Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Oh ..."

Vergil grew quiet as they started down the dark hallway. It was very dark in there ... darker than he had seen before, especially in the daylight. It made him feel uncomfortable. He had no idea what might be waiting inside. Though if Cindy said it was all right ...

As they went, he stopped paying attention to the darkness around them and instead just watched the bottle of light that Cindy was carrying. He tilted his head one way, and then the other way, checking it out from every angle, trying to figure out what it was.

"Mother," he said finally, giving up, "how did you get a star in there?"

Vergil tried to reach out and poke the bottle, but it was out of his reach. "How does it work?" he asked curiously. "What kind of liquids is in it? Is it magic or is it some kind of science?"

He wasn't aware of the stairs they were going up, since he was being carried, and he wasn't paying attention to where they were going anyways.

"Do all plants have magic in them?" Vergil questioned as they reached the upper floor. "Or only some of them? And what makes them magic? And how do plants turn into liquids?"

He wanted to know all about it!

Vergil nodded thoughtfully. "Is there anything that helps make people stronger or bigger?" he asked hopefully. "Because I know I'm kind of old but I'm still really little ... I want to be bigger so that I can do more stuff ..."

Not that he wasn't grateful for what everyone was doing for him, but he really wanted to be useful instead of a burden.

Vergil sighed. He really did want to grow ...

"I guess til then there's nothing I can do about it, huh," he said sadly. "I just ... I just want to be able to do some things for myself. Where I used to live, I could do that, because everything was my size ... but everything is big here ..."

Vergil wasn't sure that would be possible. He already knew he wouldn't even be able to open doors on his own, and that really made him feel useless.

There was no movement within the room when Cindy knocked, but Aragost's soft voice called out, "Enter."

The window was wide open, and Aragost was sitting in a chair next to it, the sun streaming in and warming his face, which was uncovered. As he heard Cindy's footsteps, he smiled, his blackened face softening with the expression.

"Ah ... Cindy," he murmured without turning his head. "Welcome. I see you have begun a family of your own."

Vergil stared at the man. How could he possibly know all that when he hadn't even opened his eyes? And it didn't even look as if he could open his eyes, even if he wanted to!

Vergil just kept staring at the man. He was ... well ... ugly. So scarred and black that he didn't even look like an elf, not like the rest of them he had seen so far anyways. Even Halmir wasn't that scarred!

Aragost nodded his head slightly. "Welcome to Haven, Vergil," he murmured in his soft voice. "Do not worry ... you will find your place here, and you will grow to love it very much."

Vergil frowned. "How do you know?"

Aragost chuckled softly, and for the first time he turned his face away from the warmth of the sunlight. "I know everything," he replied quietly. "I know your past, your present, and parts of your future. I know of your hopes, your fears ... your desires ..."