Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You promised." her voice was quiet, but there was no lack of conviction on it, holding the bundled package in her arms as delicately as one would an infant. "You said if I brought you what you wanted, you'd let her go." Tomoko stood up a little bit straighter, looking down the almost amorphous creature that stood in front of her. His breath smelled awful, and his mouth lingered close to her face as he spoke, dribbles of saliva dripping through his half-rotted teeth and down his chin.

"Mmmmyes, you certainly did bring something I want with you, Speaker of the Bright Stars." His voice thrummed in a way that made her uncomfortable, but she steeled herself and held the package out in front of her with both hands. "Then take it." Tomoko said firmly.

One long fingered hand reached out, tracing over the surface of the package before he wrapped the amphibious - slimey and sticky - fingers around her wrist.

"Rare, Golden, and delicious..."

Three apples, as golden as the kitsunr herself, rolled as the package hit the ground.

------

Tomoko jerked in shock, a cold chill running down her spine as she stepped out from the water, wringing her hair. Reaching out, she pressed her hand against the wall to steady herself. What had...

She took a deep breath and hid away into her chambers to change into a dry Chiton, her fingers lingering on the key on her arm for a moment. "Apples, huh?" She noted the marking of a hand holding three apples that had formed in her key's handle.

But she didn't point it out when she returned to Erebus, much drier for her efforts. "Sorry I took so long.."

[[enter]]

Millie walked in as "triumphant looking" and as dignified as she could manage while dripping with water from the pool, her hat sagging down and flopped over. For an onlooker, this was probably somewhat of a comical sight.

She placed the chest she found at the top of the Observatory at her king's feet, the rusty key balanced on top of it along with her gift of Miasma she had collected.

"I....think I nearly killed us all in the pool under the tower, but I brought back some gifts..."

As an afterthought, Millie pulled the two small purple gems out of her bag and placed them in the pile.

"I got the box by being bold and not worrying about any consequence. I hope this will please my King. The gems are quite worthless, but they represent solving the Chalice's riddle in the pool."

Millie hung her head in an apologetic manner before continuing.
"I was not able to bring back any miasma from the pool itself but I thought bringing back a representation of my ability to grow above my current stature would suffice..."

Nursing at his wounds was a laborious task, one that continued as he sat and watched their kingdom return one by one. While he pretended to be massaging out a sore muscle on his arm or his leg, his eyes were truly up and aware staring at the gates.

Some of the faces he knew, some better than others.

A growing ball of anxiety was building up in his stomach, his will to protect coming on far too strong. He wanted to help them, and was about to go and talk with one of them... when something happened.

he closed his eyes.

***

"Shh Shh.. its ok. Its ok." A weak voice came from a even weaker looking child, a hand stretched out shyly towards a form writhing around on the floor. Whimpers could be heard, even quieter than his own, at the starving body which was now shying away from the hand, even the hand of a child being too much to bear. The room smelt of old blood and other things, it was dirty and somewhere he sometimes was forced to sleep against the cold floors. There was a hole in the side of the wall, too small for him to be able to creep through but large enough for something the creatures size to hide in.

"I understand." The child still crept forward while he spoke softly, inching his way towards the poor beaten down creature. He felt a sort of kinship with it, maybe because it took the form of how he sometimes felt inside. "I want to help you..." He whispered, inching forward a little more. The form stopped whining as it was backed into a corner, a weak little growl emerging from its lips instead. Though that did not make the boy stop, no... only made him turn his lips in to a smile that he would wear a lot later in life. "I see. They have not fully broken you either."

***

A gasp brought him back, hands pressed against his face. A memory... a small, insignificant memory... but a memory was a memory.

And looking down at his hands, it did have even the smallest of impacts. His fingernails were now different... and with a flip of his fingers, something he imagined used to feel natural, claws lengthened out of them. "...Neat."

There was much to do, much she could explore. People were returning to the land looking weary, the Gatekeeper was not there to greet them, and so the little Temes moved along to explore the lands she knew. Walking was not so painful anymore and even though her joints did protest she still moved around.

The little one would be of no use to her Gatekeeper if she could not move. What if someone were to come and need her aide? The key to her wrist meant that he was counting on her and so she must find a way to prove herself. But it was hard to prove oneself when one...didn't even know who they were. It was with that thought that she started toward a body of water she felt she had passed on the way.

Water seemed precious, like there was something important, and so Temes gingerly placed her hand into it. Something sparked at the back of her mind.

Come, come. Don't cry for me.

Words, a person? Cold steps that lead ever deeper into darkness, people at her sides. Her hands were not bound yet she was clearly being lead with the fear that at any moment she could flee. The people were armed with weapons she did not know, there were some...who had hankies? Where those what the white clothes were for?

The path down was illuminated by torches but she couldn't see in front of her or behind her. Only the path she was walking on and only in that spot. Was it her memory? Why...?

I am honored to do this for you, so please.

A room no larger than small box. Nothing inside except a chair. Cold, and dark with the light going out as someone cried on the other side. More voices joined in the crying, the light stopped vanishing, and a slap occurred. The light started to faed again, a faster pace, and a calling of a voice.

This is what is meant to happen. All of this, it is where I belong now.

The voice, a voice? Not the voice from before, not the Voice, but one just as important. It said something, she couldn't hear. Or was it she didn't remember as the waters refused to show it? It kept calling, kept saying something, but it remained beneath those cold surfaces.

You. . . .

And then...nothing. There was nothing beyond that even as she stayed in the water, just...a song? Was she hearing a song? Who was it singing so sadly inside? The sound echoed off the cold gray as the last of the light was gone.

Endless darkness, all alone, and her hand pulled away from the water's stream. Everything was almost as gone as it had started, save for the song.

A song she knew, a song she felt.

She opened her mouth and started to sing. It was a song she'd song many a time perhaps, or a song she had heard once or twice in her past, yet the little one was unsure. All she knew was she'd found her voice in those darkened waters and a memory with them as well.

Her voice carried through the area as it grew in strength, her only gift now the notes she called out to the Kingdom.

((Entering))

The little child staggered back into the violet kingdom. His clothes were muddied, and his legs caked in dirt and blood. But in his arms were almost a dozen glittering flowers. The red was vibrant and violent against his pale skin, like the contrast of fresh blood on stone.

His legs protested with each step, his arms crying out from the effort of keeping the flowers, but he traversed through the kingdom with no desire for relief. The boy had not yet completed his mission... He made his way through the winding streets without giving anyone a second glance, until he returned to the wild garden where he had first met the King. He wasn't there but... A little further and the boy had arrived at his side.

Without any desire for grandeur, the scrawny, bedraggled child set the flowers down next to where the King sat with the same silent insistence as he had given him the empty box. It held the same message. I am your pawn, there is nothing of me I haven't given to you.

Sherry stepped into the water, holding her skirt up to keep it out of the stream. The water was quick and steady, and Sherry found it strangely comforting. She closed her eyes and listened to it, a familiar feeling washing over her.

****

“Haha!” The lindwyrm laughed. “You really think so?” She paused in her work, looking to the other in the room.
“I know so,” her brother replied. “Now hurry up. We have to get these loaded onto the wagon. That wedding won’t supply itself!” With a grunt, he hefted a second barrel into the air and turned toward the door.

Sherry smiled. She’d forgotten her brother. It seemed so odd now, to have forgotten someone. But she knew him now, and that was all that mattered. The smiled faded. She also knew what came next, more or less. She couldn’t quite remember, not yet, but she knew she didn’t want to walk up those stairs. If…if she just stayed down here in the storeroom everything would be well. Nothing bad would happen. Nothing…

Her eyes closed and her right hand moved to her left arm, almost as if scratching an itch. That was the point of it. The point of this.

There was no sadness, no sigh. Only resolve as Sherry knelt and lifted a barrel onto her shoulders. It was a familiar and practiced motion. Her family made wine, and though she was not yet old and wise enough to handle the delicate operations of the winery, she was useful for manual labor. Her feet traced the familiar path to the door, taking the stairs one at a time. A foreboding grew in her chest; she knew something happened next, but she couldn’t quite…

A crash echoed down the stairs, followed by the sounds of breaking and yells. Sherry’s walked became a run, and as she emerged into the daylight she saw it. The wagon was tilted, the barrels it once held on the ground, rolling, broken, and spilled. Someone was yelling. “I told you it was too many!” Sherry wasn’t really listening, though. She hadn’t listened the first time, either.

She was staring, much as she had before. She could tell by the way he lay, by the way everything lay on top of him that she’d never speak to him again. It…shouldn’t have been enough to kill him. But he was younger than she was, smaller, and something had hit him just right. Sherry cried.

******
And then she gasped. The waters of the stream tugged at her skirts. Sherry remembered. She’d cried for weeks after that. It had been a freak accident, all around. The type of thing no one could have prevented. The wagon had broke, toppling things. Her brother had been in the exact worst spot. She sighed. What an odd memory for the waters to show her. Not that she knew what they held back, but still. She sighed again. She felt good, and it felt good to remember, and good to say goodbye.

She moved, stepping out of the water, and noticed her balance was suddenly off, but somehow very familiar. Her tail. She had her tail again.

(( Entering from Labyrinth ))

He didn't know quite where he was when he first stepped foot back in Violet Kingdom. The "air" was still, and he'd come from a world of wind and noise and unpleasant smells, directly into an area where there seemed to be... nothing at all. Complete silence, save for the muttering of voices nearby. No wind. No smell.

Crispin wobbled onto a patch of weeds, his knees trembling and threatening to buckle.

"Hello?" he rasped. "Harlan'? Vaska? Huxley?"

He held his elbows, feeling cold, despite the lack of ambient temperature in Violet Kingdom.

"There you are!" relief in his voice was palpable. Crispin spotted Harland nearby, sitting against a wall, and staggered over, eager to use the wall for some support himself. "Harlan'!"

[ Entering ]

Home. Or perhaps, as "home" as anything would be. Glove covered arms stretched upwards, bangles chiming and grin spreading across Agsilved's face. Even if she was still drenched from the lake, she was far more comfortable here than that... place. She peered at the gold coins still in her grasp. Nothing of... supreme value, but shiny and appealing to her eye.

They brought on a feeling far better than... that sensation. Shuttering, she looked towards the violet waters a ways away. Eyes narrowing, brow wrinkling, she... had to wonder. She traced the key symbol beneath her glove. Something had her frightened of falling. Beyond, even, the simple new association of bad luck with it.

She should be reporting to the King what she and Joachim had encountered and heard while at the Silver Tower. But she could see Millie was present, and she'd been closer to the chalice...

It was a poor excuse to neglect her duties, even push aside the nagging thought that she should see how those she'd spoken to before had fared. A greater desire drew her towards the waters, finger digging into her glove as it dragged across the marking beneath.

One foot into the chilling waters. Dirt and sand and grime drifted into the liquid from her skin. The other foot, slipping beneath bit by bit. The gold coins dug into her palm, while the other hand gripped the key that hung from her bangle. She was afraid--

~~*~~

"You are dead!"

A scream, a snarl, a shriek to the empty halls that echoed her rage. Her pulse raced and muscles tensed and flexed. The air was heated around her, stale and musty. What was usually a soothing scent now fueled her temper. It would soon fade, be lost. All due to incompetence...

"We hadn't realized he was--"

"A traitor? A liar?" Her voice snapped and body trembled as she turned to face the other woman. Sharp green eyes hardened under her verbal lash, but she did not falter. In any other situation, Agsilved might have seen this as a point of honor and found pride in the Keeper's strength. Instead, she saw it as sign of ill-placed diligence. If a weaker spine meant keener eyes, she had her preference. "A thief? Tell me, how long exactly did it take for you to realize he'd taken the tomes? Or were you spending all your time catering to the Outsiders' weasel of a--"

Dark wings fanned and the woman before her snarled. She'd struck a nerve. "You would be wise to remember they are our guests and should be treated with respect." Just not a nerve she'd have been hoping for. Guests indeed. Guests that likely were the guise for their thief to enter the library of their eldest. She had demanded higher defenses around their homes, their homes. This library, their kind's greatest work... how had an Outsider gotten in...

Agsilved flared her own wings, lip curling in a fanged smile. She willed the Keeper to attack her. How long had it been since the woman had ventured beyond the confines of the rocks that encircled their lands? Beyond the library itself? It was no wonder the thief had been able to get through so easily.

Even carrying three of the large dark books that held their most valued information.

The Keeper took a step back, body leaning as she bowed at the waste, wings outstretched at her sides and skimming the ground. A sign of respect, and in this case, defeat. Agsilved gave a cold laugh, straightening as she set her hand on hip. This woman would not last outside of this stony fortress. "Consider it an honor I do not use your essence to begin writing anew the works you have lost." Her voice was nonchalant, mocking. Wings folded around her shoulders, thumbs linking together above her chest. "I will speak to the Elder about your... deficiency."

"It is not your place to speak of such matters. I will speak to him--"

"And take his wrath willingly? I do not see it, not in someone cowardice enough to let a thief escape."

"I came to find you!"

"And now I need to find him. He is uninjured, likely well geared and packed for a long trip, on a horse..." Her patience was growing thin. No other body moved within the carved and clawed stone chamber. Only massive shelves of wood that stretched across the center of the room, more carved into the high walls themselves to grant even more holding space for the tomes, scrolls, novels, texts of incomprehensible number and sizes. Almost all scribbed by the various leaders of their clan's history. Many from their Elder himself. Knowledge of their people from countless generations, Outsiders who had granted them information in exchange for their work...

It hurt her to think someone would come here and take their most prized possessions. The fragments of their leaders. Their very essence that swirled and rolled across each precious page.

The greatest of them did not die. They remained with them always. They became the words that swallowed the world and brought it forth anew after time had claimed all.

And now some were stolen.

Agsilved turned once more, bare feet halting in their trek against the stone floors worn smooth by years of contact. The Keeper stood a distance back, unmoved from where she'd come to her before. She was an older woman, time evident in her flesh and movements. But her pose spoke of strength still, that indomitable soul that would grace the pages around them and withstand the grasp of time. She was still a being of honor... even if the younger could see nothing but shame in her actions.

"...I will seek the thief first. He and his cargo are my foremost priority. When I return..." A moment of hesitation. A moment of softness clouded her eyes and marred her features.

The Keeper bowed her head, shoulders rising in that strength Agsilved had for so long envied of her. "You will return to your pride and honor. I will speak to the Elder. It is my duty as Keeper."

Purple eyes dimmed and closed, head bowing. They opened once more, taking in the sight of the woman. There was a chance she would not see her again, depending on the Elder's mercy.

"Fly... fly until you reach the skies."

The Keeper smiled. A sight that wrenched at her heart. "And may the skies keep you always amongst their dark embrace."


It was to the skies she took. From a balcony that was the main entrance to the library, a stone cliff capable of holding even their largest members. Her wings stretched, dark against the growing twilight. The sun would soon set. A double-edged sword. The thief would not see her from above, hidden amongst the inky skies and glistening stars. Yet she would not be able to see him on the grounds below unless the moon was on her side. Pushing herself into the air, down she tumbled. Her stomach clenched, her most hated part of this. Every muscle in her body froze. The earth pulled at her, welcomed her. It was with great effort she kept her eyes open. She would not close them to the fall. Any fall. Gathering herself, she willed her body to move. To fight. Trembling in the wind at first, at length her wings outstretched, snatching her from the embrace. The winds carried her aloft, strong and reassuring beneath her form. Rock fell behind her, the tans and browns and golds fading among the greens and blues of the forest that surrounded the mountain range.

She left the stony prison below, body tucked and angled for the greatest speed. She had to focus on finding the thief's trail.

Not allow her mind to linger on what was to become of the Keeper.

Agsilved knew her mother had made her choices long ago.

It would be a daughter's honor to restore order to the chaos her mother brought.

Her honor...

~*~

It was with a gasp that Agsil stepped back from the waters. Muscles beat and flexed, membrane flared. Her wings. They stretched behind her, then upward, as if she awakened from a sleep.

In a way... she had. The dark flesh of the fingers and pale membrane folded down around her shoulders, thumbs locking together. Her eyes took in the black veins that streaked throughout the tissue, brushing her fingers across it from within. She did not see how her key had shifted, though beneath the cloth of her gloves it had become more intricate in her remembrance.

She had been... a tracker? A hunter? Of sorts. A people of scribes, wings... she could recall little more in detail. What should have been a joyous thing to regain a memory instead hung heavy on her mind. Something had been lost. Something dear, something precious. And for it, she'd been... cruel. To her own mother.

Why?

Was that truly... what she was like..?

Uneasy, she pressed her wings tighter around herself. She needed something to keep her mind off of things. Back on the present. Nothing could be done for... for the past.

Taking a breath to steady herself, she began to look for Joachim, Temes, and Rikki. They she at least... could call familiar here. She required a such familiarity.





(( TO YOU THREE~ Idk if you wanna have Agsil run into any of them, but no problem if not 8> <3 ))