Welcome to Gaia! ::

"There are many theories where I come from," Nyssa admitted, "but recently things are becoming more uncertain. Most people don't even believe in it, you know?" Nyssa awkwardly rubbed at the goosebumps forming on her arms. This always happened when she talked about it - even when she so much as thought about it. She folded her arms and sank lower in her chair. "But anyway, it doesn't matter. Magic is never going to affect my life." At least, she certainly hoped it wouldn't. Not any more.

She nodded, noticing how uncomfortable the topic made Nyssa. She decided to try to draw it away. "Do you think we can use this place as a doorway? That might solve all my problems, if I can step through it from the Shadow Lands, and use it as a conduit to get back to the land of the light. I might be able to get home..." she murmured, contemplating it. She needed to get home. Every day she was away was one more day her sister could be killed.

She could barely hear Maggie when she replied. Exasperated, she said, "Stop it. You have to stop apologizing to me. I've never been treated with fear, and don't intend on starting. So why are you acting like this to me? What do you think I'm going to do?" Her voice was firm, but not elevated or condescending.

"I just need to get back to my world," she sighed. "And not for my destiny, but my sister's. Everything I set in place will only last for so long. The last I heard she was still alive, but her protections will grow weak..." She sighed and shook her head, defeated. There was nothing she could do from the Shadow Land.

Maggie shrank back into herself. She wanted to apologize to Luciana, but knew better than to try that again. Without being able to say sorry, she was at a loss for words. She became more at a loss when Luciana spoke of her sister. Her eyes grew wide in horror. Luciana's sister was in that kind of danger? She felt so bad for her. It was easy to see how worried she was.

"How old are you, Maggie?" Nyssa asked, trying to draw the girl out of her shell. All this talk of doom was making her feel queasy as she thought about her own predicament and how little time she might have left in Pastora if things panned out like she feared they would.

"Seventeen, huh?" Nyssa smiled and tried to convince the young girl to relax. "My sister is your age, just about. I liked being seventeen. It was a safe age. You needn't be so wary in here, you know."

((Sorry guys, I have to split. But carry on without me! I'll be back again tomorrow.))

Maggie nodded. She did feel a little better at Nyssa's words. Still, her voice was soft when she mumbled, "Cool." There was little that the women could say to make her fully comfortable.

A question came to Maggie's mind. She was going to push it away like she normally did, but she had the attention of both women, and neither seemed upset at her. If she was ever going to ask, it might as well have been then. Suddenly uncomfortable, she glanced away. "I don't understand what you two have been talking about..." What bits and pieces she had caught in the midst of her day dreams might as well have been in another language.

Nothing Luciana said had made any sense to Maggie, so she stared blankly. How was she supposed to believe that? It sounded like something out of one of her books. Exactly like something out of one of her books, in fact. Maybe she was dreaming? She didn't think she was, but it was possible. It seemed more possible than what Luciana presented as truth. Maggie thought it over for another moment.

"Okay," she finally said. She pretended to understand, and simply decided that she wouldn't ask any more questions about it. It dawned on her, however, that she wouldn't be able to avoid the topic very easily. "So should I be talking about...where I'm from?" She asked hesitantly.