Welcome to Gaia! ::

*Spirit listened closely as Anime answered Aly’s question, once she was done Spirit leaned up against the tree as she thought. Anime seemed like a strong person and if it were true that she could read minds, was she reading hers right now? She didn’t like that, her mind was the place where she was able to keep all of her deepest secrets and she would rather if no one went in them. She wondered why Anime was telling them so much about herself and also if there was anything she was not telling them, but she seemed to be telling the truth as far as she could tell. Then again she had never met a vampire before so how would she know if one was lying or not. After she had thought through everything in her head she finally turned to Aly, “I can not decide that for you, I will help you either way, but I will not choose which way that will be.” She said, if Aly did choose for Anime to come along she would have to make sure not to think of anything important when she was around, just in case.*

*Aly was wallowing. Never before her had she had to make such a large decision. If she allowed Anime to come with them and she turned out to be dangerous, she would be responsible for Anime harming Spirit. Her own life meant nothing to her, but she didn’t know if she could take the risk of harming someone else’s with a decision that she had to make. If she rejected Anime, would she become angry and try to attack them? Aly’s head whirled in confusion. She wasn’t sure what to do and any decision she made could harm her friend. Something Anime had told them tugged at her mind. Why would she be telling them so much information about herself if she wanted to harm them? Was it because she wanted them to trust her and then attack them when they thought she wouldn’t? Anime had told them that she could read minds and Aly wanted to know if it was what was passing through the mind while they were thinking it, or if it was everything that they had ever thought. A shiver ran up her spine. If it were every thought that she had ever had, then Anime would find out her secret. On the outside, Aly looked nothing but a mere human. That was her advantage. When evil attacked her they had no idea that she was half - human, that she possessed powers that could destroy them when they were unsuspecting. Her cover would be blown. Aly was sure that panic was written all over her face and she tried desperately to wipe it off. She couldn’t have they thinking that there was anything wrong, even though Anime could read minds. Annoyed and violated, Aly stared at Anime with blank eyes. She couldn’t believe that someone, who could pose a threat to them, was able to figure out her secret if she so much as thought about it. With Anime around, she would have to be careful with her thoughts, and she found that was the only place where she could feel secure. * “If I allow you to come with us, you have to promise us something,” Aly began, “You must inform us if someone evil is lurking.” Aly was awaiting her answer, when she heard a voice behind her. She became white, perhaps even as white as Anime, and turned slowly. Panic spread through her body, new people seemed to be appearing right before her and she became frightened that one of them was evil. Aly stared at the newcomer, eyes wide with fright, unable to move, unable to breathe. *

*Maya smirked at the vampire. "Well, I guess you can read minds, then. If you knew my name, wouldn't you also know what I was doing here? So why did you ask?" Maya then turned to the other two girls. The one on the ground seemed frightened. Without moving, Maya dropped the weapons that were behind, and on either side of her. After all, it wasn't dangerous for her to drop the weapons for a moment. Within a fraction of a second she could send them flying at an attacker. "Sorry if I scared you," she said to the girl on the ground,"I mean no harm. Not to any of you at least." Taking another look at the girl on the ground, Maya decided that the girl might not have been entirely human. She also saw that she was injured, but that she was well taken care of. She wanted to help the girl, and assuming that she didn't need permission to do her a favour, stuck out her hand and let the healing power flow from her and towards the girl's leg. She estimated that it would take about ten seconds to fully heal. "So," Maya said when she was finished healing, "are any of you going to answer my question?"*

*Maya looked at the demon girl, studying her face to make sure she wasn't lying. She seemed to be telling the truth. Maya sighed, "There are practitioners of Black Magic wandering around the country. They are responsible for a great deal of murders. The sorcerers and sorceresses of good clans of magic - me included - are trying to hunt them down. I was just following a trace of Black Magic when I got here." Maya gestured to the area around them. Maya didn't understand. The trace of Black Magic was still around. How could they not have seen anyone? "You are sure you didn't see anything?"*

* Aly was too dazed to be alarmed at the newcomer. Her instincts told her to be wary of this girl but too many people had come and introduced themselves to her. Spirit, Anime and Maya now, they had all came together at one point in the forest. Besides, Maya was healing her ankle. If she were truly evil she could have attacked her while she was weak and defenseless, or so it seemed. Maya would have no clue at the powers she possessed, but by the looks of it, Maya had her own powers too. The way the object obeyed her at command made her suspicious. She eyed the girl warily, but less defensive then the others. The throbbing in her ankle eventually subsided and she sighed in relief. She listened intently to the news that Maya was talking about and her mind wandered to the time where she was alone in the woods. It could have been minutes or hours ago, she didn't know. She remembered saying her goodbyes and the evil that she felt would always haunt her for the rest of her life. She had been so scared that it was because of her blindness or her surroundings, that she had tripped. She counted her blessings that her ankle was the only think that broke but in that moment, when she wasn't able to run away from the evil, she felt defenseless. It was when Spirit had showed up that it disappeared. Spirit's voice broke through her memory and she turned to stare at Maya.* "Yes, I believe I felt something evil," Aly confirmed, " I am not sure what it was, but it frightened me."

*Maya smiled at the girls gratefully. "Thank you for your help," she said. What with knowing that one girl had felt something evil, and that the other had smelled something, it would make the witch or warlock easier to track. Then she remembered something. "The reason none of you may not have seen or heard anything before is because the those of the Dark Clans can disguise their presence even from such beings as yourselves. If they are powerful enough, they can even disguise themselves to the point where you cannot even sense them. Of course that is extremely rare. But all the same, you three should be careful. We are dealing with more than average magic." For a second, Maya forgot about her mission and stared at the girls around her. They were all different from each other but in some ways, they were the same, and Maya felt oddly out of place. All three girls had long flowing hair, whereas Maya's hair just touched the base of her neck. They all had darker eyes, ranging from brown to gold. Maya's eyes were an unnatural shade of blue. Most importantly, these girls seemed to be free to do whatever they wanted. Maya was obligated to protect everyone from the Black Magic that so unfortunately existed around them. She hadn't had more than an hour of spare time since she was six, which resulted in her not having any close friends, either. Maya shook the feeling off. She was about to start back on her mission, but she had one more question for them. "What are your names?"

* Confusion swept over Aly, at what Maya was saying. She had said that the dark clans were able to shield themselves from their presence and yet, both Aly and Anime were able to sense their presence. Once again, memories flashed in Aly’s mind. The panic that she had felt, was odd because Aly was not easily frightened. She was able to take care of herself and if this presence was enough to scare her to not notice where she was going was enough to listen to Maya’s words. She remembered her prayers and the goodbyes she had said earlier, before she had met Spirit. She was sure that the presence was going to come and capture her. It was nothing that she had ever felt before and yet, it intrigued Aly. Frightening Aly was not easily done, and if these Dark Clans were able to do that, Aly wanted to know more about them. The girl, Maya she believed Anime had said her name was, obviously was trained to know how to handle them and knew more about them then anyone else she had ever known. She remembered hearing rumours when she was little about powerful beasts that were able to shield themselves from other people’s presence, but she had thought it was a myth. She had never known of anything that could do that before, therefore they had to be powerful. Aly clutched the tree that she leaned on for support, and pulled herself up. Her ankle had improved and she was grateful that she was able to walk and even run on it now. Aly had the time to study Maya. She had cropped black hair, cut to her neck and had unusual blue eyes. She had the power to heal and was able to somehow control objects around her, so it seemed. She intrigued Aly and she wanted to learn more about this girl who stood in front of her. Aly took notice when Maya looked about ready to go and was about to stop her, when Maya had asked them their names. Aly took a deep breath and stared right into Maya’s eyes. * “I’m Aly,” she introduced. *