Welcome to Gaia! ::

Before you lies a computer monitor. A ball resembling Gundam's Haro rolls into the center of the screen. It stops and projects a chibi version of Gidget.

"Hi, I'm WIDGET! Your virtual guide for all things Valhalla. Think of me as a cuter, less obstructive, version of Clippy. If you remember Clippy, great! If not, I'm afraid some content may not be accessible to someone your age. We'll figure it out when you input your credentials."

...

"Oh wow! Your clearance is pretty high! That makes things a lot easier. What would you like to know?"

...

"That's kinda private, but you're the one with the clearance."

"That day was marked a few notable social media trends! #splodyflood. #mythity. #fareshooting. #tacodragon. #blackfishbuthot. Eeeeew, that last one is...questionable. Anyway, the two months following that day had a lot going on."

"Heather had mixed feelings about the choosing of Sara as the water representative. It took her a while to not treat her new partner like she was going to keel over at the slightest provocation. They eventually worked it out. She also found herself at odds with her company's board of directors; especially that creep who wanted a date with Liv. It took some doing, but she was able to earmark funds to help Gidget with her neighborhood project, codenamed "Like BNA, but not xenophobic." It was a working title.

"Speaking of Gidget, she and Ako tied the knot! She's started showing a little baby bump that got the socials buzzing, and they learned that they're having a girl! A little Trinity! With all that going on, you think she'd have a hard time keeping up with what needed to be done on her end to make sure the moon mission goes off without a hitch. You obviously don't know Gidget! She did need to start slowing down, begrudgingly. after she passed out at her console."

"In the theme of medical emergencies, Deora's sickness began to show signs of remission. It didn't take long for her to feel the effects of the chemo. She's tired, and sick a lot of the time, but she was able to soldier on with the support of her friends."

"Theresa started school and began to learn at a pace previously thought impossible. The near immediate comprehensive abilities of her biological mother saw her hop from Kindergarten onto fifth grade. She reveled it getting to be a kid, and she started to develop a more solid familial relationship with the Acula's."

"Ravan and the future kids had started to finally come out of their shells with mixed results. Leo started dating that blue skinned guy that had a crush on Heather, Mitchell. Dawn, feeling imprisoned by the walls of Valhalla, opted to join a religious youth group on a trip to the beach. Their fun was ruined by those awful Prometheus Watch jerks. Since then, she's been afraid to leave. Ravan herself found herself all tied up in knots about a lot of things. The future, Sara's safety, her own happiness, Sara's smile, coming to terms with her trauma, and wondering why she thought about Sara so much."

"Alec continued to work out a way for him to not need to stay away from Kerana for, from his perspective, a few years at a time. He managed to whittle down to a few months, but a reaper's work is never done. He's managed to stay happy, though. A feeling he cherishes almost as much as the person who made it possible for him."

"The Soichi family had a helluva time! Lokelonni and Ilex continued to train Kerana in the ways of life while Rydia and Freya focused on the physical aspect. To say that Freya was a hardass would be putting it mildly. On more than one occasion, she lost her temper with some of the more opinionated members of the Eight. It only got worse as the time for her mother to depart drew closer. To his credit, Liam was a great support for her. Unmarred by years of human psychological development, he settled into his role as friend and confidant pretty easily. Yet, from an outside perspective, it was easy to see that he wanted more. But he was a good guy. An actual good guy."

"In a poetically ironic sense, Dean ended up breaking things off with Trinity. In spite of herself, she found herself waking up in Theonis' room on more than one occassion. It went unnoticed, for the most part, because it was normal for Trinity to be out on a run before he got up. However, one time was too many for the little blue birds of Valhalla to go chirping on the intranet. When Dean found out, he wasn't as angry or hurt as most everyone expected him to be. He just resigned himself to the idea that Trinity wanted what she wanted, even if she couldn't admit it to herself. No bad blood, no vitriol, he just ended it."

"Whew, that's a lot of info, but you really want to know about what happened after those two months, right? I'll let the rest of the logs clue you into what the others I didn't mention were up to."

"It was a bittersweet day for many reasons. 1: Rydia, Ravan, and Sara were on a boat; staged above the final resting place of Rydia's home. They were on a mission to recover her father's ship in the hopes it could take them to the Lunar spire with less hassle than a space shuttle. Things were tense, mostly because everyone on board knew what was happening back home."

"Lokelonni had been bedridden for a few days at that point; no longer possessing the energy to walk. Rydia had already said her farewells the day before, and Freya sat at her mother's side. The Queen sent a message to Kerana. It was time. She also sent a message to Liv. She requested a moment to see Freya with her own eyes; a task she knew would only be possible with the help of the one in possession of an infinite eye."

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Lokelonni lay quietly with her eyes shut. She felt a great need to sleep, but she knew it would be her last. There were still things that needed to be done. In spite of what was to come, she still presented herself with grace and poise.

Freya's eyes were heavy and dark. In the last few months, she had tried and failed many times to kick her habit. Lokelonni had been correct. Freya could feel herself falling apart. Yet she remained resolute and strong so long as she sat at her mother's side.

"Does it hurt?" she asked.

"No, dear. I simply feel very tired. I know you are scared, and sad, but do not worry for my comfort. The only negative emotion I feel is worry for you"

"Me? But yo-"

"The drink still lingers in the scent of your words, Freya. At the risk of sounding selfish in this moment, I ask you to do only one thing. Allow yourself to be happy. Stop drowning your feelings away. Allines is long dead, and you have suffered your self imposed punishment long enough. I know it will be difficult for you, but can you promise me to at least try."

Freya gripped her mother's hand tightly and allowed her tears to flow. With a single sob, she nodded and replied, "For you-"

"No, Freya. Not for me. Do it for yourself. Live the life you have for you." she said with a heavy sigh.

"I...I'll....I'll do my best."

Lokelonni smiled and breathed, "Of that, I have no doubt."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rydia leaned against the railing on the deck of the dive boat. She looked out over the waters and thought about home. The laughter of her people; their music, writing, culture, and architecture. It all lay at the bottom of the Atlantic. She thought of the days she sat upon her grandmother's knee and listened to the stories told from over three millennia's worth of memory. Those stories would soon be hers to tell, because her Grandmother lay dying back in America.

She had to leave. She had to do something. She had spent the last three months free of her royal duty. In spite of what was happening back in Valhalla, she would recover her Father's legacy.

Freya grit her teeth and soun toward Liam. "Have I thrown that chair out of the room with you on it? No? Then shut up and-"

"Freya." Lokelonni warned with a tone that could only be described as maternal royalty.

Freya caught herself and tightened her lips. "It's fine. You're fine. We...appreciate it."

When Liv entered, Lokelonni smiled in her direction and sighed, "Quite well, all things considered. This one has not put a hole in anything. I count that as a win."

"Liv, if you would please do me the kindness of negating my infinite eyes. I wish to look upon my daughters one last time. You heard me, right Okami? I have always known when you hide amongst the shadows around me. You need not feel ashamed of your grief."

Okami slinked out of the shadows and stepped slowly to the oppositeside of the bed from Freya. She lay her massive head down softly on her mother's torso.

"There you are, my little surprise." Lokelonni said with a pleased sigh.

Lokelonni opened her eyes slowly. Her diamond eyes reflected Freya's. Quiet, dignified tears welled up and she cradled her human daughter's face. "Your eyes. You have my eyes. You have grown into a beautiful young woman. A bit rough around the edges, but beautiful none the less."

Freya huffed, chuckled, and sniffed.

Lokelonni looked over to Okami and smiled brightly. "You are the prettiest wolf I've ever seen, Okami. Bright, kind, and loyal. You are a good girl. Never forget that."

Okami's tail did not know if it wanted to wag or not. While the wolf was happy to hear the compliments, he could feel the finality to them. "I wont, mama."

The queen nodded and looked to Liam. "Oh my. These fingers did not do your face justice."

"Mother!" Freya said with a flush of embarrassment.

Lokelonni chuckled to herself; amused by her jest. "It is wonderful to finally see you."

She relaxed her head and breathed. Her eyes felt heavier. She knew Liv would not be able to keep up the lockdown forever. She hoped Kerana arrived in time. Lokelonni so wanted to see that iteration of the lively young lady.

Liv look a step back after she had removed Loke's blindfold and blocked the full force of her Infinity Eyes. Thanks to her instructions she had gotten a lot better. But their eyes were not the same. Liv's had evolved due to the boons. Maybe because of her regeneration as well. But she wasn't sure about that. Lokelonni's changed due to her age and usage plus her lineage. Rydia's version of the eyes mutated because of mixed bloodline. Strange how those paths diverged.

"Don't worry. I can keep this up for a lot longer than you might think." She told Lokelonni and took a seat. Freya's reaction to the teasing was...surprisingly adorable.

Liam observed the interactions. He had grown fond of Lokelonni over these two months. Seeing her without her blindfold was....nice. Her eyes were beautiful. She was beautiful. He couldn't help but a smile a bit at her teasing of Freya.

"It's good to see you." He responded. The eyes were the windows to the soul they said. That statement applied a lot more to Lokelonni than anyone else." You have beautiful eyes."

Crystallion had time to readjust to the old lifestyle she had. It took her a lot longer than she had liked and even know sudden loud sounds spooked her to the point of lasering something out of reflex. But her own mental health came second for her. The most important thing to her, were the children. Who, luckily were adjusting a lot better. Leo, surprisingly to her, found a boyfriend. Though thinking back, that was a long away coming. She just had tunnel vision of seeing Ravan has his potential partner.

Ravan, who seemed to do a lot better after her memories were fixed. often talked about a new friend she had made. A lot actually. Sara, a mermaid or...former mermaid? Crystallion had a hunch on why she talked about her. Nevertheless, Crys was happy she had made a friend. Someone she cared for. Though, she had a good suspicion why Ravan talked about her so much.

Dawn wanted to go out and she was happy for her when she did find a group to do that with. Religion was...never her cup of tea especially with all that happened she knew that there was no "God" or if there was, the Hellstar ate it. But she was glad her daughter found a place to grow. Until those bastards ruined it. Now she was a shut-in, more scared of the world or rather, the people out there.

During the times where Crys was not helping out the kids adjust, she blinked all over the world. Sight-seeing and comparing it to how it was before. But today she had planned to take Dawn out for a day. But there were a few things she had to do before that moment. Because her nerves wouldn't allow for her to ignore it.

"Hey troublemaker. How are things on the boat? Do they have sea sickness pills with them? Did you use enough sun screen? The sun can be very strong when reflected off of those waves! Remember to look at the horizon if you ever feel sick because of those waves, alright? Hope things go well. Say hello to Sara for me. Also, if you are in trouble. Let me know! I'll be there right away!

Love, Mom"

She texted Ravan.

Trinity was having a wonderful time reconnecting with Myth. Everything was feeling right. There have been times she found herself persuading to spend the night at her place instead of his. Myth reassured that he was aware that she would not be next to him in the morning that for one reason or another that her power would take her random places. Little did he know her power shifted that to one place, Theonis’ bed. It was awkward but she did apologize Theonis as soon as she found herself there whispering in her hand allowing only Theo to hear. Whether he heard it or not was dependent on how deep of sleep he was in. The women he was with were none the wiser they tend to be real deep sleepers a couple of them snored. On the one hand she was glad he was able to move on. On the other hand she was frustrated that some part of her was unable to let her move on.

She was trying to figure out why even meditated on this in hopes to find answers to resolve this before Myth found out. Yet in the end there was an urgent email al that she started to read as she was facing the door fully dressed and sure enough without thinking about it she opened the door from Theonis’ room for all of Valhalla to see. #TrinityTriangle? Started trending. Kerana and Gidget had alerted her about this and she tried to get to Myth to explain it was something that her power had changed recently only to be silenced by his conclusion. His conclusion ‘That’s how Trinity roles’. So this is what it feels like… to break up because your power change is out of your control. Damn. She hated that her reputation allowed room for that conclusion she was very loyal but because she’s been in so many relationships there it was ‘Trinity goes wherever the wind blows’. I swear going round two with Crosis would be an easier feat than finding love.

The break up itself wasn’t as rough as it could have been but it did lead her to drink and wake up in Theonis’ bed the next morning God Damn It! she immediately just went back to her room. Part of her wanted to blame Sil thinking she didn’t want Myth and her to work but she knew it wasn’t true. This was happening before having to take her from Freya. After that night she decided to put a hold on any other relationships. At least Theo could move on she thought and sighed to herself. There were no more unexpected visits from her from that point on.

Aside from the chaotic mess called her love life she helped Sara with one-on-one training. She seemed to pick up on sensing the full extent of water and moisture in the air unlike Deora. Also unlike Deora fighting was not her strong suit Deora had experience with street fights Sara did not. Trinity couldn’t help but remember how tough it was when she was first brought to Valhalla. She wanted to learn to fight and Sara had that similar determination to catch up. Trinity had considered giving Sara a similar training Freya had given her but thought it would be better to do that once her courage was built up enough.

She was an ear for Freya listening to her concerns for her mother. Theatre news took a toll on her. Then there were times when talked about Liam sometimes it was like ‘why bring him up?’. Though Trinity and Sil knew why but it did seem out of the blue at times.

Despite it all she continued doing her work and continued her workout regimen and tried pushing herself in the Gforce facility.

Alec swallowed as he took the pictures of Kerana. He would be lying if he said that he had not thought about what Kerana's "after" might be. He felt a little guilty especially since he adored Kerana back when she was just a one tailed red fox girl, but he was still a teenaged boy at heart. It did not help that there had been a few moments where they had to force themselves to stop.

During the last two months, Alec had gotten over his hang-ups about being seen without his shirt on. That led to a steamy moment after a training session where they not only found their hands doing more exploration than usual, but they discovered that their connection created a feedback look of emotions that heightened the pleasure of their more intimate moments. It was difficult, but they kept to their agreement to abstain from sex before she had a chance to catch up to his outward age. In the meantime, they made do with sleeping in the same bed. Lately, to their mutual pleasure, he had been going to bed without a shirt. Likewise, she had been going to bed wearing just a shirt and briefs.

But it was not the time to focus on their intimate pleasures. Lokelonni was about to fall into her final sleep. Alec focused on being there to support Kerana in what was sure to be an incredibly difficult moment for everyone involved.

He closed the rift behind them and dismissed his scythe. He looked to everyone present. Lokelonni, Freya, Okami, Liv, and Liam. The atmosphere was appropriately heavy, though Lokelonni had just winded down from what seemed to be a case of the giggles.

Freya's face had become a deep red upon hearing Liam's compliment. She put her face into her hands and groaned. Off all the emotions she expected to feel at that moment, embarrassment was not one of them.

Lokelonni put her hand to her mouth and chuckled. "Yes, we do have lovely eyes. Do you not agree, Freya?"

A muffled, "Oh my ******** god!" came from behind Freya's hands.

It was a moment of purposeful levity that Lokelonni was thankful for. She did not want her last moments with her children to be mired in misery.

She looked to Kerana and Alec as they entered. "Ah, wonderful. My soul's two oldest friends, and quite the adorable couple. Opposites attract, indeed. How are you feeling, Kerana?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heather sat alone in the back of her limo. Her knee bounced up and down nervously as she chewed on the claw of her right thumb. She had just made a discovery that would rock the shaky period of relative peace they had experienced the last few months. Her first instinct was to handle it herself, but that was the dragon thinking. Someone had threatened her perceived treasures, and she wanted to make them pay. Her nerves came from keeping it as bay as much as mulling over the problem. She finally settled on the fact that what she had learned was not just a Valhalla problem. It was bigger than she could handle with just money and/or fire.

She pulled out her phone and dialed the numbers of the two people she knew would be least likely to have any pressing issues at the moment. Most everyone else was working on tech, recovering a ship from the bottom of the ocean, or helping Freya's mom in her last moments. That left...

::Conference Call...Dialing...Trinity...Theonis::

She held the phone to her ear and went back to chewing on her thumb talon.

Liam had cocked his head slightly in confusion but then quickly realized what he had said inadvertently to Freya. Not his intent but Lokelonni instantly used it to tease Freya. He couldn't help but chuckle a bit and look towards Freya, who had her face buried in her hands. She was adorable. Liam looked at the two arrivals. Alec and Kerana. Death and Life. He was thankful for Alec for giving him those books before. About Atlantis. Truly interesting.

Theo was at his desk, working. Still plenty of things to do for him. Especially with Gidget's focus on the Moon, her pregnancy and marriage. He had hoped to push some of this work onto her but that wouldn't be responsible. Especially now. No point complaining about it. He chose this so he's gonna go through with it. Then he got a call. There was nothing scheduled for now. No meetings or anything it struck him as odd. But then he saw Heather's number. She only calls when it's related to her company.

Theo answered the call.

"Heather, what's up?"