Seria Haenor's Story

Laedir gave a thoughtful look and looked up at the sky, placing a hand on her chin.
"Some may disagree about the water of the womb... To bear a child is to bear your successor, your future an immortal legacy." She chuckled and shook her head. "But I suppose it's not so important when you're unconcerned with death or the need for succession, though even some immortals see a child born of their own flesh and blood to be the greatest of joys."
She crossed her arms and Seria moved over to the edge of the bridge looking over the raging river while glancing between Laedir and Erika.
"As to what bothers me..." She huffed and pouted before grinning widely. "The concept of 'home' on this little world is alien and almost gross to me. I know only one real home and I can not return there." She looked Erika in the eye, shifting her weight slightly. "I am both cursed and blessed to be a wanderer, traveling where I wish, when I wish. But sadly some things have a little sway over me..." She raised a hand to her amulet and stroked the silver edge of it slowly. "And they demand I stay, wait and watch." She chuckled and closed her eyes for a moment, inhaling slowly.

Erika didn't seem fazed by the disagreement. Rather she waited a moment before inputting her thoughts on the matter. "To me it has always seemed that my successor should be that whom I love and trust most--Not whomever happens to come from my body." she remarked in a thoughtful tone. "...But, alas. I suppose if it were the wish of any individual seeking to join my family, I would find a way to grant them rebirth through me so that they could feel at home." she relented in a lackluster tone, hinting that perhaps being pregnant wasn't the most ideal situation.

She chuckled slightly at a hidden joke. "Look at me--Big plans for such a little person." she remarked idly, the slightest hint of sadness finding it's way into her voice.

However, after absorbing all of what Laedir had to say Erika's shoulders dropped in a semi-helpless manner. When Laedir closed and opened her eyes she would find that Erika had taken a step or two forward, now well within arm's reach. Her body language was still reserved however, making it unclear why she'd done this. "...Tell me--What is this home from which you cannot return, and who demands these things of you?" she asked, something between concern and affection in her tone. A small part of her wanted to believe she could help, but the cynicist in her did not want to get her hopes up.

[color=purple]Laedir nodded at the statement. "I suppose you're right, one who you raise as a your own becomes your own in many ways." She chuckled at the notion of literally rebirthing someone. "Oh that sounds utterly absurd, darling... And pointless and painful..." She makes a face, seeming to find the idea of pregnancy somewhat repulsive.

She raises an eyebrow as Erika chuckles and says the odd line. "What... Do you mean by that?" She asks, furrowing her brows as she hears the unmistakeable sound of sadness, despite its almost unnoticeable inflection.

Laedir sighs at the question, looking away wistfully. "I... Hmf. I hail from the Cradle of Eternity, the birthplace and sacred realm of the Aeon, seat of the thrones of the almighty Armaegus and the council of the Dios Narda, the gateway to our promised land, the Starlit Vales..." She sighs again and looks down at the boards of the bridge, sliding a slippered foot along its surface. "I gave that up in the name of one of our eleven deities... The Successor, The Warcaller, The Scarred, The Great Seer... Daedalus." She smiled slightly, saying the titles with a slight sense of reverence. "At the time of my death I was presented with a choice, pass on to paradise or serve Daedalus until Eternity ends or my services are no longer needed. In my love for our gods, in my respect for Daedalus I accepted and was aligned as an Avatar of Lust, the embodiment of Daedalus' dark desires, a seeker of the foul and the cruelly excessive." She grinned wide, her smile growing larger than should rightly be possible. "I was imbued with the essence of a Shade of Lust, Daedalus' shade whom even in godhood, ae carries in aer spirit womb, a constant reminder of the darkness, of the power and temptation..." She sighed as Seria, reached up with a quiet murmur in an indecipherable language, her smile falling as she looked back up at Erika. [purple]

"I am essentially, a walking talking time bomb and beacon for Daedalus and my fellow Avatars to hunt down dangers to the Empire and to the order of the Cosmos." She looked down at the bridge once more, sullenly.

Erika smiled lightly. "Oh, I could do it." she stated firmly in response to Laedir's doubts about her being able to rebirth someone. "It would just be a matter of details... I do not fear the pain, and any essence of triviality is a small price to pay for the sort of power that comes from sharing my blood." she explained casually, and in truth with hips like that could one really fault her for not being afraid?

"But--ah... I appear to be the only one of my kind, is all." she remarked in a lackluster tone.

Several long moments would pass as Erika attempted to discern what Laedir meant speaking of promised lands and divine beings and such like that. However, after determining that this was perhaps a being aligning with darkness. "Alas, it seems as if you've got your own problems--So. I've got one more question for you." she offered idly, leaning against the edge of the bridge, which creaked underneath her. "Well--Actally. Two. Where does she fit into this..?" she asked, gesturing to Seria. "and... How can I help?" she said, gesturing idly. Her tone was casual, but did that imply a lack of conviction?

"Indeed, I have my own problems..." Laedir sighed and looked away, inhaling sharply and huffing. "And her?" She looked over at Seria who bushed and looked down. "I don't really know... She's one of my companion's problem, she somehow managed to get herself lost and end up in this world... Maedos found her and we've had to look after her since..." She turned to Erika, looking her up and down. "And whether or not you could help... I'm no-" She was cut off as she cried out and the amulet on her neck flared up brightly before the red runes on it faded away leaving the black orbs featureless as Laedir gave a horrified expression. "Oh... Oh gods no..." She looked frantically between Seria and Erika before sprinting away, all but screaming over her shoulder, "Look after her until either I or Faindir comes to get her!" She dived forwards, her arms crossed in front of her head as she seemingly smashed through an invisible glass wall, reality shattering behind her into a oscillating mass of colours and the hole in reality closed in on itself. Seria meanwhile watched this all with a shocked expression, her mouth hanging open in disbelief as Laedir seemingly abandoned her with the stranger.
She turned slowly to look up at the wide hipped woman, swallowing thickly as she took a step back, her eyes shaking with nervousness and confusion as she observed the woman's features.

Erika just sort of narrowed her eyes. She could've made a guess as to what had just happened, but right now it was difficult to say for sure. It seemed that whomever had been searching for Laedir had found her. Turning to Seria, Erika looked the smaller girl over for a moment before moving forward reaching forward out to scoop her up with little hesitation. She didn't entirely know what to expect, but before she could hope to take care of this girl they needed to establish trust. Being held was arguably the easiest way to do this with a child, and so she attempted to hold Seria in her arms against the semi-modest upper half of her body.

"...Now what am I going to do with you?" She asked idly, for the most part letting her body do the talking. Her gaze had a sort of steely calm to it that was both non-hostile and yet distant.

The door to Gambit's bar creaked open and five figures hustled in from the dim morning sun-lit street, led by a massive sombre looking copper haired, red skinned, black freckled man thumping ahead in a huge suit of silvery armor, a hammer, sword and shield strapped to his waist and back.
Following him a grouchy woman with glacier blue hair and a pale complexion and several pieces of metal and leather armor under a blue cloak, her right arm in a slightly bloodstained sling and a considerably bloodstained patch over her left eye, a considerable limp forcing her to be supported by a lanky forest-green skinned man with black hair. The green man was so tall that he had to stoop slightly to support the woman properly, a worried look on his face and an eerie misty lantern and a tome of some sort slung to the waist of his simple brown robe and a large axe held in the one arm he wasn't using to support the blue woman though the axe looked awfully out of place on his person.
Behind the limping woman and lanky man a scantily robed woman with glimmering amethyst hair and a light brown complexion, a spear tied to her back followed, her slippered feet noiselessly gliding over the floor and the tails of her robes trailing behind her as though they were alive and beside her a short, young looking teenager followed along with the mismatched group who all heatedly yammered at each other, arguing about something or other while she followed along quietly, a thick leather coat cloaking her body and a metal backpack standing out on their back. The relatively androgynous teen had gold tinted skin and shoulder length emerald hair.

"I keep telling you Maedos you should have waited for us!" The amethyst haired woman said in a condescending manner towards the wounded woman. "You very well could have died, if you had waited we would have captured and killed Erynis!"

The wounded woman grumbled in reply and the tall man looked over his shoulder at the amethyst haired woman.
"Laedir, please don't be so mean, she did what she thought was right." He said in a quiet, gentle voice.

The amethyst haired woman, Laedir, sniffed disdainfully, though she looked genuinely concerned. "It was reckless and suicidal!"

"Aye reckless it may have been but the lass saved two lives from a fate worse than death with her actions." The armored man added with a thick scottish accent as he approached the bar and sat himself down, causing his seat to creak, waving down the bar bot. "I can respect that especially from an Avatar of Judgement." He smiled fondly at the wounded woman who huffed and continued to grumble as the lanky man helped her into her seat.

Laedir opened her mouth to continue to protest as the young teenager split away from the group, staying close but still sitting aside, taking off her pack and putting it down on a table, the metal pack opening itself out and extending four legs to stabilize itself as it expanded and a mechanical arm folded out along with a series of compartments filled with all sorts of bits of junk.
The green haired girl smiled as she went to work, picking up bits and bobs with the help of the glow-jointed mechanical arm, inspecting them closely with a set of looking glasses and humming thoughtfully.

The four armed and armored individuals halted their conversation momentarily to glance at the new comer before looking back to each other and resuming their quiet chatter.

The girl at the table heeded the mysterious stranger no mind as she continued to tinker, laying particular pieces of mineral and metal out on the polished wood's surface as Laedir halted her preaching to take a purple smoothie from one of the bar-bots and place it down for the emerald haired girl.

The colossal steel clad warrior took a swig of his particularly large mug of what appeared to be ale and sniffed slightly before standing, patting the wounded warrior on the back and muttering something to her in an alien tongue to her before moving away, tousling the gold skinned girl's hair with a gauntlet'd hand as he passed her causing her to give him a grouchy look and approached the woman who had brought the coffin in, favoring her with a curious expression.
He cleared his throat as politely as he could in an attempt to grab her attention then asked: "So lass... Just out of curiosity... Whats in the coffin?"