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⊰You Again⊱

I wen to the Pit with Lithian today. We watched Casseth fight. He got hurt at the end of his match so we tried to find a way down to see him. We ran into trouble with the guards but eventually that oblivionite that saved me before helped us get down there. Lithian ended up healing Cas and I found out about the Cave of Dragons from one of Cas' friends that also fought in the Pit.

⊰Cave of Dragons⊱

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⊰Tasting Blood pt I⊱

I watched Detra fight this day. As I was leaving to try and meet up with him at one of the exits I ran into Callum. That was not a happy time. He cut me. Bad.

⊰Tasting Blood pt II⊱

Saved again by Detraeus. I am so thankful him and Cas were there. I'm not sure what Callum would have done to me otherwise. It makes me shudder to think about what could have happened had the two of them not showed up.

⊰Before You Go⊱

There was a festival going on before we all parted ways. Casseth wanted to get us all together before we left. I danced with LIthian some and found out he has feelings for Casseth. I also managed to get a dance out of Detra and was able to apologize for missing his matches.

⊰Growth Solo⊱

Ara awoke early in the morning to an empty house. Still, her parents hadn’t arrived home from their short trip to Serenia. So far she had had the house to herself, happy to have the peace and quiet for just a couple of days. So far she hadn’t had to explain her scar to anyone and she was very thankful for that. The morning passed by quickly as she dressed and fixed herself something to eat. Since she didn’t expect her parents back until later that evening, Ara had decided to head out Cicily. An old, close friend she had not talked to in some time.

It didn’t take long to find the gaili dovaa girl. Though it had been pure luck as, like Ara, she was only back temporarily to visit family. “Cici!” Ara embraced her friend, hugging tightly as they exchanged hellos. “It’s been so long. What have you been getting into?” Ara’s smile faded at the frown on her friend’s face.

“What happened to your face Ara?” Cicily asked as she reached her fingers up to brush over the scar on Ara’s cheek. Ara let her eyes close at her friend’s touch, holding back the tears that threatened to break through.

“Callum.” Ara muttered his name angrily.

Cicly’s shoulder stiffened at the mention of the fiery dovaa. “b*****d. I always said he was bad news. Did you let him have it?”

Ara shook her head. “No. I had...someone saved me.” She left out the fact that it had been an oblivionite man who had rescued her from the fiery temper of Callum. She also failed to tell her friend that it had been because of said oblivionite that Callum had attacked her. She shook her head. “It’s in the past. Over with. I will never see him again, I’m sure of it. You must come over for dinner. We still have much to talk about.” The two of them smiled, embracing yet again and heading back off towards Ara’s home.

As they stepped through the door, voices filtered through from the kitchen. They were muffled and quiet but Ara instantly recognized them as her parents. She smiled at Cici as she headed into the kitchen, eager and happy to finally be able to see her adoptive parents after being gone so long. She stopped in her tracks as their conversation became clearer.

“Niyol, that’s crazy.” Ara’s father’s voice boomed, loud enough to have been heard had she just walked into the door that very minute. “Those…things don’t even have a soul.” Ara winced, at least part of the conversation being made immediately clear at that comment. “They’re nothing but weapons for Soudana. No feelings, no compassion. Nothing.”

Her mother’s voice chimed in. “I suppose you’re right. It really is a shame, though. They had such high hopes for her and now she’s run off to be with an oblivionite.” Nyol shook her head. “Such a shame.”

Ara bit her lip as she looked at her friend, noticing the frown on Cici’s face. She hadn’t told Cicily about Detraeus yet and likely wouldn’t until she had figured things completely out for herself. Her gaze flit back to her parents as he realized the conversation had stopped.

“Araceli.” Her mother’s large smile quickly faded as she spotted the scar on her daughter’s face. Instantly the questions started and Ara found herself retelling the story. Again, leaving out the details of her saviour's race. Especially as she remembered the conversation Cicily and her had walked in on.

“Who were you guys talking about?” Ara asked hesitantly, afraid, beyond reason, that it had somehow been about her.

“The daughter of a family friend,” Rhett said as he embraced his daughter. “She ran off to Eowyn, claiming to be in love with an oblivionite.” He scoffed, shaking his head as he pulled away from Ara. “Such nonesense. Those monsters are only good for one thing and one thing only.” Ara knew the whole spheal. Had heard it plenty of times growing up and had even believed it herself. After meeting Detra and Casseth, however, things had begun to change.

She her a laugh from Cicily and looked over, surprised. “Just because they’re of a different race than you means nothing. Do you know them?” Cicly crossed her arms, defiently eying Ara’s parents. “You can’t help who you fall in love with. Things happen. You shouldn’t judge someone based on your outdated views on a certain race.” She turned to Ara, shaking her head. “I’m sorry but I think I had best go.” She gave Ara one last hug before quickly leaving.

Ara watched after her, staring at the door long after it had been shut. Shocked was an understatement at that point. That had been the last reaction she had expected out of Cicily. As she looked back at her mother and father her brows pinched together. “Silly girl.” Rhett huffed as he turned back to sit at the kitchen table. Ara’s thoughts instantly flit to Detraeus and her feelings for the oblivionite. What would her parents say if she were to speak up at that moment. To confess that she was feeling something, besides contempt, for one of those soulless monsters they so easily sneered at?

She rubbed her arms as her brows pinched together. Would they so easily disown her as others had done in the past? They weren’t her real parents, so she imagined it likely wouldn’t be as hard to do than if she had been their biological daughter. A shudder ran through her body. Surely they wouldn’t do that. All the same, she kept Detra out of the conversation, managing to tell them about her experiences on Eowyn while leaving Detra out of it all.

In those next few hours of talking with her parents she had finally decided on something that had been on her mind for a while. It seemed that no matter what subject they were on, it always came back to the topic of oblivionites and how despicable they were. Each time she managed to avoid getting into the middle of it, keeping her newfound opinions to herself. However, she had quickly realized that continuing to live with her parents was no longer a viable option. She would talk to them about moving the next day.

⊰Moving Worries⊱

Not long after leaving Cici’s, Ara found herself hesitating at her own front door. Surprise from her parents was the least of her worries. What worried her most was that they would either forbid her from moving to the desert continent or they would not help her find a place. She took a deep breath and pushed the door open. Her parents’ voices traveled through the house. Kitchen. They always seemed to spend a lot of time in that room of the house. No wonder, her mother loved to cook.

She paused in the living room, trying to figure out how to word what she was going to say. “Ara?” Her mother’s voice. “Is that you?” Ara winced slightly, knowing she could no longer delay the conversation she needed to have. She forced her legs to move. One step at a time until she finally made it into the kitchen. Both her parents turned and smiled as her mom finished setting the table. “You’re home just in time to eat.”

Ara smiled in return, a reflex that her brain seemed to send to her body. She sat but didn’t eat. Instead she stared down at her plate, pushing around her food and frowning. A few minutes in and Niyol spoke up. “Ara, hunny, what’s wrong? You’re not eating and you look as if the food’s done something horrible to you.”

Ara jumped, snapped out of her own thoughts as her mother spoke. She looked up and shook her head. “Just thinking. I have a lot on my mind and there’s something I want to ask you guys but I don’t want you to get mad.”

Niyol blinked and sat her fork down. “We won’t get mad at you Ara. Come on now, what is it?”

“I want to move to Eowyn.” At the slightly shocked faces of her parents she took a deep breath and continued on. “I’m older now. Old enough to live on my own. I’ve been on Eowyn more than the Celestial Plane lately and it’s a really great place to train. I have friends down there too. Lithian is down there a lot as well.” She trailed off as she looked between her parents, wondering what they were thinking.

“You’re sure this is what you want? You’ve thought it out?” Rhett, Ara’s father, asked. At an affirmative nod from Ara, he continued. “If you are absolutely sure this is what you want, Ara, your mother and I will support you. We’ll be sad to see you leave the Celestial Plane but it is your choice to live where you please.” Ara’s smile spread across her face at her father’s words. “Do you have a place picked out?

Ara shook her head. “This was kind of a recent decision. I’ve not had time to look. I was thinking, if you agreed, that I would look for a place after going back to Eowyn. Stay at an inn and look between training.” Her parents both agreed that was best and agreed to help her pay for the place. The rest of the meal was spent talking about the different sections of Eowyn and which would be best for her. All the while, in the back of Ara’s mind, all she could think about was how she’d be able to see Detra more often.