Gizamulika frowned in her sleep. Her dreams had become strange again, hazy but somehow distinct...how they always were, right before she woke. In her mind's eye she saw her mother, curled up beside the lion she had come to think of as something like a father, both still sleeping...Then she was pulled away, over vast tracts of land, to a place that was dark and sinister. For a brief moment she hear roars, saw the ever-present Monster doing battle with another...and then, he fell...and her dream ended abruptly, startling her awake. She sat a moment, looking around, and let out a gasp. What she'd seen..could it be? At last the Monster was...With a smile she rose and wandered off, her spirits soaring with each step she took.

Phlegyas had wandered far from the pride's lands today. His direction was none that he'd consciously chosen, but rather one he felt pulled towards. Perhaps his demon wanted him to go there? He couldn't say. Regardless, he sulked on across the plains and savanna. Whatever was out there, he'd find it.

Giza, feeling better and better, shifted her walk into a run. She leapt at the sky and spun around joyously. It seemed at last her nightmares were over!

A noise caught Phle's attention and he perked his ears. The voice was familiar somehow...he sped up, cresting a small hill and looking off into the distance. His eyes opened wide as he recognized someone he hadn't seen in years. "...Gizamulika!" He bellowed, his roar savage and angry.

Startled, Giza whirled around. Spotting the distant figure she called back, "W-who are you? How do you know me...?"

Phle stared hard at her and loped closer. "Giza, is that you?" He ignored her question and began to circle her, looking her up and down. "Well, I don't know who else it could be." Inside he feels a numb sort of shock...this was not what he expected.

Giza considered running from this strange lion, but held still. "...Phlegyas...? Phle! It is you!" She suddenly leapt at him as he circled, paws wide to hug him, roaring with happiness.

Phle's face formed into a snarl, and he ducked her advance. "So it is you..."

Giza missed him, obviously, and landed awkwardly from being startled by his snarl. "...Of course it's me, Phle." She moved to butt her head on his. "Are you hurt? Or hungry..?" Her words are confused, clearly she wasn't expecting him to react to her that way.

Phle roared again and snapped at Giza. "I thought you were DEAD! And I wish I'd been right...!"

Giza blanched, wincing at his words. "...What? Phle...Why would you wish that? I thought you were dead too, but here you are and...and...where are the others? Are they...?"

Phle snarled and ignored her reaction, "Yes, they're all alive. Right where Posca left us. Except Shilo, no one knows what happened to her. "

Unable to let the pass at her mother go, Giza bristled and retorted, "She didn't leave us..You were taken! Taken by that...That evil lion!"

Phle snorted at that thought. "But somehow you got away, and rather than saving her cubs, the great Goddess of Decay ran from a demented lion. And yes, that evil lion took us. Our -father- brought out demons that didn't exist until he made them." He glared hard at his long lost sister.

Giza's ears tucked back at the bitter remark. "...She was scared. Scared she'd hurt you more than he could. I hid...what could I do? Fight that beast? I would have been taken too, you know!"

Phle chortled, "I think I'd rather have died in her trying than to live as we did." He threw his head back and looked down on her with a sneer. "Oooohhh, well of course. I'm glad you saved your own bright skin, Giza."

Giza growled and said under her breath, "If you hated it so much, why didn't you leave? I bet that's what Shilo did..." Her voice rose as her anger began to swell. "It doesn't matter what I did then. I was an infant, and scared. Father overlooked me...You could have run too! I ran more that night than I knew I ever could run. I'm sure you could have!"

Phle snorted, "Do you think it was possible for cubs to escape demons? Even more, how can you imagine that Father would let his seeing heirs slip through his claws? Excuse me again, Giza. I forgot to run when I was trying to protect Shilo." Likewise Phle felt his rage simmer and boil.

Almost surprising herself, Giza took a step forward, snarling. "You're not a cub NOW are you?! Shilo got away, and now 'Father' is DEAD, so what's holding you back?!" She seemed to look closer at her brother for a moment. "What happened to you Phle? You...you turned into a monster too, didn't you!?"

"It's too late for us now, Giza. We're of the damned!" He comes up short, stunned. "...That's a lie! I heard him just this morning, the pride is covered in his scent, not his blood."

"It's never too late!..." Giza steps back. "I SAW it, Phle! Only darkness where I saw him before!" A grin splits her face. "That MONSTER is gone at last...No more nightmares, Phle!"

"It IS too lat, dear sister...I found my demon within. It's name? Marnamai!" Phlegyas snarls low. "Ignorant fool. Posca taught you nothing of real life." His pelt shudders and he slowly advances, slinking towards the female. "Tell me how it happened!"

Giza stands firm, and when he's near enough growls in his face. "Posca and Bombei have taught me EVERYTHING I need to know. You're the one who's been mislead, 'Marnamai'! He was killed...KILLED by one of our 'brothers'!"

The angry male roars loud, and finds that it takes everything in his body to resist a physical outlash. "Don't you DARE use that name. WHO, then did it? Which one!?"

"You think I'd know their names? It wasn't one of Mother's children. They were red, and gold, and black. why do you care anyways, that devil is DEAD, and you and the rest are FREE."

Phle's fur bristles, knowing it's one of Verge's and Hakuna's sons. "..." He shakes his head. "It's too late. At least for me. I've chosen my fate."

Giza turns away from her brother. After a moment she looks back over her shoulder at him. "...And what is that fate, Phlegyas? Or...Marnamai?? She spits the second name, disgusted he would choose that life.

Phle's eyes darken and he looks at her with a very sinister demeanor. "It's whatever I want it to be."

Giza bristles at him. "...Choose wisely brother. You say you hate 'father' for what he's done to you...From where I stand you've grown up to be very, very much like him."

Phle huffs and turns back towards the pride. "I don't hate father. I hate Posca." His tail lashes violently. "And you, sister." Seeming to ignore her, he pricks his ears, as though from such a distance he could still hear fighting.

Giza stiffens at the final remark, and her shoulders slump in defeat. She stands silent for a time, unsure what to say or do, and finally simply leaves. Just before leaving earshot she pauses and mumbles, "Goodbye then, brother. I hope you'll be happy then, without us...Even if you're a monster, I'll miss you." She scowled, feeling the tears come and roll down her face. "I'll miss the you that died that day the Monster came. Maybe one day you'll be free..."