Welcome to Gaia! ::

Jaxson's brow furrowed as he listened to the plight of the Merfolk. Their realm and people were among his favorite in the universe, and thus he would adopt their troubles as his own. The Magus returned Syrena's hopeful smile and began formulating the process for identifying and curing the blight on her people.

He would remain silent for a long moment, before suddenly looking up to Syrena's eyes. His smile spread, inferring he had an idea. Letting go of her hand, the Magus began digging into his satchel, at times putting his entire arm into the somewhat small bag. He finally exclaimed satisfaction and produced a very old and dusty tome.

Wiping dust from the cover and binding, made of some sort of ancient leather, Jaxson opened the tome and began skimming through the musty ages. He stopped suddenly and began speaking quietly in an ancient language that sounded Greek or Sumerian. Finally he stopped and looked back up at Syrena.

"I think I know of a way we might help your people, or at least slow down the symptoms of their blight!" He said excitedly.

Cassius lead Dakoda straight through the castle and out into the garden, the most beautiful part of the entire place in his opinion. He'd moved slowly enough that the hybrid was able to take in the beauty Sebastet had incorporated into the place that was now home to so many. He wasn't disappointed.

But now he lead the hybrid through the garden with a relaxed smile. In fact, he'd visibly relaxed the moment they'd gotten into the building.

"There's a wonderful bathhouse here in the garden. The only rule out here being that you can't get into a fight. Sebastet absolutely hates to have the plants blasted. Turns her into a very grumpy cat. Just to warn you. Otherwise, you can take up a room in the Were's hall, the rooms over there are perfectly sized for those who shift shape. You can take up there temporarily and check out the dragon's islands whenever you're ready to explore them," he explained as best as he could, having already broken down the rules for his new friend.

"But I am headed for a bath to wash away the salt water then I'll take a bed somewhere for tonight and see what condition my house is in over in the village. I'll be able to get proper attire there, maybe some sun on the beach behind my house..." he finished that with a soft sigh, dreading that he'd find it empty but knowing that no one was likely to stick around when he'd disappeared for six months, no matter why he'd been gone...

But he was determined that Dakoda not know about that empty part of himself, or anyone else for that matter... No, he'd keep that to himself for now. Maybe when he got home and found what he thought he'd find, what he knew wasn't there...

Ash stepped out into the garden and paused to tilt his head back with his eyes closed and inhale the beautiful fragrances around him, simply enjoying that much for a moment. He was dressed in black again tonight, the same as he'd worn the night before. When one had a good thing going, one stuck with it. Especially since he knew what he looked like in black, particularly in black jeans.

He finally opened his dark eyes and started strolling through the garden at a leisurely pace, knowing that he had some time on his hands. So he simply enjoyed the quiet peace that came from the patch of paradise that Sebastet had created here...

Ash caught sight of both women and simply raised one eyebrow before me strolled over to them and gave Alice a respectful bow of his head, "Lady Alice, it's a pleasure to meet you again," he said softly as he took her hand gently in his and bowed further over it to place a light kiss on her knuckles.

Luckily, the female was used to his antics by now. He'd spent a few evenings keeping her busy with talking or bringing her new books to read that kept her busy for days. Though he was particularly pleased with the walks through the garden and village marketplace he'd taken her on...

He raised up and turned to Metis with a raised eyebrow then held up one finger and spun it in a circle for her to turn around for him while he looked her over. He had to give one of his deep chuckles as he admired her new look, "Now that's the way you should be dressing, Lovely Metis... So much better..." he told her with a very pleased gleam in his dark eyes.

He looked at one then the other for another moment then gave a soft sigh and a shake of his head, "Well, it seems that I have little choice in the matter... Ladies?" he added and offered one arm to each female then indicated the garden with a nod, "Shall we take a stroll together?" he asked politely, though his tone indicated so much more than a simple stroll...

Ash lead both women through the garden at a leisurely stroll, at first asking Alice about the last book he'd given her and loving her response to it. It had taken him so long to get her to open up to him, after all.

But after a bit, he turned to Metis, even though he spoke to Alice, "Well, Metis here is finally learning to be herself here. As I recall, you had a similar experience when you arrived, Alice," he teased her a bit then spoke directly to the lioness.

"Alice, here, actually tried to dye her hair. I still don't know who talked her into that one, but I'm glad I talked her out of it. What works for others, doesn't work for her or even for you. Each woman is different and I love seeing those differences..." he spoke with only a bare hint of teasing in his voice this time as he lead them both along the path towards a spot that hadn't seen any attention in a while.

This area was still a bit wild and untamed, and still a bit dangerous to tell the truth, "Alice? Would you?" he asked her simply then nodded towards the plants, hoping that his encouraging her in her powers would pay off soon, "There's a lovely spot to sit on the other side of these plants... One can actually look through the wall there and see the ocean perfectly without hearing all the booming when the water hits those cliffs," he explained simply, hoping Metis would understand what he was doing...

Ash shook his head and made an unhappy sound as he assisted Metis to sit down in the grassy area then dropped himself and stretched out on one side with his head propped up on one hand, "You should know better than that by now Alice. Here, we don't care what your bloodlines are, just what you want to do with yourself. If we went with bloodlines, I'd be ruling the demon realm instead of Lareth. But here I am, quite content to be his ambassador to this lovely place. I'm doing what I want to do and what I'm good at. So if you want to garden, you can do so here. If anyone from your home complains, I dare them to do it to Sebastet's face..." he said with full attitude.

Yes, he was dressing the princess down a bit, but he knew she deserved it by now.

And he was making a point with Metis at the same time. Namely that she could be herself here without worry and her decision would be defended on her behalf. She wasn't without friends here, even though she hadn't met them yet.

He was also showing that it had become his own personal mission to bring out the best in everyone here. So far, she would guess that he was only this way with women. But she would be far from wrong on that point.

"Let's switch to a different topic for a moment. There's something going on that will require the attention of a great deal of our fighters here. That means that the staff will have to be organized. Of course, they all need to reorganized anyway. I heard that one of them actually blushed when Dev shifted in the kitchen. They should all be used to that kind of thing by now. And several of them nearly stepped on Metis' tail last night. It's becoming ridiculous. Any help you could offer Alice, I'm certain that Sebastet would be more than happy. I would be happy if we could be sure of everyone's safety here while the... issue... is taken care of," he added, though he didn't mention Hunters or missing residents at all.

There were a few things that Alice was still sensitive about, after all. And he wasn't finished getting the female to be herself.

Admittedly, she wasn't his preferred type, but she was female. Metis was actually more his favored type of female but he wasn't about to say that while entertaining both of them...