Welcome to Gaia! ::

Vergil was excited. He didn't know what had happened, but Lore had carried him through a door in the library, and now they were in a whole different place. This room had a LOT of doors in it, and he wondered if they were all like the one that he had just come through - leading to different places.

"Does one of these doors go to the place where my mother will be?" he asked Lore eagerly.

It was midspring in the Borderlands, and the snows had almost all melted away. The air was warm, the trees green, but there was a slight breeze in the air.

Vergil looked around, blinking, and then he took a deep breath. "Wow," he murmured, "it's nice here ..."

It was Adonai who opened the door for Lore and Vergil, and he smiled warmly at the two and held the door open for them. "Welcome!" he said warmly. "Come on in! What brings you here? I don't think I've ever seen you here alone before ..."

Vergil looked up at Adonai, who, in his eyes, was even taller than Lore. He blinked up at Lore. "Is everybody here giants?" he asked, amazed.

Adonai laughed at Vergil. "And who is this? New adoptee?"

Vergil kept staring at Adonai, and the elf chuckled down at him. "Well, we're in the middle of lunch right now, but you're welcome to join us. How long can you stay?"

"Forever!" Vergil piped up, grinning widely.

Adonai laughed. "Is that a fact?"

Adonai nodded. "I understand. Well, come on in and talk to Cindy, I'm sure she'll be glad to see you and get a bit of news about her family. Though she's been here so long, she almost seems like one of our family. If not for her I think we would be quite lost with Rhea gone."

He beckoned for the two to follow him, closing the door behind them.

"Very quiet," Adonai replied, leading them to the kitchen, where Shael and Cindy were eating their lunch. "Very strange. It's the first time she's been anywhere without us, so ..."

"Don't forget to tell about the slavers," Shael smiled at her husband as she rose from her seat.

As Shael moved to get another few plates, Adonai nodded and sat down in his seat again. "All's quiet, we've only had I think three or four hunts in the past few years," he explained. "Mum's north with the Westland army taking care of the dwarfs, Ada's watching over them all from a distance ... I'm not sure how they're doing it yet, but they're going to try to abolish the slavery once and for all. Ahren and Shiara went to speak to King Eregon and he offered them help."

Vergil meanwhile was looking around. He watched Shael as she moved, and he couldn't help but notice her very strong limp. He didn't say anything, but instead looked over at Cindy. She was a lot shorter than the giants, he decided, and even without knowing who she was, he felt drawn to her. She was more his size ... obviously still a lot bigger than him, but at least she wasn't a giant. And her wings ... very pretty ...

"Are you my mother?" he asked her hopefully, leaning forward in Lore's arms.

Vergil beamed. "Really?" he asked breathlessly. He scrambled out of Lore's arms and fell to the floor - but this time he landed on his feet, as if he had jumped from such heights a hundred times - and then he ran over to Cindy and wrapped his arms around her ankles. "I'm so happy to meet you!" he said joyfully. "Now I finally have a family!"

Adonai and Shael just stared. Both of them were a little confused ...

Vergil snuggled into Cindy's arms, making himself comfortable. He liked this mother. Sure, she wasn't a demon like him, but she had her own things about her that were different from the rest of the world. Her wings, for example - and her tail, if he ever saw it. Yes, he would be quite happy here with her.

"Mother," he said curiously, looking up at her, "why are you the only one here that's not a giant?"

Adonai laughed. "Giants. I like that. Just wait until he meets a real giant."

Shael laughed softly, and turned to Lore. "Will you be staying long?" she asked him warmly. "Sure you can stay for a quick bite to eat."