journey to the center of my dick. [Rowan.]

Cray had never been to the Ice Caves before, and thought this was a good day to do it. She had a big black coat on with a fuzzy hood, and a pink, violet, white, and red scarf wrapped around her neck. Gaston was in his bag as usual wearing the same identicale scarf that Cray was wearing.

Stuffing her hands into her pockets, she entered the first cave that was closest to her. It was so pretty! The walls of the cave were covered with beautiful sparkling ice, it looked like glass, or even better, diamonds!

I hope we don't get lost, said Gaston.

It was...cold.

That was Rowan and Nym's first impression when they appeared out of the reverse-rift that they had jumped into, hoping it would take them back to Amelia. Rowan immediately looked around for anything familiar.

The ice caves! These were definitely the ice caves. And that meant they had made it back! Finally! Rowan hadn't felt so relieved in months.

Suddenly, a noise told him that he and Nym weren't alone in the ice caves. Another clio was there. Hopefully it wasn't a malevolent one. Still, Rowan felt oddly at ease (he hardly ever was at ease) just because he knew he was home, so he didn't hesitate in calling out to the clio.

"Hello? Someone there?"

Cray heard a little bit of a thud, then heard a familar voice call out. It sounded like...Rowan!

Be careful, said Gaston, You might be wrong.

Cray shrugged and called back, "Rowan?!"

"Um, yeah, that's me..." Rowan called back. He obviously knew this clio. She had a familiar voice. But when the girl came into view, he didn't recognize her at first. He hoped he didn't have any leftover amnesia or anything, but he was pretty sure that wasn't the case.

He thought it would be rude admit he didn't recognize her so he didn't.

Cray started walking again, and saw that her guess was right. It really was Rowan!

Cray shuffled over to him quickly. She would have embraced him but she wasn't sure how he'd take to that. So instead she asked him, what she thought was a stupid question, "Where you sucked into the rift too?"

When she got closer Rowan saw that the girl had rainbow-eyes. Oh. It was Cray, of course. Her hair was different. Something else was too, but Rowan couldn't figure out what, so he let it go. "Cray," he breathed, smiling. Then he was suddenly taken aback by her question. "Yeah, I've actually just come back from the rift." He shuddered a little; whether it was from the cold or the memory of the rift, he wasn't sure.

Rowan seemed to have been distraughted [is that even a word?] by the memory of the rift. Cray though enjoyed it, after meeting her Triston. She smiled brightly.

"I was sucked in too. Got stuck on this huge metal thing the humans call the Top Thriller Drags Her. Those humans, where do they come up with such names?" Cray giggled.

"I got hit by a car," Rowan replied, frowning. Everything that happened in the rift was a disaster. But none of it mattered now because he was finally home. He could use Eilemaiden and run Dian and, most importantly of all, see Charlie again. "I'm really glad to be back. But I, uh, get the impression you enjoyed it there?"

He was confused as to how anyone could enjoy the rift as much as Cray had seemed to,

Cray made an "O:" face. "You got hit by those big shiny metal things! That's awful!"

"I, uh, get the impression you enjoyed it there?"

Cray nodded at his question and said, "I met somebody there, and fell in love. His name is Triston. He's the fireman who rescued me from the Drags Her."

If hearts could float out of heads, there would be hearts floating out of Cray's right now.

"That's wonderful," Rowan commented, happy for Cray. The word "love" made him think of Charlie, and want to see her even more now. Of course going to Dian to assure everyone he was alright came first and foremost, right afterwords he was going to visit her.

Then a thought struck him. "Wait...this Triston guy...did he come to Amelia with you?" It only made sense that if clio could go to Earth, humans could come to Amelia...

"That's wonderful."

"It is wonderful isn't it?" Cray said dreamily.

"Did he come to Amelia with you?"

Cray nodded and said, "Yes he did. He doesn't have an Eilemaiden, but he has a daemon. He lives near Dahlin since the metal in the air at Dian could kill him."

"Yes he did. He doesn't have an Eilemaiden, but he has a daemon. He lives near Dahlin since the metal in the air at Dian could kill him."

"Oh..." Rowan said, feeling kind of guilty for being responsible for that particular drawback. "You know, if it would be more convenient for you, I could clear the air so that you two could live together."

Maybe it was a little rash to lift the security measure that had been set years ago, but Rowan had actually been considering it for a while. Times were changing and becoming less dangerous. Different Eilemaiden weren't constantly on the verge of war anymore. It was, well, peaceful. For the first time ever in Amelian history.

"You know, if it would be more convenient for you, I could clear the air so that you two could live together."

Cray got wide eyed, and looked up at Rowan, "Would you do that? For me?!"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, of course I would," he replied honestly. A piece of him knew he shouldn't be making such a big decision without thinking it through properly first, but the rest of him was so happy to be home that it didn't matter. Dian had plenty of other security measures in place. No need to be totally paranoid.

"So," he said after a long pause. "You really love this Triston guy?"

"Um, yeah. Yeah, of course I would."

"Oh, thank you so much!" Cray said gleefully.

"You really love this Triston guy?"

Cray nodded yet again to his question. "He's everything I've ever wanted! So kind, heroic, smart, he's just amazing!"

"Well that's great that you found someone," Rowan congratulated her. It was nice to see Cray so happy. It sounded like her and this guy actually had a chance together.

It's great when things work out, isn't it? Nym commented. Hopefully everything is working out in Dian right now.

"We were in the rift for a long time," Rowan said suddenly, changing the subject. "I hope Dian is alright. Have you been back there yet? Is everything okay there?" Suddenly his calmness was replaced by anxiousness as he waited for Cray's answer.

"Is everything okay there?"

"When I returned, everything seemed perfectly fine, but everybody was worried about you." said Cray.

"How many other clio that you know of were sucked into the rift?" she asked.

"That I know of," Rowan began, thinking back. "There was...Peyton-or-something, and...Alecis." He said Alecis's name with contempt. He had officially gone back to hating her now after a brief time of actually considering her a friend.

Cray didn't know who the Peyton person was, but she knew Alecis.

"I didn't meet any other clio on earth. Just Triston." she said.

Cray stood there for a moment, then asked, "Do you know if Alecis is back yet?"

Rowan tensed up a little. Just thinking about Alecis made him kind of angry. "No, I don't," he said shortly. In fact, he was pretty sure she wasn't. He had let her know where the return-rift was, but he doubted she'd managed to go there before him. She may have though.

"No, I don't,"

Rowan had said, sounding a bit irate.

"I see," replied Cray.

I wonder why he cringed like that? Do they hate each other again? Cray asked herself.