Welcome to Gaia! ::

It wasn’t a holiday season, but crowds still gathered inside the Gambino Island Mall. For a pair who sought to distance themselves, it was a silly place to be due to the hundreds of people who frequented it. Yet the mall that embodied human greed and desire was the perfect place to go to escape everything that reminded them of a certain someone. This place had become a sanctuary to Lillian and Tyson, for nothing in this crowded human structure brought back painful memories of the being they had come to love and cherish.

“Find anything?” Lillian asked as she stood beside a crouching youth. They were in the comic book store, a place they hadn’t been two in a week. Her younger brother, Tyson, had finally gained the courage to walk through the aisles again but his eyes had lost the charismatic glow they normally possessed when he entered the store.

Before the incident, the comic book store was Tyson’s true love. His dreams lived here and it had become a like second home in a way.

Not anymore though.

Even after spending an hour in the store and de-shelving over two dozen comic books that now laid scattered among him, Tyson couldn’t grasp his joy. He felt hallow inside, and not even his heroes could return the fulfillment he wanted back.

Tyson heaved a heavy sigh and stood from his seat, the books falling to his feet. “Nope.” He mumbled and took his leave, Lillian following after him.

Once again they stepped in rhythm with the crowd and walked towards the food court. Neither felt really hungry, but it was something to do that would pass the time away.

The two looked up when they heard their names. It wasn’t unusual to see someone at the mall but the sweet voice wasn’t familiar to them. Strange…who could it be?

Their solemn faces rose to look at where the call had sounded. A woman only a few feet away from them with…pink hair? Tyson and Lillian shared a brief exchange of eye contact as if asking one another an unspoken question. Was it really who they thought it was? Could it be her? Well…she was the only pink haired woman that they knew.

“Chloe?” They mouthed in unison when they looked back at her. It must have been her. It just had to be her.

Without pausing to collect their thoughts, the two made their way over to greet her. But the way that they carried themselves just didn’t seem to fit the personalities Chloe may have remembered. For one, Tyson didn’t scurry over to Chloe to give her a great big hug nor did he cry out her name with utter joy; and not even a hint of a smile graced across Lillian’s lips when she met eyes with the lab’s secretary. To state it simply, the Maevin siblings looked absolutely drained.

“How have you been, Chloe?” Lillian quietly asked the young woman once they were beside her. Lil’s volume, the overall tone of her voice, was severely different then what Chloe may have been used to from her. Normally Lillian spoke with such strength that played upon her thoughts of always being right. But that power that once burned strongly inside her had dwindled to become just a flicker which was at the risk of being blown out.

The once happy-go-lucky boy who had shared a smooch and given Chloe plenty of hugs smiled for a brief moment in her direction. A soft whispered “Hello.” was the only greeting he gave. From there his attention was captured by a plant sitting in the nearest corner of a store’s window.

One would have thought that the children had been touched twice by two opposing hands. The first touch: a painful poker that had just been pulled out of the fire and still red with blazing heat. The second: a gentle hand of a mother that stroked away her child’s fears and nightmares.

They reacted to the touch with fear at first and flinched as their skin met Chloe’s. It was an outside touch, a show of affection from someone who didn’t hold the Maevin name nor wore the crest of a Gargoyle. This fear, this painful being that had lurked over their shoulders and watched their every step dashed away from the light that had befallen the two.

It was warm, and inviting. Although it could not speak, words of comfort drifted into their ears. Sayings such as, “I’ll be there.” And “You have nothing to fear.” Gave the dwindling pride a reason to burst and gather a flame.

Their torment briefly melted to give rise to the problem that had been hanging over them for quiet some time.

“Chloe…we killed someone and we stuck them in a bottle!” Tyson suddenly sobbed. Tears did not overcome him and spill from his eyes but the weight that had sat upon his shoulders crumbled when he spoke of their predicament. “He’s gone and we can’t bring him back!”

Lillian, who always jumped to cover her brother’s actions and words, did nothing but look at her feet as Tyson jumbled his words and made them so they were barely comparable. He needed this, and she did too. Someone had to hear this tale, and perhaps Chloe could help them even more. She took away the pressure for a time so maybe she could take away more?

Lillian looked to Chloe and then passed her eyes onto Tyson. She felt humiliated and weak now. She hadn’t stopped herself from bringing the pain in the first place. Why hadn’t she just pushed it away and moved on? Why did this have to affect her so much to the point of feeling like she was breaking apart? Bit by bit until she would be reduced to fragments or pieces of a puzzle that had made up her entire being.

When his sister did not speak, Tyson did it for her. “Yes. We got one a while ago.” He whispered as he placed himself gratefully within Chloe’s arms. It was safe here. She would help them. “I thought it could help…he was broken and I wanted to make him whole again.”

To recall the past and gather up what was left certainly pained the lad. Yet he had promised his father he wouldn’t cry. Not a tear would be shed. He’d be strong, as strong as he could be in a time like this. Lillian needed support, and he was the only one left that would become her pillar.

Tyson scowled to himself and buried his head against the young woman’s shoulder as his bitterness over the situation helped him speak. “I’m sorry, Chloe. I think I messed up with it. He didn’t come back. He isn’t even really here anymore…not even his pieces. I messed it all up.”

Both looked rather startled by the sudden decision on Chloe’s part. There was no time for them to say “No”. There wasn't even a brief good timing that would give them a moment to escape. They were pulled from the gloom and placed into a blinding light without a seconds noticed. Honestly, they were dazed beyond belief.

Lillian and Tyson both stared with bewilderment at Chloe and then the sign of crepe flavors. Wait…What were they supposed to be doing again? They were ordering something? Crepes? That was a kind of food? But when did crepes hop into the picture? Weren’t they just talking about death and soul bottles?

“Um…I would…like…ah…” Lillian glanced back at Chloe with a brow raised. Atleast she had been able to hang onto that familiar expression. “A vanilla crepe?”

Tyson was next, and just like Lillian he stuttered and suffered from the suddenness of well...everything. “I’ll take…Strawberry!” He finally chirped after a minute or so of stumbling and hopping over various Errs and Ahhs as well as loose Ooohs and Uhhhs.

In the end, the two had simply mimicked Chloe’s order without fully noticing.

Escape was in their grasp, they could bolt now if they wanted to. Yet, the feeling to run was gone. The warmth that had been given to them from being around Chloe had brought them an ounce of joy and had returned a small piece of themselves back into order. Perhaps, the two thought with a hint of hope, if they remained beside her; if just for a little longer, a few more strands that belonged in their circle would return.

Like little ducklings following after their mother, the two siblings hurried after Chloe’s footsteps. It wasn’t long before they made it past the shoppers, pushed open the doors, and found themselves outside.

A look to the left, and then a look to the right before Tyson took the lead over heading to Chloe. Neither paid close attention to the other body beside Chloe as they met up with the pair. To them, Roux was just another bystander, something they could live with for now. When they reached her, Tyson sat himself beside Chloe and Lillian beside her younger brother.

Their eyes then drifted to their fresh desserts, neither seeming eager to eat. It was a sweet gesture on Chloe’s part and it was rude to turn down a meal…so Lillian and Tyson both bit down into their edible gifts.

A rosy glow brightened their pale cheeks as the taste burst inside their mouth. It was simply delicious!

Tyson cast Chloe a look of great wonder as he listened very carefully to what sweet little Chloe was trying to say. The lad had been trying t follow every word, and with every word that slipped from the young woman’s lips he drew closer and closer. By the time Chloe had finished her explanation, the lad had placed himself so close to her that he was almost sitting upon her knee. Lillian didn’t make a fuss either, even when Tyson rested his head on Chloe’s shoulder. The boy wasn’t the only one who had leaned closer to hear what seemed to be like precious secrets, Lillian had scooted herself closer to her younger brother just so she could either every word as well.

Unconsciously, the lad nibbled at the crepe he held in one hand as his hazel eyes stared directly into Chloe’s blue eyes. He just couldn’t look away as she bore the essence of hope from her words. The glimmering seed of joy was planted into their hearts as her words drew on and carried with it strength. The seedling took root and grew in their very soul at this good news.

Garg was still alive! Just as Chloe had suspected, there had been a earthy glow swimming inside the glass. So it had to be him!

“So he’ll come back?” Tyson prompted as he placed the hand that was not pink with strawberry juice on Chloe’s nearest hand. Perhaps he had seen the detached look that had befallen Chloe's features? Even so, he remained silent to what he saw and continued with his own questions. “That means we didn’t kill his soul?” Next to the grief of Garg’s departure, the Maevin children had feared that placing him inside the bottle had killed everything that they had loved about him. But if Chloe was right, which they were sure she was, he would be just fine when it was time for him to come out.

Lillian swallowed another bite of her vanilla crepe after she had chewed over the thoughts playing through her head like a late night show. Unlike before when she had decided to speak, this time the quiet voice Lillian used gained a small choir to help it be heard. “If we give you his bottle, will you give him to Kyou for us? I trust you that you’ll take good care of him while he's in your hands.” She told the other while the same eyes that looked identical to Tyson’s looked out into the vast parking lot.