Welcome to Gaia! ::

((Part two of two, also has a day passed? By my recollection, no, but I wanted to make sure in case I got that wrong. If I am, let me know and I'll correct my post))

Karawan's eyes were on the ground. It was as almost as if he completely forgot about home, and yet it had hardly been an entire day since his departure. He began to sweat from nervousness. How long have they been watching me? He stayed in that position, on one knee, until he heard someone speak. They were far enough away to be unnoticed by anyone, possibly even villagers.

Master Ketmet now stood immediately before him, and touched his head, signalling him to stand up. The High Mage began to walk deeper into the wood, Ketmet following. Karawan stood up and followed them, when the High Mage began speaking.

"Know you this wood, Karawan? This is the Wood of My Ancestors, the Proto-Forest, before our families went into the sky. There are many secrets here. Many truths that haven't been spoken since the Haze came and changed our world."

Karawan listened carefully, when the High Mage stopped walking.

"Our world, youngling, is in great peril. And you, unwittingly have walked into the middle of a great plot. Do you trust these new friends, these foreigners?"

Karawan thought a second. He didn't know if he trusted them, but he trusted them enough. There had been so much adventure in such a short period of time, and in all that time, he'd been saved twice.

"With my life."

The High Mage stood stoicly but Master Ketmet doubled back.

"What do you mean with your life? Your life?" Ketmet walked up to Karawan and looked as if he might have striked him. Karawan wanted to speak up, but could not without commiting a taboo. The High Mage then spoke.

"My Advisers, My advisers. It is futile to argue. Karawan cannot leave these people, not without endangering his cover. Karawan," he turned to face him, "the Grand Vizier of Metalcrafters has left us for Valhalla, the Causality is dissolved. Duat is now under potential attack from Olympus because of the Metalcrafters attack on their capitol. We are now in a state of force diplomacy, while also await the attack of Valhalla's Star. Out country is dissolving. I wonder, do these foreigners know that you are Duatian?"

"Yes," Karawan answered, "but they know me as Rhin, and as a teacher in training, not as a vizier." Suddenly, he felt bad about lying to them. "Lord Holiness, what should I do...do for Duat?"

"Continue with them, report to by sending pine word through the trees. Can you send Pine Word?"

"Yes, I've read up on the theory."

"Good. I see you seek Maidander and Progili. Not a..."

"No no, I'm creating the Emulsion of Daphne, to recharge an air orb."

"But this forest doesn't produce Malchia," Ketmet said.

"The captain, Mr...Sir Rodrick...yes, Sir Rodrick. He owns a Malchia farm..."

Master Ketmet followed the High Mage silently as they both walked away. Ketmet looked back and mouthed "you were always a bad liar." They walked toward a cypress not far from where they were standing, when the High Mage turned around and spoke.

"Karawan. Be vigilante. Keep these foreigners in your good humor. We may call on you to do a great work for our country."

As the High Mage and Ketmet made their way through the tree, Karawan fell back. He sat in a patch of Progili, and gathered it up, then ran back toward the camp, all the while thinking I must tell them...they must know...I need to know they can trust me...I need to know I can trust them...

Darrin smiled wide as Rannek took his hand. He couldn't help it. The guy was cool. He chuckled at the thought of him using the word cool. It just didn't fit Darrin Merl. But oh well. "If you'll excuse me, I must return to my ship to get some personal effects." He turned and began walking out of the room. "Oh and Rannek." He turned around to look his new companion in the face. "Thanks."

When he got to the Jackie Marie, he took some clothing and ammo, just in case. Also he took some extra money from his personal stash in his quarters. Then he went to the bridge and got onto the communicator for both of his ships. "This is Darrin calling the Jackie Marie and Pluto's Revenge. I will be taking an extended leave of absence. I don't know how long i will be gone, but until i return, Zain will be in charge of every aspect of the DTE."

He then looked to his second in command Zane. "If anything goes wrong, you let me know. But otherwise, i don't want you to contact me for any reason. Just sell. Do not get involved with this whole deal. Stay neutral at all costs."

"Yes, sir. Thank you."

"We'll talk soon, old friend," Derrik said as left the Jackie Marie and returned to the White Hawk.

Arilam sat in thought as the conversation between the two other mercs ended. He didn't like how the number of the group was growing. Any more people, and the group would become too conspicuous to move quietly through Valhalla at the rate things were moving. In the end, if things became too hectic, Arilam would have to leave the group.

As for the object he needed to steal, Arilam was worried. He knew that an object considered dangerous by the Queen would be well guarded. If worse came to worse, he might even have to detroy the thing, whatever it was. "This trip is really becoming bothersome. If this mess keeps its current status, there'll be all out war by the time I get to whatever it is I need to steal."

But, those troubles could wait until later. For now he needed to fix the ship, and keep the Twin Fruit safe, for the sake of the potion Rhin wanted to make. The new merc ("What was his name... Darrin?") seemed trustworthy enough. Or at least he was straightforward about his intentions. It seemed that, before anything else, he might need to use Rhin's potion of Rannek, instead.

Arilam hopped off the deck onto the sand and walked over to the Ninth Gate. It seemed like he had fixed everything to his specifications. The large air orb that Gabriel had brought with him looked like an appealing addition to his bike, but he didn't need the distrust of his current comrades at the moment.

He straddled the bike, testing the feel, before flying it back to the White Hawk and docking it. "There's too much to do. Seems like this mission is getting more and more complicated. Can't worry about that now though."

Arilam walked out of the bay, ready to help Rannek and Gabriel finish the repairs on the ship.

A devious smile crept across Beate's face. She could see not only Pandora, but in the screen behind her, a rather delicious looking sky captain.

"My Godmother Queen, Cousin Pandora, how lovely to see that you yourself aren't loss on worldly pleasures. Is that your consort? I know you are only two years older than me, but he's practically ancient."

She unlatched herself from her seat, and began to float about the cabin. The absence of gravity made her appear as a ghost, the elegant black dress floating on the ground while her pale, white face shimmered in the glow of low-space. She floated closer to the visual feed, so her head was closer to the screen. She held it in her hands and floated off the ground, her dress flowing down and rippling with her movement. It was as if she was swimming through water.

"I'm sure you've shared your fair deal of theories, and I come to quell them. If my well executed ruse with the Rhinemaiden did anything, it was to show my father that I am dead, and show my dear Cousin that I am alive."

Her face glowed and the closer she got to the screen, the more eerie her face became. Her voice echoed and she sounded rather metalic and cold.

"The Valhallan assault was not an assault made by me, but by my father and my brother Bernhart. If all goes right, by midnight tonight, Bernhart will be...taken care of."

She winked, and waved over to the sky captain, blowing him a kiss.

"I do not want war, Pandora. I want my throne. My little brother has been unfairly loved, and I have been exiled for far too long. Now, I've had my royal geneologists write you into my family, I've created a diversion for my father, and I've amassed a sizable and secretive garrison. But I will not win this war, not with what my father has."

She smiled, looked behind her, and quited her voice, as she began sharing her secret.

"I'm sure you've heard of it." She whispered. "The Epiphany Charger."

She floated back to her seat, elegantly, and sat down on the throne. Andora walked in, removed her feathers, and replaced them with a saphire and black gold coronet, a diamond hanging in the middle of her forehead. Andora then handed Beate the Priscilla, when she placed it on her lap.

"My Cousin, My Godmother Queen. I want and..." Beate paused, and put her heart to her chest before speaking again. "I want and I beg for your help. Let us crush my wicked father."

She crossed her legs, and waited for Pandora's response.

"Right, lets just cut through all the bull Gabriel. I'm going to offer you twenty thousand for the orb your carrying along with free transport to where-ever your going." Rannek announced when he and Gabriel were finally face-to-face, "It's a better offer then you'll find in most places, not to mention you'll be saving maintence costs on lugging that thing somewhere on your bike."

Rannek was trying to think through everything that was going on. He need Gabriel to help repair the ship, he needed Arilam to help him get into Valhalla. The mage though..... the thought gave Rannek Tenkyuu pause, the mage was the one person in this growing crew that he did not really need. If the boy got back before they finished installing the air-orb then Rannek would take him along. If the mage never made it back, well he'd best hope he likes lower earth. That inner thought caused Rannek to laugh aloud, walking along the decking with his fellow traders and more then likely offering odd faces toward his sudden outburst.

Darrin immediately found a nice quarters upon returning to thw White Hawk, and began unpacking. "I'm sure Rannek may not like me making myself at home. Well, I'll deal with that when the time comes. I guess I'll go ask for permission to tour the ship. Maybe get to know its occupants better."

WHen he had finished unpacking, he proceded to where he had last seen Rannek. On his way, however, he heard someone speaking in a room to his right. He stopped outside the door to listen to the conversation. "Not eavesdropping. I was already here," he thought.

Arilam had grown bored with the conversation between the two traders and moved back to the bay, where he was fine tuning the Ninth Gate. He needed it to be working at maximum efficiency, in the occation that he would need to carry the Valhallan weapon all the way back by himself.

Arilam glanced often at the Twin Fruit, which was once again sitting in a window, soaking in the sun. He needed it to remain safe if the potion Rhin wished to make was to be done properly. Arilam sighed and layed down on the floor, staring at the ceiling. He wondered if the battle over Olympus was over yet, if Ilium was still standing or a pile of rubble. "That will make this mission much more complicated, that's for sure."

Arilam turned in surprise at Rhin's sudden outburst as he burst into the room. Standing up and noticing his panicked expression, Arilam thought to himself, 'He hasn't snapped, has he? I know Lower Earth can be disorienting, but still.'

Standing up, he brushed himself off and noticed the herbs. "Oh? You've got everything already? Are you ready to make the potion, then?"