Welcome to Gaia! ::

Rivener leaned on the balcony rails, sighing in contentment, eyes slipping closed as his rune pulsed brightly under his jacket. He was glad that, even as a Sigel, he could get to eat the night sky. Starlight tasted so good, especially with a nice crescent moon thrown in, that slight bit of smooth to the crispness of the stars. He wondered, if he grew to have a full body, if he'd still get to eat this. Already he could consume regular people food, although it didn't feel nearly as satisfying to his rune... Hopefully he'd always have the choice of one or the other. Honestly, you didn't have to go to the grocery store and spend money to have all the Starlight you wanted to eat, so-

Ghost-haired falls to ghost-handed push...

Rivener blinked. What was that?

Ghost-haired falls to ghost-handed push. Blue Downward Spiral.

The Scorpion frowned, glancing around. He could barely make it out, a whisper...

Ghost-haired falls to ghost-handed push. Blue Downward Spiral. Worked all week.

Riv rolled his eyes, stopped feeding, set both hands on the bannister and pushed himself up straight, frowning around. "Very funny, Eiry! Where are you? Come on out, I know it's you!" The dark Sigel frowned, waiting... Silence. "Hmph. Silly minty-" In mid-sentence Rivener interrupted himself, eyes popping open wide. There in the distance, at the edge of the marsh on the very farthest side of their yard, was Eirdirsceol. There was no way this could be him... and it didn't sound like any of the usual ghosts in the house either... Slowly, Riv's eyebrows drew themselves down into a frown, ruby orbs turning up to the stars. Tentatively he began feeding again.

Ghost-haired falls to ghost-hand-

Gasping with shock, Rivener shut himself off from the feeding and rushed inside, slamming his balcony doors shut and drawing the curtains closed. His clawed fingers trembled in the dark fabric, red eyes wild with fear. "Wh-what was that?!"



The next day, after falling asleep fitfully, Rivener had mostly forgotten about the strange experience. He floated downstairs at his usual time, around mid-morning. He was always the last one up, since he stayed up so late feeding. Only Eiry stayed up later and always seemed up earlier. Just like today, as Rivener floated past the door to the painting room, he could hear a great crash and a ghostly giggle. Sighing, rolling his eyes, Rivener ducked into the room to survery the damage.

Eiry was laughing over a prone Aphismet, the chef frowning up in annoyance at the minty frei. "Dammit, Eiry! That's the painting I worked all week on!" Rivener gasped, eyes wide. He blinked over at the painting: a downward spiral, painted in blue, now ruined as Aphismet had dropped the green paint on it as he was pushed by Eiry into a safe pile of fluffy tarps...

"Ghost-haired falls to ghost-handed push! Blue downward spiral, "Worked all week"..." Rivener repeated what he'd heard to himself, shocked beyond measure, eyes so wide it felt like they'd fall out any moment. Eiry and Aphismet both blinked over at the door to hear the Scorpion's voice, and both looked concerned at the look that was flashing across those dark features.

"Rivener? ...Are you okay?" Aphi asked quietly as he picked himself up off the floor.

"Huh? Ah? Er, yes-... Yes, I'm okay, just... I'm okay." Snapping out of the shock, Rivener floated out of the room while lifting his hands, motioning for the others not to worry. Frowning in thought, Riv headed back to his room.



The next night, Rivener hesitated only a moment before stepping out onto the balcony. He looked up at the stars and began to feed, frowning in unsure expectance. And slowly, too low to hear at first but growing to a clear, crisp whisper, the voices filtered down to him. Rivener's eyes widened to hear of the Ocean before the Storm, the Claws raking the path of tears, the eight nines that followed the twelve to the end of the world... none of it made any sense, but only because he didn't listen enough. He felt it, he could FEEL it, right there at the edge of his mind, the key to making all this crystal clear... Raptly, all night, the Sigel listened.

Rivener walked out of 2703 Stanyan street, where he'd been visiting a surprisingly cheap apartment. As he'd searched secretly through the rental ads online, the Scorpion had thought there must be some kind of catch. A two bedroom apartment advertised at the price of a bachelor's? That had to be too good to be true. And it hadn't even been the only one! A second adress a handful of blocks away had been advertised just as cheap! Rivener frowned as he once again glanced over his shoulder at the first apartment building. This first one looked perfect, not at all the run-down hovel Rivener had expected for the price. It had beautiful painted walls, new-looking carpet, working heaters and lights all over the place, plenty of closets, a very posh-looking kitchen Aphi would be proud of, and a fancy bathroom. It should cost three times what they were asking for! When Riv had asked if the place was haunted or had once house some drug ring or something, the landlord had just laughed and said No, no, no, the price is low because of the neighborhood. And yet, as the Scorpion took a good look around now that he was outside, he couldn't say he understood in the least. This neighborhood looked perfectly fine! There was a laundrymat over there, a convenience store right next to a chinese food place, and a bus stop across the street. What the hell was so wrong about this neighborhood that this apartment had to be made so cheap?

What was even weirder was the directions Rivener got from the landlord about how to get to the other adress he was supposed to visit. There were so many "turn rights" and "turn lefts" that Riv was rather sure it sounded like a HUGE detour. Curious, the Sigel floated over to the bus stop, looking at the small note in his pocket as he went. "73 Ashbury street," he mumbled to himself pensively, looking up at the city map posted on the back of the bus stop's sitting area. It only took the Raevan a few minutes to locate the street in question; barely a few blocks away! And yet the Stanyan street landlord guy had told Riv to go all the way around across the bridge and back from the north? Why couldn't he just walk straight through these streets to get there? Frowning in confusion and tightening his lips into a thin, determined line, Riv pressed his finger to the dirty glass that covered the map and he charted out a route for himself. He'd just go down Parnassus until it ended, then up Clayton street to Frederick street, and he'd cross Ashbury in no time! There, no need to do crazy detours! That landlord must have wanted to trick Riv so he didn't get to his other potential apartment on time for his viewing appointment, leaving him no choice but to take the Stanyan place. Psh. Riv wasn't even sure he'd GET an apartment, it was just fun to look at some and see if he might be able to get a job and afford one. He was becoming a grown-up after all! He wasn't going to stay at Aphi's place forever, was he?

Stuffing his hands back in his pockets, Rivener floated down the street. He was rather glad he'd chosen to wear his new leather biker's jacket; when he flattened his wings against his back, it almost looked like they were just meant to be a scary part of the coat, not Real Wings! If Riv had had legs, he would hardly get any stares, apart for all the attention he got for being so good-looking, of course. The jacket made him look rather bad-a**, if he said so himself. And really, most people who saw him probably didn't even notice he had no legs, as their eyes stayed glued to his handsome face. Smirking, quite happy with himself, Riv turned around the corner to begin heading down Parnassus avenue.

The only reason Rivener hadn't stung the damned bouncer or otherwise fought back was because he'd seen the gun half-hidden in the back of the man's belt. Riv could only struggle softly and try to keep his arm from twisting too painfully as he was chucked out the back door. The street here wasn't nearly as brightly lit or busy as the other; barely two lanes, no sidewalk to speak of, looking more like a dirty alley than anything. There were no streetlamps here, and if not for all the red-lit windows, it would be pitch dark. Riv caught himself before his face hit the pavement, landing on his hands and pushing himself back up slowly enough, still not willing to show his wings as actual wings. Besides, he'd already hurt them somewhat when he'd been thrown against the wall inside, that first time Bruno grabbed him. Glaring over his shoulder, the Scorpion dusted himself off and spoke venomously. "Some @#^^*%@*&% business you're running here, a*****e."

"Hey hey. Get lost, chum." The thin, spindly man insinuated himself in the doorway in front of the bouncer, looking ridiculous in his purple fuzzy hat with the leopard-print band. The rest of the outfit was just as purple and outrageous, so very Pimp-Cliché that Rivener had to think he was being filmed on one of those joke shows. The man stuck a thumb to his teeth, rubbing them with an annoying squeaky sound as he leaned against the doorframe. Who wore sunglasses at night, seriously? "You come in, obviously it's with intent to purchase our services. We bill the moment ya enter, so ya owed me moneys. You don't pay, we kick ya out. Yer lucky Bruno here didn't break yer damned pretty face."

Rivener's glare narrowed to fiery red slits and he bit his tongue. Otherwise he'd be taunting that "Bruno" to try, and then Riv would end up arrested and Aphismet would lose his hair with worry and anger. It wasn't worth it. Riv would just walk (or float) away. "Psh. Fine."

"Don't show yer face 'round here again, boyo."

Waiting until the pimp was back inside, Rivener finally dared to flip up his middle finger. Hmph, even if it was pointless now, he still felt better fighting back this tiny little bit. Swearing to himself, Riv began floating down the street again, pausing a moment to consider where the hell he was.

Hm, he certainly wasn't on Parnassus street anymore... Which street WAS this? Ah, there was a sign nearby. Rivener floated over to this sign, going in the same direction (he hoped) that he had been heading on the other street. "Hm, Carl street and Cole street? ...I guess if I just continue in this direction on Carl street I should end up on Clayton, just like I originally planned, right? No big deal. I just need to keep going on- er-..."

Rivener had just turned from where he'd been looking at the street sign, ready to just continue on Eastward, to find some lady in her underwear staring at him from the red lit window. Riv blinked at her. She blinked at him. Riv raised an eyebrow in confusion, tilting his head. She smiled invitingly but unsure, glancing down at his missing lower body. With a grimace, the Scorpion drew back and to the side, intending to give this woman a wide berth, perhaps walk on the other side of the street...

Only, Carl street now turned into a REAL alley, a very shaaaady-looking one to say the least. More red-lit windows with chicks in lingerie sprawled in them, and most of the pedestrians happening to be MEN. Men wearing trenchcoats, for some reason Rivener simply refused to fathom.

"Okay, change in plans," the Scorpion mumbled to himself, heading up Cole street instead, intending to find the NEXT street and take THAT one over to Clayton.

The next street, as it happened, sounded familiar. Frederick street... wasn't that one of the streets Riv was supposed to reach after Clayton? ...H-how could this be, then? Did he no longer need to find Clayton? Was he supposed to go down this street to the end, or go up, or... Gah, he didn't remember anymore! He should just go home! Riv picked up his cell, flipping it open and pressing the quickdial number for HOME. His clawed thumb hovered over the "connect" button, but didn't press.

This was a secret, looking for apartments. What would Aphi do or say if he learned of where Rivener was? ...Naw, it was best to just go home by himself. Surely he could ask for some directions, maybe he could make it to that other apartment after all; there was a bus stop near there that Riv had originally intended to take. That sounded like a proper plan, so Riv walked randomly along streets, trying to work up the courage to ask someone for the way. No one ever seemed the proper person to ask. Everyone was either a scantily-clad woman, or a shifty-looking man. What the hell WAS this place?! Was this not still Durem?!

After a while, Rivener began to finally notice the signs. Hell, one of the signs was practically SCREAMING at him.



Rivener laughs to himself, shaking his head. No wonder there are so many shifty people and scantily-clad women! Well, the Scorpion wasn't about to ask any of them; he'd had his fill of dealing with hookers and pimps for the night. He'd wander until he found a proper street, where the windows weren't red-lit and filled with hoochies.