Welcome to Gaia! ::

Aryu looked up to his king. His body was riddled with scars he had earned in life, and except for his slight transparent appearance, he seemed just as he had been in life. Without a word, he bowed deeply, his axe still in hand.

If Dorian's heart had ever beaten, it had come to a stop now. Letting go of the old king, Dorian's hands flew to the rails, already leaning over. Without thinking, he stretched out a hand to the young Composite. "Take me with you."

They were all there. His father, his brothers, his friends. His guard with the slender figure always at his side. Aryu and Justice, so they had finally found each other’s love in the after world. Faces he didn’t know but carried a ghost of his own features, perhaps descendants long past? Could they be the long line of his family he had devoted his life to tracking so closely?

"Apollo..."

That whisper soft call on the wind, the voice so familiar. He could never forget her.

"Your journey has been long, my love. Come rest."

Tinuviel. His wife. His love. All at once his age seemed to vanish and a light returned to his eyes as a smile spread across his lips.

“Tinuviel….. How I missed you, Tinuviel! How I loved you for so long after you left. I could never love again after you. How could I? I am still so in love with you. Yes, I want to come rest; oh, I want to rest, Tinuviel. I am so tired.” Reaching his hand for the spirit, his eyes did not see how the bony digits simply passed through the vision. He felt the ghost of her warmth and the silken locks of her hair the wind caught a hold of and tossed around playfully. Tears welled up in the old man’s eyes as the decades of memories so carefully tended and grown came crashing down all around him.

“I want to go with you, Tinuviel. I miss you and our children so much. Please, let me go with you?”

The young man’s ghost unchanged by time as it ever was in life raced to the ship's side just as quickly as Dorian had leaned over the railing and reached his hands upward. As his ghostly face lifted upward it was contorted in pain. “ You're late, Dorian. I waited like you told me to and you were late.” Pale arms still outstretched, it did not matter to the wraith that any contact Dorian had with his form would be like a hand passing through mist. He would still try. “You told me to wait, so I did. You told me they would cure it, make it better.”

As his head turned, the ‘it’ he spoke of became clearly known. No magic could have cured what had been the young Composite’s demise. Flashes of burns and great gaping wounds appeared on the man’s body, so numerous no amount of medicine or magic could sooth the injuries, yet his Composite body had forced Leonid to live on where others would have died. In a moment, it was thought the impression of two hands bruised upon the skin of his neck could be seen.

Morrigan held her breath as her family slowly stepped from the mists. Her father and mother locked arms, appearing as if they were strolling the snow gardens just as they had when she was younger. Her brothers, too, followed suite. Only Savanna and Gavirel were missing. Had they been spared? Sharing words of love and comfort, the young princess's tears flowed freely.

Daemon hesitantly came, quite certain that the crewman's words were a trick to get him out of the room. His eyes were red and stung even without the help of the wind. As the snow swirled on the deck, Daemon curiously watched as everyone looked over the sides. Was it true? No, surely they were all in on it.

[[See how far my line has fallen, Justice?]] came Aryu's voice from below. [[A bookkeeper as weak as a babe.]]

Daemon, recognizing the voice from his dreams, joined the others at the edge. Squinting down, then looking over at the others as they met with those they had loved and lost, Daemon watched as Dorian seemed all too willing to fall into the water below. The other man’s burns and marks brought words once more spilling into his mind.

You would cast the one you love into the fires only to see how brightly he would burn, never once thinking about the consequences after he’s gone! So it had been more than a pretty analogy.

Khaldun was frozen in place, captivated by the drama unfolding before him. His only movement was to raise a hand to signal any attempting to prevent Apollo's ascent to stop. The man had suffered alone for long enough. He deserved his peace at last. Khaldun smiled wistfully at his ancestor, knowing that the man would only be a shell if they tried to tear him away. He was finally happy, and for a moment, he seemed to carry himself as the King he had once been.

As for Dorian, Khaldun could not help but feel pity for the man forbidden from ever entering the realm of the spirits. With such a fate, he could not judge him quite so harshly. Severed from all connection with Daemon for eternity, he was sure he would be bitter, as well.

The ghost of Tinuviel lingered above the sea, waiting for the moment when she could once more embrace her King. Her lips remained in a smile, and her eyes never once moved from him.

Khaldun approached Apollo, prying Victoria from his arm with ease. He then slung her over his back as though she were a sack of potatoes. Though she protested, he merely shushed her, requesting that the end of the King Xephira be watched with a certain amount of gravity. Reaching the spot he had been standing in, he pulled the girl down and held her in place tightly so she would not hinder anything else. Dorian's cries drowning out even the wind, Khaldun stole a sorrowful glance at Daemon, then returned his eyes to the King.

"Where? Where is it? I'll find it! I swear! Just tell me where it is and I'll get it! Wait on me! Oh gods, wait on me." Speaking in a rapid pace, Dorian was oblivious to those around him.

Daemon watched Apollo dissapear, his eyes wide with disbelief. Spinning quickly, he ran to Khaldun's side. "I'm sorry."

"Put me down!" Victoria fussed, kicking her legs as she tried to worm down.

The procession was beginning to reach its end. Already there were none around that Leonid recognized and he had begun to grow restless. His gaze kept returning to the direction the others had left in.

"It is in Ty'Mish, Dorian...the place where we were made into these things that we now are. I was able to keep mine, but yours was taken out. If you can get to Ty'Mish, you can find it, and I won't have to be alone anymore. I'll stay with you as long as I can."