Aeolus awoke to the sounds of her slow breathing, and the weight of her body on his. She had fallen asleep on his chest, her bare body against his. For a moment, he blushed, but then smiled. This wasn’t something that he had expected. Carefully, he moved one arm, and slowly stroked her hair. She stirred slightly, but snuggled closer into him, mumbling something incoherent.

It was well worth the trouble. He sighed, and started to close his eyes. However, there was something that was bothering him, and sleep refused to come. Blast it all… His eyes opened once more, and gazed down at Rosemary-Raine. Despite everything that had happened, he couldn’t reconcile everything. With a weary heart, he carefully moved her to the side, rolling so that she barely felt a thing. She grumbled in her sleep at the loss of his body heat, but cuddled into the blankets, and let out a content sigh as sleep once more washed over her.

The silver haired celestial got dressed in his usual tunic and pants, and walked out of the room, softly closing the door. Oddly, though, as he watched his hand on the door’s handle, he noticed a red string. Curious, he raised his hand. The string followed, and he noticed that it was tied to his heart finger. Curious, he tugged the string. To his surprise, it tugged back.

“Hey…” he said aloud. “What is this?” As if to respond, the string tugged harder, almost pulling him off of his feet. “Fine, fine…” he said, grumbling as he walked forward. “I just don’t see how this will….” He trailed off as the airship seemed to fade around him. Alarmed, he looked around him. Where….!?

As he marched forward, unsure of his fate, the air grew heavy, as if he were back in the rainforest. Already, he could feel the sweat forming. Finally, the world around him materialized, and he heard the sounds of the ocean. Confused, he closed his eyes. As he opened them, he found himself standing at the edge of the ocean, only…where the ocean should have been, was the endless blue sky.

What in the name of the Gods is this? He looked behind him to see a gorgeous forest lining what Aeolus assumed was a beach, with gleaming silver torches lit with a brilliant gold flame. Despite his confusion, he couldn’t help but admire the whole beauty of the place.

Finally, he turned back to the ocean, his eyes flickering silver in awe. “So…I think I get it now. This is Lady Angela’s realm. But why am I here?” He glanced down at the red string attached to his finger. Is it because of my doubts? Those dreams I have? Or perhaps…the six winged dragon and the prophecy for Corydalis.

“So…if I’m here, that means you’re here as well, doesn’t it? So…I guess I have my doubts about this whole thing. But, there isn’t any doubt that I love Rosemary. You of all people should recognize that.” He sighed. “Is this really okay? Is all of this really something that has your blessing? What if I mess it up. I almost couldn’t save her…despite all my bravado, I…I almost lost her twice.” He shivered. “What if I’m not fast enough next time? Is this really…okay?”

Angela’s realm was extremely playful with him as it pulled him closer. The more he pulled the more it pulled back. A soft shushing sound came over his ears as he was yanked for yelling. Night was in full swing in Elysia by the time Aeolus appeared there. The ocean was the daylit sky and the sky was night. There was a soft sound in the wind as violins played in the distance. The feeling of romance thick in the air.

A gazebo appeared not far from him out on the ever-changing water. There on a chaise laid the goddess. She was patting a chair not too far from her as she popped a fruit in her mouth. “If, I wasn’t a goddess and if this place wasn’t known people would think you were crazy for calling out into the skies the way you are.”

The redhaired woman moved to get a bottle of wine with a rose wax seal on the bottle. “I make it myself. Drink some and relax.” She popped the cork easily enough and poured him half a glass. “I think you will like its earthy taste.” She poured her own glass and sipped on it.

Her green eyes looked in thought as she turned her head to look at the sky ocean. For many moments she was quiet before she pulled herself up and sat on the chaise like a regular chair. “Aeolus, from the moment you two met the story you would share was unfolded before you. Do you believe that? Fate is not linear my dear.” She moved her eyes back to him. “Fate is a thousand strings and every string is an outcome. You two made the choices that came together as lovers. You could have left her there in the forest but your heart told you to go with her. It said that it would be fun.”

There was a laugh as she thought about it. “You almost lost her three times not two but let me tell you something Aeolus.” She shifted closer and put her mouth to his ear. It was sensual in a way but that was her role was it not? “If not you then who? Who would you settle for being good enough for my daughter? The farmer who is not strong enough to swing a sword? The merchant who cannot run fast enough… The ranger who cannot fly the skies with her as she so loves? Who would be good enough in your eyes?”

She leaned back and took another sip of wine. “You know that… I’ve been alive for a long time. Many centuries were spent by myself trying to find someone who would love me and stay alive long enough. My current husband Drae did not start this life fresh. This is his seventh incarnation of trying to love my ass.” She pointed at Aeolus with a chuckle. “Seventh. He died tragically every time but every time he would come back to me. And I never once saw him like that or loved him because I was saying to myself… What if? I was so scared. I’ve wasted so much of my life being so scared. A powerful Goddess who everyone looks up to for protection scared of the what if. I do not regret my decisions wholly because I love every single child I have.”

Crossing her leg she thought about it more. “Your doubts that are floating in your head are well founded Aeolus… but do not let them make decisions for you. Live now and when the time comes to deal with whatever happens know that you will have an upper hand. You will not be able to stop the storm but if fate has destined my child to die… then she will die with or without you. When the time comes… Will you dive into the pits of hell for her?” She didn’t seem afraid of Rosemary dying but more so interested in how Aeolus would handle it.

“I know the answer to that question and I have from the moment I laid my eyes on you… That’s why it is alright to me.”

To have the Goddess Angela appear before him in such a manner surprised him, especially after their earlier meeting. It was as if she commanded a completely different aura than when she was chastising her family in Sularia. That alone tweaked a sense of nervousness from Aeolus. But still, as she beckoned for him to come sit in a chair near her, he moved without hesitation.

“Crazy or not,” Aeolus said, “You answered. Besides, it makes sense. You’re the only one who I would logically be connected to at the moment.” He glanced down at his hand, where the red string had been tied. It had since faded. It would probably return once he planned to leave. “The realm is beautiful. There’s nothing else even remotely like it. It’s calming…”

As he was offered Angela’s wine, he graciously accepted, swirling in the glass momentarily before taking a sip. The blend of complex flavors washed over his tongue, the bitter earth mixed with a hint of sweetness. The finish, though, left him with a warm feeling, wanting more. “It’s good,” he said. But the wine wasn’t the reason he was here. He appreciated that Angela was offering though. He took another sip.

Aeolus listened to the ocean for awhile longer, idly sipping at the wine, until finally Lady Angela sat up, as if to shift the mood to a more serious tone. She started off about fate, and how it was not predetermined. To that, Aeolus felt a part of his soul quiver at that word. Fate. That was the real question. If the Goddess was speaking it, though, did that mean it was true?

“Even the Gods, though, seemed tied by the actuality of Fate and Destiny,” he stated. “But you are correct. I did make a choice.” Still, there was a doubt in his mind. Did he make that choice willingly? And the odds of Rosemary falling right where he just happened to be. The odds were astronomical. But he quieted himself. That was something that he could discuss later.

“Three?” Aeolus thought. He wondered if the first time counted, but the Goddess seemed to think so. It was not something worth arguing semantics over. “Right…the first time. When she fell.” He was about to say something else when the Goddess leaned in.

Knowing full well he had Rosemary, his body reacted in a mixed fashion, having someone with such illustrious beauty and power so close to him. Her voice whispering sent chills down his form, but he willed himself to take in the words. If not me…then who? He closed his eyes. “No one is deserving in my eyes,” he said. “But I guess that’s the point. Since I love Rosemary…”

It was a shock, though, to hear that Lady Angela had her own issues. It would seem that even the Goddess herself had a turbulent life. “Wait, you mean to tell me…that you’ve watched someone die for you seven times? You deities have some of the worst things happen….” He shook his head. “But it’s nice to know that even the Gods themselves are not above mortal emotions and worries.” He sipped once more on the wine. He was finding it some of the best he had ever had.

Still, it was Angela’s next words that seemed to hold the most for the conversation. My worries are not unfounded, he thought, But if the hands of Fate themselves have decided what is in store for Rosemary, despite my powers…how far would I go for her?

“To the ends of the earth….” he said aloud, breaking from his thought. He smiled, and looked to Lady Angela. “Thank you.”

He paused, though, and looked to her again. “But really…an airship? And your reasoning behind it…” He started to blush. “You’re really open for a Goddess. Though…I guess the domain of Life and Love give you that right….”

“Gods like me are bound to our elements. We live and breath in them and eventually my dear Aeolus… We become them. They are our every being. The elements that we are become one with our personality.” Angela smiled when he figured out what she was talking about. Three was the correct number in her book and it finally seemed like it hit him what she had meant.

There was no wrong way to react to the Goddess. She knew full well what she was doing and it wasn’t a test of his loyalty. This was just who she was. “That’s what makes love so selfish. We are both selfish and selfless. Willing to give ourselves up for the people we love but not willing to let them go. That is love. The deep pounding bright light that is festering in your soul… How warm it is.”

Angela chuckled a bit and sipped her wine. “No, I never watched Adraejen die. Though the one time, he came to me as a ghost… However, when I ascended I killed my husband and my first born. I more than anyone hate the word fate… but I cannot deny that everything we do is filled with purpose and reason. I would not be the strong goddess I am today has Wyatt and Lyre not died that night.”

His words about Rosemary pleased the goddess. “That is love in its truest form… Willing to throw yourself away but not willing to give up. Like I said both selfish and selfless.” The redhead shrugged and smirked in his direction. “It’s my job to lay it out for you after all… Think nothing of it.”

Then she burst out into laughter. “Sex is the last thing I am worried about with my brood… I have this intuition that goes ‘Oh shit one of them just did something stupid’… Like blowing up a city… or getting banned from a tavern for fighting. Sex is a natural part of life. We all want it and there are ways to prevent pregnancies that are unwanted. Worry about the things that matter… Fight the battles that need to be fought. As for the airship… I confiscated it from my oldest living daughter… She’ll be fine without it. Consider it helping me.”

There was a wink. “Rosenites are also very sexual creatures. So that helps with a lot of my decisions.” She topped off his wine glass and thought about it more. “I could use more grandchildren but that will come with time. I’m sure that Adraejen is not ready to have a dozen grandkids just yet.”

There was a pause as she looked up to the celestial. “What about yourself? Have you thought that far ahead yet? About what it is that you want?”

Drae carried a rather fussy baby down the beach. She was angry enough to pull his hair and was kicking and screaming. Drae sighed. "I know you are hungry little one," he said. "You are more demanding than Poppy and Lark together," he chuckled. He flipped her around so she could see the ocean. He spotted Angela down on the dock gazebo. When he saw who she was with, an eyebrow arched high. "He's too pretty… come offspring, we must put a stop to this nonsense." 
 He stomped up the dock and immediately came to sit directly between Aeolus and Angela before promptly handing Myrra off to his wife. "Nope, no. Hands off the pretty boy you," he said. "Feeding time for the offspring," he insisted. He looked at Aeolus.   "Now, you… Oh dear gods not another one…" he looked at Angela. "Seriously, flirting with a suitor. You know I might have only ever met Rosemary once but her scent is as distinct as yours," he said looking at Angela his eyes held a almost crazed gaze.   He looked back at Aeolus. "Now, how is the grass watcher doing?" 

Aeolus nodded politely as he sipped more on the wine. The effects were starting to hit him, and he briefly wondered if the wine was enchanted somehow. Still, with all of her reassurances, Aeolus was starting to feel better. The fact that the Goddess was at least speaking with him about his concerns made him feel that much better.

He smiled, and chuckled a little about the comments of her other, more difficult children. “Rosemary spoke of them. She’s a tad envious, having her own concerns that she’s boring. Though, boring isn’t bad. And I’m sure she has a hidden talent that even she’s unaware of. It just has to manifest first…”

He blushed when she started mentioning grandchildren. “Oh Gods no, I can’t imagine children a the moment. We’ve literally just gotten together, I can’t….” He blushed even harder, and looked away. The alcohol was starting to hit even harder. “I would rather not…at the moment. It’s…..under consideration though.”

Finally, Lady Angela asked a bombshell of a question. “What I want?” He shook his head. “I haven’t had the chance. For the longest time, I thought myself content doing the work I was doing. But the reality is, I knew it was boring.” He sighed. “At least with Rosemary, things are interesting again. If not…alarming at times.” Aeolus fell silent for a moment.

“I think, I want to-”

Aeolus’ sense for danger flared, but he dare not act on it. Surely enough, moments later, the celestial met his second god.

“Oh by the twelve, please don’t kill me,” Aeolus muttered as the angry god turned his crazed gaze to him. But, to his genuine surprise, the God did nothing but insert himself between the two, handing over the baby, Myrra, to Lady Angela.

“Grass…watcher?” Aeolus asked, curiously. “Rosemary is fine. She was asleep when I left and was…taken here. I should probably be getting back,” he said, very well aware that he was being watched with a critical eye. “Yes…she might worry if she wakes without me there…”

“Rosemary is gifted in many ways that she cannot possibly imagine. Things that she thinks are mundane are very special. Surely you have noticed some of the things that she is capable of.”

Angela heard the fussing baby coming from a mile away. She was a vicious eater and she needed her food on time every day. The goddess made a pout face. “I wasn’t doing anything wrong.” Taking Myrra into her arms there was a distinct grumpy noise that Myrra did as Angela fed the child right in front of Aeolus. “Your child is biting.” There were angry feeding noises as Myrra glared in her father’s direction and at Aeolus. This child was territorial over her food.

“I was not flirting on purpose.” Angela waved her free arm at her husband. Though apparently, she moved too much as Myrra let go to make an angry noise before going back. “Well fine then,” Angela said as if giving attitude right back to her.

“Grass watcher… She likes to watch things. She takes them in stride just as if she is watching grass grow.” Angela gave Aeolus a smile as she smirked up at Adraejen. “She will be fine Aeolus I promise.” She went to wave her arm again but stopped when her green eyes met Myrra’s gray. There was a look of ‘do it I dare you’ from the child. “She is your child Adraejen.”

Angela relaxed on the chaise and thought about everything. “I just want to put into perspective for you that things work fast sometimes and other times they do not. The things we have not even considered today will affect tomorrow. That is why I ask the hard questions. That is why Corydalis told you that fortune. It is why you are in front of me right now. Adraejen of twenty years ago would have never believed we would have our son Rohan… Nor that we would be married but it happened in a whirlwind. Always be ready for the future because you never know when you will have to fight for it.”

She tilted her head. “Going back to what we discussed earlier before Adraejen showed up…” She looked at him innocently. “I wasn’t being sexual with him I was asking him what he wanted with my daughter. What would he do for her? Life is wonderful and full of rocky moments. However, Rosemary attracts danger thanks to her innocent aura. She is a good target for people who want to do evil. You will most likely have to live with that for the rest of your life if you choose to stay with her. It will not be an easy task. You will be pushed.”

She bit her lip a bit. “Any advice for him Love? I am might be Love but my advice is based on how I know it. It might not actually be practical.” She winked at Aeolus a bit.

"No, of course it wasn't on purpose. You, like several of your daughters, have the inability to turn OFF the flirtatious nature you have," Drae told his wife. He smirked when she claimed that Myrra was biting her. "She gets that from you, Love," he chuckled in return. "At least she doesn't have teeth yet."

His term to describe his step-daughter seemed to puzzle Aeolus, but fortunately Angela explained. It was true, Rosemary might have had talents but they had yet to be revealed. He smirked at Angela when she made the remark about Myrra being his child. "Even more so than Roh is, that's for sure, huh?" he asked Myrra as he lightly took her foot and stroked it while she ate. He relaxed back next to Angela, waiting patiently for the child to finish her feeding so that he could take her back up to the temple. 

He snorted when Angela brought up the Adraejen of twenty years ago. "The me from twenty years ago would not have believed he would have fallen in love with a Goddess, been inflicted with Ursanthropy, married said Goddess, had a child, then twins, and now a fourth, ON TOP of being pulled to Ascension by the World Tree," Drae chuckled. "Huh, wee bahbee," he said, tickling Myrra's foot. He rolled his eyes when Angela yet again denied being sexual. She might have not been being sexual, but flirtatious, as he had mentioned before. However, the point was made about Rosemary, and Drae couldn't help but nod grimly. 

"Angela's right. Rosemary is special that way… that very well may be her biggest talent… though I personally would love to have a private chat with the girl to find that out for sure," he admitted. 

"My advice," he said as he exhaled slowly, thoughtfully, "is to be patient… Rosemary's airy ways might be a bit taxing, but I'd frankly be afraid of what she can do when pushed. It is the quietest, gentlest ones you have to watch out for when provoked." 

Aeolus watched the two deities interact with their child, and despite his normal bored nature, he found himself endeared. The love of a parent for their child was something that was never ceased to bring a smile to the celestial draconian’s face. Perhaps it had something to do with his own upbringing that made him feel that way.

He frowned for a moment. It wasn’t something that he thought about often. His parents. I should stop by and say hi, shouldn’t I? he thought to himself. Only something didn’t quite sit right about that. Visit them…? The world seemed to black out for a moment, and Aeolus shook his head. The thoughts were painful. I guess I’ll just….deal with that later,

“You three look like a wonderful family,” Aeolus commented. “I’m a little envious. I look forward to seeing what she can do when she grows up though,” he said with a smirk. “Great things, I imagine…great things.” He sighed, his thoughts returning to Rosemary. What the two had said was weighing on his mind. Unseen talents. Being pushed over the edge. He closed his eyes.

I’ll do everything in my power to stop that from happening, He took a steadying breath, and opened his eyes. “I think I should get going. If she wakes up and I’m not there, she might worry….” He stood up, stretching out. “Er….how…how do I leave?” He looked around “I guess…that way? The way I came from?”