Welcome to Gaia! ::

It had been a normal enough day, but that night, things were a little strange. It didn't feel as if she was dreaming, the garden felt like it was real, but Padma knew she had to be. She remembered going to bed, after all.

Still, it was a pretty garden, with rows of flowers and a golden path, and as she explored she discovered a pond, with red lotus floating upon it. She sat down next to it, running her hand through the water,finding the coolness reassuring.

The goddess watched as the child explored, and finally found a place to stop. It was about time that she bring the girl into the game, now that it was really getting started. This would be the perfect opportunity.

"I have been waiting for you," she said, after a moment, walking up next to the child. The words caught Padma's attention, drawing it to a rather strange, but familiar woman. She had four arms like Padma's own, with golden skin. She looked oddly like a picture her mother kept in the household shrine, but there was no way that she would be dreaming about a goddess, much less this one; her room wasn't nearly neat enough for that. But yet, it could be possible. And it was.

"This is a dream isn't it?" Padma asked, confused.

The goddess sat down gracefully before answering, her four arms resting in her lap. "In a way, child. In another, it's not."

That hadn't helped much, but Padma knew that that was likely the best answer she was going to get. "Who are you? Why have you been waiting for me. I'm really not anything special, even if my family thinks I am."

"You are mine, lotus child. And while your family isn't exactly correct, you are special." The woman sounded slightly amused about the whole thing. It couldn't have been better if she would have planned it. "You are marked by me after all. I choose you before you were born, so that when the time came, you would be ready."

"Ready? For what?" Padma questioned, sounding unsure. "And you still haven't told me who you are."

"You'll figure that it all out in time; you know more than you realize. You know me, and you always have." The goddess smiled at her, and began to fade away. "Someone will come to explain things to you, and then we will talk in your dreams again. Do not fear him. Be of good fortune, my child."

The news hadn't been that much of a surprise. She had known something was happening, with the increased blacksuit presence, though she hadn't known how it was going to end. How could they do this to their own people?

It had been a hard decision, whether or not to inform her family. She almost had, but in the end, knew that they would be happier staying here, even if it did mean that they wouldn't have long to live.

Even if she would have told them, she doubted they would have believed her. She was merely the pampered princess of the family, meant to be protected and guarded, and they would have just assumed that she was making it up.

Maybe it was for the best. She couldn't be a proper player with her family around, they were far to protective, and even recently, it had been getting harder and harder to slip out unnoticed, much less train for battle. Still, she would miss them, they were her family, and if she left them here, she would never see them again.

Could she handle that?

Honestly, Padma didn't know. This would be the first time she had ever been away from them, and if she left, there would be no turning back.

She could do it. She could do it. She had been chosen and her powers would come in handy, with everyone starting over in a new place. After all, most of the godlings she had seen didn't look as if they had much money, if any at all, and unless things were different in Central, they would need a way to acquire it.

She sighed, and turned back to her packing. She wasn't taking much, barely enough to fill a backpack; a few changes of clothes, a couple of books, a photograph of her family, some chocolate, and an old stuffed elephant that she had had forever and couldn't think of leaving behind. She a bit of money as well, all of her savings, which had added up to more than she had expected.

She zipped the bag closed, and just stared at it for a minute. "I can do this," she muttered, and shouldered the backpack. She walked out of her room, and then out of the house confidently, pretending that there was nothing wrong, that she was just going on a stroll.

"Where are you going?" her little brother asked, from where he was playing with his trucks in the front yard

"To the park," Padma lied. "I'm meeting a friend there. Tell mother and father that I'll be home for dinner."

"Kay. They won't be happy though."

"I know, Yash." She paused for a moment. "I love you." She blinked away a tear, and began to walk away.

"You're not coming back, are you?" He asked, in all of wisdom of his seven years.

"No," she answered sadly. "I'm not." He ran up to her and hugged her tight.

"I'll miss you, Pads," he said. Her determination wavered for a moment, and she almost took him with her. It wouldn't be a good life for him though, she was barely certain that she would be able to take of herself, much less anyone else.

"I'll miss you too. Watch over the family for me?" She kissed him on the forehead, knowing she was condemning him to death. "I have to go."

"Okay."

She hugged him one last time before darting off, running as fast as she could away from home, trying to keep herself from bursting into tears. It was for the best, she reminded herself,and turned towards the docks, heading to where they would meet up to begin the journey to their new lives.

She was stalking him, or at least it seemed like it. This had been the fifth time in three days after she had blessed his home that she had ended up in the same area as the boy.

Today, it just happened to be the mall.

She hadn't originally been planning to come in to the mall, but when it started to rain, she had darted in. It was a different place than what she was used to in Southern, most of the shops there had been small, individually run places, and she had eagerly been exploring all of the different stores, before she had discovered the food court and realized that she was starting to get hungry.

She had just ordered a slice of cheese pizza and turned to find a seat, when she saw him. He was currently alone, sitting in the food court, a tray of food sitting in front of him. "Hey!" He called out, noticing her, and Padma froze. He wasn't supposed to have noticed her, and she would have thought that even if he had, wouldn't have thought anything. "You should come over here and sit with me." Padma nodded. She really didn't have anything to lose if she did go and talk to him, it would be nice to talk to somebody who wasn't a player. Sally didn't really count. She was older, not like this boy. He was as close to being a peer as anyone was at the moment. "I didn't catch your name the other day. Mine's Ishan."

"Padma."

"Nice to meet you." He took a bite of his chinese food, and just stared at her for a moment. "Have you been following me?"

"No," she responded quickly. "Or at least not intentionally. I swear."

"Okay." He shrugged, and took another few bites. "As long as we have that cleared up."

"Padma grinned. "Is your family Hindu?"

"A bit, yeah."

She raised an eyebrow. "A bit?"

He looked down at his plate. "Well, mother's from a Hindu family, but father's not. He doesn't believe in the gods, so we can't do very much active worship when he's home. Luckily his work with the M.I.B. keeps him pretty busy, so mom and I are free to do what we want."

"Got to love family, right?"

"Yeah. You know you should come over for dinner sometime. Mom would love to have you, I'm sure, and I know you know where I live."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Mom's always asking me when my friends are going to come over. You're my friend, aren't you?"

Padma blinked. She didn't even know this boy and he wanted to be friends. Was this normal? Did children usually make friends this way? "Sure, if you want me to be."

"Awesome." He finished up the last bit of his food, taking a drink, before standing up. "I've got to run, my friends are expecting me in a few minutes, but I'll see you soon, right?"

"Right." She giggled. "Assuming there's no major catastrophe between now and then, you'll definitely see me again."

"Great! Have a nice day!" He headed off, leaving Padma to stare down at her uneaten piece of pizza. What a strange boy.