Welcome to Gaia! ::

{{I didn't respond b/c I was giving Secret a chance to respond, but I'll go ahead and post now since she hasn't and the story seems to be at a stand still.}}

{{Miss Prissy pants. rofl rofl I love it! biggrin }}

Ever sighed softly and looked over at the surface of the lake. The light spirits and fairies were still circling the length of it, not leaving until everything was back to normal. Raven, however, broke away from the group and came over to rest on Ever's shoulder. She wouldn't have left Ever if she hadn't known she was in such good hands already with her friends and headmistress. And she knew that she was helping Ever more by protecting the headmistress to keep the barrier up when the demons were attacking. Every individual was needed at that point to give their magic and energy to the headmistress. Raven herself was exhausted now, but she could finally return to Ever.

She had seen Ever fall to the surface of the lake. If she hadn't been a goddess, she would have been dead with the force she hit the lake with, due to falling from such a large height.

She simply sat on Ever's shoulder now and gave her moral support. They were both too exhausted to talk with each other.

Ever felt the moment Raven sat on her shoulder, and she was comforted greatly by her presence. She was still looking at the surface of the lake, though.

That very lake had tried to drown her, attacked her friends, and was the hard surface she had hit when she had fallen. So much pain. But it had also given her some of her most joy. The lake had given her Raven. The lake calmed her at night when she watched the spirits dance along the surface. It had always comforted her and had always protected the school.

Now, the very lake was at the heart of the war that was beginning. That very lake held the ultimate treasure that everyone seemed to want, and she had to get it in order to save her family and friends. She couldn't help but wonder, though, that with how much her life had revolved around the lake... she wondered if the lake would also become her grave.

In the infirmary, Meimei had been watching out the window worriedly, and Aurora had moved to sit by Bo once more. She'd sat silently, not wanting to go and help because she felt she wouldn't be able to help. Eventually, she brought out the little mirror that she'd been carrying around lately, and looked at it, then to Bo. "Would you like to meet my parents?" she asked, rather suddenly. Of course, for her, it was a normal question; the mirror was a communicator of sorts and she was planning on calling her parents with it. So, since Bo was right there, why not ask if he'd like to join in?

Aurora nodded. "Mine is very simple." She held the mirror up and spoke clearly. "Find my mom." The reflection shimmered for a moment, then cleared once again to show a small woman with wavy strawberry-blonde hair pulled away under a bandana; she appeared to be cleaning something. She hummed softly and her eyes, the bluest of blues, were turned down as she worked, and she didn't look to be past her late twenties.

Aurora smiled. "Hi mom," she said. The tiny Danish woman looked up and smiled brightly.

"Aurora! Hi, sweetheart!" She waved with a gloved hand. "What's up?" She glanced at Bo, who she apparently could also see, and Luli as well.

Aurora shrugged. "...A lot, really. This is Bo," she said, pointing to the boy, "And that's Luli, his sister." She pointed at Luli as well. Altan hopped onto Aurora's lap, looking curiously into the mirror. He'd heard about Mrs. Li-Bleu (as Li-Bleu was Aurora's official last name, though usually she used only Bleu), but he'd never really seen her. Aurora patted his head briefly. "This is Altan, of course." Then, "Everyone, this is my mom."

Mrs. Li-Bleu smiled at them all. "It's a pleasure to meet you all."

((... People need to post in SG.))

Evermore sighed and nodded. "I'll be along momentarily, Headmistress. Do you think you will be lowering the barrier soon?"

She didn't even know if the headmistress was still around when she asked the question. She was still looking out over the lake. The sun was beginning to set and the light spirits and fairies were beginning to look gorgeous on the lake. Even Raven was beginning to glow now.

She would wait to talk with Ares if he came over. Yes, she was sore and tired, but as the ghost of Ares' former lover said, she needed to give of herself in order to have a chance at being with Ares again.

Ares watched Evermore through the barrier, but didn't want to cross it. He didn't think that Bai Ching needed more than one god or goddess, and it already had Aphrodite. He wasn't really needed here. He spoke to Evermore a short moment after Arielle's words faded. "Do as she says, Evermore. I'm not about to cross the barrier. We'll talk tonight, after you've gone to sleep." Whether she believed him or not didn't matter. He shimmered for a moment, then was gone.

He returned to Mount Olympus.

Saying that Kilala was mad was an understatement.

The Demonic Feline just couldn't believe how her master's "friends", trusted people, had just ignored her completely when she'd passed out!! Nobody had shown an ounce of concern what-so-ever!!! Granted, Evermore had pointed at Akira a couple of times, but come on!! Didn't anybody notice her pale body and the weak, struggling sounds of her breath? Kilala couldn't even carry her because of how freakin hot her master's body was!!

She smiled gratefully at the headmistress, however, when Arielle picked Akira up and started bringing her to the infirmary. At least SOMEBODY was doing something!!

The familiar followed close behind Arielle, not saying a word and very disappointed with the group behind them.

They'd get quite a nasty shock when Akira woke up...

"She has a horrible fever and the marks on her cheeks are starting to fade, thank Kami...That's a good sign by the way." Kilala told the Headmistress mentally, her voice filled with concern.

Kilala had simply nodded to Arielle's request, before jumping onto the bed and curling up by Akira, keeping a close eye on the girl. She would not sleep until those marks completely disappeared or the fever went down.

Sighing softly, the Demonic Feline looked over to Altan, seeking some sort of comfort only another feline, who was a familiar could give.

((Night everybody!))

Kilala looked at him with sad eyes and pointed to the unconscious and feverish Akira.

"What didn't happen, you mean...There were many pure evil Demons outside earlier trying to penetrate the barrier...Their dark aura's affected my master to the point of corrupting her Youkai blood, causing a common, but horrible reaction..." Kilala explained everything that happened and how annoyed she was with everybody, but the Headmistress.

With a shaky sigh, she resisted the urge to cry and said, "I couldn't help her at all...I still can't...I feel so helpless...I'm a lost cause of a familiar..."