Welcome to Gaia! ::

Trinity weighed in thought on this. "This means, while I have the boon of darkness and serenity, that means the other half would be darkness and chaos. I'm not sure I want that half and I'm not sure I can control such a boon or keep my sanity once I have it. That in itself could endanger so many." While many would jump at the chance to gain more power Trinity had always been cautious about the consequences of accepting such power. This was the same reasoning she wasn't totally on-board with getting an 'upgrade' from Damien.

The door was opened by one of the in-processing staff. He was a dog meta named Tucker. He had the ears and tail of a golden retriever. He smiled with a wag of his tail when he saw Kerana and said, "Well speak of the devil. Your mom was just sharing stories about you before she had to use the bathroom. Come on in."

There was another member of the staff sitting on the bed of the room. She had large eyes and short blue hair that literally feathered outward. The bird meta stood up when Kerana and Rydia entered. "Kerana it's so nice to meet you. I'm Rhea. I just got hired onto the acclimation division of the in-processing staff last week. I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know that she's healthy and in one piece. However, she was made a metahuman during her time in captivity. Nothing terribly drastic, but she's going to look a bit different from when you last saw her. She's also very nervous after what she's experienced. She's anxious to see you, but be careful not to make quick or sudden movements."

"Now that the important stuff is out of the way, I'm going to try and coax her out of the bathroom. Poor thing got so nervous that she ran in there when she heard your knock."

Rydia placed a gentle hand on Kerana's shoulder and whispered in a calm tone, "Take a deep breath, and don't lock your knees."

Rhea rapped on the bathroom door softly and said in an even but kind tone, "Raina, your little girl is here. She waiting to see her mama."

There was a brief moment of silence before Rhea spoke up again. "Raina, remember what we talked about. This is a safe place. There's nothing to be scared or ashamed of. Family is family."

The door clicked. Out shuffled a middle aged woman with red hair that was parted around a pair of fox ears. Her cheeks were marked with three red lines on each side that looked like whiskers. A white tipped tail hung sadly behind her. She rose her eyes, which had become a vibrant peridot green, and looked to Kerana. She clasped her hands together like she was praying and gasped with surprise and joy. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears and she breathed, "Hija?"

Raina Carters arms opened slightly, and she took a few tentative steps toward her daughter. She wanted to hold her little girl so badly, but she was also terrified that Kerana hadn't forgiven her for what happened at the doctors office.

Rydia sniffled and gave Kerana a gentle nudge without saying a word.

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Silhouette couldn't help but cover her mouth to stifle a laugh, "Oh *snrk* that. Crosis suggested we use titles when we made ourselves known to the humans of the first age. He said it would give us an heir of majesty and importance so that the mortals would know who's in charge of what. Terra, Lymph, and I got together and thought them up. Eventually we began to, how do you say, buy into our own fanfare? The titles became something a lot more than they're worth. They don't actually mean anything."

She exhaled with an amused tone and smiled. "You have nothing to worry about. The power is what you make of it. In fact, if I were to give you a title it'd be 'Sentinel of Unlit Resolve.' Your tenacity was truly a sight to behold even before you started training with Freya in earnest."

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Leo peered ahead every so often to make sure they weren't going to plow into a building or mountain as he listened to Theonis' instructions and put them to use. "Wont I crush myself if it gets too narrow? I already feels like I'm being shot through a pipe."

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Heather slowed her pace but didn't stop. "Nonono I'm fine. it's just. I mean. No one's ever. I never thought. This. I'm so warm. I've never felt like this before."

Heather's mind was a whirlwind of thoughts that refused to calm. She was both the happiest she'd ever been in her life, and terrified of how Liv would react to learning about what happened with Deora earlier.

She said she loves me! Oh God! s**t s**t s**t! I...I have to tell her! Relationships are built on honesty.

It will destroy her. It will destroy what I've been wanting since I got here. I should keep it secret. She never has to know. She's mine now!

No! She shines like gold, but she's not something to be owned! I'm not my father! It's what's right!

Heather swooped down and kneeled beside Liv. She reached forward and kissed the blonde as deeply and passionately as in any dream she'd ever had. She pulled away, fought back tears, and huffed out, "I love you too. I've dreamed and thought about the day you'd say those three words to me since I saw you in the auditorium. I want you so bad that it hurts. But we should get dressed. There's...there's something I need to tell you."

Heather looked into Liv's eyes for a moment longer. A moment to remember and savor if things go bad. She forced herself to get up, grab a towel off the rack, and go into the next room to dry. She quickly picked a t-shirt, bra, hi-cut briefs, and flannel PJ bottoms from the closet and put them on quickly. She paced in the room and wrung her hands together anxiously and thought about how she'd tell Liv what'd happened.

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"Soul? Crosis talked about him only a little, but if I remember correctly he doesn't reside in anyone. He got sick of the infighting and put himself into a reincarnation loop. He could literally be anyone now. I mean...wait. Now that I think about it there was a woman Kerana and I spoke to earlier who said she'd met us in a previous life. It's circumstantial, but it's a place to start."

Alec then mentally rewound what Legio had said first.

"Hold on. Did you say Shadow Stalker? I think...yeah. I think I can actually help there. Crosis mentioned them in passing when he was trying to build common ground between us. He said something about Shadow Stalkers being a punishment for being a blight in his beloved's domain. He was also the sort to write down everything he saw and experienced. He has a huge library that he didn't allow me into. There might be something about Fenris' curse in there." he said with a bright eyed hope he didn't know he was capable of.

"Really? Huh, that's not what it feels like for me at all. Interesting. I don't give it much thought I suppose. But just increase the pressure at the end. Like you're squeezing it." Theo told him.

"But let's go a bit higher. Buildings and all that."

It was adorable to see her pacing around like that. Maybe it helped that she was naked. She couldn't help but smile a bit. And then...she got closer and just like that, made out. A surprise, but a welcome one. A nice one.

"Hmm? Yeah okay. Gimme a minute"

Slowly she got out of, dried herself and got in some comfy PJ's.

"So eh....what's up?"

"Interesting." He responded.

Then Alec spoke up about the Shadow Stalker. This WAS interesting.

"I see,it would be greatly appreciated if I were allowed to gain access to that library."

Kerana smiled when she heard her mom was sharing stories. She felt relieved to hear her mom is healthy and in one piece. Then she heard her say Daedalus made her into a metahuman, this both angered her and felt terrible for her mom. What!? How dare they? she gasped and covered her mouth, she wished she was there for her to help her cope. She calmed down as Rhea explained it was nothing terribly drastic. Kerana bit her lip when she heard that her mother was nervous about seeing her. She took a deep breath as Rydia recommended. Her ears and tails were low cautious unknown what exactly happened to her mom.

Kerana took a brief moment to take in her mother's visage, her ears raised and tails slowly swayed a little with hesitated excitement. She felt Rydia nudge her and that was all she needed and she rushed into her mother's arms. Whatever built up hesitation she had crumbled. She hugged her tight "Mami! I missed you so much! I've waited and prayed for this day to come." Tears welled up as they embraced. It felt like an eternity since they last saw each other.

Theo was about to respond before Leo shot off like a rocket.
"Yeah!!!" He shouted after him before speeding up

"See! There we go! Feels good right? You can basically apply that indefinitely. Just apply more force. Same with puncturing or slicing things." Theo said and slapped him on the back. Not that hard though.

"So, thanks for taking me back. But now that we are here.....we could just...test out that new speed. See if you can keep up."

"I see, I wonder if aging that rapidly effects me the same way as it would any other. Would I even age? Am I truly alive? " He wondered.

"It would be wise to not trust me in that regard. I will lose track of time and read everything in there. I suppose I would need to wait until you find the information and hope you would be willing to share."

Cassandra had just turned around to dispose of the hair and lolipops when Chariot collapsed. Her own response was somewhat mirror of that from Damian.

"The only one I know is Damian here. But I don't think there is any saving her. Your grandfather might have some knowledge that could help but I am not sure if we should. Her urges to torture and destroy are so deeply ingrained in her that she will never become normal. Her...original at least has a chance of that."

Leo thought for a moment and then shook his head. He replied apologetically, "I think I'll have to pass. I haven't had anything to eat since before the battle and I'm starving. I've been dreaming about bacon since I had it yesterday. Now I see why y- I mean, my dad talked it up so much.

Leo rubbed his neck nervously and requested.I'd...like some company. If that's okay. There's so much about this world I don't know that I only saw on pieces of paper or from stories. Like, is it true that you have intelligent communication devices? I think I heard someone refer to it as a 'smart phone.'"

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"I don't think it'll take too long. Not here at least. Crosis was very meticulous when it came to the records he kept. I should be able to find it in a few days, maybe a week. Definitely a month at most."

Alec held out his hand and summoned the death scythe from the ethereal flame. With a deft, vertical slice he cut a portal to the realm of death. "I'll be back in less than five minutes. Just hold on for a bit."

He hopped through the rift and closed it behind himself. Sure enough, in about three and a half minutes a portal opened again and Alec hopped through wearing a black cloak with the cowl pulled over his head with the death scythe in his right hand an a pair of tomes tucked under his left arm. The portal closed behind him immediately and he dismissed the scythe.

He pulled the hood back to and huffed, "Sorry it took so long. I've been back days ago but upkeep was apparently not one of Crosis' strong suits. The books practically fell apart when I riffled through them. I had to repair each one as I went along. But I found what we needed."

Alec brushed one side of his slightly longer hair behind one ear and then held up one of the tomes. "This one covers the shadow stalkers as well as the nature of soul bound curses. And this one..."

He held up the second book and twisted with his wrist. He smiled and said, "You can have this one for a long as you want. I thought you might be interested in what happened to Atlantis. It's the first volume of five. This first one is a gift. I'll give you access to more and more so long as you don't go on mass consumption sprees without checking in with me or Kerana first to see if the scales can afford to be tipped. Deal?"

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Dawn's face scrunched up and she balled her hands into fists. "That's because it's all she's ever known!" Her thoughts returned to Ravan and how she was little more than a human shaped animal when Theonis had found the orphan. "I...I can help her. I know I can! Just like mom helped Ravan."

She studied the expressions of Cassandra and Damien. She could feel the anger and frustration bubble up inside of her, but she wouldn't allow herself to be controlled by her emotions like Ravan and Leo. She took a deep breath to calm herself and huffed, "Leo was wrong about you being a heartless beast, Cassandra. But there're some things missing from your heart. Yours and his. I hope you find it. Excuse me."

Dawn turned on her heels and quickly walked up to a staffer to ask the whereabouts of Leonard Acula.

Damien looked over to Cassandra and asked, "What's she talking about? What does she think we're missing? I could probably put it there."

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Heather looked to Liv and searched the blonde's eyes. No anger. No pain. No betrayal. Just empathy. Her breath caught in her throat and she rubbed the tears away from her eyes with a smile. She nodded and said, "Yeah. Most of today, at least. There're some parts I don't ever want to forget. "

She rested her head in on Liv's shoulder and huffed, "I'm supposed to be the one comforting you, damnit."

There was an audible sound emanated from Heather's stomach that sounded less like a stomach growl and more like the demand of a hungry beast. She blushed and turned her eyes up toward Liv. "Aheh. Um...wanna get room service?"

”Te perdono. I forgive you. We both did not know what’s going on. We didn’t know, we thought it was a sickness or something. I wanted to be normal but I learned to embrace this. Every day I tried to make you proud.” Her tails wag in unison holding her tight as if she’d disappear if she were to let go. “I love you mom.”

The memory rift rippled open to Ravan and Reyhan hunkered in the corner of an indoor parking garage. The two of them put the palms of their hands together and interlaced their fingers. From the point of contact, Ravan's skin tone began to change from pale to olive. After a few seconds she was no longer nearly white as a sheet.

Reyhan smiled and said, "Is that better?"

Ravan dove forward and wrapped her arms around the older girl's neck. They tumbled back and Ravan giggled, "Sester!"

"Hehehe. Yes. Now we look more like sisters. I mean, it really doesn't matter what we look like, but it's what you wanted."

Their jubilation was cut tragically short by the rattle and crunch from one of Ravan's noise traps. Reyhan clasped her hand over Ravan's mouth and cloaked them to looked like a lumpy part of the concrete floor. A small bio-beast drug itself up the ramp to their level. It was quickly accompanied by four more beasts of various sizes.

The young Ravan in Crystalion's arms clasped her hands over her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. She began to whine, "No no no. No no no. No no no."

The scene glitched out like the one in the condominium. When it came back into focus, the parking garage was a pile of rubble and the bio-beasts were nowhere to be seen. Ravan was knelt beside a large chunk of concrete and wailing. The lower half of Reyhan's body, from the abdomen down, was crushed. Her lifeless eyes looked to the sky in agony. Ravan shook the body that had been her only family desperately and cried out her name again and again.

Ravan grit her teeth and began to smash the ground by her fallen friend with her small, but power enhanced, fists. Her act of frustration knocked more rubble loose above her and caused it to fall. A softball sized piece struck her in the back of the head. She instinctively rolled out of the way just before the rest came down and buried Reyhan's body. The concussion quickly took it's toll on the girl, and she laid on the cold ground. The world spun, her head hurt almost as much as her heart, and she just wanted to go to sleep.

A voice echoed, "Here! I found one! She's still alive!"

Ravan turned her head toward the voice and looked up at a man with multicolored hair, dark eyes, and a beard. She tried to protest, but no sound came out.

"Shh. It's okay. Don't be scared. I've got you."

The ripple closed and the dark maelstrom at the center of the city subsided. A ruined skyscraper was revealed. Just shy of it's highest point, and sat atop a perilous ledge, was one more memory rift. Unlike the others, though, the rift seemed malevolent and angry.

A wall to Crystalion's left exploded from the impact of a Bruiser. It roared and stormed at Liv faster than anything it's size had a right to. It's back split open and released three condor sized flyers referred to as Snatchers.