Welcome to Gaia! ::

Vesuvia felt the cruel mountain wind pick at her hair and paid it no mind. She stared out across the valley, her eyes dark with dissapointment and shame. Hasselti had confined herself to her chambers, weaving and weaving in her trances in an effort to stop the agony of visions in her head. Each vision filled them both with hopelessness. And there was no more time.

Mirage had to get away; since the recent rescue of Reaper and resurection of Cadaver; the whole herd had been bothering her. Congratulations, thank yous, awe and wonder were all thrown her way. If she'd been a better leader Cadaver wouldn't have died in the first place. No one seemed to understand that. She wasn't aware of wear she was or how long she'd been flying for; but she began to ache. Mirage noticed a dragon female standing on a lesser mountain and softly dove down, landing a little way behind her. "Rough day?" She asked, tail swishing as if the wind was moving it. Her skin glittered in the light, the charms on her mask and wrap tinkling lightly. She sat, stretching out.

Vesuvia's eye flicked to her visitor and back to the valley. Could she ignore this person? Hmm. No. "Something like that," she said very softly. Then she frowned a little. A new dragon? A female? In her clan's territory? Oh how Brittania would be so mad... But not if this person meant no harm. Vesuvia turned her body slightly to the jangling gypsy of a dragon. "You are unknown to me," she said.
"Pray, what business have you here?"

Mirage combed through her hair, careful to not knock the feather from her hair. "No reason. I just needed some peace." Her back rippled with another stretch, the aches from her long flight still punishing her for leaving. "And rest. I'll leave if I'm trespassing." She half stood, carefully surveying the teen with caution and interest.

"Anyone is welcome here," Vesuvia quickly amended. "As long as they mean no harm. My clan resides on these mountains... The Green Lady would not begrudge you staying for the night if you are weary."

"I can assure you I mean no harm." She sat back down, relieved that she did not have to take flight again. "I'd appreciate it; very much so. I'd imagine I should have to introduce myself; though if you'd be so kind as to let me rest for a moment longer." She stifled a yawn. "When I saw you; you had such a troubled look on your face. Might I ask why?"

Vesuvia inclined her head slightly. "I am Vesuvia. Granddaughter of the Golden Dragon," she said in a formal introduction. "When you are rested, I will take you to the Green Lady." She side-stepped the last question from her new acquaintance. She wouldn't be able to describe it in any case.

"Mirage. Daughter of Unity; the white legend and Rosa." She ingored the fact that Vesuvia had not answered her question and did not press the issue. Instead she stood. "I think it'd be a good idea to meet the Green Lady now before she finds me."

Vesuvia took Mirage down deeper into the mountain. "The Green Lady did not mean anything bad by what she said," she explained. "She is from the time when all dragons had clans and families and culture. A dragon born of a legend would have been faught over furiously, especially a female. She mourns the loss of her culture." the lights were brighter down here in the lived-in section, and while there were no jewels in the walls, the carving was amazing with many stylised dragons. "This is my room," she said, pointing out a closed door. She continued down and then opened another door. "You will have this one."

"It's fine. I just didn't understand." She marvelled; surprised that such beautiful things excited in here. "Thank you. If you don't mind I'd just like to freshen up before dinner." Mirage turned to Vesuvia and almost hugged the woman but thought better of it. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," said Vesuvia. "I will send Soren in with some water." She went down the hall and knocked on the door. It opened and a discontented teen scowled out.
"Can't you warn a pony before you bring someone in here?" he spat.
Vesuvia was unaffected by his wrath. "Bring Mirage some water from the falls."
Soren grit his teeth and nodded, silently praying that he would grow up soon. He left, glancing over at Mirage and thinking out his schemes.
"He will be back soon. This is chamber for the boys." She pointed to the next door chamber. "This is Hasselti's room." She looked deeply into Mirage's eyes for the first time. "Please do not disturb her. She is very... she cannot be disturbed."

Mirage almost shuddered at the haunting feeling she got both rom Soren's glance and Vesuvia's warning. She simply nodded. "Soren isn't going to turn me into a worm is he?"

Vesuvia shook her head. "He is not that powerful. He only resents that he was passed over for the dragon genes. He cannot harm you." She opened the door to the guest chambers. They were large and well-furnished, nicer even than Hasselti's room or Soren's. There was a soft bed and a table, both with metal frames. She passed her claw over a crystal set into the wall and crystals shone around the room. "This controls the lights. There is another on the table."

Mirage breathed a sigh of relief; though she was relieved that she wouldn't have to bring harm to boy; not the other way around. Stepping into the room, she headed straight for the bed and lay on it, waiting for her water. She took her mask off, revealing a scar reaching from her eye down to the bottom of her cheek. She whinced as she touched it; from instinct rather than pain. "Excuse me," She turned, taking her wrap off, revealing another scar on her waist; three claw marks. She sat the wrap on the bed next to her mask and stretched out. "I have no modesty. I'm sorry if I make you uncomfortable."

Vesuvia shook her head. "On the contrary," she said. "Did you not see my mother and sister? They wear their scars with pride and purpose. To cover them shows much modesty. If they are deep, you should come to the main room to keep warm and stop them aching. The Green Lady often has such pains."

"I don't cover them for other people's sake; but my own. I'm not ashamed of them, I just don't like to explain them." She stood. "They do ache sometimes; now most of all." Stretching her wings she exited and made her way back to the main room. "Your mother is beautiful; though she scares me. Beauty runs in the family."

"I do not recall the Green Lady ever being asked to explain her marks, nor my sister. Your ornaments are lovely, regardless." She brushed dome dust off the table. "It is generous of you to say that. We are a clan but we are not all related. Hasselti takes care of the strands of the clan. I am descended from the Green Lady's most hated enemy. My sister and I are related to these people by name only."
Soren came back, grumbling. "You're water," he said stiffly. "Now don't bother me." He left.
"Thankyou Soren," said Vesuvia, unperturbed after taking the ewer from him and placing it on the table.

"Those around you must not be as nosey as those I am around." Mirage nodded. "How kind of her to accept you despite being related to her enemy." Mirage smiled at Soren. "Thank you, I'm sorry to be a bother." Mirage splashed her face with water, enjoying the feeling and the fact that the dust and dirt was bing washed away. "That will do for now." Turning to Vesuvia, she spoke. "To the main room?"

Vesuvia went into Hasselti’s room without knocking. If Hass was in a trance, she wouldn’t hear anyway. And she was always in a trance these days.

Hasselti was sitting down in a corner, weaving a prophesy across a section of wall already red with her work. Vesuvia shook Hasselti’s shoulder roughly.

“You missed dinner.”

Hasselti blinked and looked up. “What, Vessy?”

Vesuvia sighed sadly. Her darling little sister looked so lost. “You have to get out of this room.”

“But look, Ves,” said Hasselti. “The prophesy is here, it’s all I can see, it’s all I can work! It’s coming! I can’t see for certain but...” Hasselti hung her head. “I’m so frightened we’ll miss it and miss out on destiny.”

“So such thing,” said Vesuvia. “This is all hogwash. You can’t upset yourself like this. For this jibberish.”

“Jibber... jibberish?” Hasselti’s voice became shrill. “This is my life! And yours too! How can you not see the writing on the wall?”

“I can see it fine enough,” snapped Vesuvia. “But it’s written in some language I don’t know.”

“Oh...” said Hasselti. “I thought... I don’t know... I didn’t know you couldn’t.” She went to the largest weaving at the end of the room. “Here. It says:

“ After the end of the Golden Age there will come a Golden one to save Dragonkind
His efforts will save the shell of the dragon but not the soul
This will be resurrected by the children of the highest two
From within the vessel of a sinner””

Vesuvia blinked. “What does it mean?”

“It means there are children to be born! Children to save our culture!” Hasselti waved to all her weavings. “It’s coming! It’s insistant! I can’t eat or sleep for the vision!” she was becoming hysterical. “No rest! No rest Vessy! Because I’m missing it! There’s more to it, or it’s wrong or-“

Vesuvia grabbed Hasselti roughly. “Shhh! You’re not missing anything. What children? Who cares?”

Hasselti choked roughly. “If these children don’t come around... Vessy, we’ll be driven out, drived into the sea.”

“What?”

“We... our clan... will be overrun by enemies. Earth ponies with dragon slaves. They’ll kill us or breed us for more slaves.” She was shaking and Vesuvia knew she truly believed in this terrible fate. She hugged Hasselti tightly.

“I won’t let them touch you.”

Hasselti shook more than ever. “I’ll be dead. But you won’t be...”

Vasuvia shuddered to think of what Hasselti’s power had shown her. Vesuvia hated this power. “Hass, this is ridiculous. How do you know it has anything to do with you? I mean the fulfilment of it?”

“I think you’re one parent,” said Hasselti. “You’re so pretty... you must be one of them! We’re descended from the Golden one.”

“And who is the other? We don’t know any dragon we’re not related to that isn’t Tasma or Rage, and I’m not doing either of them.”

Hasselti giggled. “I don’t think it works that way. Magic, you know. I think the other dragon is also female, though. No male... feelings about it, you know? Pretty, too. With an awful past. When I think of them, I see the stars at dawn...”

Vesuvia frowned, thinking of the new person she had met. Could Hasselti mean Mirage? “If we found this other parent... what would we do about it?”

“I’d have to find someone who could find out how to work the magic for a pregnancy... and I’d have to find out who this ‘sinner’ is to carry them.”

Vesuvia snerked. “That will be a nice conversation. “Hi! You’re a sinner! Carry these chosen babies!”

“Scoff all you like, but this is important!”

“Fine fine. I’ll get you some dinner. And you eat it. Don’t stuff it away.” Vesuvia stalked out, turning her back gracefully on her sister’s wet raspberry.

Vesuvia flew down to Kaiba Mansion with her jam jar full of hair cuttings. She let herself into the front door- these people didn’t like answering the door- it let the sunlight and fresh air in.

Blaid’s room was on the second floor, so Vesuvia went up the stairs until she came to the door with the scissors and needles sticking in it. This door, Vesuvia did knock. A few minutes later, Blaid opened the door a crack and stared out with his narrow eyes.

“She’s downstairs in the potion lab,” he wheezed at her and shut the door.

Vesuvia nodded and went back down the stairs. Blaid was taciturn, just like her, and she could understand. When she reached the ground floor, she looked around for a set of stairs to take her down.

“Hey there!”

Vesuvia turned. There was a sweet looking girl with bloody hair coming down to meet her. “Where are you going?” she asked.

“The basement... potions lab.”

“Oh okay.” the girl pointed to a door. “That way. I’m Yuuzuki, by the way. You’re Hasselti’s sister, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“Have fun!” Yuuzuki skipped away.

Vesuvia went to the door Yuuzuki had pointed out to her and opened it. It indeed led to a set of stairs. Vesuvia followed them down. By the time she reached the end of the stairs, odd and pungent odours had made the air thick and soupy and hard to breathe.

A door on the landing before another flight of stairs downward was marked with mysterious runes and symbols and Vesuvia decided this must have been the lab. She opened the door and coughed as a puff of smoke assailed her face. “Ugh!”

“Vess?” Vesuvia heard Hasselti’s voice.

“Yeah.”

Hasselti appeared from behind a shelf. “Oh hi! Come on over here!”

Vesuvia followed her deeper into the room and became uncomfortably warm as she came nearer a large, bubbling cauldron.

“Ugh, another one,” spat an acidic voice. It belonged to Belladonna, the old poison mistress. She tended the fire beneath the cauldron.

“Don’t be nasty, Bells,” said Hasselti. “It’s my sister.”

Belladonna sniffed.

“Don’t mind her,” said Hasselti. “She’s a lovely pony when you get to know her. Lilina’s around here somewhere... she’s been helping me a lot!”

“Are you okay?” said Vesuvia suddenly. She caught a good look at Hasselti and saw her red-rimmed eyes.

Hasselti pursed her lips. “I’ll tell you later.”

Vesuvia didn’t like this answer but she kept her mouth shut. A black pony came into view followed by a green crystal ball.

“This is Lilina,” said Hasselti brightly. “She’s a whiz with magic!”

“Thankyou,” said Lilina. “Anyway, girls, what we have now is the perfect simmer-pot for growing. We just need the DNA to move on.”

“DNA?” asked Vesuvia.

“Yeah,” said Hasselti. “See, we thought that the kids in the prophesy might not have been produced naturally, and Lilina is an expert on IVF magic. So all we need is some DNA,” she said brightly.

“I think I got that.” Vesuvia pulled out the jam jar. “Mirage’s hair and mine.”

Lilina snatched the jar away. “Don’t know, don’t know...” she muttered, opening the jar and pulling out the hair. “Don’t know here, will it be good enough...” She started pacing, muttering to herself.

Vesuvia blinked. “Is she all there?”

Hasselti giggled. “Just a bit spare.”

“So what’s wrong?”

“Oh. Um.” Hasselti drew Vessuvia down to sit. “Well I gave my prophesies to Blaid and he said he thought I’d made a mistake in the weaving, because it was a bit warped. So we took it to Slavillia and she said that it was because some ponies have difficulty prophesising... about themselves... So they figured out that... I wasn’t weaving ‘sinner’ I was weaving ‘spinner’.”

“But that means,” said Vesuvia quietly, “that you’re the vessel.”

“Yeah. I’ve got to have the kids.”

Lilina tipped the hairs into the cauldron, sealing theirs fates.

Unity was in the library when he felt a tug on his consciousness. He closed his eyes, slipping into the Illusion Realm where his daughter stood, waiting.
"Mirage, what's wrong?" She held her composure but Unity knew something was troubling her; else she wouldn't have contacted her. "Keilani has been worried about you. She misses you dearly."
"I will be home shortly. I have a problem. What do you know about a prophecy involving me and a dragon named Vesuvia?"
Unity pursed his lips. "So that's her name."
"You know about it?"
"I only knew that you would have children with her. I didn't know a prophecy was involved."
Mirage frowned and sat down, stretching her wings. "They will not be born by me. How is that?"
"Magic. Using your DNA. Has Vesuvia asked for some?"
"No. I imagine she's going to tell me little. Not that I blame her; had I not seen you I would've thought her crazy."
"You could stop it, Mirage. If you left now it would be fulfilled."
Mirage shook her head. "Hessalti, Vesuvia's sister, is making herself sick with this prophecy. I couldn't do that to her."
"Then what?"
"I won't say a thing until the children are born. She can't keep them from me."
"I know how much you want children.. but is this really the way? Shouldn't it be with someone you love?"
"I have no time for love. I have to find him."
"How do you know he even exists, Mirage? You saw him in your dreams."
"He is a dream walker and he is very real." She pulled off her mask. "This! This is my proof. He did this to me before I was even born."
Unity sighed. "Whatever you decide, Mirage. I know you'll be happy one day. I best be going now. Quite some time has passed and I'm sure the children are driving your mother mad."
Mirage smiled. "How are the little ones?"
"A handful. Like you lot were."
"I'll be home soon. Send Keilani my love and appologies."
"I'm sure she'll visit you soon."
"When I'm asleep, yes."
"Goodbye, Mirage."
"Goodbye, father."

----

Mirage slowly drifted back into reality and physicality. The soft bed underneath her, the feeling of cool, crisp and slightly crinkled sheets. Her mask; cool against her face. She realised that a lot of time had indeed passed and she stood, stretching. It was dark now, though she couldn't tell, the caves were quiet and she could hear someone snoring in the distance. She removed her mask, preparing for sleep. She was crawling into bed when she heard someone outside her door. she quickly wove an illusion; herself sleeping and made her form blend into the wall. The door opened just as the illusion settled into place and Mirage sucked in a breath as Vesuvia entered.