Perhaps repeating a phrase that you were hearing in the heat of the moment, in the deepest fear that had been felt in…ages wasn’t the best of ideas that Stirling had done….but. Mistakes were often made when she got too emotional, she knew that…but it didn’t make it easy to just shut them off...

Especially not when the feeling of drowning was dredged up from her most hidden thoughts.

The young Page shivered and crouched down, wrapping her arms around herself in some kind of an attempt to control her shaking, to control the panic that was still flooding through her system. She had to calm down, she knew that, but…

It was too much. And now? Now she was somewhere else entirely…but. There was nobody else…and Stirling supposed that was a good thing…

If there was nobody, that meant that the magic couldn’t drown her again…which.

Honestly it was a big comfort and the thought alone seemed to calm her panic, if only a little. But, a little was enough for Stirling to get enough of a breath to focus. To think again. To. To realize that she wasn’t on Earth anymore…or at least…wasn’t anywhere that she knew.

Looking around, the Page hesitated, frowning slightly as she took in the stone walls with cracked plaster covering them. She…supposed that the place must have been very grand at one point in time but…

Well. It looked old.

Rubbing her eyes free of the new wave of fresh tears, Stirling finally managed to get herself up to her feet, glancing around. What…was this? What had she said? She pledged herself to Lysithea and…and Stirling. And Soleiyu had told her that she would have a place that was called Stirling…that she protected so…so this was it?”

Another swipe of her sleeve against her face chased away the last of the tears, and her heart was going at far more manageable rate as curiosity began to overtake her crippling fear.

It hadn’t been real. She wasn’t actually drowning…she had to get over this.

Making her way out of the room she arrived in, Stirling found herself in a long room hung with faded paintings. The room was lit by small windows that were set to give enough light, but also so that light didn’t fall directly on the paintings themselves…it was interesting how it was done, and there were several sconces on the wall that she supposed were for torches or candles too…but.

Stirling hadn’t even realized she was going to be coming here and was about as prepared as…well. As her mother had been to have her, obviously.

She would start to pack a flashlight though…for the next time she came up here…and obviously…this…was something to do again. This was her space…a place she could turn into her home…if…

Oh if she could make it habitable by the summer…she’d never have to go back to that awful foster home…

The thought brightened Stirling’s mood for a moment, but then one of the portraits caught her attention and she frowned slightly, walking over to it and squinting at it in the gloom.

…It was Dagon. Dagon with her arm around a woman with dark blue and teal hair, long and braided who had bright orange eyes and a pleased expression as she rested her head on Dagon’s shoulder, and in both of their arms…

There was a child. A child with pale blue skin and honey colored eyes, dark purple hair with lighter streaks at the bottom. She was smiling and there were three small teeth in her mouth. It…

It was quite a happy looking family, and for a moment, Striling coudln’t stop staring at it and feeling a horrible wave of jealousy that she didn’t really want to deal with.

”That’s my sister, Dagon and her family. Her wife Kalari and their daughter, Aralinn. They’re quite the sight, are they not?” The voice made Stirling jump and she spun around, staring in utter confusion at a woman who looked a lot like Dagon, the same skin tone, the same ears, same webbing on her hands, but with moss green eyes instead of Dagon’s pale yellow. She wore an outfit that looked a lot like Stirling’s, and all over her were silver dangles with the symbol of Lysithea…

“Um. You…you?” Her heart had started to pound again and the panic once more began to rise, uncertainty in her voice. “...Are um. Are you a ghost?”

The figure gave a small smile, seeming thoughtful for a moment, and then giving a sad, prolonged sigh. “Something like that. I’m the last Stirling, Knight of Lysithea, my name is…was, Dysmina, and my sister is Dagon, as is obvious, and you’re looking at her as though you know her.” There was a question in Dysmina’s voice, and a smothered hope as well. This girl, she looked almost like her niece that she had seen only the one time, at least…the hair and eyes were the same.

”I had doubts that I would ever have company up here again, it’s good to see that the line did not die.” Still, this…child...she didn’t look well. Something seemed to be troubling her, but Dysmina couldn’t figure out how to pry without it becoming awkward, so she simply gave a soft sigh and turned her back on the girl. ”Please follow me. If you are to carry on this lineage, you need to have something.. And without waiting for a reply, Dysmina began moving off, leaving a very confused Stirling to follow behind her, trying to figure out if she really had died with that senshi’s magic…or if this was really happening.

Still, Stirling followed the…ghost. Former…Knight? Dysmina without much complaint, for it seemed that the woman knew what she was doing at the very least so…that was something.

She was led into a small room off of the gallery, this one lit with a large window that overlooked what must be the castle courtyard. There was overgrown lavender colored grass…everywhere, but it was…lovely regardless of how messy it looked.

”Child. Here. Your signet ring. It’s an important item to have as a Knight, it will allow you to contact those that you know. To write for help, to write for pleasure, to just write them your hopes and fears. It’s your communication device and allows you to not feel so isolated in this position of responsibility.” She watched Stirling for a moment and gestured to a large wooden desk that still looked to be in good condition, despite being very old…

Things were dusty, but such was to be expected of an abandoned castle. On the table was a small box and Stirling opened it, revealing a silver ring with an artfully placed Lysithea symbol on it, surrounded by small indents that almost looked like stars. Or sparkles.

They might have been sparkles. That did make sense, at least. This…place seemed as though it could be…filled with sparkles. Could have been. Whatever.

“Um. Thank you?” She slid the ring onto her finger and looked at it with some wonder. It was…well. It was honestly lovely. Stirling had never owned such a piece of jewelry before…and this? This was clearly some kind of heirloom…

”It holds power, child. Write a letter here, write it and the name of who you wish to send it to on the outside, then seal it with your ring and they will receive it. There is ink…I’m sure it’s dried by now, but–”

Stirling shook her head. “I have a water bottle with me, if it’s dry that shouldn’t be an issue! I can do that!”

Drawing a bottle of water from her subspace pocket, Stirling privately chided herself for not remember it when she was having her…well. What must have been a panic attack…but then again, water might not have been the best thing to combat such a panic…still though.

A small bit of water was poured into the ink bottle, and Stirling corked it once again, shaking it until the liquid grew dark and just a bit thicker and then…

Well, thankfully it wasn’t a fountain pen but a small, thin brush that sat on the desk, along with some light purple paper, that looked as though it had been artfully decorated with scalloped edges and small designs that incorporated Lysithea symbols. It was pretty.

She chose one from the bottom of the pile and shook off what dust that she could, doing the same with the brush and spent a few minutes thinking about who to write to and what to write, and finally decided, hesitating and scribbling their name on the outside of it and pressing her ring to the back.

Waiting for the ink to dry hadn’t been on her mind at all, and so it was quite smudged but. Still. The letter vanished. She swallowed and looked back up at Dysmina, hesitating slightly. “I…asked them to meet me…um. Back on Earth…how…how do I go home?”

The spector gave a small, sad smile and nodded her head. “I hope you’ll be back, but to go home, you must only think of it. Wish to go there. Feel it in your heart and you will return. I will miss you though, Little Stirling. Be safe in your endeavors.” Giving another nod, Dysmina vanished and Stirling shivered slightly, closing her eyes and doing as the woman…ghost? Whatever she was. She had good advice and…

When she opened her eyes and was back where she had started…she knew that once again, she had been given more good advice…but now…

Now she simply had to wait to see if Dagon showed up.