Welcome to Gaia! ::

The castle rarely entertains visitors. Located in a realm all it's own, only the dead have easy passage into the vast land of the Underworld. The living must have certain magical abilities, or know of the few underground passages that lead through deadly caverns. The only to cross the rivers, pass through several other heavy guards, then walk through a large field before a tall dark castle.

Lit by flame, decorated with ancient artifacts lost by time, the cold stone walls seem as lonely and as dead as the world it sits in. Only the wind and wandering souls pass through the darkened halls. Sitting inside the throne room of the castle, lazing about in his seat with a dulled emotion of utter boredom, was the ruler of the vast land.

A man, as modern looking as ever, sitting with his head slumped onto his shoulder. Black boots clicking against the stone tiles beneath him. His jeans scuffing the black pillow keeping him cushioned against the hard stone throne. A black leather jacket zipped tightly around his neck to keep out the chill that wafted through the castle. Dark black hair neatly cut and combed so that it fell behind his ears, and eyes black as coal staring at a flickering flame across the room from him.

Bored.

”Master.” a raspy voice said from the corner of the throne.

The man shifted his head to the side and glanced towards a dimly lit doorway. ”Hm?” he mused, staring at a shadowy figure lingering in the archway.

An old man, terribly emaciated under a stained and torn Grecian cloth, stepped out from under the darkened arch. His muscles had long vanished, leaving his skin to cling to his bones. His hair was long, ragged, and had bits of dirt hanging from his snow-white locks. An ancient looking robe was draped and hanging loosely from his boney figure, and a pair of leather sandals were wrapped around his feet. ”I'm sorry to interrupt you, my Lord. But you have a guest.”

A guest...” the man mused to himself. He leaned off of his arm and sat straight in his large stone chair. ”Well then, by all means, send them in Thaddaeus. We so rarely receive guests.”


As Thaddaeus returned to the archway, a rather dazzling display of glittering flecks of light followed him in. Hades smile fell instantly. ”....oh.” he let out in one quiet breath.

Thaddaeus moved to the side, and a woman in a sparkling silver dress stood in full view. Everything about her was sparkling, clean, and silver in some form or another. Her hair, pulled up into a loose bun, was platinum with silver under lights. Her makeup, from her eyes to her lips, was silver... making the smirk on her face and the twinkle in her eyes hard to miss. Her dress, curve hugging and shape displaying as it could possibly be, was silver. And the heels she wore strapped up the calf of her legs were silver. As dark as the halls were, and as flame lit as the throne room was, the woman practically sparkled with every flicker of light that hit her.

”Oh, come now, Danny. You could at least try to sound a little happier to see me.” she purred as she looked up at the man. A mischievous glint in her eyes.

”No, no. I'm thrilled, Crystal. Really.” the man said, his tone dripping with sarcasm. He leaned back in his throne as 'unthrilled' as he had been moments before.

”Right.” Crystal replied, rolling her eyes.

“Danny” sighed heavily and held up his hand. As he spoke, he began counting off on his fingers.”Not only do I have your prattling, complaining, whining, scheming, and narcissistic ego to look forward to for however long I'm sure you're going to linger around here whether you're welcome or not... there's also the-” he said, then stopped suddenly as his personal space was invaded.

Crystal, having grown bored with his talking already, had “poofed” herself onto his throne. Lap more precisely... and was now leaning over top of his chest, pinning him to the back of his seat. Her arms neatly crossed over his shoulders, and her lips wrapped in a Cheshire smile around her face.
”Strong possibility I'll put you in a rather awkward situation that you'll have one hell of a time trying to explain to your wife when she walks in?” she purred.

”I was GOING to say the know-it-all attitude that comes with your omnicient mind. But if I could avoid THAT suggested situation, it would be appreciated.” Danny nearly spat back.

”Because your wife already knows your a womanizer so it would be more than easy for her to jump to conclusions?” Crystal asked, playfully cocking her head to the side.

”Because Demona brags about all the situations you try to put yourself into. So it would be more than easy to jump to conclusions with YOU being-”

”Alright, alright... point seen.” she replied, waving her hand dismissively as she leaned away from him.

Danny huffed as she slid off of his lap, and promptly went about straightening his shirt up again. ”So why have you come down here.” he asked, his tone clearly void of any amusement.

”Same reason I do anything out of the ordinary I suppose...” Crystal replied, then slid herself onto the stone arm rest to the right of Danny. ”I'm bored.”

”Oh yes... knowing everything must be such a curse.” he replied, rolling his eyes.

”It is. I can't watch movies, because I know what happens by the time the opening title comes out... and that's only if I avoid commercials at all costs. Relationships? Forget it. I see seventeen highly possible outcomes by the time someone says hello. I pretty much have to try and shut my brain off if I want anything “new”. “

”And you're here.....” Danny asked, drawing out the last word until she answered.

”I'm bored. Fix it.” Crystal replied promptly.

”And just what do you expect me to do about it?”

”You're the collector of old relics, spell books, history's most interesting persons of Greek background, I'm sure you can find something.” she replied, adjusting her weight so that she could lean against the corner of his throne.

”You expect me to file through my entire collection just to find something to amuse you?”

”Yes.” she replied. Dead serious.

Danny sighed deeply and began rubbing the bridge of his nose. ”Why not get someone else to entertain you?”

Crystal sighed at that, then threw her hand in the air to begin counting off the reasons. ”Because Edel hates me and would rip me one if I even asked. Sandra is...well it's gotten awkward. I'm more used to her being away and doing her job. In this reality... she's like a mother figure. Bleh. She'd reprimand me, then suggest I try something else. Only thing I can really do for entertainment are dreams, thanks to Demona.... or manipulate things.”

”That Paragon boy you mean?” Danny asked, leaning to the opposite arm rest.

Crystals mood seemed to switch instantly. Her smile became much more mischievous, and a wicked little gleam began to sparkle in her eyes. ”Mmm... Hercules... yes, exactly. But, you know. Mommy dear wouldn't like that, now would she.” she said. Then she paused in thought for a moment, and the overly pleasant expression vanished entirely. ”Besides... Now that he's hanging about Edel's daughter, the witch has done a nice job of helping the boy keep Hercules persona in check. No running wild through the streets, fighting with Jove, messing with the girls... not like he used to anyway. Barely comes out at all.” she said, then huffed and crossed her arms. Clearly aggravated by the last little fact.

”So find someone new to pick on.”

”How about you?” Crystal asked, turning her head towards Danny and giving him a smirk.

”No.” he replied. Dead serious.

”I can do this all day.” she grinned.

”I can expel you from my realm.”

”Please?” she begged.

”No.” Danny growled.

”I want a new world.”

”Go away.”

”I know you have that well hidden somewhere here.”

”And we finally get to the real reason you came down.” Danny said, tossing his hands up in the air.

Crystal leaned over and clasped her hands together. Nearly getting well into Danny's personal space again. ”Please?” she begged again.

”No.” Danny spat.

”If it's a new world entirely... new universe... Oh! If the stones don't exist, new people, new everything! My powers probably will only work so much!” Crystal began. She had apparently not even heard Danny's reply, and gone off into her own train of thought. She usually didn't come back once she got on one of her trains.

”Do I need to start speaking in Greek?” Danny growled, leaning away from her. ”English clearly isn't working here.”

”I could see their history, but... because it's all utterly new... I wouldn't be able to see the future!” Crystal continued, becoming more excited at the idea.

”Go. Away.”

”I might even be able to finally watch a movie without feeling like I've already seen it!” she exclaimed, nearly bouncing on the arm rest.

”Αφήστε με μόνο μου παρακαλώ.“ Danny growled out in Greek.

Instead of leaving, Crystal turned back around and practically slid off the arm rest and back onto Danny's lap. ”Wouldn't that be fun! And since you have your own realm where that well originates from, you won't be effected! In fact we could turn everything back to normal whenever we wanted! And YOU might even be able to get some new souls! Powerful ones! Just think about it! How slow has it been for you to get souls to occupy your Underworld? Think of all the new bodies you could convert over! Enough power to last you for years to come!” she said, her eyes wide with excitement.

For once... Danny didn't have a reply.

”Well?” she asked.

”You're not going to leave until I show you the damn thing... are you?” Danny growled quietly.

”Oh, don't act like you don't like that idea.” Crystal huffed.

Danny was quiet for another long moment, then let out one last sigh. Then he promptly pushed the woman off of his lap and stood from his throne. ”Fine.... follow me.” he said quietly.

Crystal squealed happily as he began walking around his throne and towards a large stone door that his throne was nearly pressed against. In response to Crystal's squeal, a thunderous rumble echoed throughout the entire room.

”Down boys...” Danny said, grabbing the large lock from the door.

”Oh, they're looking skinny by the way. Have you been feeding them every day?” Crystal asked, watching Danny fiddle with a large set of keys.

”I do...” he replied, jingling a key or two in his hand. ”But Cerberus is more used to eating tomb raiders, grave diggers, and intruders. Persephone has put them on a bit of a diet.”