The Black Sand Bar:

[Truest Valor]

"Respectfully, perhaps you should not let your personal experiences cloud your judgement of others."

Damon did his best to keep his tone as polite as possible. He was speaking to Ellie's mother, and it was only tactful. He did not agree with his character being called into question so early in them knowing each other. While he may have been a traveler in the past, he had bought this entire island and the businesses in order to make a home for his family.

Why would he choose to leave it all behind after investing so much of his soul into it?

[Arretsu]

"Hnn..." Terra looked back out at the ocean, and for a moment was silent. After a moment of thought, she decided to not respond to that. Of course she knew he was right, but she couldn't help what she felt, or fight back her protective instincts.

"There will be a darkness in him." She spoke up finally, breaking the silence. "Do you think you can handle it? His power will rival your own.."

[Truest Valor]

That elicited a smile.

"You may not know of my daughter, but her power far surpasses my own. And she's still just a child. There is no doubt that my son will be even stronger. It's actually rather frightening."

To think that children of such power were being brought into the world. Damon never trusted others with the kind of power he wielded, and that is why he had neglected to train Stephania. There was no doubt that he would also steer his son in a different direction.

"It may sound cruel, but I do not wish for them to grasp their full potential. That is simply too much power for any one person to hold. A little bit of proper guidance in the right direction and they will never know what they are really capable of, and instead know only enough to protect themselves."

[Arretsu]

"I know of your daughter, she harbors hatred towards Ellie I hear. Hopefully I can get on her good side, for she sounds like someone you don't trifle with." A grin tugged at her lips, thinking that maybe it would be a entertaining challenge.

When Damon spoke of his wish for them to not be able to wield their full power, she steered her gaze from the ocean and back onto him, her grin fading. "Would that truly be wise? What if someday this power they hold is unintentionally tapped into, and they find themselves unable to control it? Ellie is a good example, I was unable to help her, to train her properly. Now she has this power that she is suddenly aware of, but can't control and is afraid to. She is afraid of herself, constantly living with that fear in the back of her mind, never able to truly be free to be herself."

Clicking her tongue, she shook her head, "This is something you should discuss with her..."

[Truest Valor]

"You make a good point. Perhaps it is my own lack of trust that anybody can properly use this kind of power. What happens when men have too much power at their disposal? It corrupts. Even with the most careful, delicate and thorough training."

Damon hadn't stumbled upon his power, it had been developed and drawn out. In order for this kind of power to come out of a person, they had to have he the will to make it happen. If Damon taught them the way he wished, they would learn how to tap the tip of their powers and feel as though they had reached their maximum.

"Discussing it with her would be best. Let me ask you this, Terra. How much of a role to you intend to play in our lives?" He turned to look at her, eye to eye.



Antique Queen





Figuring he should take Cyrus off Tilly's hands for the day, the two of them were out on the trails leading up to the cliff. The little boy was curious about every plant, bug and lizard that they came across. Canaan watched what he touched and didn't let him get into anything dangerous, but he still gave him enough freedom to explore.

They ended their trip by sitting near the cliffs overlooking the ocean and looking at the stars. Canaan pointed out all of the constellations in the sky, and told the little boy of other planets and worlds beyond the stars.

Nothing but sheer wonder filled the boy's eyes...

[Arretsu]

"In the end we can only but hope they make the right choices, and choose a good path."

Terra would smile at his question, "Just the annoying mother in law who decides to visit every so often to spoil her grandchildren." She replied with a soft melodious laugh. "Anyways, return to your wife, your presence always seems to soothe her."

Terra would turn then, and stride towards the jungle.

[Abyssal Majesty]

After a day of catching up in the garden, and most of an evening of writing and resting, Tilly really started to miss her boys. Canaan had taken Cyrus off her hands so she could have a small break, and, well it looked like it was going really nicely.

The Muse stood some feet away from the pair, simply staring and smiling wistfully at the pair. Canaan was taking to the role of being a father so well, it warmed her heart. It was certainly like a dream, Tilly was almost afraid to speak. Slowly she approached them, resting her hands on their heads gently.

"Beautiful, are they not."

[Truest Valor]

"They are. Cyrus seems to be enjoying it."

Canaan often star gazed as a child. What better form of escape was there than to imagine all of the worlds beyond his own? He watched as Cyrus got up and wandered closer to the edge of the cliff, his eyes focused on the sky. A feeling of concern rose in the pit of his stomach and he started to move.

"Careful, Cy..."



As little Cyrus got closer to the edge his foot managed to find a weak spot in the earth, and he suddenly found himself falling down! He yelped and fell on his bottom, turning himself around and grabbing onto the grass and rocks with all of the strength in his body. His feet dangling high above the rocks below...



In an instant Canaan was moving forward, diving towards the edge of the cliff to grab a hold on the kid as fast as he possibly could!

[Abyssal Majesty]

The woman had felt her heart sink before, but not as drastically as this. One moment, the child was foolishly standing on the edge and the next he wasn't there at all. Scrambling for her quill, Tilly spelled out with her ethereal ink--

"μετεωρίζομαι"

--with unusual speed. It was the Greek spelling for levitate, her native tongue. The reason for it being spelled in Greek? It was longer, and thus there was more room to stand on it. The glowing word shuttered for a moment before briskly fluttering over to Cyrus, slipping under his feet to provide a platform for him to rest his feet and body if he were tired. And the next thing it did?

Well, it started to levitate up, bringing Cyrus well within Canaan's reach.

[Truest Valor]

Canaan reached down and plucked Cyrus off the edge of the cliff, unsure of what to make of Tilly's floating words. As soon as he was up in his arms, Cyrus clung to Canaan. The magical words had acted as a make shift elevator for him. Very creative...

Now that he could breath again, Canaan walked over to Tilly and handed Cyrus off to her. The little boy would do the same with her...

"I think that's enough excitement for he night. What's say we head back home?"

He wanted to ask her about what kind of magic that was, but it could wait for a bit...

[Abyssal Majesty]

As Cyrus clung to her, she blinked at her quill, tilting her head at it before tucking it behind her ear and bending down to the shaken little boy.

"You must be more careful, Cyrus. What you did was very dangerous, there might not be so much help next time you do something like that. Do you understand?"

The boy nodded, Tilly picked him up only to look at Canaan. She looked worried, but also surprised. Something happened all right. In enough time, thre small family made their way back to their tent, tucking a cleaned up and slightly bruised Cyrus into his dinosaur laden bed. Tilly stepped out of the room.

"I am just as intrigued as you are." Brandishing her quill she looked at it closely. "I have never done that before..."

[Truest Valor]

"Well I'm glad you did. I should have been watching him more closely." Canaan leaned back on the couch, cross his arms. "I have to admit though, it was pretty neat. None of my powers can save lives." Despite his kind and likable nature, Canaan's powers were all destructive and could not directly save lives. He hadn't used them since the war.

"You're the heroine tonight."

[Abyssal Majesty]

She shook her head gently with a smile as she made her way over to Canaan, sitting next to him quietly.

"I was just being a mother, not a heroine.."

Glancing down from her lover's piercing eyes, she glowered at her writing instrument as if she had never seen it before. Her head shook once more as she searched it topsey turvey, even blowing at the long, elegant feather. She began to speak offhandedly, obviously as she was distracted.

"It is how you use your powers that dictates the effect, Canaan."

She smiled knowing he could see it, but her pale gaze remained on her quill. Lifting it in the air, Tilly wrote--

"Attract"

The word glowed and spun with glitter before encircling the pair, bringing them closer rather abruptly, but not without grace. The quill fell from her hands, floating to the ground carefully. Her small digits resting easily on his chest, as they normally did. The Muse grinned with a shy giggle.

"Ahh~ I thought it might do that.."

[Truest Valor]

"Whoa."

Canaan was a little surprised by the word wrapping around him, but he didn't mind it. Both of his arms wrapped around Tilly and he held her warmly to his chest. Having her like this made him feel... happy. Comfortable. A family was such a great thing. Made him feel good to be alive. He didn't have to worry about putting up a tough front with them; pretend to be someone that he wasn't.

Up until now, Tilly had been making all of the moves and advances in their relationship. For once, Canaan figured that he'd... go for it. He grinned before gently pushing her down on the couch and kissing her.

Hopefully little Cyrus would stay asleep for the rest of the evening~

[Like Totally Not A Mule]

It wasn't entirely clear what Mr. Crazy thought Fadis was, but he'd pause his deranged screaming to listen, look confused, and then head along, turning his face away from the sun as he walked along. Obviously, this wasn't great for walking.

The security people would show up, and would promptly cuff the man.

***

A few hours later, both the crazy and the woman had been temporarily jailed in a partitioned arena pit. Naturally, both cells had micro and macro-sized power nullers in them, running at full power with overlap. The crazy cell was simply padded and had nothing that could be used as weaponry; the cell for the woman was more luxurious than the one opposite her. It still wasn't exactly comfortable (think, cheap motel), but she at least had access to utensils, food, small amounts of alcohol, television, and other comforts.

Sure, she was likely innocent, but having connections to two of the kills meant she was a suspect. Outside, Raven Knights and soldiers patrolled, taking no chances.

They had specific orders as to who was allowed in: Ross, Damon, the two investigators, Fadis, and Canaan. Rhoslyn wouldn't have made the list if he hadn't made a phone call to find out what was happening, and then quickly took a trip down to be interviewed by his own security staff.

His alibis were airtight, in the sense of "not within a thousand miles of the kills, much less on the same planet", and also in the sense of, exact quote: "What sort of ********' amateur wannabe killer do you think I am? If I wanted to kill them I'd just shoot them in the face in front of a hundred witnesses in broad daylight, just because I could. And why in the blue ********] would I kill someone to make them suffer when I can just torture them for the next fifty years? And why would I do it to the Black Sand?"