Shades of grey. That's all the world was. The water of Znanje Bay was a thick rolling gray, almost black that met on the horizon the line of barely different hued clouds that spanned as far as the eye could see. The glaciem wind bit bitterly into the unprotected skin, and if it had a color, it would have likely been an equal shade of the sky and sea. 

Eyes scanned the windswept peninsula that overlooked the bay city of Iria, face raw from windburn, Greyson Teranu made the now daily trek up the long abandoned road to what remained of the once well known house of Greer. Not that he expected to find anything different this day than he had in nearly the last two decades, but it was a trek he was well payed to take. 

He paused, panting. It was hard to walk the long overgrown path. Once it had been paved and well kept. Many had asked why the property hadn't been bought or the great house rebuilt. Grey had merely chuckled and shook his head. "The owner is… a vindictive man if you will. I think he leaves it there as a reminder to all who might cross him."

In all truth, Grey was certain that Adraejen left it there as a reminder to himself of the mistakes he had made and what it had cost him. Of what he feared it could cost him again. 

Still, it was a fair prospect, and it was a shame that the beautiful view of the city and the sea was to be left vacant possibly until Adraejen Porthyrius passed well into myth. The half-elf shook his head and turned his back to the bay and continued. Just a quick once around and he could once again reassure his friend and business partner that nothing had been disturbed. The place was still just as empty as it had been when he trapped that witch's spirit there. 

As he crested the hill, Greyson Teranu froze, and blinked several times. 

"Ah shit… The bastard is going to kill me…."

*****************************************

Three Days later…..


Drae sat stretched out on the floor of Myrra's nursery, contentedly stacking blocks with the infant, his long legs stretched out across the floor, his form bulky from the added muscle he had put on towards the end of Venti. 

"Da, da da." Myrra bubbled as she pushed over the tower for the perhaps hundredth time, and the excited shriek she set off made Drae smile as he once again pretended to be surprised it had fallen over. 

"What happened? Where did the tower go?" Drae asked Myrra. The youngest Rosenite babbled and crawled over to sit on Drae's back. 

Angela was sitting in a chair not far from Drae and Myrra as they played. This was their family time and it was well spent every time. Now they could have had all the children all at once but with all of them varying many ages and many personalities the parents had decided individual time was best. After all Poppy was a troublemaker. Rohan was probably married. Lark was off doing whatever it was Lark did in his quiet time. That left Myrra who needed her parents’ attention most of all.

“Did she siege that tower again?” Angela acted surprised as she got up from her chair and swooped in to grab Myrra as she got back on Drae’s back. “Did you win against the mighty Bear God?” She blew raspberries on Myrra’s belly as she danced around with the youngest girl. Unruly black curls and smiling grey eyes watched her mother. Sure any other time Myrra might be skeptical what Ang was up to. It was normally a bath or reading or something she didn’t want to do. When Daddy was there though it was all play. “You showed him didn’t you?” She put her forehead against Myrra’s and the two had a laugh.

Suddenly Ang’s eyes turned towards the door. “We have company Love.” It was a sorrowful note as she spoke to Drae. It wasn’t often that Greyson made his way here… She had only met him a handful of times. With Myrra on her hip as she freed one hand to wave her fingers. The partner of her husband fell through a portal.

“I don’t often think of things as a bad omen but somehow… Whenever I see your face something has gone wrong.” It was clear the goddess was playing as she smirked and Myrra laughed. Clearly, the girl was entertained by the man falling through the portal. “That’s not the proper way to say hello Myrra… How do we say hello?”

Myrra looked at him with her big grey eyes and moved a free hand that wasn’t clinging to her mother for dear life over towards him. Slowly she opened and closed it. “Hi…” Now she hid in her mother’s chest and Angela chuckled once more.

“We’ll get there… No need for you to be so shy.” Angela’s green eyes moved over to Greyson. “Should I leave so you two can talk or is it okay if I stay?” She didn’t want to intrude in on her husband’s business… Not that she couldn’t help it anyway. She heard everything that went on in these halls.

At the mention of his long time friend and business associate visiting the their realm, Drae perked up and pushed himself up onto his feet as the portal opened and Greyson Teranu dropped out of it. 

"Bloody landings," he muttered from the floor of the nursery, his greyish mousy brown hair falling across his face. "Always a pleasure dropping in, Lady Angela," Greyson grumbled as he pulled a block out from behind his back. "I do try to not bring you bad news… Hi little Myrra! You remember me? I'm Uncle Grey!"

"Don't call yourself that, Grey. I'm already having trouble keeping track of her as is, last thing I need is for her to imprint on you and cause more chaos."

"Geez, boss, take the dagger out of my heart why don't you?" 

"What the hell are you doing here, Grey?"

"Well, don't leave on my account, Angie. Um… I guess what I have to say might be something you need to know too… I mean, you know about Drae's history…"

"Get to the point, Grey."
"Right… uhhh.. you know the mansion you ask me to walk up and check on every day."
"Greer's ruin. Yeah. What of it?" 
"Well… it's back…"

Angela bounced Myrra happily in her arms. Her big grey eyes were watching Greyson with interest. Though sometimes her expressions were making Angela amused as she chuckled towards the child. They would twist in such ways as if saying ‘Who the hell is this guy?’ ‘Why is he crashing my play time?’ ‘Is it food time yet ma?’

Myrra was a little miracle but Angela nodded with Drae. “Seriously don’t let her… She has this terrible bad habit as it is of poofing. She’s learned to use her magic at such an incredibly young age… You would think she was the daughter of the God of Magic.” Angela whispered to Grey and chuckled towards Drae.

Myrra started to giggle while her father seemed agitated. “He…ll.” Myrra said proudly. She was learning words quickly and Angela immediately stopped.

“ADRAEJEN!” Angela’s mouth was gaped open as the youngest looked up with her toothy grin.

“HELL HELL HELL!” Myrra proudly yelled.

“Seriously Adraejen?” It would take them forever get this one out of her vocabulary. From the way, the little one was acting she knew she wasn’t supposed to repeat it.

“Only you could get away with calling me Angie. I don’t even let my sisters call me that,” Ang was working on Myrra who was suddenly sleepy. The goddess winked as she moved the toddler over to her bed and tucked her in. She froze while covering the child up before turned back to Drae and Grey.

“That’s impossible.” Though nothing in Revaliir was truly impossible. “It has to be magic Drae.” Angela’s eyes darted to Myrra who was slumbering now. “We need to go check it out. Grey this is short notice… but can you watch her? I mean REALLY watch her. She will outsmart you if she can.” Angela was worried about one thing and one thing alone and it spoke loudly when scared eyes looked up at Drae.

Cyprus.

She was worried about her sister being back. Even if that seemed impossible Angela was slightly trembling. "Let's just go take care of it." Though… It probably wouldn't be that easy.

"I can believe it. I mean, I've seen your other kids too," Grey commented. 

When Myrra started shrieking the relatively naughty word, Grey doubled over laughing while Drae looked to the heavens and silently asked "why?"
"Well… it could have been a worse first word," Drae muttered as he looked at Myrra and put his hands on his hips. "At least she didn't pick up Poppy's first word…"

"You don't have a brother though, Angela, and he for sure would," Grey chuckled. 
"You aren't family, Grey…"
"Again with the knife!" 

When the topic turned to the house on the hill, Grey scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, that's what I said at first. Then I remembered that this is Parvpora, and not just that, it's Iria. And my business partner and boss is the fu–reaking God of Magic."

"Nice save, Grey," Drae muttered as he rubbed his forehead trying to figure out exactly what Grey was telling him. When Angela asked Grey to watch Myrra, both her husband and the black market dealer looked horrified. 

"Uhh… you mean me? Watch the kid?"
"Are you out of your Judgement giving mind?" Drae asked. He knew better than to question though. "Right fine, Grey take Myrra. Keep your eyes on her. I swear don't blink. And don't drink on the job either. I'll turn you into a salamander if I find out you lost her at any moment. Or worse, Myrra will and we'll have to find and catch you before Poppy thinks you are a snack."

“Or… Rohan’s first bear word.” Angela sighed a bit and looked towards Myrra. It certainly could have been worse but still, Myrra was being more mischievous about it.

Once Ang got Myrra in bed she took a long hard sigh. “Very nice save… I think she was waiting for that one.”

Her eyes moved up to Drae’s and there were unwavering. “I think Grey will be fine. If she wakes up and she is hungry take her to the kitchen. Can’t find the kitchen find a clergy member they are everywhere. Can’t find a clergy member well one of the children is around. SOMEONE is here to help you I promise.”

Angela chuckled a bit even in the grim light that the mansion had reappeared. “Please don’t let Pops eat you. She’s already had one person in her mouth and it embarrassed her for weeks. I don’t know how long we will be gone but please take care of her.”

There was a few things for them to take care of… Like packing things just in case. There was no telling how long they would be taking care of this little problem. If they could even leave once they stepped into the domain of the memory magic.

After getting all the bags packed it was just a hop, skip, and a jump over to the hill where the manor was. “Well… Grey wasn’t kidding.” Angela mused with large green eyes. She was outfitted in more traveling gear, at least for her anyway. Pants, boots, off shoulder shirt, and a nice corset to tie it together. Her long red locks were left alone. She opened up the manor doors with ease once she checked the magic field. “Looks like we’ve been inside the domain of the manor since we got here. Opening the doors won’t hurt at all.”

She snapped her fingers and all of their luggage plopped right inside the manor. There were house attendants and everything standing right at the front door just staring at her. “What are you all looking at?” She made shooing motions with her hands.

“Looks like we can interact with them too… This might be a bit more difficult for you than for me.” Her eyes slid to Adraejen who hadn’t yet made his appearance into the house for all to see. They landed on his old love Eva and a younger version of him. “Safe to say… This is definitely memory magic.” Her hands went on her hips. “Very… powerful memory magic.”

Drae hesitated briefly in crossing the threshold. The last two times he had been to this location had not gone well for him. The first of the two he had been beaten to within an inch of his life and had his throat slashed, the second he had been stabbed multiple time by spectral blades. Regardless of the circumstances, it had ended with him bleeding profusely. He could feel the strange memory magic coming off the mansion and there was something about it that made his skin crawl. Making the decision on the fly, Drae waved his hand over his face, changing his appearance slightly.

"Being able to interact with them is… concerning. It isn't true memory magic if you can affect what happens," Drae said, coming to join Angela and looking significantly different. His face was covered in a long beard with greying streaks, and he appeared taller than normal, and a little more bulky than his typical glaciem self. He froze a moment upon seeing a much younger version of himself standing at the head of the grand staircase, deep in conversation with the lovely image that was once his love. 

"Do I always dress that flashy?" he asked Angela in a side-long whisper. "I look good."

“No, it wouldn’t be Love.” She hummed softly as she looked about the manor. “Looks much better when it isn’t in pieces though I would think you disagree with that sentiment.” Angela’s green eyes danced over his face and she tilted her head. There was a playfulness to her that she was using to hide how terrifying this could be.

The goddess reached up and stroked his beard. “You don’t always dress flashy my love… but you do look good.” She kissed his chin lightly before looking back to the younger version of Drae and Eva. Tilting her head for a moment she took a sigh. “We aren’t going to get anywhere if we don’t interrupt.” As much as it would pain her to do knowing how much Drae was probably attached to the image of Eva.

“Excuse me,” Angela’s voice boomed but in a rather pleasant way. Everyone including Eva just about jumped out of their skins when they finally noticed the pair. “I really don’t wish to be a bother but we’re here to look at this property and we would just love if everyone would cooperate with us.” Her eyes flirted with the younger Adraejen for a moment. “No use in hiding it if we’re going to investigate this proper. My name is Angela Porthyrius. Healer, scholar, all that good stuff.” She left out the part about the goddess not wanting to stir panic. If they could interact with them… There was no telling what could happen. “And this is my husband Adraejen Porthyrius. I’m sure you know him quite well. We’re here because you aren’t supposed to be. What that means depends on what we find here. We suspected memory magic, however, we can interact with you… Which is either wonderful or sinister in nature. ” There was a bit of a smugness to her but maybe it was because she felt like she was in her element.

There was a look of disbelief as eyes went from younger Adraejen to the older one. “Now, I need a library. Eva?” The woman was more shaken now that she realized Angela knew her name. “I won’t hurt you. On the contrary, I’m more worried about things hurting us.” She gestured lightly to her husband with an amused smirk. “Library Eva… If you please.”

“Yes…” She was startled still and Angela moved up towards her before looking back at Adraejen. Eva pointed to where the library was and Angela had a new idea. Perhaps it would be a good plan or a bad one depending.

“I would suggest splitting up for a few short minutes. Look for magic circles and all that goodness. Since I’m not good at finding them as much as I am creating them… I’ll research in the library. Perhaps there is something we could learn or something we’ve missed… Does that sound good?” Her green eyes met Drae’s gray ones. “Young Drae with me. Eva with Adraejen. Sounds lovely doesn’t it?” She pulled the younger Drae with her and she was sure there was going to be a fight. She just didn’t know from what one. “And… please be careful with magic. The last thing we want is our youngest pinpointing us… I should have thought about that before we gated out of our home.” It might have already been too late. “She really is quite the pain.” She nodded to the younger Adraejen and winked. “So library then?”

Drae's face hit his palm as Angela immediately started giving orders. He loved his wife greatly, but sometimes she didn't seem to get that subtlety might have been the best way to go. There was a pause of weird silence after she made the introductions, before the younger version of himself began to laugh in that condescending way that he knew so well. It made Drae smirk. He couldn't even use magic and he still thought he was all that. Gods how beautifully stupid he'd been as a younger man. 

"Forgive me, my lady. While you are beautiful of face and voice, there is only one Adraejen Porthyrius here, and admittedly, I have no memory of ever marrying a specimen such as yourself…" Young Drae said giving a flourishing bow. "That man, obviously, bears me no resemblance."

Drae smirked beneath his disguise. So damned arrogant. Was then, is now. He wondered briefly how people put up with him, then shrugged it off. He was a joy to be around. 
He raised a hand and simply snapped his fingers. There was a flash and a blast of wind as the illusion dissipated and Drae stood there in all his true glory. Hair back and pristine, greying streaks and all, perfectly manicured stubble, loose but still fitting attire of Sularian origin, and slightly more bulk than his younger self ever had. 

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

A wicked grin split across Drae's face. He could check surprising himself off his bucket list. 
"Now that it's obvious who is really in charge here, could we please listen to the red-head?" Drae asked, a smirk on his lips. Young Drae looked like he had been stung by a bee and looked at Eva, whose eyes were passing between elder and young Drae. The look young Drae gave here then was cold enough to freeze, and she merely giggled. 

"The Library is that way, second door on the left, My Lady," Eva said. She even pushed young Drae after Angela. "He's all yours…"
"Traitor…" Surprisingly, it was both Drae's who muttered this response, and they both glared at each other for a moment before Angela and Young Drae disappeared into the Library. 

For a moment or two, Drae and Eva stood there in the main hall, just looking at each other. Eva's dark eyes were filled with curiosity and wonder, while Drae's striking silver gaze held a surprising softness. Drae gave a small bow and motioned in the direction he was going. Eva nodded and took the lead, obviously knowing where it was that Drae was heading. 

They passed back through the kitchens and descended down the stairs into the main cellar. They walked in awkward silence for a moment, their feet scuffing against the cold stone floor. Drae struggled with something to say, and as he did so, it was Eva who finally broke the silence. 
"I always told you you'd age well," she said with a soft giggle. 
"You don't doubt what Angela told you then?"
"Of course not. Your aura is stronger now, but it has not changed. No one can fake that."
Drae chuckled softly. 
"I don't understand what is going on. Why would you say we are a memory or some sort of figment when it is you who has come through time to see us?"

“Of course not, you are way too young for me at the moment. Cradle Robber as my daughters call me as I may be… I do have my age limits.” Angela huffed lightly as if she was insulted. Once her love revealed itself she held on a smirk all of her own and chuckled. “Told you…”

Angela tilted her head at Drae and smirked. “I don’t do subtle my love. I would much rather hurry up, fix this, and get out of here before our troublesome toddler finds us.”

Eva and Angela watched each other with amusement. “Hardly.” Both responded to the Draes as Angela took the younger Drae into her arm and pulled him with her. “I won’t touch him too much my Dear. I do know how much you twitch when I am full on flirty.” Angela teased her husband.

“Honestly, you two are a pain in my ass. You didn’t change at all until the boy was born.” Angela rolled her eyes. “Stubborn ass.” There was a huff as she pushed the library doors open. “Now, let us start with advanced magic books if there even is any in Greer’s library.” She pushed all the other staff out and started to toss books like she owned the place onto the table that formed in the center of the room.

She paused for a moment on a book. “Hey, I wrote this book.” She threw it against the wall and into a garbage bin. “Trash. I need to redo my research on the subject anyways.” The Rosenite climbed ladders almost ignoring Drae since she was focused but then she stopped and looked at him. “Do you honestly have any idea how much it hurts for me to have Adraejen here?” She was so serious that it felt wrong even probably for the younger Drae that didn’t know her.

Then there was a bit of a magic bump in the air and Angela sighed. “Does no one listen to me when I speak. Come with me Lover Boy.” She grabbed Drae by the arm and spoke to her Drae through loud telepathy. “I have her just continue doing what you are doing.” Angela slammed opened the kitchen doors and saw a wiggle in a bag.

“You are just like your father. I swear.” She pulled a flour covered Myrra out by her neck skin which didn’t seem to hurt the child any. “Just… like your father. Here take the offspring.” She forced Myrra into the arms of Adraejen before getting a cloth to clean her. “Gray is so dead when we get home. Drae meet Myrra… Myrra met younger Drae.” Myrra gave him a toothy grin.

“Da… DA.” Myrra squealed but upon closer look at her father was horrified and baffled. She reeled back and let out a cry.

“Shh… It’s only for a moment Myrra.” She began to get all the flour off of Myrra. Finally, the white baby was now a perfect Drae look alike. “There we go.” Angela took her into her arms and cuddled her. Myrra looked at Drae and gave him an angry grunt like no other. “No need for the attitude Adraejen Jr.” Angela flicked her nose lightly and Myrra huffed at her mother before giving the glare back to him.