Welcome to Gaia! ::

As soon as he grabbed hold of her, Anelie’s lips had quirked up in a knowing smile. It wasn’t too hard to work out what he was doing, especially with the time spent concentrating.

Finally she was instructed to open her eyes and she took her first look of Dio’s Homeworld, cheeks flushed with excitement.

"Wow. It’s like something out of a Greek history book."

“This is… wonderful.” She took a step forward, letting go of the blanket. It pooled around her feet and in the next instant she powered up, leaving Anelie behind to become Aludra. This place deserved a Senshi. Not to mention bedclothes were hardly good for exploring.

“I want to see everything. Then one day, I’ll show you my Homeworld. I’ve only been there once as well.” Except her first trip had been with somebody by her side.

Aludra took his hand and squeezed. “Yes please.” It was funny how well she felt now that’d she’d powered up.

"It’s you’re Homeworld, Dio and I think it’s lovely." Aludra told him cheerily. Honestly it could have been a dirt patch and she would have been excited to A) be on his planet and B) be out of her bedroom.

She walked beside him and when they reached the house, instantly let go of his hand so she could start climbing over the rubble. "I didn’t see a house in my world. Maybe I will next time," she said and laughed as she disappeared over the other side. "Come on!"

"Did something?" She repeated once he’d joined her. "Is it sort of like growing up? You reach a certain age and then you become a true Senshi?" If that was the fact, she was looking forward to her time.

Aludra followed him over, picking up one of the pictures and brushing her thumb across a Dionysus from another time. “It must be this place. Our Homeworlds talk to us and help us grow.” It made her want to get back to her planet as soon as possible.

“Really? You saw visions of me?” She blushed with delight. “I like to think I helped you grow stronger, Dio.”

"If you hadn’t taken me home that night, I would have been even more frightened. I needed it and you were there, regardless of why you chose to do it." Aludra told him, putting the picture down and moving closer. "You don’t need to apologise for anything. Of everyone, you have always been there and I thank you for that."

She gently touched his cheek, soft and loving, and smiled. "It will be okay." The next destination, their future, their place together in this war; it would all be okay.

“I think that just means you’re stronger than all of them. They might be older and have been part of this world longer but you’re the strongest person I know. No matter what we go through, we’ll come out the other side okay.” They would get beaten down again and again and would just have to keep getting up again. That was their greatest strength.

Aludra smiled at him and let him lead her onwards, down the path. Then sorrow dropped the smile from her face and she stepped away from him towards Biela’s grave. The weight of her death was still a heavy one, despite having known the other day for only a moment. That night had been the first time Aludra had truly understood what it meant to be a Senshi fighting against darkness.

"I wish I had some flowers," she said absently as she knelt in front of the grave marker. "Oh Biela. I think we would have been great friends, if given the chance. You’ll never be forgotten."

“You can be both strong and afraid,” she told him. “I’m sure you wanted to get out of there desperately. We all did. What matters was that you thought of someone else as well.” It all seemed so clear now and she wouldn’t let her future fall to any darkness. Her hope would be the greatest light of all.

“Yes, she was.” Aludra said in a hushed voice, quietly contemplating the memory of Biela. How many other young Senshi had been taken so soon? How easily could it have been a little red-cloaked Chibi instead?

“Well, whatever happened here was a good thing.” Her phone went off with a little ‘ping’ a few seconds after Dio’s and she glanced at him curiously as he groaned before looking down to see what the message was.

I'm okay. I'm safe. Everything's better, now.

Dio went down.

Aludra was on her feet in the next second, hardly a thought in her head for the message at all and instead her attention focused entirely on Dionysus. “Dio, Dio.” She dropped to her knees beside him, anxious and caring, one hand gripping his shoulder. “Dio, it’s okay. Dio.” That Persephone could now send them messages surely meant that she was no longer corrupted. She was whole again.

“Dio, this is a good thing. Isn’t this marvellous? She’s safe. She’s finally safe.”