First day in this world, already in trouble.

She couldn't help but chuckle softly, smiling apologetic at him as her servant entered. Nodding she got up on her feet, and as he stood up as well she wrapped her arms closely around him. Holding herself close as if she was afraid to ever let go. Though as she did, she lingered, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I'll keep myself busy," she whispered before she had to let go.
Looking at him it was clear how happy she was, turning to lead him out of the room and back to Simeon. Entering the parlour, she nodded in greeting to the undead daemon. "Do bring him back safely, you as well, mister Aelius," she smiled. As they were about to leave she said something a bit surprisingy, "by the way, I heard rumors about a girl with shifting eyes ... I don't know if it's your sister just yet, but I just wanted to tell you that I don't intend on breaking my promise to you," she told Aurel, then she let them leave.

The kiss on his cheek made his cheeks warm up and he just chuckled at her words. "Alright, I promise not to make you wait too long." he said, before they went to greet Simeon. The undead was a little too impatient for these games that Dahlia had going with Aurel, but it was clearly also necessary. The end note made the boy shine with happiness. "It could be her. Please check if it is." he said in a soft beg before Simeon grabbed his arm for them to go. "The portal will move if we wait too long."

For those back in Gambion it had only been two weeks, but to her it had in actuality been nearly a year. She had counted the days. Marked it down as progression. But everytime she felt her sanity slip further and further away. The first days had been painful. Her bond to Amos and Connor had been torn as the portal had closed. She had screamed, thinking she was dying, but after a while the pain had stopped. Then she had just felt the emptiness. That numb feeling of missing a vital part of yourself. All she had ever known was her bonds and the safety in knowing she was never alone. But now she was. Sure, she had her father, but he had only grown stranger the longer they had spent here. She had tried so many things to feel herself, but nothing had worked. And with the bond gone, she had felt her celestial dna vanish in to the Abyssus around her.
Another thing had changed. Her hand now had a permanent mark from where she had absorbed the key. She knew it was permanent, because she had tried almost anything to get it off. Nothing had worked, and had she accidentally burnt her palm on a candle, the mark would just appear over her burned skin. She felt lost, and now she had tried to decipher the library books. Luckily she had found an old translation dictionary, and with seemingly endless time on her hands she had sunken herself in to it.

As soon as they left, the ride to the portal wasnt that far. He wasnt really sure what to expect, but Simeon was blabbering all sorts of things that he had to do but it wasnt like he didnt know. Once he was through the portal, it wasnt like there was much of a change in the Abyssus. But after everything that had happened, it was hard to believe that it would just be fixed right away. He found his way to the castle eventually, knowing where to go to avoid the hellish creatures roaming around.
He however only felt like he could relax once he was past the barrier for the restored castle. He looked up at it before he went to head inside. Carefully he entered the big hall, looking around before he sighed. "Saoirse?" he called as he only knew her name.

It had been a strange year. She had kept a journal, at first because dying would mean she left a lot of people behind. Maybe they would never read her words, but it was more about getting her thoughts out. The next thing she had done was assess the damaged realm, trying to find out it had used to be. But lately another thing had been on her mind. Creatures from outside the castle walls was trying to get in. It had been a bit on a whim that she had stepped out and found that they acted more like obedient pets towards her. Did they think she was their master? Either way, she had found a way to let a few beasts enter the castle, keeping her company along with the rat that Aurel had left behind.
She was deep in thought when she heard her name get called. Frowning she looked up from her book, shaking her head. That was until the otherwise sleeping beast at her feet started moving, and headed out the door. Growling violently at the stranger in the hall.

He was really hoping that nothing had happened to Saoirse and her father who had been the ones to restore at least a small bit of this forsaken realm. He looked around the big empty hall, feeling nostalgic at the thought of back when people were walking around freely and happy. Caught in his own thoughts, he hadnt realized the beast further down, until it growled at him. He flinched, or rather almost jumped from how startled he was by it. "Uhh..." he voiced, swallowing hard as he wasnt sure how to make it stop. "Easy boy. Easy." he tried, lifting his hand a little carefully towards it.

The beast's fur stood stiff as hay, puffing it up and making it look much bigger than it was. That was when a certain familiar golden rat crawled up on the back of it, squeaking loudly. The beast seemed to hesitate, but kept its blood red glowing eyes on him. From the room it had came Saoirse now appeared, touching the beast's back in calming strokes. That was when she turned her head, looking at the guy who had left this place and her behind almost a year ago. "... wha-" she muttered, frowning as she wasn't sure if now was the moment she had truly lost it. The beast seemed to purr at her touch, sitting down like a faithful dig, the rat jumping off its head and over to Aurel, squeaking and wheezing about something none of them understood. "That's enough, Baltazar, don't talk his ears off already," she chuckled and the rat stopped, instead crawling up Aurel's leg and up to his shoulder where it licked his cheek.

She appeared and effortlessly calmed down the beast, making Aurel sigh in relief as he saw his rat. "Oh, look who it is!" he said all happily, not minding the squeaking as he was so happy to see it again. He had after all promised his sister to take care of it and as long as it was in the castle, it was safe. "It's fine, I dont mind at all." he said as the rat crawled up to sit on his shoulder. He lifted his hand and gently tickled it's back, chuckling to himself before he let his hand fall down again and looked back at Saoirse. "You probably have a lot of questions. I will answer them. But I felt bad about leaving you behind and that's why I'm back." he told her.

As her eyes were on the rat, she looked alright, but as she looked at Aurel, she looked more hesitant. He was feeling sorry for leaving her behind? "You felt bad?" She had to scoff. It had been a year. Wow, that guilt must've eaten him up inside, huh? "Yeah, well you don't have to ... it would've been nice to get a heads up that my entire being is changed, but hey, I guess it was better than dying," she said, turning around on her heel and heading back in to a room she had made her own study.

"A few week," she said under her breath before turning around to look at him. The study was filled with scrolls, maps, records of any kind she could read and try and understand. "A few weeks?" she hissed, her eyes betrayed as she looked at him and shook his head. "You've been gone for nearly a year ... I know, becaus I actually bothered to keep track," she said, flinging a book in his direction. It was her journal, each day noted, and every day something new written down. It clearly hadn't been just two weeks for her.
The beast started growling again, showing its fangs to Aurel, but Saoirse shushed it, and it crawled to her feet, laying down close and to protect her. "Do you know what that key did to me? Do you have any idea the amount of pain I was in after the portal closed?" she asked, but of course he wouldn't know, which was why she would cut him off, "no, no you don't; So please do inform me what vital knowledge you are ready to give me now that I've practically taught myself your language." She had done so much more than that. The outer walls of the castle had been fixed, and she had managed to find sustenance for both her and her father. Not that she felt hunger much in this strange realm anyways. "The beasts obey me now, every thing in this realm I can feel and hear, and understand - It's driving me crazy!"

She repeated what he said and he looked at her a little puzzled, her hiss making him furrow his brows as he looked at her. But he didnt have to think for long as she cleared it up, telling him he had been gone a year. He grabbed the journal off the floor, looking at it before he started looking through it. But it wasnt like he understood. He had learned a few things but he wasnt that good. The beast growled again and he looked at it a little wary until she calmed it down again. Her question made him sigh as he was about to answer but she went ahead and continued.
He was surprised to hear that she knew the language by now. But he focused more on the anger in her voice. Letting her finish, he made a few nods like he somehow understood. "It's a scary feeling for someone who's not used to it. I know. It's just the way it is here. I can feel the difference between our worlds. Yours is so... disconnected." he said as he tried to carefully approach her, placing the book down on the table. "I thought I was going to find my sister, because I thought our worlds were the same. But when I got there, I couldnt feel her anywhere." he explained, looking at her hand with the mark. He reached out but let her decide whether he was allowed to inspect it.

She was trying to calm herself down, but seeing him was as if it just resonated with all the worried and hardships she had had this last year. She had been away from those she loved for so long. She had only her father, who was always busy, and she was left to her own devices. He got closer and the beast looked up at Aurel with a hungry look in its eyes. It clearly cared more for Saoirse's safety than anything. He reached out, taking her hand, and she let him, but only because she felt like she deserved some answers. "I've been looking all over trying to find anything that looks like this," she said, gesturing to her palm that he was now inspecting. It was her right hand, and her palm looked as if scattered by strange markings. "I haven't been able to find a translation, and it doesn't even look like real words anyway," she shook her head a bit defeated.

He looked at her hand, carefully watching the mark, even lifting a finger to touch it rather carefully. "As in you dont understand the scrolls or there's simply no information?" he asked as he looked at her. She said she knew the language by now, it possibly couldnt be perfect. He hummed to himself, letting go as he overlooked the table too see the literature she was going through. "You'll need another book. I think I know why you havent known what to look for." he said as he nodded for her to follow. He went to the library and looked through what seemed to be alphabetical markers before he picked out a book. It was quite dusty and he wiped the cover off. "I could've told you a million different outcomes for what you did back then, but sadly it was better to wait like this. But it wasnt like I could just waltz back in through the already closed portal." he explained, looking at her rather seriously.

Somehow deep down a part of her hoped that he would return. Or perhaps that Amos would've found a way, barged in here and stolen her back to her old life. But those thoughts were silly, and she found that for each passing day, she felt more and more disconnected to Gambion and her family. Aurel seemed to inspect her hand, and she just looked at him, wondering what was going on inside of his mind. He looked thoughtful, but he also looked different. Like something had happened back in her home world. She didn't say anything, just followed him in silence as the hound followed, the rat still laying on Aurel's shoulder.
Once inside the library, she sighed, feeling like she had spent too many nights here already. He walked over to a section she had barely touched, mostly because the letters seemed jumbled in her head. Perhaps because it was an elder version of the language? Besides she was sure her pronunciations of things would make the native speaker laugh out loud. "But you didn't stay," she pointed out, looking at the cover of the book, narrowing her eyes. It was hard to distinguish these letters. The newer writings were much more spaced out evenly, and this was like cursive on hardmode. "Please do entertain me," she said, gesturing for him to open the book already.

"You're saying that as if I didnt have a purpose going back." he said a little defensively with a frown. But he focused on the book instead of arguing as they could bicker back and forth for a long time and it would just end up hurting them. He opened the book and looked through the chapters before moving onto a certain page. He started reading the page before he nodded and placed it on a table and sat down. He pulled out a chair for her to sit if she wanted. He began translating the page as he read it, glancing at her to see if it was the information she had been searching for.

They let their disagreement stay at that and as he started translating she looked along on the page. There were diagrams and symbols, some that looked somewhat familiar. That was until he reached a page and she pointed at it as he read out the title she felt her heart sink. "So ... Let me see if I'm getting this right," she muttered after he had finished reading. She took a deep breath looking at the pages and comparing it to her hand. "That key ... It's part of me now?" she muttered, as if she had a hard time believing it. It sounded bizarre, but the next part was even more unbelievable. "So what you're saying is I'm basically this world's jedi or something?" she asked, although it was a bit more complicated than that. Plus the fact that she was there to keep the balance between light and dark, not swing around lightsabers. Would he even get that reference?

He read what she wanted her to and as he finished she needed to digest. He nodded at her mutter about the key, looking at the page again like he was making sure. "This was one of the better outcomes from it all." he assured her. Her question however made him twitch his eyebrows in confusion as he didnt get the comparison at all. "I dont know what that is, but probably yes." he said, smiling a little bit. "It's is your job so to say to make sure that the balance is upheld." he explained, letting her think for a bit before he decided to ask a question. "How are you feeling right now? Still in pain?"

It was a lot to take in. She had chosen to help with the crowning, but she had never thought it would mean she had an actual role in all of this. Rightfully so, but alas his words about this being mild didn't really reach her ears. Well it did, but she didn't care about what could've happened.
He was the one to break the silence, and her eyes went blank for a bit as she tried finding a way to describe it. "I feel everything around me ... Every small detail, every last being ... And yet I feel so empty," she confessed, her eyes staring in to the room but not really focusing on anything specific. Her head was filling with worry, but it was like she didn't care to move. Was this what she had become? An apathetic protector of a realm she knew practically nothing about.

He listened to her explain, nodding a little as he was trying to think of what the cause of her empty feeling. He looked out into the room with a thoughtful expression, drawing in a deep breath. "Maybe it's all due to the fact that you're not really protecting a realm of balance. The light was shut out so what you're feeling is the darkness consuming you." he said, looking at her before he got an idea. He took her hand. "I'm from here so you should know... How do you feel if you concentrate on me?"

What he said made sense. If she was to protect the world as it were it was clear that she would be consumed by darkness. How could she not? But how was she supposed to bring the light back if her mother couldn't even enter the realm? The thoughts were getting harder to digest, but that was until he took her hand. It was as if she had been drenched in nice cold water after burning up. Her eyes turned to look at him, her body relaxing and she closed her eyes just focusing on him. He seemed happy. He seemed positive. And she latched on to that, feeling her body readjust after almost a year of pure darkness. Of course it would not be fixed over night, and she knew that as soon as he let go, the darkness would find a way back to her.
"Tell me then ... If you haven't found your sister, what have you been up to?" she asked, her eyes still closed as she was just soaking up the feeling of something else than emptiness.

He gave her hand a soft squeeze, letting her settle on what she felt when she held his hand. But it was quite obvious that she was relaxing and that made him smile a bit as he just watched her. Her question however made the smile fade a little as he looked down for a bit. "I found someone who is looking for her. Since I have no idea how your world works as it's just so different from this..." he explained, closing his eyes for a bit. "I tried to learn reading your language, but it seems that you've done better in learning mine." he chuckled with a scoff, opening them to look at her again.

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me that," she muttered, but managed to crack a smile. It felt almost weird. She hadn't felt this way for so long. "But I'm only self taught, so my pronunciation might be garbage for all you know," she said, opening her eyes as she looked at him. Grey and familiar. Even though they had no color, she was starting to see him as someone she might trust again, or perchance that was just his good mood rubbing off.
"Who's helping you then? My mom isn't really someone who finds people, but my aunt is pretty good at things like that," she thought it through, because to her it was most logical that perhaps he had been taken in by her family. Then her eyes turned vulnerable. "Did you get the message to Amos?" she asked carefully, "and how did it go?"

"Well I can teach you if you're up for the task?" he suggested. Might as well if she was the supposed protector of this realm now. She asked about who was helping him but his eyes betrayed him as it hadnt exactly been her family helping him. She asked about Amos and he focused on that. "He was... well angry. But it probably didnt help that I before that had pushed him away from going into the closing portal." he said, scratching the back of his neck a little. "A blonde woman.. Well, the person we call the light asked for you and your father. I didnt lie to them, but there was no time to explain." he said, drawing in a deep breath. That was when Baal entered, looking at the two of them, seemingly frowning as he saw the young boy back here. "How did you come back?" - "There are still portals connecting our worlds. These just dont harm the world." he said, but then he noticed the daemon's eyes on his hand holding Saoirse's and he let go simply because it seemed like a threat.

She noticed his eyes changing, but as he went on to talk about her family, she felt more distracted by that. A part of her was saddened at the fact that Amos had reacted negatively, but she would've done the same, she was sure of it. She was worried for him, hoping to see him again, but with all of this balance stuff it didn't seem wise to just leave the realm she was supposed to protect. Then her father entered and Saoirse looked to him as he demanded answers, feeling how Aurel let go of her hand. She got up from her seat walking to her father, "he's helping me understand the marks on my hand ... And has provided vital information about time here in contrast to how it is back with mom," she said a bit defensively. Ever since they had gotten here he was obsessed with keeping her safe. The hound started growling again, but Saoirse hushed it before going back to the table. Sitting down she had to hold on to the table to not feel dizzy. "Wow, okay, focusing on you was really clearing my head, huh?" she muttered.