Welcome to Gaia! ::

Louis stared at the metal briefcase sitting on the top of his coffee table, books piled around the table haphazardly and the light from his laptop reflecting off his glasses as he stared at the screen. He has been sitting in this position for a while now, his mind thinking about what he had read thus far.

He seemed like a statue if not for the slight movement from his breathing.

It all started right after he received the case. After reading the notes and signing the papers, Louis headed out to the library in hopes of finding something. He had a slight inkling of what he was looking for. Having to capture a soul of something meant that a sacrifice had to be made and he just wasn’t ready to kill. Sure, he had to deal with the fishes weekly but they were of a lesser intelligence, driven only by their instincts to survive and to reproduce. At least that was how things are in Louis’s mind.

He was looking for something less intelligent, perhaps a plant of some kind. Louis chuckled; he thought about using a fish as a soul but he couldn’t bring himself to. He would probably remember the Raevan and feel guilty about having to kill it’s relative or something.

The trip to the library was a daunting task to him. He tried to seek help from the librarian on duty but was given a weird stare and redirected somewhere when he asked what green creatures exist. He followed the instructions of the librarian and was greeted by rows upon rows of books. The sheer number left Louis in a daze. Over the course of the week, he flipped through most and managed to narrow it down to a few books, mostly on flora and fauna found in the ocean.

A deep sigh resonated through the empty house. Louis was stumped; He had spent all night looking through all the books in an attempt to find a perfect soul for the Lasting Bubbles. He chose the books on creatures of the ocean as that was where he spent most of his time at, the ocean was practically his home. However, there wasn’t anything that really stood out to him, nothing that really resonated well with the bubbles. There were a few fishes that are green but Louis wasn’t sure if he could find them out in the waters of Gambino. Other alternatives included seaweed or algae, things that get on his nerves when they get stuck in the propeller.

Louis laughed; he wasn’t sure if he would be able to take good care of the Raevan if they were made from those. Even the search on the internet was a fruitless effort. He tried to look out mythical creatures but right after that, he realized that he would have no idea how to go about finding them on Gaia.

Louis shook his head and decided to wrap things up. He was thinking too hard about it and felt that it would be better to leave it to fate.

When Louis stepped outside, the sun was just rising. He took in a deep breath; he was grateful that he was able to witness such a view on the daily. Peri was up as well, perched on the rails on the porch. Louis went over and gave the cat-erpillar a scratch. He was grateful for the chimera, it was she that introduced him to the world of magic and the Lab. He never imagined he would be part of something so special, so crazy. Using souls and magic to create new life, it was like something out of a movie.

“Alright you silly cat, time to stop being so sassy” Louis looked over at the chimera “We got an adventure to go on.”

Louis believed in the old folk beliefs of a ship’s cat. He believed that having Peri along would bless him with good weather out at sea. He gathered all of his equipment and headed towards his ship, Peri trailing behind him.

There wasn’t much to do on the ship. Louis had already checked the fuel and the supplies the day before and it was all stocked up. He made his way towards the helm of the ship and locked the fishing rod into place, the bottle tied to the other end with a bait. His plan was to throw the bottle out at sea and see what bites. That way, whatever bites would be a willing party and he would feel less guilty taking the life of another, if it wasn’t a fish.

Louis started up the engine and they were off.

The boat slowly chugged out further away from shore, away from his usual fishing spot. While it’s true that there might be more fishes for him over there, hence a higher chance of getting a soul into the bottle, it would’ve been too risky. The chaos that occurs when the birds swoop in for the kill, when the fishes fight for their live, it would probably dislodge the bottle from the line. How would he answer to the Lab then? Louis shuddered at that thought, people who dabbled in magic were not to be messed with. Taking one last look at the line and the bottle, making sure it was on secured, he chucked the bottle overboard.

There wasn’t much to do when fishing; it was a game of patience. Louis leaned against the side, his head bobbing to the beat of the bottle on the waves. He wasn’t sure if it was the slow, hypnotic bobbing of the waves or the way the sea breeze caressed his skin like the call of a siren, or even a mix of both but something was lulling him to sleep. His eyes grew heavy and was kept apart by sheer determination. Louis looked over his shoulder, at his peculiar cat. It was clear Peri was feeling the same way, having snuggled into the pile of spare ropes on the deck.

”Oh Peri, you’re making me so jealous…” Louis chuckled as he watched the chimera snooze away in her makeshift bed.

Seconds turned to minutes, and minutes turned into hours. Other than the occasional nibbling of the bait, nothing was biting. Louis was confused. Even on a bad day, he could catch at least a fish or two with his rod. He stared hard at the bottle, his mind churning for a possible reason. Louis knew the cloth signified the possible soul that could be captured but surely there was a green fish in the waters, or in the least a fish with green iridescent coloring. Was he looking at the situation all wrong? Was there something else that dictated the type of soul that could be captured?

Thunder rumbled in the distance, snapping him out of his thought.

Louis turned his head towards the sound and he cussed. Storm clouds were rolling in the distance, and lightning lit up the sky. As he was distracted, he hadn’t realized that the waves were getting choppier and fast. There was no better signal for him to leave. He reeled in the bottle, locked the rod into place and went off to prepare for the trip back. While he was getting everything ready, he could hear Peri hissing at something.

”What could it be this time…” Louis sighed and looked out towards the front of the boat. Somehow, Peri ended up on the bow and was swiping at something.

Curiosity got the better of Louis and he headed out towards the bow. There beside Peri with it’s scythe out front, bobbing and weaving between Peri’s claws was a Praying Mantis. Bewildered, Louis couldn’t help but chuckled. How did the insect ever made its’ way onboard.

“Looks like we’ve got a stowaway…” Louis laughed and kept watching. It was a boxing match of the lifetime, between Peri and the Praying Mantis.

Peri got the first blow. She kept swiping at the insect, cautiously at first and slowly getting more aggressive. The mantis was not to be looked down on, its’ scythe swiping whenever Peri’s claws came close. With the storm rumbling in the distance, Louis had to admit it looked pretty epic. The exchange of taunts happened for a while before Peri’s claw finally connected with the mantis and she swiped it onto the deck and followed it right after. The battle had moved onto the deck. It was almost like watching a show, the exchange was in time to the rhythm of the thunder, the two of them dancing.

Louis was almost sure Peri would win and that he would have to stop Peri from eating the dead insect but the mantis surprised him. Somehow, when Peri’s claw got close, it managed to grab hold of her claw. Peri flipped instantaneously, swinging her paw about in a futile attempt to get the insect off. Louis laughed as he watched the cat jumped around the deck and could only stop when she managed to get the mantis off. Just then, a wave hit the bow of the boat and sprayed the three of them. It was a sight to behold, the mantis seemingly celebrating its victory with it’s scythe stretched out. Peri could only sulk, staring at the bug as she walked towards the bridge.

It was at that moment, with the rocking of the boat and the rain drops falling on his face, Louis remembered about the storm. The weather had caught up with them and the conditions were becoming treacherous. He quickly regained his composure and ran to the wheel, turned the boat around and headed towards the shore. The ride back was not at all comfortable, he could hear the things on his boat bumping about. He wanted to stop and make sure everything’s tied down but the storm was catching up fast; it would be a disaster if he headed back in the storm on his little boat. All he could do was grit his teeth and kept going.

○ oO o O Oo ○

With the way his boat was being thrashed about by the waves, he wasn’t sure how they made it back to the port but Louis was glad they did. Peri was holed up in a cabinet some where and only when the boat shaking stopped did she emerge from her hiding place. Louis could finally check on his inventory, making sure that none of his stuff was lost at sea. It was only then he remembered the mantis. He quickly rushed out to the deck and saw the mess. Before they headed back, he had locked his fishing rod into it’s holder and tied the bottle around rod but during the journey, the string had come loose and judging from the scene, he guessed that it must’ve bounced about.

Sitting still on the deck, the lightning in the distance could be seen reflecting off it’s surface, was the bottle. A green mist was swirling inside, pushing at the glass as though it was trying to break free. Underneath the bottle was the carcass of the mantis, the scythes that was sticking out was the only defining feature left of the insect.

Louis sighed, he had hoped to release the mantis back onto dry land but fate had other plans. He picked up the bottle gingerly, wiping the remains off the bottle and stared at it. The mist or rather, the soul was almost hypnotizing. Louis closed his eyes and gave a prayer and thanked the mantis. It wasn’t what Louis wanted at the start but it’s his responsibility now.

The mantis will be born again.

Louis stood by the spare room in his house, currently filled to the brim with knick-knacks collected over the years. With the new Raevan on its way, he needed to clear it out so that it has a space to sleep in. Through the few events he has attended in the past, Louis knew that other than their lower body, Raevans were all born adult sized. While he does not have a kid of his own, he remembered how suffocating it was to stay in the same room with his older brother. He wouldn’t want the Raevan to go through that.

“Where do I even begin…” Louis sighed as he stared at the heap of trinkets in front of him, cursing himself for being a hoarder
.
Most of the items in the trash heap were from his fishing excursion. Lined up against one wall were jewelries covered in a green gunk caused by oxidization; bottles with papers in them and the occasional toys, washed away by the currents from their masters. On the opposite wall was a bookshelf, lined with carcasses of his various hunts; Fishes preserved in jars, skeleton of various marine creatures and shells of all kinds could be seen. Amongst those things, there were statues and paintings, even sea-faring maps of various kind scattered throughout the room.

Picking up a bottle, he gazed at the message within for just a moment before throwing it into the trash bag. He was hoping to find a bottle that might contain the coordinates to a lost isle somewhere out at sea but all he could find were hopefuls looking for friends or love across the open waters. He kept a few bottles, those that looked cool but most of it went into the trash. He didn’t even give the jewelry a second look, these were the ones which he couldn’t clean and were too gross to be worn. Straight into the trash they went.

The paintings and the maps were a headache. Every single one was valuable to him and he had a hard time deciding which to keep. He stared at the pile hard, noting all the different items in his collection. He felt that as the Raevan was going to be magical, he would keep those paintings that depicted scenes from mythology. It would perhaps inspire the Raevan much more than the mundane. He kept the maps that were from an older generation, those that depicted the leviathan and strange beings in the waters. Perhaps there were some truth in those paintings and it could be something the both of them could explore in the future.

Slowly, bit by bit, the room started to get cleaner.


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It was dark when he had finally finished.

It took him nearly the whole afternoon to get rid of all the trinkets, keeping only those he found to be more interesting. All the jewelry and most of the bottles were gone from the wall; there were finally space for books on the shelves of the bookcase on the opposite wall. There were still some jars and skeleton left over but they were of the rarer species. Paintings and maps were hung up wherever there were space and those that didn’t make the cut was kept at one corner, waiting to be sold.

“Thank goodness that was over…” Louis sighed as he jumped onto the bed. It was a new purchase, a single bed that he had bought from a flea while on his way out and the sheets were spares he had. Louis was planning to get new sheets when he has the time.

While he was lying on the bed, his mind began to wonder. He was barely functioning as an adult and now he had to take care of a someone else. Louis wasn’t sure he was ready and there wasn’t much time left.

“What do they even eat? What do I do if their powers go wild outside? Do they even pee or poo?” Louis mumbled, verbalizing all the questions he has in his mind.

He was sure he needed help and there was only one place to look. The Lab. There were many owners that had went through what he is going through right now and they were surely much more knowledgeable than he was.

After making up his mind to call the Lab, he got up and went to take a well deserved shower. Letting the water and the heat, wash away all the tiredness and trouble of the day.