What Was Lost

Niya patted Yulina on the head, before standing. "You have to grow up first! Until then, just be a good girl, and get strong. Though, you don't have to just be strong. Gotta be smart too, or even just really smart. Not all members of Nobus fight. Some help in other ways too, after all."

Yulina was a bit curious of the other things, but she for once didn't pester Niya with a million questions about it. "Oh okay. When I get old enough, maybe I could join you?"

Galena and Darrien finally got done with their questioning. It was actually Galena that was carrying Rikimaru now, his body easily slung over her shoulder as if weighed less then five pounds. "Niya, lets go. We're done here for now."

Niya looked up, to see Galena, Darrien, and Akuma, all about to leave. "Oh, sorry! Just a moment." She looked back at Yulina, smiling again. "Sure, Yulina. Hey, maybe I'll even be your training officer when you join!" She patted Yulina on the head again, then hurried after the others.

When the other Nobus officers left, Xelena turned to Terra and the others. "It looks like everything turned out okay and nobody in our family was seriously hurt. But..what are we going to do about Donella?"

Terra was silent for a long moment. "..I really don't know. We'll think of something." She shouldn't be too much of a threat with the wounds she had but there was still 'after the fact' they had to deal with. None of them were therapist or anything.

* *

I'm...alive?

Donella slowly shifted from sleep to the conscious world, her body instantly wracked with intense pain when she tried to get up so she sat back down. She wasn't tied down in anyway but she may as well have been with how little she could move at the moment.

When she came to more, she noticed Peggy on the bed with her. More then that, she noticed she was still in the normal world and not Gemma. They hadn't killed her, they had brought her back to their home apparently, she could still sense things at least. In Gemma, if another Unseelie brought you back alive, it was never usually out of pity. Instead, it may have been to use you as a slave, pet, toy or in this case, bringing you back alive for revenge so they could prolong your suffering.

It must have been the last one; that's the only reason they would have spared her.

Have to leave..need too..not safe..we're not safe..

"Calm...down.."

Donella looked at Peggy, frowning. "..How..? They're going to hurt us more."

"No..hurt.."

The woman didn't really believe Peggy, but at the moment she couldn't really move. She couldn't even summon enough energy to teleport. They apparently were preparing something, so she had a bit more time but she doubted she'd have enough to recover and escape. She hugged Peggy to her like she did as a child, and tried in vain to go to sleep to recover some more of her strength.

Even when extremely tired, Ignis was a sneaky one. As such, nobody noticed she was awake, until Karin suddenly yelped. "What the... where did Ignis go?"

~~~~~

Ignis staggered over to Donella's bed, and braced herself against the wall, before easing herself onto the edge of the bed, groaning. "Damnit... you need a stronger will to live, it took alot out of me to heal you enough to save your life, you crazy woman... by the way, I locked the door, so it's just you and me for the moment."

~~~~~

At the same time, there was a knock at the door, and when Tomoya opened it, he blinked. "...Uh, hi?"

"Hello." The woman smiled softly, tilting her head to the side. "My name is Aryll Legarde. I'm here in regards to Donella Lefevre. I might be a bit early though. If I am, well, then I'll just sit and talk with everyone."

Terra went over to invesgiate herself to see who was behind the door Tomoya answered. Behind it was a very beautiful young woman in her twenties somewhere from the looks of it but looks could be deceiving. She herself was a text book example of that fact.

"Donella, you say?" Terra was confused a bit. "I'm wondering how you knew about that, but we do have her here. You know her?" She thought for a moment, then moved aside for her to come inside. Yulina watched the newcomer curiously, she could feel energy but it was unreliable and wonky at times because of lack of serious training. She..felt something from Aryll. Yulina didn't know what it was exactly but it made her feel comfortable.

* *

Donella was close to sleep when she heard her door open. She managed to shift enough to see who it was; she was surprised to see Ignis. Why was she here? What did she want? As crippled as she was at the moment, the other woman didn't seem to be good enough shape to attack her too much. That was some small comfort at least.

The last words sunk in. Saved? She knew who did now; and she assumed it would be to prolong her pain. What didn't make sense was why she had come when she barely had enough energy to stand. Regardless, she shifted Peggy a bit closer; she couldn't defend herself at all in this weaker form she had.

The Unseelie frowned, saying one thing.

"...Why?"

Ignis responded by reaching out, and thumping Donella on the forehead. "Cause I'm not a heartless bitch... and neither are you. Quite the act you put on. Had us all fooled. Probably even yourself." She rubbed her neck, sighing. "I was trying to kill you, you know. When I saw you dying, I was quite proud of myself for getting rid of the person who'd caused my family pain. Then you had to go and ruin it." She palmed her face, shaking her head.

"I don't know what you've been through, but I know that look you had on your face as you were dying. There's a heart in there somewhere. A damaged one that's been buried under years of bullshit and pain, right?"

~~~~~

Aryll smiled a bit. "I know her, yes. She's quite a pleasant person." A pause. "Or, was, and will be again. At this point in time, anyway. She and Hannah make just the sweetest little family, along with Peggy... oh, sorry, I'm likely confusing all of you. I'm technically from the future. And the past. It's... complicated."

Donella was uncomfortable of anyone knowing too much about her, how she survived were people fearing her. She couldn't afford weakness, she couldn't be weak. Weakness meant death. How Ignis seemed to pick up these things even she herself wasn't quite aware of was a bit startling to her personally.

She opened her mouth to say something, then closed. If she couldn't think of a proper rebuttal, it was best to remain silent.

"I don't know what you're talking about. You have the wrong idea."

Deflect. Deny.

Of course, she was smart enough not to anger Ignis. She never liked pain and had no desire to feel any anytime soon. Still clutching Peggy, she shifted again laying back down with her back turned to Ignis. Normally, you never did that in Gemma in situations like these but there was nothing she could do at the moment. If Ignis wanted to hurt her right now, she would have by now.

* *

Terra blinked a bit, confused. "So you're like a time traveler of sorts? Anyway, my name is Terra Santos."

"Xelena." The Alpha Android greeted, followed by Samantha. Yulina of course answered with her usual enthusiam.

"If you don't mind me asking, where are you going to take her?" Xelena asked the young woman.

Ignis thumped Donella on the head again. "Liar. You know exactly what I'm talking about. I saw the look in your eyes. Be honest with me. I won't leave you alone until you are, and I can be pretty annoying when I'm motivated to be."

~~~~~

"That's pretty much exactly what I am. A time travelling demi-goddess. Blessed by goddesses, and tasked with... well, tinkering with timelines and killing gods, but that's a seperate issue, really." SHe paused as everyone introduced themselves, then continued. "As for where I'm taking her, there's an old friend of hers that has missed her dearly. Actually, parting with her is part of the reason that Donella became the way she was. Er, is."

Donella growled, but it sounded more cute then intimidating. Damn woman. Why couldn't she just leave her alone?

Finally, she sighed. She'd talk a little more if nothing else to get Ignis to leave her alone. "I honestly do not understand you and yours. A member of your family was taken away for years which you thought dead, and lived as a slave. As did others. If I had been back at home having done that to someone there, I'd be dead now." Her brow forrowed. "More confusing, no matter what you may think or feel, you don't know anything about me."

* *

A Demi Goddess? Xelena now knew what she had been picking up on her bio scanner. Aryll seemed to be pretty important if she was granted the ability to travel to time-lines. Now she was curious though, this was something completely new to her.

"Blessed by Goddesses? Which ones? And I'm assuming its 'rogue' gods you're tasked to deal with."

Ignis shrugged. "Oh, I'm fully aware that I know nothing about you. But, I know enough that I am confident in my decision to save you. I don't know what happened to you, but I can tell that whatever it was, it hurt you deeply. Scarred you. Someone, somewhere, fucked you up and made you the way you are. When you thought you were dying, your true self started to show. It was just a glimpse, but I saw a real person underneath that outward persona of yours."

~~~~~

Aryll nodded. "Yes, rogue gods, among other things. I first got the job when I accidentally sent myself back in time, and ended up killing all of the Greek Gods and destroying Mount Olympus. Well, almost all the Greek Gods, some were pretty nice, surprisingly. Like, Athena, she was jsut so sweet and kind, when her temper didn't get the better of her, and Hades was a much nicer guy than expected. He was more neutral than anything. And I'm blessed by the Golden Goddesses of Hyrule. Farore in particular."

"Hm...."

Donella didn't know what to say to Ignis, mainly because she didn't really think so herself at any rate. The days of her being a different person then she was currently seemed like life times ago; she could barely remember. It didn't really matter though, that was then and this was now.

* *

We'll, that was interesting. Then Terra realized something "..How did you end up destroying mount Olympus? Oh, and sorry I've distracted you enough. If you want to reach Donella she's in the room down the hall to the left. I believe she's still sleeping though. I'm not sure."

Ignis looked at Donella, then turned to her more. "Donella. You probably hate me, and you have absolutely no reason to trust me, but if you want to talk, I'll listen. I'm curious about you. I know what I saw. For just a moment... it was like I was seeing a scared little girl in that crater, and I couldn't stop myself from acting. I want to know why you are who you are. Hell, tell me the customs of Gemma, I don't care. I want to know more, because no matter what you say, I know what I saw was real."

~~~~~

Aryll smiled a bit. "I can wait, since Ignis is speaking with her at the moment. As for destroying Mount Olympus, it was a combination of my own handiwork, and loosing the Titans on it. You know, they were surprisingly nice. The Titans, I mean. They all died in the fighting, but I wish they had lived. Hyperion was nicest... Cronus was a nasty man though, so I don't miss him at all."

Donella didn't respond. In fact, she didn't give any signs she had heard Ignis at all she simply laid there for a long time.

"..Gemma is a world ruled by a couple of things. Power, wealth, status, social standing and personal appearance. These are among some of the most important things. If you're too weak or poor to pull yourself up, then you're best finding grunt work as manual labor. Or a fighter. If you're actually born with physical defects or not that attractive as my true form is, then in best cases you'll be treated less then. In the other cases, you will not only be treated harshly, you'll be lucky to reach adulthood. Material property is also important. That's why many of the Unseelie take in slaves. Depending on which ones, such as rarity its seen as something good, and thus may grant them higher status on the social food chain."

"I managed to learn to take a more attractive looking form which saved me from the worse of it if I hadn't. From what I have been told, my race of Unseelie can usually keep such a form even as a young child. The fact I wasn't able too was taken as a bad omen and I made the rest look bad. Therfore, my biological mother had left me the Gray Woods for prey of the creatures there. Having taken pity, or seeing some potential, I was taken in by others where I learned to take this form. I was locked in the room often when I couldn't take the form back. That was only fair; I couldn't embarrass the family name that way."

Why was she telling this human this much? She shrugged it aside as temporary mental insanity and she had nothing else to do. It would pass the time. Either way she continued.

"At my home, Gemma is ruled by a number of courts. There's the White Court, which I myself belong too; Court of the Stars and among others. They all rule their own territory; complete with a head of the court that acts as leader. The strongest one is the Celestial Court, which is ruled by the Noble Queen. I do not know her true name. Very few do. Names are power in Gemma. I do know she's like a god in power, facing her would be nothing short of suicide for anyone native there."

"And tha's some of the basics of Gemma."

* *

"I know a bit about it from things I've downloaded but.." Xelena trailed off. "A lot of things are missing. I think because of whatever happened ended destroying a lot of the records. But..what happened to..Zeus and Hera? I think that was their names."

Ignis was silent throughout, and finally spoke after a moment. "Well, I can see why you are this way. And why you were collecting slaves like that. It was a statement of wealth and power in a way, a status symbol..." SHe didn't approve, but she understood. "I've never seen your true form, so I can't say much about it, but looks aren't everything. Maybe they are in Gemma, but it sounds like a pretty shitty place, no offense. It just sounds to me like a bunch of stuck up snobs with a superiority complex decided that only the beautiful, themselves, were worth anything, and set out to make the less gifted feel inferior. I bet your true form isn't even that bad."

~~~~~

Aryll's eyes narrowed a bit there. "Those two... I killed Hera during the fighting, while myself and Hyperion fought Zeus and Hercules. Hercules was a good guy, but he felt indebted to his father. Once Zeus was dead though, Hercules... well, he could have killed me, with how hurt I was, but he helped me instead. I never saw him again after he left. Athena took care of me until I got better."

Donella didn't respond to most of what Ignis said, the last comment irked her. Ignis was a beautiful woman who's true form was the same all the time. It was true the form she took was attractive, but her other 'true' form wasn't. It had given her so much grief in the past and had done nothing but harm her.

"If it was my choice, I'd get rid of the disgusting other form myself." Donella growled vehemently. "You. You're lucky. You're obvious attractive and unlike myself that is your true form. If you want to see however.."

From there, her form shifted. Instead of a human-looking woman was still humanoid but something else instead.

"There. Now you see." Donella said, her voice altered a bit.

* *

"Hm.." Terra was thinking. "He's probably skill alive if he wasn't killed by somebody or something. Even half gods typically live for a very long time. And more still keep a low profile. I still find it slightly confusing. Would you coming cause any paradoxes? I mean to say, if you ran into 'you' as a child. Assuming you're born around this time. Time traveling is talked a lot about on Alus, but its theorical and no less confusing."

Ignis raised a brow at Donella's form, but other than that, didn't react. "...I've seen far worse. Not to belittle what you went through, but that form is, while unsettling, isn't that bad, especially in comparison to some of the other things that exist. If anything, it just makes your tormenters more idiotic looking. Looking down on you for a form that isn't even that bad. You shouldn't care what they think." She pointed at the teddy bear. "I know they couldn't have approved of that, yet you kept it, even if it was in a different form. If their opinions mean so much, why did you keep it?"

~~~~~

Aryll nodded a bit. "True. Athena is still around, but almost nobody is aware of it. She's kept a low profile... right, Ms. Santos?" SHe looked at Maya, who blinked, before her eyes widened.

"...You mean that was her?"

Aryll giggled, then nodded. "Yes, that was Athena. Anyway, as for paradoxes, the threat of them is highly exaggerated. Causing a paradox simply causes a 'reset' of the timeline at worst. Besides that, meeting your younger self wouldn't cause a paradox. A paradox occurs when you do something that causes a chain reaction, that would prevent you from going backward in time in the first place. When this occurs, the timeline between the event, and the point you went back in time, is shifted, rewritten, just enough that it accommodates the changes. If it's a paradox that causes massive ripples, that changes the future drastically while trying to rewrite itself, then generally, things are 'reset' to the point at which you went back. It simply erases the event."

"..Her. Not it. Her." It seemed that was something like a trigger to Donella but she calmed down and reverted back to her human-looking form. She didn't know how to answer the question. At least, not without an answer that wasn't the truth. But then, what did it matter? She was at hers and the others mercy anyway.

"..Peggy is my friend and she was given to me by somebody."

* *

Xelena had to ask one thing, at least a few things she couldn't figure out on her own at any case. "Wait. Mom meet Athena?.." Then she shook her head. "I get you're a time traveler, and that you'd know mom since she's famous. But you seem to know a lot more about us then you let on. For example, you knew Ignis was in that room. The only way you would have known that if you were familar with her energy and met her in person before."

Ignis smiled slightly. "Her. I apologize. Anyway, Peggy is, as you said, your friend. You kept her around because she's important to you. Now, has Peggy ever called your true form ugly? I'm sure she's seen it. What has Peggy said about it?"

~~~~~

Aryll nodded just a bit. "Yes, I have met you all before. Or I will... well, I've met you all in my past, but it's the future for all of you. I knew I would be traveling back in time and seeing you all when I met you, since you all already knew me. It's all very confusing, I know, but it's best not to think about it. I think the only reason I can handle it is because of Nayru's blessing."

"No. Never."

It was actually Peggy who spoke up for the first time since the entire conversation had started. From the looks of things they didn't talk a lot unless something they deemed important came up.

Donella glanced down at Peggy briefly. "No, she hasn't. She said my form was fine."

* *

Xelena was slightly confused about things, but it made sense enough that she left it alone for now. "I see. Time Travel isn't something I have experience with myself but I know about it. Mostly because of scrapped plans for the Nalga building a time machine; they thought it a bit too risky if it got into the wrong hands and make a sort of arms race." She looked to her mother. "I'm still confused by one other thing. Is Aryll referring that sword you got from somebody? I never heard the details about it."

Ignis smirked. "Exactly. Now, who's opinion matters to you most? The opinion of a loved one, or the opinion of some stuck-up bitches and assholes?"

~~~~~

Maya sighed, a little overwhelmed. "Yes, she is. The person who gave it to me, came to me in a dream. She gave me the sword, saying I embodied her ideals. There was a symbol on her shield that I recognized from my reading, and I realized it was the goddess Athena's symbol. The sword was next to my bed when I woke up, but there was no trace of anyone having been there. I wasn't sure what to think, really."

"..Loved ones, I suppose..." Donella looked down at Peggy, hugging her a bit closer as she laid down closing her eyes. "I'm going to get some rest..."

* *

Xelena didn't comment, but it now a lot more sense. Terra was of the same mind as Xelena. "While you wait, do you want anything? Water or something else to drink?"

Ignis seemed about to protest, then sighed. "Alright. I'll leave you alone for now. Just... think about what is more important to you. Keeping up appearances for people who only try to hurt you, or being true to yourself, the person your loved ones care about." She made her way weakly to the door, and left, shutting the door behind her. As she did, Aryll looked up.

"Seems Ignis is done with Donella. I'll just-"

"Nah, let her sleep. She's resting." Aryll just nodded and sat down at Ignis' words. Ignis, for her part, seemed unperturbed by Aryll's presence. "I'm going to bed. Tired..."

It was at least four more hours before Donella slowly woke up from her sleep. She was still tired but not nearly as much as she was. At the least, the large amount of pain she had been lessened a bit. However, she was still too wounded to do much of anything. When she recovered, was she to go back to Gemma?

No. Not like this. Her territory had gotten taken over at this point. If she went back without support she'd just end up getting killed. But she couldn't stay here..but maybe somewhere else in the earth realm for a while. To get back onto her feet.

Hm...

Of course, at this point, Aryll was sitting calmly in the room, waiting for Donella to wake. Now that she was... "Hello, Donella. My name is Aryll Legarde. I'm here to take you you where you'll be living for awhile."