Welcome to Gaia! ::

The dainty hand that she had been grasping of his quickly was released as she seemed to venture down the road further. Every step seemed as hesitant as the first as the building slowly moved closer and closer. The smell of decay and rot that poured out from the broken glass only made her stomach flip. It was the same sort of fear that she had been experiencing for the past few months. And now, she was going to face it. Slowly, the rabbit turned back to face the Shadow Prince. She was almost expecting a response from him, something. But the silence was almost comforting as the entire time they had been wondering there had been nothing but noise and screams from the obstacles they had faced.

With that sense of security, the rabbit had found that finally she had reached what appeared to be a rusty gate. Each black bar seemed to resemble a spear of a fallen warrior as the gate had vines and rust lurking calmly. It seemed to be rather homey at one point. Slowly, the rabbit placed her hand on the metal bars and pushed the entrance way opened and made her way into the jungle of a front yard. The lawn strands of grass only seemed to come up to her knee as though it had not been tended too in years. Looking around, her eyes caught notice of the large orchard. From one of the branches, two pieces of rope hung with a board as rotten apples surrounded the base. Blinking for a moment, the rabbit stared at it in a confused manner...

It was so unfamiliar to her, and yet she knew where everything was. She quickly scanned over to the edge of the house where a small garden sat. Every plant within it seemed to be nothing but brown and crinkling dust. But her eyes wasn’t catching notice of the decay, but what appeared to be a small hole that led to underneath the patio to the entry of the house. Walking closer, the rabbit than crouched down to investigate further as her hands rested on the dust covered patio. Beside her, Jabberwocky came along for the ride and began to sniff the area. There was nothing underneath but cobwebs and dirt along with a few discarded toys. Reaching in the rabbit pulled out the ancient relics from below which only brought a smile to the young girl’s face.

A ball. A bowl. Three unrecognizable coins.

They weren’t much, in fact they were nothing more than useless as it appeared that they had been both dirty and stained by the sun. Even the ball was very deflated on one side. But nothing more than a smile filled her face as she stood to her feet. Madison knew exactly what they were...

They were her treasures.

“My goodness...They never found me under there...ever. Me and...Dina....” Madison stopped for a moment as the thought of something soft and white came to her mind. It was a small stuffed rabbit, and it was her best friend. But the real question was what had happened to it? Suddenly the feeling of dread came over her. Swallowing, the rabbit placed down the objects on the ground and walked around the garden onto the deserted pathway leading up to the stairs of the patio. Staring at the decayed wood, she took a deep breath in. She knew this wasn’t going to be easy.

Holding her head up high, the woman took a few steps forward onto the wooden surface to hear a large creak just from her own weight. With a quick sprint, the woman moved towards the door and began to twist the door knob. At first it only seemed to stay put as though it were locked. However, with much wiggling of the doorknob there didn’t seem to be much luck on getting it open. Perhaps it was locked, or that since it was once a crime scene it was a condemned building. Angrily, the young woman raddled the door for a few more minutes before deciding to get serious. Taking a few steps, the young woman moved her leg and cracked down the door causing Wocky to instantly jump back nervously. Instantly, the door had swung off the hinges and crashed to the ground causing much of the dust to flutter away hiding what appeared was footprints.

“...Are you coming, Max?” Madison turned around and faced the Shadow man once more. She looked a little frightened and excited all at the same time. But she had a more important question now, even though it was wonderful he came this far. “Because you don’t have to come in if you don’t want too.”

Max continued behind the young woman quite a fair distance as he almost looked like he was wondering aimlessly. He was a fair bit behind her actually, smile as he normally would in these sorts of situations. If anything he seemed more so amused about their current situation. Finally, as the rabbit waited at the door for him there was a reply to her query...

"Madison my dear, I'm with you until the very end."

He dusted a little bit of dust of him with a small chuckle. And for some reason, despite how frightful this situation had become, that silly little smile that sat on his face brought her nothing more than comfort that seemed to rest her anxieties because in the next few minutes her whole world was about to get flipped upside down.

Taking a deep in, the rabbit slowly made her way through the doorway as cautiously as an explorer would when looking through a cavern. It looked as though the entire building had not been touched by anybody in quite some time as dust and cobwebs filled the lower levels. Upon the walls hung various pictures of artwork as well as portraits. However, due to the location of the windows, they merely seemed to be faded and impossible to make anything out. The walls the paint was beginning to break away as well as various water stains. Even the floorboards were slightly uneven as it was clear that they had not been taken care of in quite some time. Every step seemed familiar to Madison as she began to examine each abandoned piece of furniture and decor. But yet, despite how much the feeling of nostalgia filled her there were still huge holes, still so many questions that puzzled her during her journey through the hallway.

Stopping, the rabbit noticed that one of the doorways lead to a once beautiful kitchen. With dust covered counter tops and plenty of cupboards with multiple places for storage. Madison’s attention quickly drew in as she wandered through slowly. Every step seemed to look as though she knew where she had been there before, something was telling her to go in there. Reaching near the lower cupboards by the oven the young woman opened it to find a sight that gave her a frown. There seemed to be no shelves or dishes in this section, but judging by the sides it was ripped out at the last moment as a broken plank rested on the side. Whatever was in there seemed to had been violently removed for some reason....

Curiouser and curiouser...

Madison shrugged slightly and stood to her feet to look about some more, but before she could go any farther she quickly caught notice of something on the counter top by the stove. First was a large baking pan that looked as though it would be the perfect size for a loaf of freshly baked bread, and beside it was a collection of small dishes. A spoon, a bowl, and a whisk; all being the perfect size for someone who was about fifteen years younger than her. They all were very well used as there was even some strange dark black material smothering the insides of the bowl. Whoever it belonged too didn’t seem to do a very good job in cleaning. But either way, a smile seemed to fill her face as she decided it was time to move on and explore more of the house.

As the rabbit walked there was a loud creak that came from upstairs that seemed to cause her faithful canine friend to begin to growl. Blinking, Madison bent down beside the beast and began to scratch behind his ear. This place was rather scary, filled with nothing but memories that belonged to somebody. So it was obvious that Jabberwocky would be a little uneasy on their journey through. The mere touch of her soft bloodstained hands caused the dog to whine slightly. Something was obviously not sitting well with this beast.

“Hey...Hey...Easy boy. It was probably Max just checking out upstairs...or maybe it was the wind rattling something upstairs. It’s okay...” Giving the dog a light kiss on top of it’s head, Madison returned to her feet and continued to walk through another doorway that had been connected to the kitchen.

Instantly, Madison’s jaw dropped slowly as she had now discovered what appeared to be one of the largest rooms in the house. Large windows surrounded one side of the wall as book shelves covered the rest. To the far right of the room was a fire place with two chairs around it, they were a dark red color and looked very fancy. Each of the chairs seemed to have their own table beside it with their owner’s belongings. The one closest to the kitchen seemed to have a collection of books and a pipe resting on the top, while the other had what resembled an unfinished scarf. Despite how beautiful this scene was, that wasn’t what had her attention...

A few meters away from the fireplace sat a large black...well thing. Madison was even entirely sure what on Gaia it was. Walking closer to it she noticed that this mysterious thing she noticed that there was a few sheets of paper on the top as well as having white and black pattern of buttons. Some of the keys seemed to have dark splashes on them, but Madison didn’t seem to mind. She was absolutely amazed by it. There was something about it that seemed absolutely alluring to her. And it wasn’t just that, but the fact that she almost had an instant connection with it. Lightly, she placed one of her fingers on the buttons releasing a rather interesting sound that shattered the mystery and silence out of the room. As the sound echoed, another puzzle piece fell into place for her...

She had heard it before.

But now her movements were almost trance-like as she than moved slide down into the chair before it. Closing her eyes, the rabbit placed her fingers down and began to move them. A rather slow and melodic song began to play that even caused the tense Jabberwocky to calm down slightly. However, what was even stranger was the fact that there was no error, even though she had no clue what she was even using. This was something that had been locked away within her mind for quite sometime...and nothing but a smile seemed to leave her lips. Every note seemed to bring nothing but memories to her. Images of her running around the building flowed through her mind as she began to envision what could remember. From having her and her mother bake together with her little spoons, to playing hide and go seek with her father in the front yard and hiding under the deck. The happiness and the warmth of the memories seemed to power her music. But the strongest one seemed to be having the young girl being ready to go to bed around the fire. Her father happily playing her to sleep, over and over again till her eyes grew tired and weak and her mother put her to bed.

As soon as the song seemed to shift into something else another memory came to mind that she remembered listening to at one point. It was the evening hours, and she had been fast asleep. However, as she rested her mother quickly woke her up and grabbed a hold of her. The smell of her mother’s perfume filled her senses along with the feeling off security. The feeling of never wanting to let go. Quickly, her mother raced down a large flight of stairs and continued down to the kitchen once more and quietly placed the small girl down as she held onto a small stuffed rabbit tightly. Despite how loving the mother looked, a sense of fear filled her as she removed pots and pans and placed them into another cupboard. With much force, a quiet crack could be heard as the shelves were being demolished. But rather than having the boards lay in the middle of the floor she moved it to the side and turned to the young girl who had nothing but confusion on her face.

“Alice...I need you to hide in here with Dina, okay?” There was a faint smile on the woman’s lips as she tried to tell her that everything was doing her best to stay calm. But even with her tone of voice it seemed to be filled with nothing but pain as she seemed to know something that she didn’t.

“Are we playing hide and go seek?” The small child replied quietly. A small laugh left her mother’s lips as she nodded. Small tears began to form as the woman gave her daughter a small kiss on top of her head.

“Yes darling. And you know that you can’t come out unless daddy and I come and find you.” Her mother seemed to be losing her edge as she spoke to her child. But the little one only seemed to smile and give her mom a quick hug.

“Don’t worry mom, I don’t like being it either.”

BANG.

There was a loud crash that seemed to get the mother’s attention quite quickly. With a last tight embrace the mother quickly ushered her inside the empty cupboard and mouthed the words I love you to the child. And than there was darkness all for except a small hole that showed her mother entering what appeared to be the same room that held their piano.

Than there was a loud scream followed by silence...

Nothing but beautiful silence...

As the gap filled Madison’s mind, her playing seemed to be less graceful and more of the sounds of an amateur player. She couldn’t remember what had happened after that point. And finally the woman stopped and removed her hands from the keyboard. It was probably a good thing that she was sitting as it was quite a bit to take in. Within her throat a large lump sat as she continued to stare at the keys with a smile that had completely vanished. There were still many unanswered questions that raced through her mind...as after that point she knew very well what the memories that came after that was. Being forced to live within an orphanage for so many years and having the belief of not being wanted as she watched other children leave. Than being adopted by a company who did not care about her needs to create a numb pain and make her on what she was today.

At least now, she was getting some of the answers that she had been searching for quite some time.

The cold weather was always welcomed whenever Reinhart was concerned, though he was bundled up he could barely feel the sting of icy wind on his cheeks. He wore some casual jeans, his boots, a nice jacket, and had a scarf wrapped around his neck, as usual, he had his hands stuffed in his pockets. Walking along Barton he noticed most stores were having all their after Christmas, ring in the New Year type sales, and although he could buy everything he saw in the windows he had no one left to give a present to. Such was the life of the accused never self proclaimed ladies man. One gift was all he bought this year and it went to Dedric his butler.

The old man took care of getting the rest of the servants in his manor something pretty for them to take home. Needless to say, Reinhart disliked the holidays, although he liked the cold weather the season brought, it always reminded him of better times. Times lost to be exact. Happy faces riddled the streets around him, but he gave them not a second look, he just walked by all the stores, lost in his thoughts enjoying the cold breeze and the snow. Way to ring in the New Year.

Usually something like this would only be a quick two second interaction, someone bumps into you, they excuse themselves, you forgive, all is good. This time however was an exception. Taking hold of the petite woman who bumped into him by the arms as a reflex Reinhart began to speak before he too came to the quick realization that this was someone he knew. Someone he knew very, very, well. Surprise turned to shock as he was greeted by a punch right to the nose, of course he'd let her go by then but this... well this was probably called for.

"Ow..."

She'd caused him to stagger back and as he tried to clear his nose he tasted blood in the back of his throat. Reinhart pressed the back of his finger to his nostril hoping to catch anything, mainly blood from seeping out.

"I'd recognize that pretty little fist anywhere."

Of course he dodged the question. The last time they saw each other they were in Fenrir and things got a little out of control, if not insanely. He caught her golden eyes, she was pissed, hurt, but more so pissed.

"Saved."

Reinhart laughed lightly at her words. Sure he wasn't worried about bleeding so much as he was bleeding all over his scarf.

"I'm worried about my scarf, what can I say?"

So he removed his hand from his nose and smiled looking to Asherah's back.

"It's good to see you."

There was nothing but sincerity in his soft voice, although he knew what their little run in would bring about, there wasn't much he could do or say about it.

The familiar feel of her healing touch was a welcomed touch, given he was probably over reacting to her punch, but he knew he deserved it. He watched as she brushed her fingers over his nose, keeping his icy blue eye on her golden orbs, and smiled all the while. Now, why WAS he here?

"Doing a little thinking I guess. I was cooped up in my home a bit too much and thought some fresh air would do me some good."

A blatant lie. She may catch it, she may not. He was out here because he was alone at home and was looking for a little noise, even though he hated the holiday spirit within most people around him.

"Thought maybe I may even find something good in the windows."

He gestured to the window she was looking into just a moment ago with a glance then looked back to her.

"How's about you? I can't imagine you're looking at the sales. Unless of course you're looking for something rare..."

Which was actually something he was usually looking for. The proof of such things lined his walls and decorated the rooms in his manor.

Something magical and she'd snag it? This he knew. Her opening up and Inn however was news. Not like it mattered at this point. Reinhart laughed waving off her apology, as if he needed or wanted one.

"It's been 2 years, I'd imagine a fickle little creature like yourself would have moved on looooong ago."

Gently he put his hand on her head and half smiled, that smile he gave every now and then and holding her eyes he spoke once more.

"If it's worth anything I'M sorry and I hope that temple (Ziggurat) makes you happy. Though I think we're beyond the point of apologies here."

He laughed again and retreated his hand, his life was too hectic for most women anyway, he couldn't think of making a woman happy the way he lived now. So he wouldn't, someone else could do it for him. Reinhart brought his fingers to his lips and and kissed them then he pressed them against Asherah's forehead before he turned around and started walking away.

"See you around."

He waved over his shoulder before tucking his hands back into his jacket, hopefully the next time he saw her wouldn't be like the last time she had appeared before him. Reinhart didn't think she had enough of a heart to break anymore so his blessing was all he could give her now, she wasn't his responsibility anymore. She hadn't been for 2 years after all...