Welcome to Gaia! ::

Keeta hardly noticed the change in the water, and only made the connection a moment later that Surion had been responsible for it. Changes in water didn't phase her much these days anyways. With Rhine being a water dragon, and Camille being the humaniod version of a water lily, there were always interesting things going on with water. And of course Keeta was highly disctracted by her own thoughts.

"Well...she's come to live with us recently and it's been hard on her, and on us, if I'm being completely honest. A lot of crazy things have been happening lately. Did you know that Natalia had been transformed into a pegasus by the Island spirit? She only recently was restored to her human self...." Keeta stopped and let Surion digest this, asking what questions he would. She wasn't sure how much he knew, if anything. For all she knew Ceres could have shared quite a bit with him, but then again, she'd left her entire family in the dark, excepting Keeta, until the fateful moment. She very well could have kept this from Surion.

"So...I gather you didn't learn many details of the circumstances regarding her transformation and such, if you didn't pry into it?" Her expression was slightly pained.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Ceres didn't share much. It was a battle for ME to even learn what had happened at first. They thought she was too dangerous for me to be around...being newly pregnant and all...because you see, after Natalia transformed into the pegasus, she forgot all but the Island spirit, who had bewitched her in some manner. It took quite some time before she began to trust any of us again. Even Ceres."

Keeta wanted to find a way to ease into this more, but she didn't know how. Additionally, Surion's gaze compelled her to go on. It wasn't necessary to share all the little details, but she tried to do her best to tell everything that was important.

"Well Ceres and Sky tried everything they could think of to restore her to her original self, with her memories, peronality and body intact. Nothing they tried seemed to work. But they had one last idea...." Keeta swallowed, the words and self-control coming harder to her as she got closer to telling him what had happened. She closed her eyes a moment, taking in a breath of the salty sea air, hoping to clear her head.

"Not too long ago, Ceres came to me and shared with me what she and Sky were planning to do to save their daughter. It frightened me, but she swore me to secrecy until it was finished...."

"I...guess you could say that. More like they made me an accessory. They set things in motion that they hoped would restore their daughter to her original body. I was left instructions to be somewhere to pick up Natalia after events had taken place. And as you can see, Natalia looks like she once did, so they succeeded in the spirit of their plans." She paused again allowing herself a sad smile as she watched Natalia interact with the younger children and the dragonettes. For a moment she was the child she was before the transformation, and Keeta wished she could stay that way, but circumstances would not allow that.

"Ceres told me, however, when Natalia returned to her human body, she would join my family. She would look to me as her mother, and Rhine as her father. That her memories would not be of the life she had lived on the Island, but rather memories that were invented to show a history of a life with Rhine and myself. This of course has had it's share of complications and repercussions, and I'm certain we haven't seen the last of it. She does seem to "remember" growing up with us, but....she also seems to sense that there is something we're not telling her, or something that she has forgotten." She cleared her throat, searching for the words to continue, and she turned her gaze away and then asked a question that she knew probably seemed out of left field to Surion.

"Have you looked at your mirror lately?"

So....he didn't even have the slightest suspision...Keeta closed her eyes as she spoke.

"Because in all likelyhood, it no longer functions. If you look for it when you get home, you will probably find it shattered into pieces, like mine and Rhine's." Another deep breath.

"They broke because Ceres and Sky had to sacrifice themselves to see their daughter saved. They....They're gone."

When she didn't hear him speak, Keeta opened her eyes to look at the figure next to her. He was withdrawn now, with good reason, and his hand rested on the band Ceres had given him. She didn't know what to say. Part of her wanted to apologize, but what had happened was not her fault, she was simply the messenger of bad news. She studied her hands, waiting for him to speak, but when nothing was said, she chose to break the silence.

"I tried to tell it as gently as I could...I don't know if I could have done anything to make it easier...but I thought you should know..." Her gaze was still on her hands, not wanting to put him on the spot by staring at him.

The moment Rhine had taken to the water he'd gone under. He had swam a good ways out and without a care. Nestled in the sands he'd lost track of time. But, something inside him told him that he need to return. It didn't take him as long to return as it had to leave. The first thing to show upon his arrival were his back fins.

Unaware of company he just slowly 'slithered' onto the shore. He didn't shake like some would because he loved the water... He did hate the sand and salt but he could easily deal with that. He glanced over at the kids who currently seemed to involved to be paying attention- and their backs were turned. He was shifted in seconds and grabbing a towel. He'd pretty much mastered this.

It was when he was heading towards Keeta that he noticed Surion. "Long time," he said.