Oomph.

The vortex lasted quite a few minutes, Alecis held the dæmon in her arms close to her body, shivering. She wasn't cold, she wasn't even scared, it was more just the expectation of finally being home that had given her chills. Home was better than lost on Earth. But home was nothing without Rowan.

She was ready for the impact of the ground when she fell from the rift and whispered only a tiny "oomph" as she landed on her butt. Glancing around quickly she realized she had landed on the road that lead from the tavern to the Dialga Mountains. Theodore Lane.

Wonderful, Alecis thought angrily as she gritted her teeth and got to her feet. Theodore Lane, late at night, and no Eilemaiden to help her. Wait...

Alecis hummed softly but with force and watched as the air around her shifted. She was lifted of the ground in a matter of seconds--her Eilemaiden had returned. Suddenly her spirits lifted, all thoughts of Rowan hating her again were pushed out of her mind as it steam-rolled to thinking about the two most important things she had left behind. Eva and Lorrik.

Rheis' eyes grew bright as he thought of their younger siblings, hopefully safe at home in Cuir. Finally they would get to see them again, Alecis would get to hold them, to play with them. Hopefully they wouldn't be too angry, but they were young, they might not understand why their only remaining family had left them.

Alecis' eyes burned as she flew faster towards her home in the clouds. She would make it up to them somehow. Anything they wanted, she would give it to them. The tears blurred her eyes, the green blinking trying to see through the night air. She lifted her hand to brush the wet from her lashes but it was too late.

The clio and her dæmon smacked into a tree and fell to the ground.

Gabriel drunkenly stumbled down the dark lane away from the tavern, weaving erratically from left to right. He stopped and sank to the ground for a moment, waiting for the world to stop spinning.

His head shot up when he heard a loud crack and a thump a few moments later. He slowly pushed himself up and began making his way to the sound, keeping an eye out for danger. He may have been drunk but not too much to loose all common sense.

As he found himself in the shadow of a large tree, he saw something lying prone on the ground. As he got closer, he could make out the form of a Clio