~*~Ghosts of One's Past...~*~

[Illusia]

A heart cannot lie to it's owner, for it speaks the truth even when you wish it would not...

She'd taken a short leave of absence in the wake of her child's birth. Though shortly after her return, she'd have wished she would have stayed gone, for the outcome that she found shattered her very soul and threw her into turmoil once again. The shadows had never left her side, even after Dracos had banished the demons from within her...they'd always stayed, though that was her fate, and this she knew. This she'd learn to accept. Though the mark had been visibly removed, the scar was wrought deep within her soul.

She'd returned to the Isle, as it had always been a haven of comfort for the woman. Her relationship with her brother had grown vast and distant, yet on this night she would find herself within a ring with him. Before the duel had had much of a chance to begin, something shifted within the woman...she'd paled visibly within the ring, her body grew cold to the touch. There was something admist, yet she could not put a finger upon what it was. So she'd pressed on with the duel with her brother...but something within the shadows kept their hold on her, something within the shadows pulled at her, warning her perhaps of what was to come...there was something in the air, something that caused her blood to grow cold as ice, something that caused her heart to flutter just that feint little bit. She'd not seen him within the shadows, yet the shadows had tried to tell her that he was there.

Had she ignored them on purpose, paying them no mind, or had she not wanted to remember who he was...had she not wanted to remember what they had had together? She'd dared to look around the Isle, dared to seek out the image she was frightened would be there...her breath had caught in her throat as the image of "him" flickered in and then out. Yet she could not be sure if it were merely her mind playing tricks on her, or if he were really there. Though quickly sidetracked as the parrot had landed on her shoulder, thankful for the distraction as she offered it a cracker, though hardly expecting her brother's girlfriend at the time to pounce on her in hot pursuit of the flying creature.

She'd kept at the attempt to find another duel, something to settle her nerves, something to get her mind off of the feeling that someone was watching her...that someone or something was there...and then she'd heard the voice. The voice that had haunted her dreams...her every waking moment and she'd turned towards him, her eyes not believing what she was seeing...She'd thought it a test from the Elders to make sure that her heart was pure...to make sure that she was true, yet...yet it would not have been appropriate as they had known her fate even before her. So she'd agreed to duel this...this ghost from her past...one that she was still in denial of standing right in front of her.

Their duel had come to an end and the mage in her had shown this night as she defeated the man that still haunted her dreams... She'd noticed the blonde's watch of Syous and had offhandly wondered if she'd fancied the man before her, but then her comment had sealed that thought..."So the ancient mage can't handle his former flame."

The blonde's words would cause Illusia even more thoughts late into the nights as she wandered the Isle's after wee Max had fallen to sleep in the comfort of their home. They'd only met the one time since she'd known he'd returned to Rhydin, yet that one time was enough to keep Illusia wondering of the future...of what it held...Could the fates have been twisted in their paths...could her destiny truly not yet be deemed?

((Cross posted in The Streets))

[Anjolie Quinn]

The sunlight had been sleeping for nearly seven hours before Anjolie felt herself wearing down. Kallie, along with most of the household, was sound asleep with her belly full to the brim with the dinner they'd shared that evening. Cory had headed on upstairs to take a shower and get changed for bed. Elizabeth and Anjolie were wrapping up the last of the leftovers and tucking them away in the fridge. Giving the countertops one more wipe down with a sudsy washcloth, Anjolie literally threw in the towel and headed towards the stairs.

Elizabeth double checked the locks on the front door and was turning off the last of the lights as Quinn grabbed hold of the banister and pulled herself up the stairs which lead to the second floor bedrooms. Turning to the right she walked to the end of the hall to look in on Kallie. The little girl was sound asleep. Satisfied with this result she turned and walked back in the direction she had come from to let herself into her own bedroom. Her exhausted body pushed against the door in a fit of laziness to get it to close.

Violet eyes were filled with a renewed sense of hope as they caught sight of the plush and pillowy cushioning of her four post bed. Faint streams of light filtered out from beneath her bathroom door. Quinn assumed her beau was still occupied with his evening rituals. She drudged lazily to the edge of her mattress and fell forward, engulfed by the plush comfort of the feather filled comforter. A contralto groan escaped her currently compressed lips as they pushed further into the covers. Anjolie's arms stretched out with fatigue. She heard the sound of the bathroom door being opened followed by the flick of a lightswitch. Reluctantly she raised her head to peer up at her newly refreshed Cory.

"Sleepy, hon?"

"Errmmm" Quinn rolled over onto her side and curled up on the edge of the bed. She groaned once more.

The bed shifted with the added weight of Cory crawling across the covers to pull Quinnie into his arms. A smile broke her exhausted expression as she curled up with him, a kiss being placed on her forehead. Anjolie sighed with relief and remained still in their embrace as she relaxed.

"How 'bout you go an' git all cleaned up an' we'll turn in for tha nigh', babe?"

"Mmm... sounds loverly, dear."

Cory's rich voice resonated in a chuckle as Quinn slid from his grasp and off of the bed. Feet landed soundly on the hard wood floors as she slid on into the bathroom to change and get cleaned up. Cory made himself comfortable as he listened to the sounds of running water. Anjolie rubbed an apricot scrub fervently into the pores of her face. Warm water was soaked up in a washcloth as it retrieved the rest of the mask from her skin and washed all traces of the product down the drain leaving her considerably more at ease.

"Do you think everything went alright this evening?" Calling out from the bathroom as she padded a towel against her face to dry the droplets of water from her flesh.

"Ah think everythin' went fine an' ah think ya worry to much."

Anjolie was chuckling lightly as she emerged from the other room and turned down the lights. The satin nightgown she wore allowed her to slid silkily underneath the covers to snuggle with her beau. Fingers curled around her mouth as she attempted to cover a yawn. She knew Cory was right and she was about to say as much whenever her eyes began to get heavy. She heard his voice as a jumbled up whisper as she fell into the depth of sleep.

"Anjolie.... babe.. Good night, babe..."

And then the nightmare began...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were voices. So many pitches of voices as the night sky stretched further out across the shadowed land. The shifting of the ground was what caught her attention. So loose and free. It was sand. Violet peepers were cast downwards to gaze upon the ripples and miniature dunes spread out before her. Anjolie turned around to see the lighted scene of Twilight Isle and its rings.

There were so many voices. Her legs carried her closer in staggering steps. They were her friends. So many of them but all speaking terrible things. Except for one. Her dearest friend, Illusia Marcine. Marcine? No... Drasoini, now. How odd to have confused them. Anjolie ventured forth to join the woman at her side. So cold... why was Illusia so cold? The voices grew louder. Quinn agreed to join her friend in the ring. To distract them? Was that it? She didn't know.

The voices only twisted and became more cruel as they dueled. Quinn tried to keep Illusia in her focus but she could tell her friend heard them as well. It was then that Anjolie began to notice the change. The stars and the full moon disappeared behind the rolling clouds. The night was growing darker... blacker as the sands swirled around them in tempests of wind.

The fear was welling up inside of her. Something had changed an a tangible feeling of rage swam through the tufts of air circulating around the ring. Violet eyes looked across the way into the face of pure malice. Illusia's auras shifted violently as the duel was coming around to a close. The cold touch Anjolie had felt upon her arrival could literally be seen in Illusia's eyes. The voices grew to a deafening volume before the sound itself make her ears pop and then become mute.

Ferocious swirls of bright yellow and terrible white light came whirling towards her at lightening speed. The burning sensation was familiar, but far worse. Illusia had scored the winning point... but the magic did not stop. The caller yelled out the final score and still the agonizing pain shot through every inch of Quinn's body. It kept going and going as Illusia intensified the level of pain. A final wave of horrifying pain jolted through her body as the blackness of night overwhelmed her. The seemingly lifeless body of Anjolie Quinn fell the sands below.

But why, Illusia? Why?

[Dracos]

Green flame danced around the form of the meditating mage. He had been gone from his home for far too long, gone and left his family with sporadic visits, something he promised himself he would not do, not after his last loss.

Dark eyes opened, his sense of the disturbance was vague, but enough to know that something was terribly wrong, and that floating in the ether and meditating was not where he was needed. His body unfolded from its pose as his right arm slashed downward and opened up a rift in the wispy fabric of the realm. He slipped through and faded, heading directly for his wife, fear in his heart.

[Illusia]

She'd not found comfort in sleep in weeks now. The nightmares were all to real, all to vivid for her. It was like she was reliving the past. She'd faught her past, her destiny...her fate for as long as she could remember, and when she had accepted it, it had came crashing down on her when he'd left and left her broken once more...And now...now things were growing even more complicated.

It'd started the week that all the Keepers had been challenged for their Towers...She'd heard the familiar voice before she'd even seen the woman. It had been quite some time since they'd last seen one another, and she'd indeed had missed her friend, but there was something that she'd forgotten...perhaps not so much forgotten as it was locked away behind a door she'd care not to open.

The pain she'd caused the woman, the near death episode almost five winters passed now, came back slamming into her full force as she gritted her teeth at the vivid memory, shaking her head and the ghost away, she put on her best smile to her friend, arms outstretched for the welcoming embrace. She'd heard the child's voice and it helped to tear Illusia away from the reality that would soon have to be faced as she turned towards the little girl. She'd known almost instantly that the child was blood to both Ecorian and Anjolie, she could see it in her eyes...Feel it coursing through the childs system. It was a distraction she was most greatful for as they interacted with one another. It was not until after Ecorian and Anjolie had come to gather their young one that she'd returned to her tree to watch the happy family, though her blood grew cold...her gaze grew cold, she'd needed yet another distraction to chase away the ghosts...

-----

Later that night, Illusia had bid Dracos' fair well, wishing him a hasty return, as his duties in his own hometown called to him. Young Max was sound asleep in his own bed in the next room, when Illusia finally bade sleep a good evening, wrapping her naked form within the silken wraps of the sheets. Sleep was fast to greet her, yet it she would find no rest, no comfort in tonight's sleep as the tossed and turned in a fit to fight off the impuding nightmare...

Illusia had been a dreamwalker since she was a child, her powers ever growing stronger, she could walk in others dreams, draw them into her own...and watch her own as if she were a spectator...

As sleep claimed her body, her ethreal being had been brought back to the Isle where she'd been only hours before, yet there was no one here...it was silent, serene and comforting as Illusia had always found it...and then voices returned...

She'd emerged from the portal, her head held high. She'd decided that she would not let their hushed whispers taunt her any longer...or at least she would try. So many nights had she found herself defending something that she had never done, something she would never even fathom a reality in her life. Yet they would never stop...Her steps brought her closer to the Isle's rings where she saw them, huddled together in a tight knit group. There were several little groups, and the fleeting person here and there, yet she could hear their whispers almost as if they were yelling them out.

"I heard that she slept with that woman's husband, seduced him into bed and tried to take him from his wife and children."

"I was told that she left Rhydin to run off with another man, leaving the father of her child here with her son."


"She's nothing but a homewrecker and whore. I'd watch your husband's or cared for others around the likes of her. She's trouble."

She'd fixed her emerald gaze onto them, and the whispers ceased for that miniscule second, before she turned her back onto them and moved closer to the rings, searching for a duel...a dance...a distraction, perhaps her salvation or her end. Anjolie had accepted and she was ever grateful for her acceptance.

And so they danced, something she'd loved to do and did quite well and they danced into the night, but something changed...The shadows tugged at her body, her body grew cold, cold to the touch, to the feel...to her very core she could feel nothing as the taunts and shouts outside the ring had increased...He'd come tonight, daring to bring his new mistress with him, daring to shut her and the twins out. Her rage festered inside her as she watched the two out of the corner of her eye, heard their converstaion. Her blood boiled an odd sort as her mood began to affect the Twilight Isle, soon there were no lights that could be seen in the sky...the temperature dropped on the Isle herself...she could not control it...she could not stop it. It had been to much.

She didn't feel any longer...Could not see the fear in her friend's eyes, could not sense it...All she felt was pain, betrayal, heartache, confusion and coldness...so very cold...So very dark...

She turned over fitfully in her sleep, her bedsheets growing wet with her perspiration...she shivered and trembled in her sleep...Anjolie? Why was she in her dreams...why was it so dark...so cold.

She wanted it all to end, the whispers, the teasing, the taunting...she wanted the pain to end...She'd started the spell that would end the match, she was sure of it, her auras whipped around her, shadows melding with the fires of who she was...shadows overcoming and she cast the bolt towards the "woman" in the ring with her...The power behind the spell was enormous, she'd let out all the pent up emotions in her body, her soul and heart...She'd watched it singe her clothing...watched as it continued to electrify her opponent.

Why weren't the wards healing her? Why didn't I stop?

Her eyes had changed...they were no longer emerald and gentle, but they were cold as steel, silver...pure silver and cold enough to lessen the greatest of flames as she continued to merely watch the spell, watched as the ferocity behind it kept going, watched as her body fell to the sands, lifeless...She'd screamed then as something snapped inside her...The Isle herself had returned to normal...but Illusia...Illusia was very different...would she ever be normal again? Ice ran through her veins and when she'd floated back down to the sands, there were gloves on her hands, from fingertip to her elbows...and those eyes...so cold...so distant and unforgiving...This woman had not gone to her friend's side to make sure she would survive, she had not cared...did not even give her a passing glance as she stepped back into the shadows and simply disappeared. Cold, dark laughter echoed and reverbrated throughout the Isle at her departure...

The scream itself was echoed throughout the Drasoini house as Illusia bolted upright in her own bed, trembling and shaking...

[Dracos]

That scream brought Illusia's husband into existance before the sound had completely left her lips. His slim arms wrapping around her body to hold her in their comforting embrace. Whispered words danced throughout the room, "It is ok my wife, it was just a nightmare..."

His dark eyes scanned her face to confirm what he spoke of, tears welling in those dark orbs. He felt the shadows that so pervaded his wife before they were wed, knew that they were still here, if not wrapped around her heart.

He pulled her closer and stroked her hair gently with spidery fingers, continuing to whisper soft words.

[Illusia]

She felt the arms around her, her skin grew once again as that it had in days of old, yet it had never affected him as it had all the others, save two. He was pure fire and she had been pure cold when he had fallen in love with her and even now as her skin grew cold to the touch, the heat of his body merely hissing from their embrace. Silver eyes looked into those of her husband, but it was a blank stare...She saw nothing...She'd heard his voice but it had not registered right away...The tears that fell from his eyes brought her back to the reality that was, as her body grew warm to the touch once more and her eyes returned to the emerald and silver as she nuzzled closely into her husband. "Oh Dracos, twas terrible...I dinnae know why this is all 'appening 'gain. It was tha past...now it lives 'gain." He had said nothing, only merely continued to hold her close and whisper words of comfort and in those wee hours of the morning, Illusia found at least a few hours of comforting sleep.

-----

To her it had been nothing more than a normal night on the Isle...at least it was until her and her brother had decided to dance with one another...Anjolie had grown weary after the days event's and laid her head to sleep a bit while she'd occupied Ecorian, and that's when things grew even more complicated...more real...for after this night she would know it was not only herself alone that had experienced these visions, but it would be the object of their target as well...

It was subtle at first, almost to the point that she herself had not even noticed the tell tale signs that the magic was enhancing the visions even moreso now that they had both been on the Isle. With every round, brought another startling vision to her...Every round of magic cast enhanced the darkness in Illusia...

She had touched her brother earlier, and had not noticed that the cold coursed through her again, it was fleeting, yet it was there...again.

They danced, oh had they danced as in the days of old...and she had enjoyed it but there was something different, something that disturbed her greatly...but she could not understand what it was...it would come later in the night as the match progressed that the doors would be opened to her...

The first few rounds seemed merely to lay out the foundation of the visions that would come....the wall of flame extended from her outstretched palms towards her brother, causing his own spell to falter...The first wave of negative energy that he'd extended towards her had startled the memories within her as her gaze grew clouded, she shook it off and moved into the third...As she watched the crystalline shards cut deep into Ecorian's arms...the blood dripped to the sands and she watched as if entranced...worry flitted through her yet an odd shiver coursed through her body and she shook it off, trying to clear her mind.

The next round brought even more of the vastness back to her as she faught to push it away. Why now? Why here? She'd tried to call to the northern winds, but instead found her mind touched with chaos she'd not felt in quite some time...Not again...Why now? Dreams haunt me in sleep alone, but I am awake...am I not?

Then the power snapped...the link had been broken...The woman had awaken from her magical slumber on the Isle, but for Illusia it had merely begun as the match continued...

Once emerald and silver eyes had turned to pure silver, as the days of old, her smile was curved wickedly as she watched the man before her, for that brief moment, he was not her brother, but simply an enemy within the confines of the ring. She lifted and extended her left hand towards the Twilight skies, the distant clap of thunder called down, the emerald bolt dancing in the night as she flicked her wrist towards the man within the ring with her. But it was to late, she could not stop it as she watched as the mirror was brought up, ice ran in her veins as she saw within the reflection, not herself but Anjolie and the bolt striking her, her voice was shakey and grew very loud..."Nae!" As the impact of the bolt reverbrated off of the mirror and onto the reflection/herself, stumbling to the grounds, she shook her head and then it was gone, the coldness, the cloudiness in her eyes, when she opened her eyes again after taking several breaths, all was as it should have been and she glanced towards Anjolie, her body trembling.

[Illusia]

The nightmare had been onliving every night since she'd again met with Anjolie on the Isle sands...And every night when she could no longer fight sleep it came...like a rush of winds it came to her...through her and into her once again. Every night more was revealed to her...Parts of her past that she had long sinced buried in her soul and locked the doors, never to have been open again...yet now they lived again...

Silver eyes closed as she sighed and leaned her forehead against the cool iron of their bed, her body trembled with the emotions that coursed through her now..."Why must I live through this once 'gain...I thought it all settle' an gone." She was alone in the Drasoini home, not a living soul was around. She'd sent every one out to the Winter Carnival, feigning sickness and needing rest so that she could think...She was frightened for her family. Now when things made the most sense, it was beginning to make the least...She cold not understand why this was happening.

She sank down onto the bed and leaned back against the headboard, eyes closed as she tried to find the answers...She'd needed to settle her mind and to try and focus on just one thing at a time, yet in this she would not be fruitful as she entered the trance state...there was a rush of cold air that froze the molecules around her as their was a sharp knock at the door jarring Illusia from her trance.

Silver eyes blinked a few times to settle herself in this plane as her feet touched the cool of the ground, a hiss escaping her lips, her voice rang out even to the depths of where the entrance was as she moved towards the scrying window. "Who dare ask fer entrance ta m' 'ome?" When there came no answer, just another knock and gush of icy air, Illusia worked the windows as she had the very first night Dracos had bid her to their home...

A mere thought as her fingertip traced a rune into the window, the window pulsed with life and rippled as it shifted to grant the vision to the woman, silver eyes sought the shadows of the night for who was knocking at her door, and she'd seen nothing...Her head canted to the side as she increased the amount of energy that she used to work the spell and the window rippled dangerously as Illusia's powers increased..."Show yerself." Her voice rang out through the night and within the house it echoed off of the very walls that she'd called her own...The shadows by the entrance pulsed with life, as her blood grew cold in the warmth of the house, silver eyes squinted into the vision as she continued her careful perusal of the area...

Shadows danced around her, as the temperature in the home dropped dangerously low once again, the shadows called to her and so she would heed the words of the Elders...and she would yield to their call as she parted the shadows and saw the red eyes that had haunted her sleep...haunted her waking moments...she felt the look of the being even in through the wards of her home, the voice was curt, rough and raspy as it spoke.

"Time...Aradia your time is soon to come. You must not push this back any longer, for they come. They come swift as the riders in the morning hunt and they will find you Aradia...Ekralan and your brother hunt you now."

As quick as the ghost had come, it had disappeared. The end of the spell had pushed her clear across the room as she slammed into the wall on the other side of the house. The chill that coursed through her caused her teeth to chatter, but one part of her body burned as if it were alive with fires, the crescent on her back was slowly pushing it's way to the surface of the magical bind that Dracos had induced on it...

[Illusia]

She slid herself up the wall of the living area and glanced around, now-gloved hands sliding up and down her arms, fingertips tracing at the edge of the gloves that laid at her elbows. Sighing silver gaze moved back towards the scrying window. "When will it e'er en'?" A shake of her head as she ran a gloved hand through raven hair, blinking a few times.

A bath...a hot bath she decided might help to calm the nerves that the shadowed informant had brought to her and padded footsteps took her quickly and shakily towards their bathroom. A whisper and simple movement sent her clothes slithering to a pool at her feet as she she bent to draw the water from the silver faucets. A sigh as she smelled the infused lavender scent that dripped into her bath waters. A gift from Dracos on their anniversary and she smiled at the thought. Chilled and now bare fingertips traced over her formed body. She was not by far an ugly woman, nor was her shape unattractive. She looked towards the full length mirror and her back within, both tips of the crescent were now showing as was the outlining starting to push through. She shook her head, fighting back the tears that had threatened to spill as she stepped into the lavender bath and sighed, sinking beneath the perfectly temperatured waters.

Silver eyes closed, but she was not sure how long she'd stayed under the waters...the only thing the woman was sure of was the elemental that had visited her in this "trance."

"Illusia? Illusia can you hear me? Illusia if you can hear me, this is Niadin, Tarinos' brother. He has sent me with a message for you. He is bound in the Tower of Fire as one knows and cannot leave it's presence while the Keeper reigns within. So he has sent me to find you and give you this message..."

In her trance state, the blue fire elemental began to pulse with a life of it's own as it twisted and contorted to take on the Elder form of Tarinos. Beneath the waters of her bath, Illusia's body began tremble slightly, her closed eyelids fluttering slightly with the rapid movement of trying to follow this "vision/trance."

"Aradia, child. How I have missed you since your reign. Your work is not done child, you must press on. The changes that you are going through again are as they should be. You must be strong, he must be strong. The dark one will help you, seek him out. The two that hunt you come swiftly as you have been informed by the shadows."

Her body thrashed more beneath the waters as her body began to fight for air beneath the waters, the heated water threatening to spill over onto the marbled floor of the bathroom.

"You will be victorious Aradia, though your heart is torn. Though your past comes back to relive itsself, you must stand against it as you have before. All the answers come in this my child. Surface from the waters that emprison you child and come with me."

Almost as if her body was being controlled did her head emerge from the waters of the bath, her head lulled back gently against the cooler marble as her body went lax.

"Good child, you've not forgotten how to use your gifts."

"Nae, I've been growin' more accustome' ta such. Why .. 'ow are ye 'ere wit' m' Tarinos. Yer boun's are ta tha Keeper in reign, nae ta I ana lon'er."

"True you speak child, but you alone have been my charge since your first reign. My brother has allowed me usuage of his being so that I may take this moment to speak with you as the Keeper sleeps."

"I see. An iffin 'e be angere' as such?"

"He will never know child."

"Verra well then, 'asten this vision as I've ta meet m' 'usband an children soon ol' frien'."

"Are you sure you can handle it my child?"

"O' course I can." Though some semblance of unsurity pulsed through her body, she was ready. Ready to understand what was happening to her and why...Why were these things happening to her and what exactly they meant.

[Anjolie Quinn]

For two days they hadn't even spoken. Hank reported having spotted him the night after it all happened, but had let Cory know that Quinn wasn't at home. This wasn't entirely true. She was home, but had been delivered to her bedroom by the Drasoinis after Illusia's spell. Something had been steadily changing about her friend. Was it a reoccurance or something new rearing its ugly head? She did not know.

The night before, when she'd spoken with Anubis, Illusia had been on the verge of spitting nails at the man. Quinn knew she was just trying to be protective. What was it about the whole event that triggered the change in the woman? It was on the following evening that Quinn was destined to find out. The night would begin with Cory's challenge against Max in the Annex on Friday.

The entire day before the event had been a mix of emotions. Quinn was still confused about the images Max had placed in her mind after Cory issued his challenge. She had learned that he was Anubis's second during his assault on Rena for the Overlord title. This fact had shaken her considerably. Anjolie could usually stay calm and open-minded enough to show respect for Anubis in the context of human dignity and worth which she believed all people to possess. That being said, the very sight of him made her angry.

Kallie had insisted on attending the challenge that evening. Anjolie did not want her going. There were strange and dangerous things happening with the powers that be in Rhydin at the moment. They had agreed on making a t-shirt with Kallie's message and hands for Quinn to wear to the event. Anjolie hadn't minded at all. She had joined Illusia at the event and sat in the same section as all the others. Dracos was making a rather amusing attempt to cheer for both sides. They were both so sweet. After the challenge was finished, the others departed and Anjolie was left to speak with Cory alone. This would prove to be a much harder task that she had originally thought.

At the end of soft whispers of encouragement, they had been cold to one another. Quinn didn't know how to speak with him and Cory didn't seem to have the strength to deal with it. He had left for the Arena a few minutes later. Quinn remained in the Annex and let her emotions flow freely. At the end of her sobs, red faced and all, she'd climbed the stairs and tried to sneak through the Arena to reach the Inn and parking lot above.

It was then that he had followed her....

The conversation began slowly, but easily bled into a thousand uncomfortable topics and secrets being revealed. They had stood there by the truck for nearly an hour whenever the cold got the best of them. Quinn had agreed to start the truck and drive them back to the ranch. It was Cory, however, who took their chattering to a new level. He wanted to talk about Illusia. But, why?

As the heater blarred and the vehicle rolled easily over the paved roads of Rhydin's highways, Anjolie listened intently to the past history of Illusia Marcine-Drasoini. About her multiple partners and twin sister. About Cory and Illusia studying together under some Durax fellow. About Illusia's children being born out of magic. It was all very strange. Not to mention the news that the woman had been a virgin up until meeting Dracos. That was very, very strange. Anjolie couldn't imagine having children without the... well, perks, really.

After missing her exit and getting an "I told you so" look from Cory after him warning about her concentrating on the road, they found another side path and veered onto the gravel road which would easily lead them home. It was then that the story began to change.

Cory started talking about some man... two men, that Illusia had befriended and supposedly seduced. He spoke of people in the area being outraged and downright vicious to her upon the discovery of these events. Anjolie felt the pit fall out of her stomach. The voices rose to a deafening volume in her mind and flashes of her nightmare danced across her vision. She'd pulled the truck over and switched sides with Cory... complaining about her eyes playing tricks on her.

The flashbacks continued as they drove, reaching a terrifying point as they approached the ranch. Anjolie's violet eyes went white with the pain. A mental barrier being suddenly unlocked was the last thing she needed right now. Stumbling, falling, she made it into the house and up the stairs to bed.

"We need to talk to your sister"

A confused expression crossed Cory's face as Quinn struggled against the mental attack and continued along her way.

"You wan' ta go back?"

"No, I need to sleep."

Something in her gut was telling her that the four post bed was where she'd find the answers to her questions. The nightmare was becoming real. Anjolie had reached the bedroom and gone about her evening ritual with great haste. The gash on her forehead from the fall on the stairs was washed clean. She had explained the whole situation to Cory as he waited. She hadn't meant to scare him so.

And agreement was reached that he would spend the night with her, if for nothing else than to be there if the nightmare peaked as it had several nights past. Anjolie wasn't sure what was happening, but the whole situation was revolving around a thing of her dreams. Already exhausted from the long day, she slipped easily into the slumber which was to bring her the answers she'd sought after these endless nights.

I know why, Illusia. I know why.

((Cross Posted in Golden Sun. The following dream and events will be cross posted as well.))