Welcome to Gaia! ::

When the letter first appeared in front of the Guardian, floating eye-level in front of him, Drysdan could only blink in surprise. The 'Dryad King' was at least familiar with most forms of enchantment, but even he sent sprites around to deliver messages when need be. Even the King of Lynwood didn't usually bother sending him letters. Though, that might be because Drysdan visited him weekly to discuss the goings-on of the forest and surrounding areas. Since their shifter contact from Gaia, Keiran, was murdered - they had to work together to keep Lynwood and the forests safe. Of course, the forest wasn't much of Avery's concern. At least now that his mother wasn't living there.

Once opened, he was pleased to find the note in elvish. The first paragraph set off a tone of pleading for help, and a light frown set on his features until it mentioned the princess Thali. Then his eyes widened and he quickly started reading faster. His hands tightened around the letter, wrinkling the page something awful, at the mention of Thali potentially being harmed by her own husband.

"LILI!" he shouted as he began skimming the rest of the letter. He'd give it its proper attention later - or even better, give its reader proper attention. As soon as the sprite appeared, wide-eyed and anxious at his angry tone, the letter was folded and put into his pocket after one glance at the signature. Sammi. Sammi was the one with fire powers. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he remembered Thali telling him that when the girl was first born. However, in the last year or so Drysdan hadn't seen much of the princess. She'd been busy caring for her children, and apparently now readying herself for another, and Drysdan had had forest fires, unseelies, fire demons, malcontent spirits, overly playful Naiads, giant spiders, a banished elven prince--- well, a lot on his plate. His own son was still a toddler. He never thought that having a child with his own abilities (and weaknesses) would be so dangerous. Though, he'd never thought he'd have his own child at all.

"Yessir, Mister Drys?" the sprite piped up, pulling him out of his thoughts, and immediately redirecting them towards rage. Horrible, white rage that almost felt uncontrollable. His feelings must have been obvious, too, because the sprite was keeping her distance from him.

"I'm sorry, Lilynne..." he apologized, using her full name, "I need you to do something very important." Quickly, he instructed the sprite to alert every trusted Dryad, Naiad, seelie fae, as well as the elven guards - that he would be leaving. "Not for long," he assured, "I just have something I must do in Gaia."

"In GAIA?!" the sprite squeaked in shock. "But but - you've never been to Gaia!! What are you doing - " She stopped short at his expression, nodded, and flitted away to alert everyone. Reese's side of the forest would especially need looking after. There had been a bad fire just a few days ago, and all of them had quickly learned that the young guardian was in no way capable of handling half a mile of flames. The toddler had nearly died, and Drysdan had actually had to sleep afterward.

Drysdan had phased away as soon as the sprite began to fly off. It took him less than a minute to locate Thali's house. He knew the elf lived just down the street from her grandmother, whom Drysdan regularly visited, so in just forty-five seconds he found himself faced with her front door. After taking a deep breath and reminding himself that he couldn't barge in and scare the children, he raised his hand and knocked rather loudly.

Drysdan had to keep from phasing straight inside when he heard voices arguing, one of them distinctly belonging to the princess. He'd know that voice anywhere - no matter how old she got. His hearing wasn't quite as good as an elf's, but it was plenty sharp enough. At the sight of Sammi, he relaxed just slightly. When she immediately asked who he was, he couldn't help but chuckle softly. This had to be the one that Thali had said was more like herself, out of the two twins.

"I am," he managed to answer to whether he was a friend of Nia's. She sure was firing off questions at rapid speed. Typical of someone her age. Or, well....her stage of life. He could tell that she was young, despite her apparent age. Odd.

Once she was finished speaking, having stood politely and listening with a slightly impatient look on his face, he smirked. "You'll let me respond now?" he asked with a soft chuckle. "I'm here in response to your letter." At that, he reached into his pocket and pulled out her letter - pristine as when she signed her name to it.

"And I'd hope my son would look like me." He said this with a light frown, as if he were almost offended by the idea of Reese NOT resembling him. Then he immediately stepped into the house past Sammi, pushing the door open slightly with his hand.

"I'm sorry to be so rude, Sammi. I must see your mother now." His tone was polite and kind, his touch gentle as he gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Despite her young age, he regretted not having met her before now. She'd already gone through so many important stages of her life without having met him.

But there would be time for bonding later. Now he had to go make sure that the stupid selkie didn't seriously injure his lovely wife. Without waiting for any other reply from Sammi, he turned and headed up the stairs, a cold determined look coming into his eyes.

Drysdan was torn. On one hand, he was angry - so angry he wanted to order the girls outside and tear the house down around the foolish selkie. He had quickly learned that his sharp intuition worked outside of the forest as well. The keen senses that helped him know when someone was in trouble also helped him read their fear, anxiety, and hurt. Even before Thali emerged from the bedroom, he could tell that she was upset - and she had been for some time.

"I must see her, Sammi," he replied, his tone betraying a bit of desperation. He had to be sure that the elven princess, and her unborn child was all right. When he reached the top of the stairs, he was surprised to find a more elvish-looking twin. He greeted her with a warm smile, just as he had Sammi. "Hello Reiya." He noted her sad smile with a hint of regret; he should've been here sooner.

On the other hand, he was meeting his extended 'family' for the first time. Before he had even met Rose, he thought that Averi's family would be the closest thing he ever had to relatives. Once he met Thali, he immediately let her call him her uncle. Meeting Sammi and Reiya made him happy; Sammi was like her mother (maybe even a bit too much) and he couldn't help but think that Reiya was like him (or maybe a bit like Averi). The girls were beautiful and healthy, and his joy for meeting them was just enough to overpower the growing sense of protectiveness that made him want to tear down the walls and teach their idiot father a lesson. He had to stay calm. He couldn't kill their father, and he likely would if he let his anger overwhelm him. Drysdan could be unstoppable when he was angry, but he had lived long enough to learn how to keep himself from doing something he would regret.

When his green eyes fell on Thali's split lip, he was shocked into an even calmer state. He had to protect the girls, but just getting rid of Ben wasn't enough. As Thali greeted him, he stepped toward her and wrapped her in a gentle, but firm hug. Despite her distended belly, she still felt tiny and his anger returned. Her idiot husband would actually hit her in such a state??!?!

He answered her question evasively. "I came to help." Then he decided against keeping from her that her daughters were worried. "Sammi sent for help.... I'm afraid your daughters understand the situation better than you." He paused and flashed her a brief smile. "You should be proud."

Finally, he focused his attention on Ben, who was just inside the room. "Thali, he can't stay here. He's a danger to you while you're in this state." His tone left no room for arguing, though he doubted the princess would try that anyway. While he gave her a moment to reply, he healed her split lip and smoothed her hair with his hand. If her father could see her, he'd be furious. Part of Drysdan was coiling itself slowly, waiting until he was faced with the selkie, though he wouldn't release his anger. Not complete. The man wasn't evil - just an idiot. A hurt idiot. Part of him had to know deep down that Vate was better for Thali than he was, even though the prince was committed to another at this point. Thali being pregnant with his child, though not voluntarily, had to strike a nerve hard.

"I'll take care of it. You girls wait downstairs." By girls of course he meant Thali as well as her daughters. He didn't wait for her to protest, but headed into the room. Once inside, he closed the door behind him and stared straight at the selkie. His expression wasn't one of anger, and his posture wasn't deliberately imposing - though he was just over six feet tall. He looked more like a parent about to discipline a child than someone who secretly wished to remove someone from existence. "Hello Ben," he said calmly, a slightly ominous tone in his voice.

Once the door was shut, the girls downstairs, Drysdan could only pause and stare at the horrified selkie. He was somewhat relieved to find that Ben regretted what he'd done. If he hadn't- Well, Drysdan probably would've killed him. Probably. But now he couldn't kill Ben. He just had to get him out of the house, away from Thali so that she could be safe. Now, if the selkie could just be convinced easily.


"Do you know why I'm here?" he began, then suddenly realized the selkie had never met him.

"I'm sorry." He gave a small, almost-apologetic smile that might've held a bit of malice. His manners were clearly forced by habit. "I suppose I should introduce myself first. I'm Drysdan."

"Now. Do you know why I'm here?"

Drysdan wasn't a cruel person, really; he was just very loyal, and you can't very well be a Guardian for several thousand years without being just a bit protective. So when he heard that his princess was being threatened - who was as good as family to him - he couldn't help but tunnel-vision. There were few things that could snap him out of such a state, but the look of someone who feared for their life was one of them.

Even before Ben spoke his final line, surrendering his life, Drys had begun to see him differently. Instead of the cruel, uncaring man that the Guardian had imagined he would see - there stood before him a man who had just realized the woman he loved was in love with another. This wasn't news to the long-haired Guardian, of course. He'd know since the day that Thali and Vate were born that they were meant to be together. For as long as he'd known Averi's daughter, he'd known that they belonged together and could not be truly happy with another. Ben must have just now realized this. The anger and determination faded from the older man's heart as well as his posture; and his shoulders slumped, his gaze softening as he regarded the broken-hearted selkie before him.

"Ben...." Unlike before, his tone was quiet, no longer tight and full of vengeful energy. "I won't kill you. That's not why I'm here. I'm here to help."

His mind froze at his own last few words for a moment. He was there to help? How could he help the selkie, yet still do what needed to be done for Thali? Thali wasn't even the only person he needed to be helping right now. Reese was back home, still recovering his energy after the sudden forest fire from a few days prior. Then there was the mad fae who had given up on trying to kill his ex-girlfriend's family. Now he might be tracking her down in Gaia.

"Wait-" Drysdan's forest green eyes bulged at the realization. A tickle of hope was growing in his mind, and a smirk pulled at his lips as he suddenly reached out and grabbed excitedly at Ben's shoulders. This was the perfect job for a selkie!

"I know. I know how we can solve this. You have to listen to me, Ben. Can you do that? Don't lose your mind, now. I need something from you. There's someone who needs your help. I need you to help them."

His eyes searched the selkie's anxiously. He had to get through to Ben, before his mind was lost - before he forgot everything important. Selkies were a bit rare around Lywood, since large bodies of water were so far away, but Drysdan still knew how they operated. If a selkie was no longer needed, they could manage to stay with a person for a while longer, but things would grow tense. Their heart would begin to drift away from the person, towards somewhere unseen and unknown, in search of someone who needed them. But they were still capable of love, and feeling the loss of another's affections. Ben must now know that Thali had always loved Vate. Drysdan couldn't imagine the mind-numbing hurt that he was feeling - but the Guardian had felt loneliness, and at times - before he'd met his beloved Rose - he'd thought he might be in danger of losing his mind.

"My type??!" The pitch of the Guardian's voice went up sharply, then his voice cut off sharply on the last consonant. For a brief second he was angry again. He wanted to lift up the foolish selkie by the scruff of his neck and shake him. What did the boy know about HIS type?!

He kept his wits, however, and forced himself to stay calm - or, at least, to look calm. When Ben's gaze turned hopeful and his tone became eager, the Dryad King couldn't help but grin softly. "Perfect!" He was so relieved. Olivia might actually be able to lead a normal life sometime soon. The elf had resisted any help from anyone associated with Lynwood for almost a year, but Drysdan could be sneaky and help her anyway.

"Let's go meet her, then." He started phasing, which was much different than the way the elves moved from one place to another. The floor seemed to fly up to meet them and their bodies seemed to meld into the floor. After a brief moment of darkness, they reappeared again, seeming to be made of concrete for a few seconds. They were outside a small single-story house with wilted flowers and a white picket fence with peeling paint. It was clear that whoever lived there didn't spend much time outside.