Welcome to Gaia! ::

Angua started at the window as she felt something leaving her. She moved back slowly as the black liquid poured from the panels. Kneeling, she watched as it formed the shape of a small boy. This is what she had come for, to save him... she reached out a tentative hand and touched the child's hair. Then, moving closer, she gathered the child into her arms, lifting him away from the dirty ground, and looked down at Lupinus.

Majestrix Nox paced to and fro in the courtyard of Castellum Umbra with a greedy gleam in her twilight eyes. "Another is coming...another shall be freed. Truly this has been a strong time for the Moon Court, two of the children grown, and Spina awakened, now if Sajhiri is correct, the cat shall prowl our halls again, even though he never quite lived up to the expectations of his parents." Her words reached no ears save those of a few crows which were perched atop the courtyard wall, stretching their wings as they settled down for the night.

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Meanwhile...in Gaia...Sajhiri waited at the main door of the Silva Regia Tower nestled in a forest in the wilds far from her first home of Barton Town. She had sent a missive and directions on travelling to the strange structure to a gentleman she had stumbled upon in the lineage of a fey called 'Feles'. "Latin for Cat..." she muttered to herself, her eyes glowing red in the dim evening light. Somewhere deep within her the larger part of her psyche was surpressed and desperately struggling, but the powers of Majestrix Nox were too strong for the Seraph's consciousness to break free and subdue her dark side.

Sajhiri had seen the stained glass window in the library of the dark castle depicting a white furred, pink eyed feline. Nox had explained to her that the boy was somewhat shunned by his kin, though she never explained why. She scanned over her genealogy notes once more as she awaited Youko's arrival.

Sajhiri smiled and extended her hand in a gesture of welcome. "A pleasure to meet you, Youko. It took quite a bit of research to track you down, and I'm most grateful you came to see me. I do hope you've a bit of an open mind, though, as what I'm going to tell you might come across as somewhat unbelievable or even fantastical."

The ebon-haired woman opened the tower door and gestured the man inside, leading him to a study bordered by shelved walls which brimmed with books. The space was dominated by a mahogany desk covered in papers and computer equipment, and comfortable furnishings that screamed "antique". Gesturing for her guest to sit in a leather armchair beside a small table, Sajhiri sank into an identical one across from it.

"I don't suppose you've ever heard of the myths and legends of Tir Nan Og and the fairy folk who called it home?" she queried as she lifted a teapot over a pair of delicate china cups. "Would you like some tea?" She added cordially.

Sajhiri smiled as she poured the tea and offered the cup on a saucer to Youko. A tray with spoons, cream, sugar, honey, and lemon on it was set on the table between them. "Sidhe, Tuatha de Danaan, Tylwyth Teg, Bediadari, Fae, Fairies, Good People, Green Children, Wee Folk...they've been known by many names, and many faces over the centuries. What is the important thing to know however, is not their name but that they exist. And if my research has not mislead me, their blood runs through your veins."

She sat back in her chair and watched the man for his reaction, sipping from her teacup and peering over it with a curious, and almost amused, expression on her face.

Sajhiri set her teacup aside and pushed the papers she had been holding at the door across the table to the man. "Research. Long and thorough genological research mixed with a bit of magic and a touch of oracular ability. I hope it isn't too unbelievable to a gentleman with ears and a tail, hm?" She grinned impishly, gesturing for him to look over the papers which outlined a family tree several thousand years old, the branch structure coming to an end at his name.

"I've been tasked with finding the blood kin of the Fey as they are currently under a dread curse, and have been for over a thousand years. A millenia ago a sorcerer cursed the children of the Silva Regia...or Forest Court... trapping them in stained glass windows until such time as one not a fey, but bearing their blood, would come to Tir Nan Og to release them. Breaking the curse is not quite as simple as that of course."

She stood and moved to a bookshelf, drawing out a tome with strange runes emblazoned on the leather spine. "This very tower was once used as a mundane meeting place for the leaders of both sides of the court, the Sun Court and the Moon Court. So it was not unusual to have a fey mingle with a native or resident of Gaia itself. That is how the bloodlines passed to non-faeries."

"You're very perceptive. This is the part where I typically expect a kithain to go running out the door, but much to my surprise none have yet. I suppose the blood carries with it a sense of honor or duty. I myself am Kithain and have made the sacrifice twice over to break the curse for my fey relations."

Sajhiri sat back down again, setting the book on the table open to a page with strange text on it, and an ornate illumination depicting a stained glass window with a pale-furred cat molded into the design.

"When one crosses into Tir Nan Og, a Kithain is drawn to the resting place of their cursed blood relative. Then the spell which entrapped that fey gives them the choice. To free the child within, a Kithain must sacrifice a small portion of both their soul and their life essence. Only such an enormous sacrifice can dismantle the black magics that trapped them." Sajhiri's expression became serious as she explained the curse. Her finger traced the feline in the illustration. "This is the child I believe you are related to. His name is Feles...indicative of the totem he is bound to by the nature of the Fey. Once he is freed, the two of you will be connected by your soul and life spark that has been shared. He will have to remain in your care at least until he grows up, which is usually not very long due to a side effect of the curse. The children don't age normally now, instead they make sudden, painful leaps in age to adolescence then adulthood. They seem to resume normal life at this point, which I've discovered is the age they would be now if they'd not been cursed."

Sajhiri closed the book with a nod and gestured towards the study door. "Please follow me. We'll actually know quite quickly if I'm correct or wrong, as if you are not Kithain, you won't be able to activate the Faerie Ring and cross into Tir Nan Og."

The earth-bound Seraph moved through the tower's passages, heading ever closer to it's center. There she pushed open a heavy door banded in iron to reveal a circular open air space filled with grass and wildflowers. At it center was a strange circle of large mushrooms, with colorful spots and strangely glowing gills beneath their caps.

"If you would be so kind as to step into the ring, Youko. If you are truly fey blooded, you will find yourself in the Meadow in Tir Nan Og. I will follow behind you, but pay me no mind, just follow the pulling sensation you feel. It will lead you to where you are needed." She stepped aside to let the kitsune pass.

Sajhiri followed the kitsune through the portal and kept pace a few feet in his wake. Her smile had grown into a full fledged grin as she felt the swell of excitement from Nox through their bond.

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In the courtyard, Nox stopped her pacing, sensing the return of her Kithain. "It is time..." She murmured. A pale hand smoothed her braids as she stood by the entrance to the castle proper, awaiting Youko.

High above her, in the wall of the castle library, the moonlight struck a window where a pale cat was embedded in the lines of lead and fused glass.