Welcome to Gaia! ::

Iorlas took up position next to Lancaeriel, and Aennan stood beside Miyuki. Lancaeriel counted down, and with a rush of magic, the portal opened.

The five travelers wasted no time, but hurried through the portal back to their own home, and this time when the portal closed, Lancaeriel was only light-headed, rather than exhausted. Iorlas and Aennan had it a bit rougher, but they weren't used to that sort of thing.

"Half an hour," Lancaeriel murmured, smiling tiredly. "Not to sleep, just to sit. And some wine."

"I'll get some," Arwen volunteered. "And for anyone else?"

"That would be fine," Iorlas said softly, slumping against the wall and closing her eyes.

"I think I'd prefer just to go home," Aennan said instead as Aranxia knelt next to him.

"You should ask at one of the restaurants, or the inn," Aennan told Miyuki with a smile. "They could probably give you the best information."

"I have leaves for mint drink or I can make raspberry or gooseberry," Arwen offered. "Unfortunately, I haven't got much else, those are Roydon's and my favourites."

Arwen nodded. "I'll be right back, then," she told them. "Miyuki, your drink will be a bit longer. Unfortunately, I haven't my mother's gift, so the hot water will take a while."

And with that, she headed off towards the galley on the other side of the deck.

Aranxia pulled Aennan's arm over her shoulders and helped him to his feet. "We're going to head home," she told the others. "We'll see you around."

"See you," Earendil waved to the two of them.

While they waited for Arwen to return, they discussed their meeting that afternoon with Kyrie.

"We could see her right after you've all rested," Daeron suggested, leaning against the forecastle steps, "but we'd have to stop and get Wren and Shiro and Kaito on the way."

"We would have to do that, regardless," Earendil pointed out.

Andarien was slightly puzzled. "Why does she want a meeting?" he asked curiously.

"Huh ... I guess," Andarien agreed. He looked around, counting silently in his head. "Hasn't she met everyone already, though?"

Earendil chuckled. "Yes, but not to talk about the trip," he reminded his son.

Andarien nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed.

Arwen reappeared shortly afterwards with the promised drinks for everyone, and after a solid half-hour's rest they left to find Shiro, Kaito and Wren before going back to the senator's house for their meeting with Kyrie.

The half-human, half-elven woman was in the studio with Lara when the group arrived, keeping the artist company while she was working on a painting; but when the travelers came into the house she moved into the sitting room to meet with them all.

Once proper introductions had been made for those who had not yet met each other, they began.

"Before we can go anywhere," Kyrie told them all seriously, looking around at each and every one of them as she leaned against the wall, "I need to know your purpose in this trip. Not to say whether or not it's a good one, but to be able to plan a route that's going to be able to accomplish your goal."

"Most of the rest of us are along for the ride," Wren added with a grin. "I have to say, though, we've all been looking forward to this trip for a very long time."

Kyrie exhaled slowly and ran her fingers through her extremely short hair, muttering to herself in another language. Her eyes became fixed on something in the distance, her expression growing thoughtful. Clearly she was contemplating something.

Andarien, however, turned to Lin, his brow furrowed slightly. "Is that true?" he asked her quietly.