Welcome to Gaia! ::

Who: Yuurei, Aphismet, Rivener, and Lucia
When: After 10pm
Weather: Chilly, but clear

”You have arrived at your destination.” The GPS in her black Mercedes chirped. Finally!, Yuurei thought as she parked the car and jumped out of the driver’s door. Please tell me that Lucia has been hiding here the whole time. Yuurei had been everywhere. She first stopped at the pet cemetery on her property that Lucia loved to visit. No luck. She drove onto Gambino Isle to their large cemetery. She drove throughout it; the frei wasn’t there. She went to the remote cemetery where they had met Xiu. No such luck. She even stopped at the cemetery in Barton, thinking maybe Lucia managed to find her way there. Yuu had looked in vain. It was too late for Lucia to be shopping and…Yuurei didn’t know where else to look.

She had been avoiding coming to this place, since she heard about the fight that Rivener had in her home, but his guardian couldn’t be that bad, she thought. It wasn't like he wanted to fight everyone, she rationalized. And if Lucia was here, obviously she cared about him. This was the only raevan, other than Meli, that she visited without her guardian. With the care Lucia had taken for herself that time, Yuurei was sure the frei had a crush. But it had been a while since that time. Obviously it hadn't worked out.

Yuurei glanced down at her clothes, trying not to feel self-conscious that she had only time to toss on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt before running out. Her hair was still tousled from sleep the night before and she wasn’t wearing any makeup. Running fingers through her hair she closed her eyes and tried to calm herself. None of that mattered. She needed to find Lucia. And there, she cluelessly admitted to herself, was a pretty good chance the frei had been here the whole time.

As Yuurei walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell, she hoped that there would be good news. She had no clue where her frei was and the stress was beginning to get to her. Please say she's here. Please say she's here.

Yuu’s eyes glanced at the person who opened the door and didn’t recognize him. But his face showed a flicker of worry as he opened the door. Maybe she really was here. ”Hi. I’m Yuurei, Lucia’s guardian.” she explained. ”She wouldn’t – umm – be here, would she?” the woman asked with pleading eyes. Maybe. It seemed like he had been expecting to see…someone. Maybe, with the appearance of an extra frei, this guy was wondering and worried where her guardian was. I mean, Lucia was supposed to be sick – wasn’t she?

The woman bit her lip. Please say she’s here. Please tell me Lucia is here! Please let me stop worrying and get to yelling at her for running away. I can’t deal with this. Yuurei was drained.

Yuurei’s heart lifted up. He said it too. Lucia was with Rivener. She let out a breath. It was plausible, to both this man and to her. Then it must make sense. It must be true. If Lucia’s being here made sense to her, and made sense to him, how could the world be so screwed up that it wasn’t true?

At she stepped over the threshold and followed him up to the sigel’s room Yuurei could feel her heart beating in her chest. Please let her be here. With each knock, the man made on Rivener’s door, her head throbbed. Please let her be here. Then he said it, is Lucia here. The blonde drew in a breath. Rivener repeated her name. He could be calling out to her. He could be. Please let her be here.

And then she let out a breath, leaning against the door frame in exhaustion and despair. Three words and the hope she had held onto the entire time crashed down around her. Lucia was missing and couldn’t be found. She wasn’t anywhere the woman could think of. It was over. A noiseless sob shook the blonde’s shoulders as she nodded at Rivener’s question. ”Yes,” she whispered, drawing in a breath. ”She – she’s missing.” There was no denying it. She had run away and was gone.

Yuurei looked up at Aphi from her slumped position and tried to pull herself together. Pushing her tousled hair out of her face, her other hand rested on Aphismet’s briefly, in an appreciative gesture. ”Thank you so much. I –“ she paused to take in a breath. ”I really appreciate it.” Standing up to a full height she tried to be composed – it wasn’t working.

Where should we go?

She tried to think. Yuurei racked her brains and just stood there, looking down and shaking her head. ”I don’t know. I looked everywhere I could think of. Unless you know about some graveyards I don’t…I mean that’s the most logical place for her to be…” Yuurei paused and took a breath. That was where Lucia always was when she wasn’t around the house. Walking in the woods, visiting graveyards, helping dead people. She would have gotten a phone call by now if Lucia was helping something. And the cat had left her cell in her room. . . ”I just don’t know!” she cupped her face and stamped her foot. ”s**t!”

Yuurei didn’t notice when the two males seemed to have an idea, but when Rivener began talking the woman forgot about all of the drama that happened at her house. He had an idea. Yuurei smiled sadly at the raevan for trying. With all of the disappointment, she didn’t believe that she would find Lucia. Especially because she had never heard Lucia mention this graveyard, she didn’t think the kitten even knew about this graveyard. She would just have to wait for something else to happen. The police to do their jobs and find her . . . Something.

Aphi seemed to think Lucia might go to this gravyard too. The woman’s sad smile was addressed to him too as she followed him back downstairs. Pulling on the coat that was offered her, Yuurei dutifully followed the raevan and guardian into the dark swamps. At least she had sneakers on, the blonde rationalized. In her typical heels she wouldn’t have lasted through this yard. She tried to stay close to Aphismet’s side, not wanting to get too far from the light. Yuurei didn’t know about the reason why Aphi was uneasy, but Yuu felt uneasy for her own reasons. She didn’t like the dark much. Yuurei slipped a hand around Aphismet’s arm. ”Thank you,” she said plainly.

The walk to the graveyard felt like it took forever. There was no way Lucia knew about this place. Yuurei was used to creepy things, reveled in them, but as emotional as she was, the graveyard was creeping her out. The air was wet and heavy. The fog gave everything an ethereal feel. She nodded when Aphismet suggested not staying long. It wasn’t likely that she was here anyway.

Yuurei looked around as much as she could while still attached to Aphi. There was no sign of the kitten here. As Rivener called out for the frei, Yuurei jumped at the loud noise. They weren’t going to find her. She wasn’t here. The three of them managed to scan the smallish graveyard and there was no way that she was here. ”I don’t see her…” Useless.

Lucia! The kitten’s ears would have twitched at the sound if she had enough energy left to move the furry appendages. Who said that? It didn’t sound like Shanna’s soft voice.

Suddenly she moaned softly as her side with the broken wrist hit the ground. What was going on? She wondered? Was she dead? Lucia had been sure she would die in the spirit world, but, breathing slowly became less of a chore as she felt some energy return to her body. No, the kitten thought, she couldn’t be dead. Her wrist still hurt so much. With her ribbon wrapped tightly around around the broken wrist she had set herself and secured with her belt buckle, the 6” drop to the ground beneath her had surprised her.

The last thing she remembered, she was dying on the floor of this silvery hall in the spirit world. Then she was falling and landed on a somewhat squishy ground. Even though she was gaining energy, Lucia still didn’t have the strength to open her eyes.

But who had called her name? Lucia was sure it had been a guy’s voice. As her breathing eased up, Lucia realized she heard familiar voices. Someone…she couldn’t place the male voice that reached her ears. Then Yuurei! Lucia’s heart fluttered. Was she home? Was she really home? The kitten forced her eyes open and saw that she was on the edge of a graveyard. Her eyes shut again. The gravestones. The buried bodies. That was the energy. She was alive.

Forcing her eyes open and struggling to make them focus, she saw a familiar red ribbon, it’s attached body facing away from her. Yuurei was here. And Rivener. In a graveyard. She moaned softly, realizing that she had been picturing this, hoping for this exact situation while dying on the floor. ”Rivener.” she said, her voice barely more than a soft whispering moan.

Yuurei nodded and hugged closer to Aphi’s arm. She wasn’t interested in the man, but his arm was just comforting. She closed her eyes. She would go home. Call the police. Maybe they had more information now. Taking a deep breath, Yuurei let it out in a deep sigh. For now they were stuck. Again. Why had Lucia run away? She glanced back at Rivener who was searching the sky. Lucia could float – obviously – but the kitty had problems with heights. Turning away Yuurei almost felt bad for Rivener. Maybe he did care for her charge.

The kitty looked at Rivener’s face, her eyes focused without her forcing them to, but her head was overwhelmed with what happened to her. She couldn’t think of the right answer to any of the questions the sigel attacked her with. Her rune was still glowing a bright white, even more revealed with her ribbon tied up. When he finally grew quiet Lucia breathed a sigh of relief, despite the pain still in her wrist. She was home. As Riv reached his hand to rub her head, Lucia let out another breath and leaned into his comforting fingers and closed her eyes. This was so much better. Her free hand tried to reach out to him, but all that she was able to do was rest her hand on her bare neck. ”Wh-“ she couldn’t get the words out. Taking a few breaths, Lucia focused on the question she longed to ask. Trying again, Lucia swallowed once, ”Where am I?” Her normally strong voice was only a whisper.

When Aphi jumped at Rivener’s exclamation, Yuurei swirled back to watch the black hair duck behind the gravestone. Rivener had just been standing there. Did he find a clue or something? It was too much for the woman to believe that Lucia was there. Every time she approached a new location she built up the idea that she would find the frei there. Every time had been a disappointment. Yuurei had to squint as they approached Rivener. The flashlights light seemed dim compared to the light by the raevan. He had found another light or something. Looking at the light source her breath caught in her throat as she skidded on her knees to Lucia’s other side. ”Lucia! Oh my . . .” She breathed a sigh of relief. But what was going on?! Lucia’s rune was white and bright enough to light half of the cemetery. Her arm was wrapped in her ribbon?! Who had done this? ”What happened?!” she cried out resting a hand on Lucia’s shoulder.

Lucia almost wanted to move away from her guardian, but even though her energy was returning, she didn’t want to waste it. Why was the woman being so loud? She ignored Yuurei’s question. Why had she wanted the blonde to be here anyway? Instead the kitten snuggled into Rivener’s hands. Just shut up.

Lucia felt secure. Her energy was returning, it wouldn’t take long in a cemetery. And she was okay. Rivener had told her so. But how did she get here? She didn’t want to worry about it. When Rivener lowered his stinger into her skin the kitten cringed into him at first, but soon her expression softened. Her wrist didn’t hurt anymore. Her pouty lips opened softly and she let out an audible breath.

”What are you doing?!” Yuurei yelled when Rivener, who had seemed to be wanting to help, stung Lucia. When the kitten’s expression seemed to shift from pain to … not, the woman relaxed. So the search was over…now what? Now that she found the girl she didn’t really know what to do, she was tired from searching all day, relieved that she found her frei.

Now they needed to get back through the swamp, to the house, to the car to her house. There was something wrong with Lucia’s wrist. Would she need to see a regular human doctor or Dr. Kyou? There was still so much to do. And it all had to be done today. She looked down at the girl and didn’t know if she could handle it all. The important thing, she reminded herself, was that Lucia seemed to be okay for the most part.

As Rivener pulled her up into a sitting position, Lucia knew that she was no longer hungry. The old cemetery had seen a lot of death. And she had gained strength with no problem. But she was still tired. The kitten’s head leaned against Rivener’s chest and snuggled into him her free hand moving from her neck to lying against his chest. His body was soft, with all of the clothing he had worn.

She purred softly. Her body was sore, but her exhaustion overruled it all. She shook her head slightly. ”No,” she said sleepily, her eyelids heavy once again. Now that she was safe all she wanted to do was sleep. ”I just wa-na sleep.” she said, as her lips fell open slightly and her eyes closed. If allowed, she would soon be asleep on the cemetery ground, against Rivener’s arm and chest.

Yuurei sighed softly. ”She can’t sleep now” she said to Aphi and Rivener. ”At the very least she needs to get her wrist checked out by a doctor. Umm..” she looked at the kitten breathing softly against the sigel. ”Would you mind carrying her back to the car?” she asked the black and red raevan as she stood up, noting the grass stains on her jeans.