Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Entering]

So fast, it all happened so fast. It was only fueled by the sight of some of the others going through their portals, on their way to...whatever was to meet them. Really it had only taken that long.

Back now in his kingdom he allowed himself to let out a sigh, breath easier, and inspect his wounds and bounty he had managed to collect. It was a medium sized pile, but all the same a little bit from everyone would pile up over time. The Miasma was something warm to the touch, so when he set the powerful object down briefly to inspect his wounds, he felt cold suddenly. A shiver up his spine, his tails flaring out as if trying to warm him up.

Or maybe this was just fear?

Sitting down on a nearby stone shelf he noticed that part of his drape was ruined; causing him to glower but he could easily replace it later. At least he could keep one that was now a little ragged, it probably would only rip more in the upcoming days. Bruises were forming up his arms, and from the pressure of the pants against his skin, he assumed down his legs as well. His once gleaming jewelry was looking a little duller now.

He allowed himself one look of pain to cross his features, before he masked it once more under his usual smile.

Erintis nodded at the mission at hand gather as much as she can and stay alive. She could do that.

[[Exit to Silver Tower]]

Rikki smiled kindly at his companions as they were assigned tasks. It sucked that he was being split from his group of allies so soon, but it was necessary. He watched them leave with a tight-lipped expression and then turned to complete his own assignment.

He could do this. His strength was his gift.

[Exiting]

Erebus didn't mind being alone, really.

And yet, the terrible sense of familiarity he got when he first caught sight of the gatekeeper gnawed at him and made him realize that his memories were something special to him. There were people in his life he cared about that he did not remember.

"Looks like it." He told Tomoko with a smile. "Don't worry. I'll look out for you."

[[EXIT]]

{ Entering }

It wasn't, in essence, that she hadn't been there. It wasn't that she didn't care. It was, simply, that she had lost track of the time. It was a painfully easy thing to do when one's mind spent it's time wandering away on them. Situated far off from where their King had made his grand showing of the empty boxes and keys, Cyrilla sat cross-legged, eyes cast off to the side, gazing into nothing. She would remain that way until the sound of the voice would catch her attention, snapping her out of her daze and back into the world around her.

Rising to her feet, she tugged lightly at the folds of her toga, almost nervously. The fabric twinned around her fingers until she loosened them, giving a long pause and sigh. The voice had made it apparent that there was a looming threat of another Kingdom falling. One already had, at least, so it seemed. It was not something that she cared to consider. Certainly not something she wished to see happen. Their Kingdom was safe, it was good. Their King, kind, reasonable. Why would something like this befall it?

Her thoughts were once more interrupted, though this time by one of the Kingdom's small creature plodding along nearby. Cyrilla watched it in silence as it passed, moments later moving to follow it.

It drew her back to where their King had, not so long ago, given his speech. The creature that she had been following disappeared from sight, and she lifted her head up once more to look around. The area seemed mostly devoid of people, which seemed strange.

Though there was the fact that there had just been a voice, not so long ago, declaring turmoil in the realms.

Maybe, just maybe, that had something to do with it.

The dracolich didn't sit on that thought for long, however, as something else caught her attention. Something that -shone-. Moving toward it, she looked around after coming up to it. When she saw no one, she reached down and lifted a small key from the box that the King had left there.

"Huh." she muttered quietly to herself, turning it over in her hand. Not sure what, exactly, it was, she still felt compelled to keep it on her person, and not simply because it was shiny. At least, not this time. Tucking it away in in a fabric belt that tied the mid-section of her toga, her eyes began to wander the scenery again, looking for signs of others.

The small child was unsure of what to think of the kindness shown to her. The key she held was taken and properly placed upon her, tied ever so gently,

"Te...te..." Temes placed a hand on her throat as she tried to speak. She'd heard her name enough to know it and so she pressed along, forcing the words to come out. "T...Temes."

Of course when she said it everything was too late, her companion was already moving away and things were happening.

Like she was being told where to go, what to do, and Temes got to her feet to go and do it.

[ exit ]

[entering]

Sayid returned looking at least as defeated and frustrated as he did muddy and exhausted, which was saying something.

"I tried..." He sighed, beaten down and frustrated. "I had a lot of flowers, then ...." He held up his hands in defeat. "Then nothing. All of that and I have nothing."

[[Entering]]

"It's a good idea." He agreed. "Best do it before... whatever happens next, I suppose." Which was finding out whatever Kingdom would fall. Erebus glanced at the little chip of miasma in his hand. It wasn't much, but he hoped that what he had gotten counted, and that their Kingdom would still stand.

He didn't move to dry off as Tomoko did. Erebus didn't exactly mind being soaked, not when he had known what he would do once he returned from being sent to the Tower. In truth, he felt sort of ashamed with what he had returned with. He knew that he needed to go stronger, to aid his Kingdom, to aid his King.

He moved to the nearest water source and stepped right into it. The key marking that was upon his arm tingled, and then--



He was a bundle of emotions.

Tense. The files strewn all over his desk, pictures and lab reports spilling out as he had sifted through them, attempted to find links.

Excited. His gaze was trained on the door near his desk; the door that belonged to the Captain. His anticipation was not caused by the owner of the room however, but by its current accompanying occupants. His tail was wagging rapidly with all these nerve-wracking feelings, feet tapping impatiently away.

The door finally opened, and Erebus jerked, head swiveling back to stare at the files, pretending that he was currently mulling over them and not waiting for them to leave the room. Not. At. All.

The footsteps headed into his direction, and he held his breath, waiting.

They stopped, and the Chief cleared his throat.

With a grin; attempting to dim it down to seem more professional and less eager to meet them, he swiveled around in his chair to face the duo he had been waiting for. And then stood, because that was only polite, as the Chief began to introduce him. “This is Officer Erebus, who’s in charge of the case on the break out of the Soul Stealer.”

“Officer, I’d like you to meet Agent Ylva and Agent Rilect.” The Chief didn’t need to say their names, really. It was more of a formal thing, but it wasn’t necessary when Ylva and Rilect were known widely about the law enforcement community. A duo who managed to crack the most complicated cases and apprehend the criminals behind them; they had an amazing track record that many, including Erebus himself, looked up to.

He held out his hand, mentally chastising himself to calm his tail down. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both!” When he had first heard that they had been put in charge of the Soul Eater case; the monster had claimed more victims while prowling the world above, Erebus could honestly hardly contain himself. A chance to work with the duo he absolutely idolized. He still really couldn’t believe it was happening.

The one who took his hand first was the male with an easy-going smile, giving him a nice warm handshake. “Hullo there!”

The female caecelia took his hand next, her handshake stiff and firm. “Pleased to meet you, Officer. I wish it could have been under better circumstances.”

He wondered if they could tell that he was nervous, as he slipped his hand back into the pocket of his pants. His hands were not as steady as they usually were; they were slightly twitchy and sweaty. His hands had been steadier when he had gone to where the Soul Stealer was once held, though they had been clenched into fists then. “As do I. But I would hardly think that our job would have let us meet under better circumstances.”

Rilect chuckled while Ylva stayed grim-faced. “We had best better start.” At this, her partner sighed, quirking an eyebrow towards Erebus with a slight shrug.

“Right then!” Erebus rummaged through the papers on his desk before picking up the two files he had prepared. “I’ll brief you on the details while we head to where the Soul Stealer was once held.”

And so, he led them to where Charon waited, and as they were ferried through the Underworld, he handed the files to them and explained. Ylva browsed through them, interrupting only to ask for more details. Rilect merely tucked it under the shoulder and laid back, eyes closed and nodding every now and then to prove that he was listening, especially when his partner nudged him with her elbow. The Soul Stealer had been judged by Minos, centuries ago, who had decided to place him in Tartarus for his crimes. The more serious crimes were listed briefly in the file; there had been too many to include all of them. There were times when souls suddenly disappeared from the Asphodel Meadows; he gestured towards the entrance of the very place that loomed ahead as they were rowed through Lethe.

“We alight here.” He told them, handing the fare over to Charon. “The only way to Tartarus is through the Meadows.”

The souls in the Meadows barely glanced up at them. They did not care, for they had forgotten. The souls who resided in the Meadows weren’t exactly significant, and investigations into those disappearances had led to nothing. At the gate to Tartarus, Erebus took out his badge, pinning it to his chest. Before opening the gate, he paused, key in the lock, and glanced back at them. “Be careful.”

“Don’t worry.” Rilect said casually with a grin, as Ylva nodded, expression stern as ever.

The badge’s authority was enough warning for the souls to shrink away and not approach them, though some hissed at the newcomers from their bonds. Rilect only looked mildly interested in all the ways the souls were being punished, while Ylva did not seem to care, eyes focused ahead.

The Soul Stealer had been slowly gaining strength by feeding on the souls from the Meadows. Meagre as they were, they slowly accumulated over time, along with his strength. And when the time was right, he began his next phase; stealing the souls of his fellow inmates. It was definitely a trickier feat than the mundane souls of Asphodel, but it was also crucial in his escape.

Especially one significant one.

“The Shape Shifter.” Erebus spoke, halting before a cell, where two vultures glared at them from the shadows. “This was where he was held. He was the Soul Stealer’s neighbour, and arrived here a few decades after the Soul Stealer.”

Ylva moved towards the next cell. “And this was the Soul Stealer’s cell?”

He nodded. A never-ending waterfall cascaded within the cell, but the floor was dry and the chains empty. This had been the Soul Stealer’s punishment, for many murders he had committed in the world above. To stand under the waterfall, that alternated between a scalding temperature which made the heat in the Underworld feel like a relief, and a bone-chilling cold that could easily freeze the very blood flowing through one’s veins. To drink the water of the waterfall to quench his thirst was not an option either. Drinking it was like drinking sand, dry and grimy.

“Open it.” Ylva said, eyes narrowing.

Stepping into the cell, the three of them kept away from the waterfall, even Rilect, to Erebus’ surprise. He had thought that he was more interested in examining the vultures than listening, but then again, this was why they were a formidable pair.

“The hellhounds won’t be able to track his scent while he’s in possession of the Shape Shifter’s soul.” Ylva said, removing the curved shell that hung from her choker.

“Aura tracking?” Erebus blurted out, eyes wide open in excitement. He had heard of this technique before, but he had never thought that he would see it in person. His tail started wagging once again, eyes watching intently as she removed a vial from within her jacket and poured it into the shell.

“It’s not really that amazing.” Rilect told him with a sly grin. “I’ve seen it so many times that it’s pretty boring now.”

Ylva ignored the two of them, cupping the shell with both hands, murmuring an incantation under her breath. Rilect moved his lips in an attempt to imitate her, face set in a comical expression, eliciting a grin from Erebus as he tried not to laugh from his antics. The two of them grew silent as the shell began to float in her hands and the incantation grew louder. A dark reddish-brown mist slowly materialized, and as Erebus glanced to the side, he could see both the agents’ auras surrounding them as well; Ylva’s a muted purple that was slightly darker than her hair color, and Rilect’s a gentle sunshine-y yellow.

The aura of the Soul Stealer was slowly getting sucked into the shell which sank with every bit it absorbed, until it reached Ylva’s palms once again. She stopped chanting and re-attached the shell to her neck. “There. It’s done.”

“And now it’s time to bring him back, huh?” It was sort of sad to have them go so soon, but he understood. He would certainly feel much better with the Soul Stealer back in Tartarus.

“Indeed.” Ylva crossed her arms, and her partner glanced at her.

“Are you forgetting something?” Rilect said, sounding amused as he raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t forget.” She said defiantly. “I thought we agreed that you were going to say it.”

The two of them glanced at each other as Erebus stood there befuddled. It took a while before Rilect broke away from Ylva’s frosty gaze with a sigh of resignment. “Fine. Can we not do it here though? It’s too depressing.”

“We’re in the Underworld.” She reminded him exasperatedly, but did not insist on him continuing whatever he was supposed to say.

It was when they returned to the precinct that Rilect finally spoke again.

“We’ve been chasing the guy for months now. Now that we finally got an ID on him, it’s going to be quite a difficult feat, even with Aura Tracking, so we were... well... thinking of getting some help from someone who has had experience with these sort of punished souls.”

“We’ve already spoken to the Captain about this.” Ylva cut in briskly, as though she was annoyed with how Rilect seemed to be mincing his words and not going straight to the point. “He recommended you, and I agree. A Cerberus Demon would be a good ally on this case. Will you join us, Officer?”

The shock of the reality that the two people he looked up to were asking to work with him finally sank in, and Erebus was only aware of his tail wagging frantically and him nodding along with it.



Their attempts to track down the Soul Stealer brought them from one village to another. The world above was certainly quite different from what he was used to in the Underworld. It was much livelier; a quip Rilect made upon noticing his wide-eyed look upon leaving. It wasn’t his first time out of the Underworld, but it was his home, nevertheless, and being away from home was still strange.

The weeks he spent with them were an interesting experience.

There were the ways they interacted with each other; Ylva was mostly quiet, but she could communicate with Rilect well through a simple gaze. Their familiarity with each other was clear. They were familiar with each other, each other’s methods, and Ylva seemed slightly stiffer when addressing him for an opinion than when she talked to her partner. On the other hand, Rilect was easy going; the complete flip opposite of her, and never hesitated to crack out jokes. He preferred to stand back and relax while Ylva worked her magic, and they would easily fall into the good cop—bad cop routine when questioning witnesses.

Opposites do attract. He thought.

It was one night, staying at the inn and talking to Rilect in their room when he brought it up. The other man was laid back on his bed, hands behind his head and legs crossed over each other. His only reaction was to chuckle, glancing sideways to where Erebus sat.

“Are you insinuating something between us?”

“Uh...” Erebus blinked. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t.

“All I can tell you is that our relationship is...” Rilect stifled a yawn and then turned on his side. “Complicated.”

It was no use further talking to him, not when the Agent had drifted into sleep. It didn’t seem as though he was particularly interested in talking about it either, and Erebus decided to review the notes he had made on their chase.

He didn’t mention this to Ylva till they had tracked the aura of the Soul Stealer into a forest, and decided to make camp for the night because Rilect insisted that they all needed their rest if they were going to apprehend the monster. He was the one to fall asleep first, and Erebus was left poking at the fire he had started up for their warmth.

Ylva was seated opposite him, eyes shut, hands circling the shell that contained a sample of the monster’s aura as she murmured under her breath. As part an aquatic creature, she did not particularly like the fire as he did, seated further from the warmth as compared to him.

“How is it?” He asked her in a low voice as her eyes snapped open, lips pursed.

“He’s near.” She said, expelling a breath of frustration. “Near, as he always has been.”

They lapsed into silence and Erebus attempted to make conversation. “You know, I mentioned to Rilect that I thought that opposites do attract when I met the both of you, and he said that...”

“Our relationship is complicated.” Ylva interrupted, her mouth set in a straight thin line.

He blinked, surprised by the exact same words uttered. He wondered if there was some history between them he did not know about, something unspoken. He did not want to pry, and he had a feeling that Ylva would not answer.

“What do you know about relationships?” Her sudden question made him jump in surprise. It was phrased in a way that was obvious what exactly she was talking about. “I just wonder, with what you’ve asked both him and me.”

“Uh...” Erebus spluttered. In all honesty, he was more fixated on his work than relationships, especially those of the romantic kind. Plus, he was sort of terrible with this sort of thing. “Well, um, my younger brother is in one...”

“Brother?” She queried, a slight spark of interest alight in her eyes.

“Yeah, we’re triplets.” Erebus explained. “I’m the middle brother.”

“So that’s why you don’t have three heads.” She commented, a slight ghost of a smirk appearing upon her lips. “Triplets. Intriguing. Tell me more about your brothers.”

“Uh well,” Erebus was slightly taken aback, because she had never really showed much interest in knowing about personal lives. Ylva had always seemed like the person that could detach herself and separate work and personal relationships, and he wondered if that was the case with Rilect as well. “Arthur’s my older brother. He’s sort of the intimidating one. And my younger brother’s name is Thackery. He’s the friendly one that likes everyone he meets.”

“Ah. So you three are different in personality but do you all look alike then?”

“Well, sort of. Some people can mistake one of us for another, but we all dress differently. We all have the ears and the tail, and when we shift into hound form, we’re much more similar.”

**********

The memory brought him new strength.

He stood there, dazed as he took in the details of his past life the memory had revealed to him. The key upon his arm was now more intricate, markings curving within the circles on the head of the key. His arm too, was less pale than before, and Erebus was dimly aware of a tail; the tail he had felt in his memory, wagging behind him.

He wondered why he had not done this sooner.

And yet, there was something he did not understand. It seemed to him that he had lived in the underworld once before, as a demon. Was it the same underworld as this? Confusion swirled around in Erebus' mind, and he wondered if the Gatekeeper would know anything about this. Thackery. Thack.

The Gatekeeper was his brother?!