Welcome to Gaia! ::

There was a silence in the air over the nothern end of Denia. A silence that hung over the island for days. It was a calm that would soon be broken by the sing song calls of a very common creature to the nothern end of Porta Denia. It was the cry of the common Gaian huckster.

"Fresh potted herbs for your box window. Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Fresh potted herbs for your box window," from the little wooden booth the huckster would announce his wares to the passing public.

"Ca-risp red apples. Ca-risp red apples. You won't find these on the mainland. Ca-risp red apples," at times the huckster was a shifter changing into a grower when he left the protection of his produce stand. And while he pulled the public in with his verbal hook his wife would bag the wares and take a customer's coins.

"We got brushes here. Brushes for your cleaning needs. Scrub brushes, back brushes, mops, brooms, and hair brushes. Yes ladies and gentlemen if it needs cleaning, sweeping, or grooming we have the brush for you," then there was the huckster who made you think you needed to have what he was selling. He was always ready to demonstrate to the passing public just why they needed to have what he was selling. This huckster was a slick actor well versed in telling the average person how they were thinking and exactly what they needed.

Hucksters, traveling salesmen, and the creative family farmer had not changed in Porta Denia's hundred and two year history. Those slick of tongue and quick of wit were able to outsell the next person. They brought their craft and profession to Denia's boarders and remained true to the art ever since. And while one man was selling little potted herbs for window growing another was hucking brooms and brushes "guaranteed" to work miracles throughout one's home.

That was the scene that greeted Aylin Rhys as she walked to the open air market. Located two miles north of Denia Hill and occupying an acre and a half of land the Denia Open Air Market was dotted with wooden booths housing wares of all types. There were household items, crafted items, clothing, produce, travel information, housing information, tourist information, and even someone claiming to be able to see into the future. If it could be sold or traded there was a good chance it would be found in the open air market.

The open air market was one relatively free of incident. People came and did their shopping in peace and somewhat quiet. However, on this particular day being free of incident was something the open air market was not destined to be. It started the moment Aylin walked passed a booth selling vine ripened heirloom hot house tomatoes.

"Heirloom hothouse tomatoes here. We have fresh from the vine heirloom hothouse tomatoes here. The only way to get tomatoes this..." The grower called out before being rudely interrupted.

"Hey! I run the heirloom tomato business on this side of the market. Nobody but nobody takes my spot bub. My family's had this spot for fifteen years," A very angry looking burly man in overalls snarled loudly at the skinny looking grower with shoulder length hair and glasses.

The skinny grower, who gave off the air of being one with all things organic, scoffed and stared down the bigger man. "You weren't here last night when they handed out the yearly booth assignments. You missed out bub. First come first serve. I own the prime tomato booth now."

Aylin could tell this wasn't about to end very well. It appeared to anyone within earshot of the argument that where the burly tomato grower was located was very important. Customers knew where their favorite booths were located and always went to them. If a new seller was in that booth it meant possibly losing out on a sale.

"I. Want. My. Booth. Back." the burly man demanded emphasizing each word as he balled his hands into fists.

"Not on my watch," the skinny organic grower returned as he picked up a tomato and held it ready to throw.

It was the classic stand off that drew a crowd to it. Neither man backing down and neither man wanting to be the one to make the first move. Tension and an eerie calm had come to the Denia Open Air Market.

Madam Dasina? Aylin blinked several times at the name coming from the veiled woman's lips. The last time she had heard the name was fifty years ago. The summer that year was one of the worst meteorological situations on Gaia in a hundred years. The heatwave that struck the planet lasted for months. As if that was not the worst of it, only ten days out of the entire summer were dry. Record rains caused widespread flooding along Gaia's river regions bringing with them tornadoes and hurricanes.

Denia did not escape that summer unscathed. A nasty tropical storm set its sights on hitting Denia and her tree head on. Fifty years ago the technology to track storms and communicate between airships and the islands was not as it was in the present times. People living in the skies had no real advanced warning of dangerous storms. You were considered very lucky if you received a shortwave radio message warning you of a storm fifteen minutes before it hit. That summer Denia was spared from major damage when Madam Dasina predicted days in advance the tropical storm was headed for Denia.

People had said Madam Dasina came to Denia with the advent of the Fattorino family. Rumor and tales lay claim to the woman being the personal palm reader and potion maker to the head of the Fattorino crime syndicate. The age of the veiled sooth sayer was unknown and some claimed she was ageless and well over two hundred years old. There was an air of mystery surrounding the woman. No one knew much about her other than she always wore a veil to cover her face and a lot of clinking jewelery.

What they did know was that Madam Dasina always took an interest in someone and over time both she and the person she targeted would disappear for some time. Then one day an unknown woman would emerge from Madam Dasina's shop and home on the south end of the island near the Red Lion, get on a departing airship, and never be seen on Denia again. No one knew where these women came from just that they had some type of strange connection to Madam Dasina.

The arrival of the sooth sayer caused the fighting men to ease their stance. The tomato growers still kept a watch on one another but they knew, just as the others gathered in the market, that Madam Dasina showing up to work the open air market was a very big deal. It wasn't every day the woman came to the open air market.

"Madam Dasina I was just preparing to defend myself if this latecomer tried to use force to get this booth he lost to me this year," The organic grower explained to the woman.

"I just want my booth back Madam Dasina. I'm going to lose my loyal customers in the CSA if they can't find my booth. My tomato business is going to go bust if they don't know where I'm located this year. I just know it. Tell me great seer of the beyond that I won't go bust this year being in a new location," the burly tomato man added explaining his side of the situation.

Aylin let out a small skeptic chuckle. She wasn't impressed by the woman fifty years ago and she wasn't impressed by her now. Aylin could not resist adding her own two cents to the situation.

"Lets see if you can predict this man's future just like you predicted that tropical storm fifty years ago," Aylin called out to the veiled woman.

The tomato growers were in a state of shock as the crowd began to thin out. The standoff over, those who took Madam Dasina's word seriously began to return to their normal routine. Still, there were others who found what Madam Dasina said to the winged girl with the sword to be puzzling. How did a fifteen year old girl know about events that took place fifty years before on the island and how did Madam Dasina know the girl? That was a mystery.

The burly tomato grower sighed and looked at the organic grower. "Ugh, I can't believe I have to spend a year in the same booth with this manure loving hippie just to keep my customers," the burly grower grumbled.

"Face it man you know Madam Dasina is always right. In a year you can try to get the booth back. Until then we gotta learn to put up with each other," the organic grower replied.

With the situation between the tomato growers over Aylin turned to the sooth sayer and gave her a hard stare. The people who remained to watch the situation unfold could have sworn the pixie aged over ninety years with one change of her body language. They did not know it right then but they were in the presence of someone far older than she looked.

"Listen sooth sayer you may act like you know me but you don't. I have changed considerably since I last stepped foot on this island. Do not underestimate me. You may have these people fooled but I know what you do is not real magic. I know real magic. I am real magic," Aylin said in a hard tone.

To prove her point Aylin began speaking in an ancient language as a small ball of light formed in her gloved hand. As the pixie light floated and danced above her hand, Aylin glared defiantly at the sooth sayer waiting for her next move.

Aylin wasn't about to let the so called sooth sayer bait her into flying off the handle. She had dealt with plenty of people in her lifetime to know that if someone didn't want to be seen as the aggressor in a fight they would say the right thing to anger their opponent enough to make them throw the first blow. Taking in a cleansing breath to calm herself, Aylin let her pixie light fade before she accidentally did something she might regret later.

"It's not going to work sooth sayer. You're not going to get me to fight you. You're not going to make me out to be the bad guy in all of this. I told you I've changed in the last fifty years. I'm older, I'm wiser, and I'm a lot more experienced," Aylin began, "You may think you know me but you don't if you think I depend on my magic. My magic is more liability than asset. I live my life by the code of the sword. Thank you for your concern but I think I can handle this case on my own. Don't think this means you're off the hook though. You know something and I'm going to find out just how much you do. Expect to see me again."

Aylin scoffed as the sooth sayer walked away. The sooth sayer acted like she knew everyone and everything but she did not. The fact was she was not alone in her investigation. She still had the Zurg and the drunk man with their side of the investigation. They were convinced they knew of the right person who could get inside information from Hastings Air without arousing suspicion. Aylin had no intentions of heading to Hastings or any of his buildings. Her main concern was the people of Porta Denia and what they knew about the missing ships.

With a sigh Aylin left the tomato booth location to the confused stares of the market goers that were still gathered. Choosing to go in the direction of the sooth sayer Aylin passed rather homey looking booths selling crafted items anyone with a vinyl cutter, a book of homespun quotes, and tin sheets could make. Aylin rolled her eyes at the so called "craftpeople" who had no real talent with the paintbrush yet made a good bit of gold on their cliched country crafts.

Coming upon a rather homespun looking apple booth Aylin's stomach let out a rather loud growl. Giving into her hunger Aylin walked over to the booth to purchase a bite to eat.

"Apple please," Aylin said as she placed two gold coins on the counter.

The apple grower placed a rather small pink and golden yellow apple in front of Aylin and took her coins off the counter and placed them in a small cash box. The jovial looking man smiled at Aylin in appreciation of the small sale.

"Thank you for your purchase," the apple grower said with the smile still upon his face.

Crunching on her apple Aylin walked past the candle seller's booth stopping as she noticed the look upon the man's face. With a sympathetic look upon her face Aylin walked over to the booth and tried to strike up a conversation with him all the while going into her little girl act.

"Excuse me sir, but is everything okay," Aylin asked the man as she made her eyes look wide, innocent, and younger than she actually was.

Aylin inwardly chuckled at the look on the man's face. She knew what he thought. She knew he thought she was just a little girl wearing pretend wings. Let him think that, she thought as she took another bite of her apple. Smiling, Aylin decided to play up the act even further while trying to see what sort of information she could pull out of him.

"It's too bad about Captain Donovan mister. I was at the diner and Mr. Fong and his daughter were very sad when they heard he was gone. Guess they were good friends or something. Don't you think it's sad that all the ships are going missing? I know a kid like me isn't supposed to think about stuff like this but it's sad how everyone in town is talking like Captain Donovan is dead," Aylin commented in a childlike tone as she gave her wings a small flutter before folding them behind her back.

If you know something, anything, then I'll pull it out of you one way or another, Aylin thought as she waited for the candle seller to respond to her.

Aylin could tell something was bothering the candle seller when he hesitated slightly while responding to her remarks. He was hiding something but what that was Aylin couldn't tell. She knew she had to keep the man talking. The longer they kept on the subject of the missing ships the easier it would be to get the candle seller to slip up and inadvertently let out a piece of vital information. Keeping up her act Aylin took another bite of her apple before continuing to press on the subject of the missing ships.

"You know I bet you losing someone who comes from this town is a lot worse than losing some random airship crew that was last seen leaving the port. Yep losing someone who's a resident here has to be a lot worse than losing a visiting airship captain. I know I'd feel worse if it was my next door neighbor who went missing," Aylin remarked as she acted as though she didn't know she hit an emotionally sore spot.

The smell of the candle assaulted Aylin's senses. She hated strong scents and this candle was strong. The sales pitch the candle seller gave her about it being something her mother would like was a bit ridiculous. Aylin's mother was five hundred forty-eight and not the type of individual whose love could be bought with a mass produced candle party candle. With a soft sigh Aylin resigned herself to blowing her cover and letting the candle man see her true self.

Taking one last bite of her apple Aylin unfolded her wings, hardened her gaze at the candle seller, and tossed the apple core aside. As she placed her hand on the hilt of her sword, Aylin swallowed the last bit of apple and addressed the candle man, "Listen child my mother can not be bought off with a mass produced foul smelling pillar of wax. Now I know you're hiding something and so help me I'm going to find out what it is one way or the other. You may think you had me fooled as easily as I fooled you but you didn't. Now talk or else I'm going to have to introduce you to my sword here."