was about to protest, for Kalyani had done enough for him. He could make this trek to the temple without burdening her. Only, he realized, it was too small to be her hand.

Silvery eyes looked up into his when he looked down. The eyes of a young girl, with dark hair, wearing a white sun dress. Her eyes reminded him much of the vampire's that haunted his nightmares at times. They looked more like the eyes of a Rosenite, but not what he had read about or seen before. The unnatural shade they were normally did not take up the entire iris. She did not speak, but only squeezed his hand comfortingly, guiding him along.

Sebastian's gaze looked to the statue before them in wonder, through the multitude of lightning bugs overhead.
"You have been here before?" he asked Kalyani. "How did you ever find it in yourself to leave?"

Author: Kalyani, Posted: Mon May 30, 2016 11:18 AM, Post Subject: The Road to Dealing[R/P]

Kalyani held him close and smiled. "I won't let anyone in, just rest." It wasn't even a peaceful rest that the man went through but she held him there and cared for him. It reminded her of her times with Zanar when he was rather reckless. The time spent with the swordsman had been a lot more enjoyable then with Sirian. Maybe it was because the man had a human heart to him. They would have fun even doing the wash, pushing each other other the water and laughing the day away.

Her smile went away as she remembered the fire and how he was just suddenly gone. She had lost her last gypsy wagon that way… and who ever had attacked put an arrow through her beloved white horse. That wasn't what hit her hard. In the struggle to get out of the burning wagon she couldn't find Zanar. She got outside and she had screamed for him. She found herself alone again, just like always, and her heart was heavy. She was distraught for a long time after that and found comfort in someone like Sirian needing her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep remorseful breath. Where was Sirian? Where was Zanar? She lightly gripped Sebastian closer to her. His word woke her up out of the depths of her thoughts. "We can go see Angela immediately but there's no guarantee that the goddess will let us straight to her temple. If she is busy, we will have to undergo the trials."

She put him down in the bed and covered him up. "Just try to rest more. I have to get us to an archway but before that find someone to watch my Sehr and wagon." She stroked back his hair and smiled. "We'll get you help." Leaving his side she went down and got out onto the seat pulling the reigns on Sehr.

"To friends Sehr," the words were spoken in Arriese. It took a bit of time to reach an outpost of Rosenites but she talked with them and before long she was up in the cottage getting him out of bed and dressed. "Take it easy. Angela's temple is a long walk." She supported his weight and took him out of the wagon to the rose covered arch in front of them. It seemed to go no where but she knew otherwise.

"Alright…" She had never gone through the trials before and knew Angela would make him do it, and in turn she had to as well. Taking the step through the empty archway they were transported into the deep abyss. The only light was the jade steps below them and the clusters of fireflies about in the darkness.

Her eyes turned up to the statue of Angela. "See the Mother? That is Angela. Her arms always welcoming." That was when the children's laughter became to happen. "This is the first trial. The visions of the future come here… Your children and Mine as well." It was hard to think about as the vision of a little boy ran down the stairs towards her. He had a toy sword and the darkest hair. Kalyani closed her eyes, the kid looked like Zanar even. "There's no way. He's not alive."