[Word Count: 2021]

It had been a while since she was home. Well, it wasn't home precisely, it was her past home. . . Right? Buyan sighed as she stood on the roof of her apartment complex looking at the sky. She was wondering if she really wanted to head to Neptune by herself. It wasn't horrible there but it was under the sea and there was no tellings how old the barrier was between the Neptunian Oceans and her wonder. How long would they hold?

The page sighed before eventually drawing herself up and nodding finally concentrating enough to be whisked away. Under the sea she stood looking around at the golden cobbled streets. As she looked, Buyan noticed that most of the underwater world seemed to be constructed from types of coral reef, even though it wasn't in water. The golden hues of the streets though were lost to her as she walked along.

"Ahhhh you're finally back." Nirta chimed from behind Buyan, causing her to whisk around looking startled. "I got bored waiting for you sweetie, did you get lost?" Nirta was using a comb that appeared to be made from the same Coral that decorated the buildings.

"No. I just. . ." Buyan stopped before tilting her head, "I had to figure some things out. So I wasn't sure if I wanted to come back, though I suppose it's inevitable."

Nirta nodded softly as she listened, "I see, well that's okay. You're here now, and that's what's important. After all you should be proud of your wonder. We prided to do our best to produce top quality music and arts. You can't find anything better on Earth, you'll be happier here once you learn enough!" The woman began to walk off from Buyan as she hummed a song.

Buyan stopped and looke at Nirta as she walked off and staring confused the woman shook her head and tried to clear it. Was Nirta saying that she'd want to stay? This was utterly impossible, the home world wasn't even livable, never mind the little bit of seaweed that seemed to grow there was really nothing eatable. "I - how would I even live here? It's not habitable." The page protested as she followed.

"It's okay, we're under the sea. There's many wonderful things to see and do, and after when you get hungry there's fish under the sea, and look at the plants!" She pointed towards the planters and small sandy patches were gardens use to be. "Don't worry it's easy to live here you just gotta try it."

Buyan stopped, she looked at the ghost of the woman as if she was crazy. There were no fish and no plants that weren't dead - - well again minus the small seaweed pools. "So . . . I think you've missed something. Everything is dead here. There's no fish and there's certainly no eatable plants. Who knows what seaweed that even is!"

Nirta paused and looked back at the page when she protested and lofted a brow before disappearing to let the page wonder aimlessly on her own. It certainly seemed to offend the woman, and well Buyan had just lost her guide to the whole wonder. "Oh fiddlesticks." She muttered as she walked around slowly looking around and glancing at signs. She slowly found Nirta's workshop and she smiled softly as she did. "Ah here we go. Maybe she's here!"

The Neptune page walked into the workshop and looked around, delicately picking up items and looking them over. "If I were Nirta were would I keep a small ring?" Was what the page wondered as she continued to look through stopping occasionally to admire the craftsman ship of the work. When she finally picked up something and found that there was a set of plans. There was a pause as the page looked at it. It was a different sort of musical instrument, possibly something that was meant to be a weapon too? Buyan's brow lofted as she looked at it and turned it over curiously.

"Ah, I see you found the Zither plans." Nirta seemed to have come back from where ever she'd disappeared to. Settling on the workshop desk and looking at the plans herself. "It was to be the grandest of all my musical inventions, and you could fight with it if times got tough. Pitty I was never able to finish the plans." She looked towards Buyan seemingly to think with a smile, "However. . . I have someone who coullllddd~"

Buyan stopped and looked at Nirta. "I. . . . never made plans for musical instruments I'm an artist sure but I don't draw plans." The page shook her head no as she continued to look at the paper and what had been finished so far, apparently it was to be blues and silvers with maybe a small hint of gold? Buyan looked concerned. "Best I could do is a concept version."

"However, I uh. Well that's not why I'm here." She added as she moved on from looking at the plans Nirta had never finished and continued to riffle through. Maybe it was here.

"Ohh, what are you looking for deary?" Nirta asked curious all of a sudden as to why Buyan insisted on rifling through her things. "Perhaps if you asked you could find it faster and not have to displace everything. Do you how hard it is when you can't clean!?"

The page sighed as she placed things back down to look at Nirta. "I'm looking for my Signet ring." She answered simply.

Nirta paused as she began to think about this and then giggled as she slid off the desk, "Buyan~ I wouldn't keep something so precious like that here in the workshop. You're such a silly little page!" The woman walked out the door and disappeared.

Buyan looked concerned as she followed hoping to catch up but Nirta was gone. Buyan looked around a little bit confused and thought she caught a glimpse of Nirta down the street and ran that way. "Wait up I can't keep up with you running away." She called as she ran down the cobbled roads heels clacking. She'd lose sight and suddenly Nirta would show back up again.

"Ugh." Buyan stopped to catch her breath after she rounded a corner to a fancy looking house and yard. Leaning on the fence that was around it before actually stopping and looking at the place. Almost mesmerized by what she saw. It was almost a french style mansion. Though the architect seemed to be much more intricate, and the colors of the building were amazing too. "This is amazing." The page walked into the fenced in area and towards the house wondering what it looked like inside.

Nirta was sitting in the foray, one leg crossed over the other and waiting. "Ah, it took you long enough. I thought you got lost." She giggled a little bit as she sat there. "I'm glad you found it alright though. Feel free to have a look around, call me if you need me." She had a book that Buyan couldn't read but it appeared to be something covering musicians.

Buyan paused as she looked back towards Nirta as she spoke about she'd be there and to call her if needed. The weird thing was, that Nirta was just some sort of vision from the past. Buyan shook her head as she walked around the house. It wasn't horribly huge but it was large and spacious. From the foray, she walked down and turned off towards the left. There was a row of rooms and Buyan seemed to debate where she'd head first. When she stopped at a room that seemed to be a bed room, attached to a bath or a powder room.

It might be both, as Buyan walked into the room she walked over to the Vanity and sat down. The mirror was broken but she could still tell there was a reflection in part of it. Buyan took up a small rag that she found after looking around for a little bit and wiping off the Mirror she hummed. "There that's better."

She began to shuffle around the vanity dresser and looking to see what sort of things the drawers held. "I wonder . . ." As she looked through she found some old brushes, things that looked like old make up and when she moved to open one of the little hutches beside she paused. There were pearls and a selection of rings.

"Ohhh, I see you found one of my stashes." Nirta had seemingly sneaked up behind Buyan who jumped. "Aha, sorry about that." She rubbed the back of her head as she looked.

Buyan looked up into the mirror to try and look at Nirta surprised the woman didn't actually exist in the mirror. Oh right, she wasn't actually there right? Buyan sighed as she leaned on the vanity dresser and looked at the rings. There didn't seem to be anything interesting, though she picked up a few pieces and tried them on looking to see what was pretty. Before moving over to the other little hutch on the the opposite side and pulled out some more stuff. "Ohhhh." She found a pretty little Tiara.

The sad thing was a lot of the pieces she found had a gold tint or a sea blue tint. Though it was pretty Buyan didn't feel like many of these pieces appealed to her. The little coral tiara was pretty though as she looked at it in the mirror. "This is nice."

She kept the Tiara on for now as she closed up the drawers and moved on towards the bath room which she paused and looked at the shell shaped tub or jacuzzi? The tile was mother of pearl white. "Holy smokes."

She moved towards one of the little side tables and rooted around to find nothing interesting before finally moving back to the bed room. "This is super fancy Nirta." She mused as she continued finally sitting on the bed.

Nirta had gone back to reading, sitting at the vanity in the powder room, though she looked over the vanity frowning a little.

Buyan was sitting there one leg crossed over the other as she pondered, where such an important trinket would be kept and finally she reached over towards the bedside table and paused. A small little ring sat in an empty wine glass. Buyan smiled softly as she poured out the ring, "Chardonnay?" She asked looking towards where Nirta had been but the woman was gone.

While Buyan wasn't sure, she thought this might have been the right ring. After a little more exploring the page decided maybe she should head home for the night?

After Buyan was back on her apartment roof top the woman powered down with ring in hand looking at it carefully before placing it on her finger. "Maybe I should try it. . . I wonder if I could send mail to myself or if it has to be someone else." The woman was walking down the stairwell as she pondered these options, of course letting Mistral know that she had her ring could also be a positive the woman could show her how to use that new contraption!

Alexis as she walked into her little apartment kicked off her heels and moved to the kitchen and pulled out a box of white wine and a glass. "I should add some bubbly, I wonder if that soda water is still good. . ." Of course, Alexis hoped this wasn't how Nirta lost the ring in the first place.

"Nawh it had to be more romantic than just sipping a glass of cheap wine." The artist mused as she grabbed her pen and some paper walking towards the living room to turn on a soap before bed. Alexis was thinking of what to pen to Mistral so that she could maybe meet up with the woman, or maybe it'd make more sense to write someone she was closer friends with? She sighed and shook her head, "Why is it so hard to actually write someone something with pen and paper?"