Drae laughed as Iva jumped on him and wrapped her arms tightly about his neck. He was surprised enough that he didn't exactly know how to respond, but gently put his hands on the small girl's back and patted her gently. He wasn't sure how to handle all the affection that this little girl was so ready to give as she rubbed her nose to his and squeezed him again, nearly deafening him with her squeals about how he was the best. He was quite grateful when Sapphire came over and freed him from her grasp, and mouthed a silent word of gratitude to her as she put Iva back in her chair and encouraged her to eat before filling Drae's plate with food. He payed attention to what he had been nibbling on throughout the morning's conversation, but apparently all it had been was a small slice of toast. 

"Oh, thank you, Sapphire," Drae said as he dug into the eggs, sausage and fresh fruit. "I would definitely enjoy seeing more of this place. It might help me to learn my way around. I don't want to wander off to places I shouldn't," he chuckled. He looked at Iva. "So I am going to trust you not to get me lost, Little Princess," he told her, leaning in to tap her nose. 

He laughed at Iva's excitement as she went on and on about what they would do, but continued on with his food. "It does sound like it will be fun," he told her with a grin as Sapphire scolded her little sister and told her to eat slowly. 

The next question caught him off guard. "You know, I have never thought about it," he answered honestly. He thought about it, and a smile creased his lips. "I do think I rather like Buttercups, Tigerlilies, and Roses," he chuckled. "The roses in particular. They have a bit of attitude about them that kind of reminds me of both me and your mother," he told Iva.

Sapphire smiled towards Drae as she set the littlest daughter down. Iva was super excited about everything however her sisters we making sure that she ate. After all she was so small she needed all the food she could get to power the energy she required for her day to day adventures. "I promise not to get you lost." It was innocence of words really as this place would never really let Iva get lost. She wiggled her nose as he tapped it and giggled more.

After choking down some food and getting scolded Iva began to pace herself. "It will be tons and tons of fun!" Her brown eyes were filled with curiosity as Drae took a moment to answers. "Mama's roses are grumpy. They are always bickering." She made a face and Sapphire laughed.

"That is because someone decided to try to run through them when they were tall on their trellis." 

"I didn't know they were there! I was running from friends in the garden! I didn't want to be it!"

"It only got thorns into your skin and everything else. Oh I remembered how much you cried." Sapphire teased her sister who stuck out her tongue in response.

"Anyways I am glad you like all the flowers. I'll show you everything in the temple's realm!" After breakfast she hopped off her chair and grabbed Winston. "Come on Drae!" She took his hand and pulled a bit. "I want to show you a nice place here in the temple first." She took him out onto a long covered bridge that didn't appear to be there from the outside. 

The stained glass flooded beautiful colors in. It lead out into an open courtyard and in the center was a beautiful carved tombstone. "I want you to meet my daddy." She ran over and picked some of the wildflowers before bringing them over and replacing the ones in the vase she had obviously put there before. "We talk a lot. He doesn't answer but he is a good listener. I told him all about Winston and you last night before bed."

She squeezed Winston as she watched the stone contently. "I come here to be alone when mama isn't home when I get scared. I know daddy is watching and would protect me if he could. Mama says he would do that for me. That's what daddys do."

Drae had to rush and eat his breakfast in order to be done when Iva jumped out of her chair, snatched up Winston and grabbed his hand to take him on a tour of the Temple Realm. He wondered what exactly this "Nice place" would have had to have been. After all, there was so much here that could have been considered a nice place. 

He followed after her, with a smile on his face as they walked out onto a long covered bridge. "I don't know how I didn't notice this from the garden," he mused out loud as the colors from the stained glass adorned their clothes and skin as they passed each intricately designed pane, creating a mosaic of colored light that came in beneath the peaked roof above their heads. He looked ahead past Iva to where the bridge ended, and saw the opening into a courtyard of some kind with a large stone in the center. He didn't hurry her, but followed behind her a pace or two as they reemerged into the sunlight. 

The stone in the center, he realized upon coming closer, was a tombstone, and Iva announced to him that she wanted him to meet her Daddy. Drae suddenly felt as though he didn't belong there in the courtyard, and hesitated coming any closer as Iva scooped up fresh wild flowers and replenished the vase that had been there. She told him how she talked with him all the time, and how she had told her deceased father about him and the gift he had brought. 

Drae ran a hand nervously through his hair, but didn't interrupt Iva as she continued talking. He wasn't sure what he could say to her. He and his father had never met. He sighed. 

"That's what fathers are supposed to do at least. I'm sure your father would definitely protect you," he agreed with her, not feeling he could stomach telling her anything otherwise, despite what he felt about his own sire, and almost felt a twinge of jealousy at her feelings. He stiffled it though, and buried deep in his psyche again where he was certain it would never again be able to resurface. He wanted nothing to do with the man who had brought him into the world, much less to even know who he was. Drae might not be able to keep himself from killing the man. Surely by now he was dead though.

Drae came over and sat down beside Iva. "What do you think he would say to you if he could speak back?" he asked her curiously. 

Iva gave him a gentle smile as she hop scotched her way through the tunnel. "Magic silly." She chuckled a bit as they continued.  She wasn't blind to his hesitation like most kids were. Her attention was on Drae after all. Iva gave him a smile and nodded. "That's why he named me Iva."

Iva was life. Life was abundant in Iva even if Angela had no control over that. The child was always on adventures and so full of energy. She could make the darkest heart sing a song back to her. Leaning her head onto Drae's shoulder Iva stared at the tombstone and smiled. "Not to be such a mud golem to my big sisters. To respect mama and listen to her more when she talks. Not to run away from my lessons even when they are boring." She giggled a bit. "Mama said he was that type of man. I ask about him sometimes for night stories."

She frowned and got sad, "He was really sick though so he couldn't be with me right now. That's okay though because I wouldn't want him to be in anymore pain. He loved me enough to want to stay with mama until I was born. I think that is enough to say he loves me. Sometimes I get scared at night when I see things… I see things scaling the walls that no one else can see." 

She turned her face away from Drae. "Things that put the boogeyman on the good side of things. It's not things that go bump in the night that scare me. It's the quiet things that worry me more. Mama says they are visions of what's to come or maybe of something that happened in the past. There aren't just bad things but good things too. I seen my daddy's face… As he held me. I heard his voice."

Her  brown eyes teared up and she immediately wiped her eyes and got up. "Come on, new place now!" She held out her hand for him.

Drae looked over as Iva rested her head on his shoulder as they both sat in front of the tombstone. He grinned and lightly tussled her red curls as she admitted to him what she thought her deceased father would tell her and chuckled. 

"You probably aren't wrong. Most fathers would say such things to their rambunctious and energetic children. He sounds like he was a good man, the kind of man that most other men wish to aspire to," he mused softly to her. Her face turned sad, and he hated it. She wasn't supposed to be sad. He shouldn't have hated it, she wasn't his child; hell, he barely new the little girl. But it was suddenly very important to him that she not be sad, ever. He listened without saying anything as she told him about her father, and how sometimes she got scared at night by things unseen by others, some scary some not, and how in these dreams she had seen her father's face and heard his voice. 

A visionary child… an oracle… diviner…fascinating… darling child…

The voice in his head distracted Drae momentarily with the whispers before quite quickly Iva was up again offering him her hand. He noticed the tears in her eyes and how she had bravely brushed them away again. It was impressive to see such a young child have such control over her emotions. 

Drae got up to his feet, and despite some misgivings, took Iva's hand and allowed her to lead on. He squeezed it gently as a reassurance to her.

"So, where are you going to take me now?" he asked her curiously. 

Iva smirked up at Drae as he tussled her red curls. Nodding softly she snuggled herself into the man and looked at the tomb stone. "I think if he wasn't a good man that Momma wouldn't have buried him here." There was a reassurance in her words. "Momma doesn't let just anyone make this place home at. Those who live here are expected a certain level of respect. Like they can't run around naked because of my sisters and me."

Before he knew it Iva was up and bouncing around as she was too scared to stay still in this place. She showed Drae her special place and now she was ready to show him the rest of the realm. She held his hand tightly and gave him a smile. "We're going to go out into the trials now. The first one we'll get to is called the Mother's footpath."

She lead him through the temple and got back to the bridge infront of the large temple. "This way." She skipped across the bridge able to equal her skip to his normal walking speed. A giggle left her lips as she let go and hopped up onto the bridge's side. "ECHO." she listened and it echoed back at her. She laughed hard as she listened to the falling water.

"This way." she ran back to Drae and grabbed his arm almost yanking it out she bet. "It's going to be backwards from how it normally is." She giggled as she took him through the large rose covered arch. They were in a pitch black area now. She dragged him straight forward as the light began to pour in. They were in a rain forest. The songs of her mother poured out as she stopped.

"Momma says this represents your birth into this world. You go from the darkness of the womb to the light of the world." Pulling him once more they went through arches of flowers and trees until they came out to the moss covered stairs with water pouring down.

From there they could see the wheat fields that went on forever. There were windmills. In the fields there were various clergy members gathering the wheat and other vegetables that grew there. "This is the Grand Farm stead."

"I think you are right. She wouldn't let just anyone stay here, let alone bury just anyone here," Drae agreed with Iva. "And I am sure glad that is a rule. I do think I would be scarred for life it that were the case," he joked with her.

She was up and bounding off again, like she was incapable of remaining still for too long. He chuckled and followed after her, lightly fiddling with the charms of the necklace she had made for him, before she was grabbing his hand and holding it quite tightly. 

"Lead on my wonderful little guide," Drae insisted as Iva told them that they would now be heading out to walk the trails that wound around the realm. He admired the stained glass bridge yet again as they passed over it, and practically ran with her through the temple and out to the large open bridge that spanned across the stream that lead right up to the main walk of the shrine. He walked in pace with her skip as they both crossed to the center of the bridge, where she climbed up onto the railing and shouted out over the water. The sound of her voice reverberated tenfold across the water, reporting back to their ears time and time again, bringing a smile to the young girl's face and a laugh that was echoed back to her just as loudly. 

Drae smiled, enjoying the feel of nature all around them as Iva jumped off the railing and ran back to take his hand again, and yanked him forward. He chuckled at her exuberance, though he did slightly rub his shoulder. She had yanked it quite hard. She announced that they were going to technically be going backwards from how the trail was normally supposed to be. 

"Don't worry. I got to experience it the right way when your mother first brought me here," he assured her as they stepped through the great rose covered archway and were engulfed in utter darkness. He let her continue to lead on, never once pulling his hand away in the dark, and soon they reentered the light on the other side and were met by the songs of Earth and the lush green, thriving rain forest on the other side. The humidity immediately clung to Drae, and he rather felt like he had just gone swimming. 

Iva explained the metaphor in the path they had just taken, and Drae nodded in understanding. "I would imagine that it would feel very much like that," he told her. They walked a little more down the path that wound through the thick ropy trees and ivy, flowers of ever kind flashing their bright colors. Drae paused and snatched up a hibiscus flower before he tucked it lightly into Iva's hair behind her ear.

"It's just as lovely as you are," he told her as they came to the mossy stairs and water that streamed down them. They were at the edge of the rain forest, and from their vantage point, Drae thought he could see the entire expanse of the Grand Farmstead. It was more productive than any farm he was sure to have seen, and it proved that this realm was incredibly self-sufficient. 

"Wow. So this is where all the food that we eat comes from, huh?" Drae asked Iva. "What kind of things grow here?"

Iva found herself blushing towards Drae as he put the tropical flower in her bright hair. Giving him a cheesy grin she was sure glad she had someone to play with since her and her siblings had such a decent gap in ages.

Once they got to the Grand Farmstead she nodded up to him. “Yup! It’s not only just for us either. People from all over Revaliir can come here when they are hungry. The windmills make flour and other things for bread and I think there are even places to cook food around here. As for food there are all kinds! Mama keeps it all fresh here and she supports everyone because that’s what mommies do!”

She jumped down the stairs letting go of his hand. “There are tons of things to do! At least I think so! I like to run through the wheat because I’m short! There are mud pits, windmill blades to ride, and a whole bunch of other probably dangerous things that momma wouldn’t like me doing!” She grinned more as she took a piece of wheat and waved it around.

“Past here is the salt flats, the crystal cavern, and finally the stairs! The stairs are super spiffy because they show you all kinds of stuff like your future children or children you might have lost. It can be sad or awesome.”

Drae laughed at how Iva described Angela keeping the food fresh because that was 'what mothers do'. He doubted that this was why Angela did anything when it came to being a goddess, but he didn't dare contradict the child. He wasn't going to ruin her ideals about her mother with his own memoirs about his mother. 

He followed behind her as she let go of his hand, and he listened patiently to her babble on about all the fun things there were to do in this area. He chuckled at the thought of this tiny little girl riding on windmill blades and doing other things that Angela might not exactly approve of her doing. The mention of the mud puddles made him think about when he had first laid eyes on the adorable little imp.

"The stairs, huh? And I trust you haven't gone up there. That seems like a very grown up thing for a little one like yourself to see," Drae said as he came up behind Iva.