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Reina pouted, realizing their short break was over, and made sure to take this exotic fruit with her. Hades arose to his hooves, nudging the girl towards Lain and Artemis, showing that they needed to get a move on.

"Calm down Hades, I know I'm going." With a tired stretch and a heavy sigh she mounted back on her trusty steed and pat his cool back. "It's one way straight through now, we'll make it." Reina cought the attention of the others to follow them onward, they would head to Serionia now, and arrive there in time. To be honest, Reina was glad that she would head back to her homeland, the chance to see her mother and show her how strong she had gotten would be worth the long travel. Reina was most certain that her mother would be proud, even her father would have been proud if he was alive to see his little girl protect the walls of Camelot.

As the night came on, Reina felt them start to exit the desert lands, and over the horizon was Serionia. The night did the place justice, afterall, it hid from her the wounds and scars it bore during her time of leave, she was still not ready to see what had become of her beautiful homeland, after the attack.

"There it is, I see it! Finally, a bed that becons me and a family with open arms! It's been over a decade and I still can remember the smells and sights of this place, as if I had just left."

Finally, a bed that beckons me and a family with open arms!

Ryn stiffened slightly, the memory of his entire family dying ripping through his mind. He brought one hand up, wiping his face as though trying to get sweat out of his eyes.

"Stupid really... Its been four years, and I still feel this way...", He thought, grabbing hold of the saddle again. He wasn't even sure where he had lived back then, but he knew what it had been like, having a home, and a family.

Out loud all he said was," Thats nice.... I'll have to find somewhere to stay, and try to buy a horse here."

"A family...with open arms..." He whispered. It was useless trying to turn his head and pretend like nothing was bothering him. It would have been all too easy to blame the distance on the fact that he wanted to feel the breeze of the night to quench his skin, but no, he couldn't lie, he never lied, and he wasn't about to start.

"Sometimes I wish, that my life was different." The voice that came from him was low and monotone. He was breaking inside with every step Artemis took toward the city. Perhaps he wasn't as ready to face the past as he thought he was. "I mean, what if my family hadn't been murdered. What would my life be like? I can tell you what it would be like. I'd be married, with children, and a wife who loved me, and.....my mother and father...." He dipped his head low, turning his head to face his fellow knight.

"I wouldn't be here. Crossing the desert in the middle of the night, on my way to facing the one place that scares me the most. But it calls to me, and it always has..." He swallowed hard and locked eyes with Reina, his eyes filled to the brim before a stream of fresh, dust filled tears ran down his face. But as much as he cried, his expression did not change. "You really should get back t the others I'll be fine." His heels found their mark and Artemis trotted a bit faster, a limp and weary Lain jostling on his back.

"Mu-murdered?" Reina's voice choked over the words, how could it have been? No... she wanted to be ignorant, to be oblivious to the fact that Serionia was invincible. "Lain, I am going to find my mother, perhaps she can give us a place to sleep, I know she would be good for that." Reina kept high hopes, she didn't want to admit that there might be a chance, things here were different then what she expected. "If you want to go on, that's alright, I'll meet you after I speak with her and we get settled down. Besides, Mother has always been a great listener, and an excellent cook. She'd make you feel right at home so forget your worries." Reina pat his shoulder, giving him a sincere nod, she was, for her sake and theirs, trying to keep an opend mind.

Hades strolled into the city, which was partially in ruins, and seemed to be untouched by anyone in this side. The streets used to be filled with children, even at night as they would chace the night creatures, and families would be gathered under the starry sky, but not this night. Reina smelt the foul stench of rotting corpses and felt many times that she tripped over weapons and the like. Hopping off of Hades, she knelt down to pick up a small doll, the smell of blood was covered in it, and she could hear screams of a child. She carried the doll with her, walking further into the city, going down a familiar road, towards her house, which used to be covered in vines and beautiful wildflowers. To her dismay, the house was fallen in, and seemed to be burnt in many places. Hades stayed still while Reina rushed through the broken down door, pushing aside the debris, looking for her mother.

"Mother! Mother are you still here?!" Normally, one would accept that their loved one had not made it through alive, but Reina did not believe that were possible. The woman was gentle, she had a smile that lit up even the darkest of nights. "Mother, please, if you're still here, call my name, it's me, Reina." The air was silent, and there was nothing to be heard. Reina felt a hand at her shoulder and she quickly unsheathed her sword, pushing it against the being, only as a warning, until she had looked up to see two warm brown eyes and a torch staring at her. An elder man, about the age of fourty five or so was standing above her in the ruins of her old house.

"Milady, I heard word that the Knights were comming, and I had seen you here. You were the daughter of Amanie, correct?" Reina nodded, her eyes widening at the mention of her mother's name.

"Yes, Amanie Leiyflied Sinclaire, do you know where she is?" The man nodded, guiding her out of the house, and down another path. "Thank you so much, I was worried that she might have-" and then, she stopped. Reina's eyes fell to a cemetary, which laid far across the land and pointed to a tomb with a large cross over it. The words to her grave were inscribed in elvish, and Reina backed up in shock. She could not believe it, she would not. Rushing now, towards the headstone, she touched the delicate craft, seeing a flood of images of her mother's death pass through her eyes, as if seeing Amanie's death the way she had.

Moments passed and the man had heard nothing from Reina. He moved over towards her, and she had stood up before he had again said anything more. "My name is Eldric, come, take me to the others, and I will show you where they may stay." He accompanied Reina back to the other three, though Reina did her best not to show she was distressed, it would be bad for her to seem so discomposed, especially when she tried making others feel better.

((I see... I'm still trying to figure out why you go to bed after you eat dinner *-*))

Ryn sat upon his steed, as they slowly came into the city. His eyes, so used to the darkness which he spent most of his time in, catching details of dead bodies, dropped weapons, and general destruction. Despite what he had done for money, this was brutality on a scale he had never seen. It sickened him, that so many had died, and that this entire place had been half destroyed by whoever had attacked it.

"So sacrifice yourself, and let me have whats left. I know that I can find, the fire in your eyes. You take the breath right out of me. You left a hole where my heart should be.", Ryn muttered under his breath, an old assassins ode to the dead.

He hoped the others were not nearly as adept at seeing in the dark as he was, for this would no doubt distract them from what would eventually get him enough riches to never work again.

((Well it was only a few pieces of sushi. But I was tired and ate dinner late so I went to bed. But then someone called and I was up till 2am. I'll post in a sec. Oh, and I finished the battle sytstem, I'm hoping to get that up sometime today.))

Ryn followed calmly, dismounting when Lain did, and following silently, his eyes catching every detail in the night, searching for any danger. He felt that something was wrong here, beyond just the destruction that they had seen. He wasn't sure what, but he was not planning on sleeping to soundly for the next two days.

Unconsciously he flicked a knife into his left palm, and held it by the blade, blood trickling down his palm. Under his breath, without even thinking about it he muttered the same promise he had made to himself when his own family had died. This place made everything more personal, and he decided, that instant, that he was no longer on this mission just for the money. He wanted the same revenge for these peoples family's as he had wanted, and gotten for his own.

Quietly he said, turning towards Lain,"I don't think we should stay here any longer than the two days...."