Welcome to Gaia! ::

Chen grinned. He was glad Kyle wasn't here, it seemed that he had more than just your average space cadet here. He pulled his arm back to finish the last bite of food. However, he was too smart. He wasn't going to slide his arm around her again.

He had to try another move, or wait for her to make a move...

Chen took the signal, and slid his arm around her again.

Lightest rice in all of Kumori.

Chen smiled slightly and lightly leaned against her as well.

The shadows behind Gensou quivered.

"Gensou-sama..."

Mercedes made her presence known. Manicured hands slid around his shoulders and she let her Dark aura flow and mix with his, revelling in euphoria of a power greater than hers. She lightly gripped the tops of his shoulders and nipped his lower left earlobe playfully. Her laugh was whispering and quiet.

"Your servant has returned, my Lord."

Well, Sir Chen..You are certainly forward about your desires. Well, let us finish supper, and then we shall see what will happen. Is that agreeable? *she winked again, and then finished eating her rice, the final forkful being savored in her mouth like candy.*

"Well, loveliness, I've been quite well. Though I must admit, the politicking is beginning to get to me in more ways than one." He teased her plump, sensuous lips with the tips of his index finger for a few moments before reclaiming it for his own. "You see that up there?" He pointed up at the map that had claimed the ceiling. Several points on it glowed more brightly than the rest. "See the brighter circles? Those are anomalies in the continuum of dark spirits and their magic. Now, there are the normal trouble spots; that b***h Catarinza, for instance. I still don't quite understand why she hangs around that old manor of hers; her husband has been dead for years..."

Darkness did Its equivalent of a cough, and Gensou rolled his eyes beneath the cloth that covered them. "At any rate, the latest occurred in Laburnum, though I doubt it has anything to do with this upcoming festival you've just informed me of." He tapped his temple with two fingers thoughtfully. "Very useful information, that."

Chen smiled.

That is most agreeable.

"Screams...of the dying. Yes, that would be pleasant, loveliness." A distracted tone in his voice spoke of attention directed far off from the haven. Then, with more lucidity, "Brace yourself, Morgan, we're about to have company."

A sensation of pressure building inside the confines of the haven pushed against his forehead for few moments before a large pool of darkness exploded into being at his feet. He sensed the thing he had rescued, whatever it was, within the pool's depths, but for some reason, Darkness did not wish to let the disparate consciousness go.

"What on Gaia?" Gensou snapped, and drew himself up. He was not tall, but he had presence manifest even in the darkness of the haven. "Obey your master, spirits of shadow!"

Darkness quivered, whined, shook, and hummed, but in the end, the High Priest's will dominated. It spat up the creature it had brought, depositing him on the floor before Gensou's boots.

"It is a rare occurrence for a man other than myself to enter this place." the High Priest told the fallen figure. He knelt, drawing a large, wicked chakram from folds in his robe. "You are damaged. What will you give me in return for healing?"

Gensou tapped his cheek several times with his left index finger before looking down at the being at his feet. "Hm. Yukiko, eh? Yes, she has been quite a bit of sunshine in my night of late. But then, the High Priests of Light have always been thus. Why should her daughter be any different?" He shook his head. "But I digress. You need healing, and I promised to procure some measure of it."

He stood up and turned away from Sacros so that he could contemplate the enormous, dark clock that stood directly opposite from him in this position. "Unfortunately, darkness is not exactly accustomed to repairing the ravages of life. It is more suited toward committing them. Now, we have three options that stand before us."

The High Priest took a few steps toward the clock and stopped again, whirling to face the fallen creature. "You appear to be a strange anomaly indeed. Composed of darkness, yet not entirely of Darkness, you have a will of your own. Twisted and evil that will may be, but it is nonetheless a will, an emulation of what marks humans for what they are. Now, the first possibility open to us is that I rebuild you entirely, from scratch, retaining only your soul and attaching it to the new homunculus."

He spread his hands. "Since the festival occurs two days hence, and your new body would not be complete for at least a month, I do not expect this method will allow you to fulfill your half of the bargain in a timely manner. This is not desirable, unless you choose to find some other trinket to please me."

"I could use a bit of my blood to heal the damage done to your wings, since I am suffused with a great deal of dark energy. However, this would involve your being tied to me indelibly and for eternity, which you probably don't want and I certainly don't."

"The third method is one you perhaps might find more attractive, since it will give you a chance to meet the being that is effectively your mother." He paused, pulled a long, slender key of gold on a chain from around his neck. "I can contact Her for you, if you so choose. I am a priest, after all."