Welcome to Gaia! ::

Seren had returned home the next morning, and put all of her things away. In fact, she organized everything, preparing for the worst... If he refused. She took a shower in their shower, and when she was almost finished, she washed her body with the wash she had bought him, that they both loved, to hold the scent of him, the memory of the good she knew was in him, close. Once clean, she got dressed with care, putting on an outfit that was attractive, but sober... All preparing in case it went wrong. She saw the note from the previous night and bit her lip... Before pulling out her phone to text him.



Finally, she looked around, and sighed, before packing up food and supplies for Remy, sending Dai a text. She asked him if she could leave Remy with him for the night, making it sound like Nate was going to be at work all night, and she had a late night at her job too... It would not be the first time she had done this, so she figured it would not be suspicious to Dai. While she waited for a reply, she made herself a simple meal of basic foods, not bothering to put more effort in. She did pack up the cookies she had last baked to give to Dai, as a thank you and to be sure they did not go to waste.

When he replied, she immediately got into the car and drove to his place, and did the hand off. When Dai commented on how many supplies she had packed, she made a comment about being preoccupied with tonight's work, and had just anxiety over-packed. It was... Not exactly a lie, so it worked out well enough.

She then went to her day job, and got everything she could do done, working through until 8 PM. She ordered a small dinner, but otherwise... She made sure things would be easy to pick up, if needed, for someone else tomorrow. Hopefully... She took her mind off that, though, and as soon as 8 hit, she was out the door, and heading for the car. She drove to the old apartment and parked in a guest space, before heading up, moving to find a spot where she could wait for him, since she was early. She sat down and watched the door, face showing nothing.

Seren tilted her head as she heard the door start to open, making sure it was him, and not a stranger or some maintenance dude or something... That would be awkward as hell to deal with. She controlled the urge to sigh with relief when it was Nate, because that was not... Going to be helpful here. There was actions to be taken and decisions to be made.

She paused, considering how best to handle this, and stood. "No, no longer than I really planned to wait." No need for him to know she had been here that long, because she had needed the time to steady herself. Her face gave nothing away.

"So. You showed me what you've been hiding." Her eyes closed for half a second, then opened. "Now to return the favor, I suppose, and to let you make a choice."

She called on her own power, as he had done, but without looking away. She waited out the transformation, eyes on his the entire time, controlling the urge to shake in fear at what he might choose. When it finished, she licked her lips, and said "I know you know who I am. I know you'll recognize me. And I know that you love me, even under... That other you, just as I still love you."

Her hand trembled, just a little, despite her best effort, and it was the hand holding her wand. "And so I know I have to ask... Have to offer... Please... Love. Please, won't you come to the Light, purify? I know it can be done... And I know it will be hard. But... I can not live without you, and I cannot live with you like this. Nor could I live as one on your side." Her eyes had filled with tears, despite her attempts to control herself, and the trembling got harder, because one way or another... Something was about to happen.

She watched him, waiting for his response. She saw the way his jaw clenched, she saw what looked like so much pain on his face. She held still, listening when he began to speak.

His words, she could not deny, hurt because she knew it meant he had given in the doing the worst, being a true agent of Chaos. But she also believed that was the taint of the Chaos, not truly him... That he would never, truly, want to be that person if he had been given a real chance at other options.

She had to get him to see he had one now, that he could give himself a chance to fight for the right side... Maybe he could not undo it but he could do his best to pay back the side that convinced him to go so very against his principles, and fight to protect others.

"Nate." She moved, slowly, towards him, trying to show in her posture and actions that she was not being threatening. If he let her, she would reach up and gently hold his face in her hands, refusing to let him look away from her. "I love you. I know, knowing who your other self is, what you must have done."

Her face showed sadness, at that. "I also know you. You, who want to be a doctor to help heal people. You, who puts so much love into those you care for. You, who made me feel worthy of being loved even when I did not believe I was." Her blue eyes were filled with determination. "You deserve the chance to turn your back on what they corrupted you into... And to fight to protect everyone and everything you love and care for."

And then her voice wobbled. "And if that is not enough, there is the fact that I would rather die than lose you, which seems to be what will happen if you do not accept, and..." Her voice trailed off, unable to finish that sentence, but hoping he understood what she was implying.

She gave him a slow frown at his answer and closed her eyes for a moment, drawing strength from inside herself to say what she had to say. Her face was a little grim. "Beloved. I am going to tell you two things. They are equally important, and I want you to pay attention to both, because sometimes you cling to one part and forget the other... And both are very important, but I think the first will distract you from the second if you do not focus."

Her eyes opened again, and what was in them was fierce honesty. "So. First. Nate, I want to be as clear as I can on this. If you choose not to accept, my choice will be death, because I will not sit idly by and let you continue this path, but you are... More powerful than me, so I think we know where that would end. I will die, and it would be better than living without you."

Her tone was flat, but the pain under it was audible in little cracks that occurred despite her best efforts.

She gave him a moment to process how serious she was before she continued. "And second... Nate. If there was not, you would not care. You would not have told me. Someone who has nothing left to save would just keep on doing their evil, and not bothered because it would not matter to them. You CARE that this is what you have become. There is plenty left in you... You just have to accept it, and want it. Please?"

It had been cloudy lately, like Earth had drawn the curtains closed and hidden away from the rest of the universe.

Unlike days prior, tonight, the sky was clear.

There were too many stars in the sky–stars, and whatever else lurked there–so the tiny little comet blazing across the galaxy didn’t seem like much of anything until the rainbow trail behind it burned a little brighter. A little bigger.

There was nothing special about it when it flickered from sight but there was something special about how Cosmos herself suddenly manifested before the two.

She was pale, nearly as white as her hair or bodice, with shadows on her face that made her look like cool marble. She stood, statuesque, and glanced between the two like she already had an understanding.

Cosmos did not speak immediately, but when she did it was cool–not cruel, but distant. There was a tender undertone, like something human might have been buried very deep inside of her and echoed back, every now and then.

“I heard your starseed from the Cauldron,” she explained, without introduction. “...It is difficult to fake such desperation. You wish for help?”