Deep within the heart of the kingdom of Gennovia, in the capitol city named after the kingdom itself a magic portal had been opened by an Elder Sage as he began his task of saving Gennovia from the approaching evil that threatened to engulf all the land and plunge the kingdom into 1,000 years of chaos and darkness. A time where monsters would rule over the races that resided within the kingdom led by an evil dark hearted man that used dark magic, who desired nothing more than the be the reigning King over the darkness. He had already made tremendous progress in his quest when he slain the High Priestess, Erainya, to steal her magical light energy for himself in order to use the power to fuel his darkness and allow his control over the monsters of the land.

The Elder Sage, Rura, knew that the man had already begun spreading his darkness over the land when he heard word that monsters had begun raiding a few small towns on the very edge of the Kingdom. Rura also knew that there was very little he and his brother sages could do to stop the man now that he held Erainya’s energy and was using his dark powers to control it. In their greatest hour of need as the sages searched for a way to stop their enemy, Rura came across a book that stated that while the High Priestess’s energy was only linked to herself and her offspring there was a possibility that a person with an identical energy that could exist across the expanses of time and space whose energy could match that of the High Priestess. If the sages could locate one like that they would be able to help that person unlock and use their powers to defeat the evil man who sought to rule the kingdom.

Rura had spend the last five days and nights searching out the ingredients and symbols needed to create a magical portal whose energy could extend across the time and space barriers to teleport the person to Gennovia. It would take all of the spiritual and magical energy Rura had just to open the portal, but should it fail it could very easily weaken him enough to kill him if he wasn’t careful. As he completed the last of the preparations, Rura wiped the sweat from his forehead as he grew nervous as he looked at the portal before taking a beautiful clear crystal and placing it in the center of the symbol on the floor.

Taking a deep breath Rura placed his hands out in front of him and focused his energy through himself towards the crystal within the symbol as he murmured an incantation under his breath. His energy began to form in his palms then began to transfer over to the crystal causing it to glow with a bright white light. He closed his eyes continuing to focus his energy as the light from his energy and the crystal began to fill the room, he could feel the energy from his very soul being drawn forward as he began to feel weak. Rura pushed himself to stay conscious as he heard a low hum begin to fill the room, it was when he sensed another presents within the portal that the Elder Sage realized it had worked, and the sacrifice of his energy had been worth it.

As the light faded in front of his eyes, Rura opened them up to see a body materializing in the portal in front of him. Once the light that engulfed the body had faded, he could see the form of a young woman lying on the floor, she was probably rendered unconscious by the trip through the portal. Her odd clothing indicated she was certainly not of this time and place, he also assumed she would not be happy to know that she was no longer in her world either. Not wanting to scare her into running Rura knew he would have to lie to the young woman, rather than telling her that she had been called her to save an otherwise doomed kingdom he would be forced to make up an excuse to send her to the city of Azen where the shrine of the High Priestess was. Perhaps on her trip she would start to discover her destiny on her own through the power of the Soul Crystal that lay on the floor next to her, if not it would be left to the High Sages there to tell her what she must do and why she must do it.

Kneeling down next to the woman Rura gently placed a hand on her shoulder giving it a gentle shake. “My lady, can you hear me? Are you alright?” the Elder Sage asked in a gentle tone trying to rouse her without frightening her.

On Earth, Vivian had left the office of the newspaper company she was working at. It had been another day of boring paperwork. This was not the reason why she wanted to work at the newspaper. She wanted to be a journalist, out and about collecting information about the world from people, and investigating into matters that affect society. Unfortunately, since she was fresh out of college and was considered to be young and inexperienced (at least that's what she figured that the other coworkers and her boss saw her as), she was stuck doing paperwork so that she wouldn't mess up in anything. Vivian found that kind of work to be boring and that time seemed to be going painfully slow while doing said paperwork.

The paperwork this time took hours to complete. As she left the building she checked her wristwatch to see that the time was now 11:50 PM. She sighed as she started walking down the sidewalk, the street lights being the only source of light other than the full moon that hung in the night sky. She walked briskly, trying to hurry out back to her apartment, and out of the cold air. As she walked on however, she soon heard her cell phone ring. She dug her phone out of her backpack, and she answered "Hello?"
"Hi Sis!"

Vivian smiled at the sound of her little sister's voice, and she answered "Hey Mimi. How are you kiddo?" Mimi answered "I'm ok. Just wanted to say 'Hi'," Vivian raised an eyebrow and she asked, teasing her sister a bit "Is that really all, Mimi?" After a bit of silence, Mimi answered "...And I wanted to see if you were going to come home for my birthday," Vivian laughed and she answered "Why would you ask that? Of course I'm coming. Your birthday is on the weekend after all," She could hear her sister cheer on the phone at the answer, and Mimi continued "Don't forget to bring an awesome present, Vivi! Keyword: Awesome" Vivian joked with a mischievous grin on her face, "Of course, Mimi. I'll make sure to give you my finest hand-me-downs!" Vivian laughed harder when she heard her sister groan at the mention of hand-me-downs. Vivian then said "I gotta go Mimi. See you this weekend," Mimi answered "Yeah! See you then! Bye!" After Vivian hung up on her sister, she placed her phone back into her backpack.

Vivian continued on her way after all was said and done. However, as she walked on, she noticed that she had a headache. At first it was easily ignored, but the headache strangely grew stronger and stronger, until she had to stop and hold her head. She groaned in pain as she held her head in pain and she muttered "Wh-What the...?" She tried to keep walking, thinking that she just needed to take an aspirin in order to alleviate this headache. However, her vision started to blur and eventually, she felt herself pass out and fall.

She expected to feel the rough asphalt and concrete of the sidewalk, but the impact never came. Instead she felt as though she was falling for what seemed like a long time, until she lost consciousness. She didn't know how long she was out cold, but she soon felt someone shaking her shoulder and heard someone talking. The speech was at first blurred, but it cleared and she could tell the tone was gentle. She groaned as she stirred, and opened her eyes to see that she was on her back, and there was a person kneeling next to her. At first her mind was clouded as she answered "I...I think I'm ok..."

She quickly snapped awake which caused her to quickly sit up and look around. Where was she? Had she been kidnapped? She backed away from the man, putting some space between the two, and she stood up. She asked him "Who are you? Where am I?"

Rura gave a silent sigh of relief as she answered him at first. He himself hadn’t known what this portal could do to a person but it was a chance that the Elder Sage had to take for the sake of the kingdom. He gave her a little space to begin with not sure just what the woman’s reaction would be to the situation. Any normal person would panic, and as expected she did panic a bit as Rura watched her place some more distance between them as she stood; Rura stood as well but kept his distance as well as making his stance as nonthreatening as possible.

“My apologies my lady, I will answer your questions to the best of my ability but please allow me to brighten the room up just a bit. I’m sure the darkened state of the room isn’t making this place seem very safe, and is not helping with your confusion.” Rura answered her with a slight bow of his head as he turned and grabbed a candle from one of the holders and moved around bringing a bit more light to the room as he did. With the flickering candle light dancing off the walls Vivian would be able to see the room was a small room about the size of a one person bedroom with stone floors and walls. There were several bookshelves stuffed full of books on one side of the room; on the other there was a roughly made dark wood desk with a big wood chair behind it. The room itself appeared to be a living quarters as well as an office. There was a small bed off in one corner of the room as well as what looked like a kitchen area with a small cast iron wood burning stove with some logs off to the side and a shallow stone basin that was filled with water.

Once the room was lit Rura turned to face the confused woman and bowed his head to her again. "That's better. My name is Rura and I'm an Elder Sage. You are currently in a kingdom called Gennovia, a place that's probably nothing like where you came from. I... accidentally brought you here through a magical portal when I was attempting to teleport someone else to me. I don't doubt this is hard for you to believe but if you do think I'm lying feel free to exit through that door and make your way down the hall to a big wooden door of the temple and you will be able to see the city of Gennovia before you just down the hill. I don't recommend running off though. While I don't intend to harm you, you might run into trouble if you don't know your way around the city." Rura spoke in a calm and gentle tone trying to keep the woman as calm as possible despite the unbelievable situation she was now in.

Vivian watched the man after he spoke and as he went around lighting up the candles that were in the room, brightening up the room enough for her to see what the room looked like. She noticed that she seemed to be standing in the middle of some kind of symbol on the floor, and this room looked old. She looked to the man when he spoke again, introducing himself as Rura. The more she listened to him answer her questions, the more she was inclined to not believe him. What he was saying sounded like something that came from one of her little sister's old storybooks. She shakily answered the man, trying to keep herself calm and not let herself panic (because she knew how well panicking helped people...it didn't!), "Okay...I'm, uh, I'm...gonna go and see for myself,"

As she walked out of the room and headed down the hall at a brisk walking pace, she felt as though she was having a hard time breathing. Soon she reached the outside and she stopped to look at the exterior of the building she was in, the field of grass that surrounded it, and the large city that was just down the hill, just as he said. As she looked at the scenery she muttered to herself, joking to herself for a moment of needed levity "Toto, I am not in Kansas anymore," After looking at it, the words the man had said earlier finally registered completely in her mind and she turned back and headed for where Rura was now, back in the temple.

When she made it back to him, after taking a couple of deep breaths, "You said you...brought me here by accident. I don't suppose you could send me back the same way?" She figured it was best to ask, in case the man either hadn't thought about it yet or if there was a reason why he hasn't started trying to do so.

Rura nodded his head as the woman decided to take her leave and see for herself that what he said was fact. There was no point in dancing around the fact that while it may be unbelievable, and he hadn't expected her to believe it since she wasn't exactly from this time, she was in this time and place that was outside of her own world. As the woman left, Rura gave a sigh and frowned. "I hope you will be able to forgive me for not being completely honest my lady... Gennovia must be saved though, and you are the only hope for that." He murmured walking over to the cast iron stove and putting on a metal kettle to heat up as a fire burned low in the stove as he waited for the woman to hopefully return rather than trying to head off on her own. Her energy would be sure to attract those that were loyal to the darkness.

Just as Vivian had returned to his chambers, Rura added a few tea leaves to a couple of wooden cups then poured the now hot water into the cups as well before handing on to her as she spoke. "This will help relieve some of your anxiety if you drink tea. If not that's fine too." he said offering the cup to her before taking a sip of his own tea. As the woman asked him to if he could return her, Rura took another sip from his cup before giving a slight sigh and looking at her with an apologetic gaze. "You see that's a bit more difficult. While I'm a powerful mage of sorts, pinpointing the exact time and place you belong is a bit difficult for me, actually nearly impossible. I could try to use your energy to open a portal but there's a good chance I will still send you to the wrong time and place and you would be stuck there." He explained in a gentle voice. "While I don't have the power to do it myself, there is a city far to the west in the kingdom that has High Sages that live there. They more than likely would be able to help you to return."

Vivian accepted the cup of tea with a polite thanks. She noticed his look and she immediately felt crestfallen. Just as she thought, his answer was no, because she could end up stuck in a different place and time then she was originally. She looked at the floor at the answer at first, but she looked at him again when he mentioned that there people who could help her. Relieved, Vivian set the cup of tea down on the table gently, and she answered, this time she was calmer and a little more hopeful since she now had an idea of what to do, "Alright, I'll just go there and ask them for help then," She then asked, her hands intertwined with each other in anticipation to get going, "What's the city called? How long would it take me to get there? Do you have a map with you?" As much as she wanted to try using her phone's map, she figured that it wasn't going to work here, judging from the lack of technology in the room. She wanted to get home as soon as possible, before she possibly lose her job or her family starts considering her missing.

"The city is called Azen, it's a very old city in the kingdom which is why it's towards the western edge of the lands. If you were to go directly to the city with only a few stops to rest along the way would take about seven days of travel, by foot. I will warn you though that as powerful as the High Sages are they will probably need a bit of assistance from the Elder Sages. Some of our own energy in order to amplify their own, so they can figure out exactly what place and time to teleport you to. That being said all the Elder Sages are not here at this temple, we watch over temples in all the cities. So you will have to make some stops along the way. I will send you with a letter and a soul crystal that the Elder Sages can transfer their energy into." Rura explained as he looked at the woman before standing to pick up the now slightly glowing crystal within the teleportation symbol on the ground.

As he returned to his seat with the crystal in hand, Rura's expression grew serious as he began to speak again. "While I can give you a map, I don't think it would be safe for you to travel to Azen on your own. You do give off a strange energy, and I'm worried that it might cause the creatures outside of the city walls to be more aggressive towards you. With the clothing you wear, there are bandits and thugs that would probably target you as well." he looked at her seriously now as he warned her about the possible dangers that she faced. "If you agree, I will head into Gennovia and locate a knight for hire to protect you as you travel to Azen." Rura offered as he waited for her to hopefully agree. He himself wouldn't be able to accompany the woman physically once he transferred his energy into her soul crystal.

Vivian listened as he answered her questions, and she silently hoped that her family wouldn't worry after a week passed. She noted that she was definitely going to end up missing her sister's birthday, but she figured she would apologize and talk to her later when she got back to her world. It was probably going to take longer with the other stops to meet with the Elder Sages. She watched him stand and pick up a glowing crystal from the circle. When he grew serious, dread started to claw at Vivian's heart again. She listened as he warned her that creatures and bandits may try to attack her on her way there. She figured she could handle bandits and thugs thanks to self defense lessons back home, but the wild animals that live in this world? After he made that offer, she nodded and she answered after giving it some thought, "It would be great to have some form of defense. Thank you,"

Rura nodded his head as she spoke and he finished off the last of the liquid in his cup before standing, he could feel a temporary rush of energy from what he had drank flowing through him and knew that the magical properties were starting to take effect. Walking over to a wardrobe in the corner he opened it and pulled from it two traveling cloaks. Putting one on himself he walked back over to Vivian and laid it on the table for her. "I will recommend wearing this, your clothing does make you stand out a little in comparison to the other people here. Also it will protect you from the elements." Rura spoke as he grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. "I apologize my lady, I gave you my name but I never asked for your own. What can I call you?" He asked looking up at her.

Vivian watched as he finished his drink and went over to the wardrobe to take out two cloaks. She accepted the cloak from the table, figuring it would be best if she didn't draw attention, saying "Thanks," to Rura as she placed the cloak around her shoulders and fastened it so it wouldn't fall off. She looked to Rura when he spoke and she answered, remembering that she never really introduced herself "Oh! My name is Vivian," She rationalized that she never really got to introduce herself because of the fright she had from suddenly finding herself here. She watched as he wrote with a quill, hiding her eagerness to head off and try to get home.

"Vivian." Rura repeated the name in a low tone as he scribbled her name on the parchment then drew an odd symbol on it as well. Folding the paper he put it in a large envelope before handing it to the woman. "Make sure you keep this on you at all times, the symbol is something that only the sages can read, but it's important you present that to them, I will give you the soul crystal as well before you begin your journey. I will return shortly with someone to escort you on your journey, I only ask that you trust my judgment. I have no reason to see harm befall you. I suggest resting until I return so that you have strength to start traveling today." Rura bowed his head to the woman before opening the door and leaving through it. He pulled up his hood and placed it down covering his face.

Rura made his way into Gennovia to seek out a young knight by the name of Ashford Kingstone. The Elder Sage had done some research in the previous days to find someone who could escort who ever Rura had brought here. The information he had gotten was of the young knight who came from a line of knights. While a bit soft spoken, Ashford was protective to a fault and would make sure that nothing harmed those under his watch. Rura knew this knight would be perfect for this quest. He had been told that Ashford frequented a tavern called The Emerald Goblet in the late afternoons for a quick meal before returning to his rounds in the castle. Rura hoped to catch the man there to speak with him. Once at the tavern the sage glanced around the interior before finding the man he was looking for. His jet black hair appeared unruly today as the back stuck out at odd angles, and his icy blue eyes glanced out a nearby window in thought.

Approaching the man's table Rura sat down as Ash gave him an odd look, waiting quietly for the man to speak. "Greetings knight, I know you are a knight for hire and I have need of your service." Rura said in a quiet voice as his eyes peered out from beneath his hood. The man remained silent but kept his eyes on Rura and gave a slight nod of his head, indicating he was listening. "There is a young woman who just got into town that needs an escort to take her to the city of Azen. Along the way you will need to stop at the Temples of the High Priestess so they may bless your journey."

"The ancient city of Sages? Why would she need to go there?" Ash asked sharply when he heard the name. He did respect the sages, but that city was a special place, and taking someone there who didn’t normally live there seemed like an odd request.

“The reason is not important. All you need to know is that there is a darkness that threatens the Kingdom of Gennovia. The darkness has made the kingdom more dangerous, and the woman needs to make it to the city safely. There are creatures that wouldn’t normally have the power to raid towns that have been, and the wild creatures seem to be appearing in greater numbers than before. The woman would be in danger if she went alone. Will you escort her or not? I know this is something that you need payment in advance for, and I’ve come prepared with that.” Rura spoke in a sharp tone at first before it softened to a gentle murmur as he pulled a large pouch from his cloak and set it on the table in front of him.

Ash was silent for a moment debating his decision before giving a slight nod, he took the pouch from the table and stood to his feet. “Where should I be meeting you two at? I need to go and take care of some preparations before I leave.” He looked at the hooded man who appeared relieved at his agreement.

“Just outside of the Temple of the High Goddess, we will be waiting there for your arrival.” Rura spoke with a bow of his head before standing to his feet as well and making his way out of the tavern. Ash watched him go wondering just what he had gotten himself into. He didn’t like being a knight for hire but with the new law passed by the king since the lands had become more dangerous he couldn’t deny a person help without good reason.

After he had finished what he needed to prepare before the trip Ash made his way to the temple to meet the woman. As he approached he saw the two standing outside the door to the temple. He observed the woman carefully taking in her appearance, the clothing beneath her cloak seemed quite odd to him, however Ash decided not to ask about it right now deciding it wasn’t too important. As he approached the two he bowed his head. “Hello.” He said in a calm tone. Ash stood wearing his upper arm and his leg armor which shimmered slightly in the afternoon light; he wore a thick leather vest over his sleeveless, long necked shirt. He also wore a pair of dark green pants beneath the leg armor. The pants were tucked into a pair of brown traveling boots.

“Vivian, this is Ashford Kingstone. He’s the knight that has agreed to travel with you on your journey.” Rura spoke gesturing to the young knight as he bowed his head at the woman

Vivian watched as Rura wrote her name and drew a strange symbol next to it. She accepted the envelope and she nodded in response to his warning to keep the letter close to her. After he finished speaking, she nodded and said "Alright. Thank you," before he left. While he was gone, she took out her phone and she checked to see if she really had no signal, and just as she thought, there was no signal. She sighed as she put her phone away and instead opted to take out the journal and pen and write in it for the time being. She figured that it would help clear her mind a bit if she wrote about this situation. As she wrote she drank some of the tea he gave her.

Soon Rura had returned and with the journal back in her bag she walked outside with him to see a man coming towards them. After he greeted them and Rura introduced him, she nodded and said politely to the knight "It's nice to meet you, Ashton. Shall we head off then?" She looked to Rura and she said to him politely before leaving "Thank you for your help,"

"A moment before you go." Rura stopped Vivan before she could leave. He pulled out the soul crystal that was connected to her energy. The Elder Sage murmured something softly under his breath before blowing onto the crystal. the faint glow it had became stronger for a moment before fading back to what it was. Rura gave a slight cough before he handed the crystal to Vivian. "Please take care not to lose the crystal. It is the only way to gather the Elder Sages energy to help enable to High Sages to help you, it is an invaluable item for your journey. Good luck my lady." Rura smiled at Vivian from beneath his hood as he took a step back from the two. He looked to Ash now, a serious look on his face that made the hair on the back of Ash's neck stand up on end. "Make sure Vivian's journey is a safe one Sir Ashton." Rura said in a calm tone, but Ash could almost hear the hint of a warning in his tone.

"Of course. She is safe with me, you both have my word on that." Ash replied with a bow of his head to the Elder Sage before looking at Vivian. "We should go. There isn't a lot of time before nightfall to get to our first stop." he warned her before turning to leave waiting for Vivian to follow after him. Ash led the way down the sloping hill heading towards Gennovia and the main road that would take them through the farmlands just outside of town, once past there they would be out of the city limits of Gennovia and on the main path towards the much smaller city of Fennire where they would hopefully be spending the night.

Rura watched the two head towards the city, positive now that he had chosen a good knight to physically protect the priestess, while he and his fellow Elder Sages would protect her spiritually. The man gave another cough this time barely able to catch his breath. Staggering slightly the sage made his way back into the temple then to his chambers before collapsing on the floor. He could feel the energy from his magical tea wearing off as his strength all but left him. Rura inhaled sharply before his eyes fluttered then closed. His body was still, then slowly it began to fade away leaving nothing behind.

As Ash and Vivian approached Gennovia, Ash glanced over at the woman. "Be sure to stay close when we get into the city, even though it's afternoon the streets will still be pretty crowded and I don't want to lose you in the crowd." He warned the woman as they entered into the city through a not so crowded side street. The two approached the cobblestone main road with had many vendor stalls with colorful canopies set up over them. They were selling various things from fresh fruits and vegetables to odd little trinkets that were mostly for decoration. People stood around bartering and buying from the many vendors while others made their way across the street to other stalls. Ash stopped and looked at Vivian pointing to the large city gate a short ways ahead of them. "Once we go through there we'll be outside the walls of the city, and you'll see the farmlands just outside. We will follow the road through the farmlands and outside of the city limits. I'll tell you more about where we're headed once we get out there." he spoke in a slightly louder tone so she could hear him over the low constant murmur of the shopping crowd.

Vivian stopped as Rura asked, and she accepted the crystal from him, closing her hand around the crystal gently. She was concerned by his slight cough, but she had a feeling if she asked if he was alright, he'd say he was. She nodded to him in response and answered "Thank you. I'll make sure not to lose it," She felt somewhat unnerved as well when Rura warned Ashton, but it quickly went away when Ashton promised to her and to Rura. She nodded to his warning and she answered as she placed the crystal into her bag, "Okay. Let's get going then," She walked, following after Ashton, glad that she decided not to wear heels to work back in her world.

However, as she walked away, she couldn't help but have a sinking feeling. She looked back to the temple briefly at the entrance of Gennovia. But she continued on, ignoring the slowly creeping feeling, and shoving it to the back of her mind.

She looked around Gennovia as she walked close to Ashton, in curiosity and awe of the colorful canopies over the stands in the marketplace. She heard Ashton as he told her the plan and she answered speaking slightly louder so that she could be heard over the murmur "Alright!"
Along the way, she couldn't help but ask questions out of curiosity, such as what certain fruits and vegetables (that looked quite strange to her), what the currency they used were called, and what some of the small, strange looking, but apparently peaceful, birds that were just flying around. She also asked the occasional, "Ooh! What's this?" or "What's that?"

Ash gave the woman a few odd side glances but answered most of her questions as they walked past the stalls. The one she had about the currency really threw him off as he explained it was called Yukka, which was an all coin currency. Ash had thought that the Gennovian Yukka was the most widely known currency as the traders from the other nearby kingdoms often converted their own currency to the Yukka when they entered the kingdom in order to trade their wares here. He was beginning to wonder just where the woman was from, since it was clear to him that she couldn't be from this kingdom. Pushing his own burning question of where she was from to the back of his mind, he tried to keep moving but Vivian's curiosity seemed to keep them in the marketplace as she continued to ask questions of things that grabbed her attention.

Ash had just finished explaining to Vivian that the fruit she held was called a Very Berry, which was similar in texture and taste to a Strawberry, when he noticed people quickly starting to make a path. "Vivian!" Ash called in a sharp tone as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from wandering off to the next thing that had drawn her attention. He pulled the woman back against him to stop her movement, only a couple seconds passed before a wooden carriage pulled by a black horse quickly passed them and all the other people that had moved to open a path for the vehicle. Ash breathed a soft sigh of relief while all the people around them returned to what they had been doing, not even phasing them in the slightest. His blue eyes opened as they looked sharply at Vivian now. "You need to pay attention to what's going on around you. That could have been bad." his tone was sharp with worry as he quickly released her wrist from his grasp.

Vivian noticed how he looked at her as though she had grown another head, but she ignored it, knowing that she would have to explain later, when they weren't out in public. She kept a smile on her face as Ash looked at her weird and answered all of her questions. Would he believe her if she told him that she was from another world? If he didn't, would he just leave her to fend for herself? She wouldn't be surprised if he did, that's what somebody from her world would do if they were told they were with someone who is from another world. She tried to keep them moving, but she also couldn't help but ask about everything out of curiosity.

As she was looking at the Very Berry, she didn't notice that the people were starting to make a path, until Ashton called her name, and pulled her close to him by her wrist. She blinked as she started "Wha-?" But she stopped and saw the reason why he pulled her out of the way: A carriage being pulled by a black horse. She stated as the carriage passed by in understanding "Oh..." She looked to Ashton when he seemed to be glaring with just his eyes alone, and she answered his chastising, with a smile and hesitant laugh "Ri-Right, sorry about that,"

She then looked towards the carriage and she observed "That carriage seems to be heading towards where we came from..." She figured that the carriage was just heading for a town that was in that direction and shrugged it off, before continuing on her way with Ashton, this time not asking as much questions as she was before (in case any more carriages were going to come by). However, she never noticed that someone was looking in their direction from the carriage.

Ash watched the carriage go as Vivian spoke about it. "We get a lot of carriages coming through town. They are probably heading to the castle. The king has a lot of things going on lately that require visitors from distant parts of the kingdom. It's probably just another town leader." Ash replied in a calm tone once more. "Let's get going Vivian." He looked at the woman now before beginning to lead the woman out of the city.

As the two of them approached the gate Ash looked back taking one last look at the city of Gennovia knowing it would be a bit of time before he saw his home again. Taking a deep breath as he closed his eyes to keep the memory fresh in his mind, Ash walked forward pushing open the gate door for him and Vivian to exit through. Once they were on the other side of the gate they could see the farms sprawling out in front of them as the winding main road went right through the farmlands.

Ash pointed to the section of the road that branched off going both East and West. "We are headed to that fork in the road. Once there I will explain where we are heading after that." he spoke to the woman as he began leading the way, the two of them quickly making their way through the farmlands.

When they approached the gate, Vivian noticed that he had looked back at the town. She looked back and forth between him and the town, and she realized that this was probably his home. As he opened the gates for the both of them, she dug out her smart phone from her bag and she took a picture quickly (with the flash off), and quickly put it back in her bag, making note that she had to be careful of how she used her phone, while it still had a fully charged battery left. She then followed Ashton out of the town, unaware of what was happening back at the place where she started...

*~*~*

The man in the carriage blinked as the carriage continued on its way and commented "Hmm...Peculiar. That presence from the crowd..." The carriage stopped and the horse neighed. The driver called meekly "Lo-Lord Gylas...We have reached the Temple," Lord Gylas smirked and answered "Excellent," He stepped out of the carriage and walked up to the temple and went inside. He called while taking out a sword "Oh, Rura...Where are you?" He looked around the temple, but found that there was no sign of the Sage. He sheathed his sword and murmured "Hmmm...It appears that I was too late. I shall have to punish my seer for this,"

He then recalled the presence he sensed back in Gennovia and the glimpse of the strange girl in the strange clothes. He commented out loud as he recalled the memory, "Perhaps I'm not too late..." He then walked out of the temple, and headed for the carriage. He commanded the driver "We're heading back home. But don't take the same route as you did on the way here," The driver stuttered "Y-Yes Milord!" After Gylas climbed back into the carriage, the carriage took off again, and as he sat in the carriage, he closed his eyes and opened them again to show that they were glowing.

He spoke to the Leader of Bandits that resided in the area telepathically "Aldreth. There is a girl that I want you to find...and kill. I'll pay you greatly for her head," After giving her the mental image of the girl he caught a glimpse of, and he got an affirmative answer back from the leader, before ending the telepathic communication.

*~*~*

Vivian looked ahead at the farms and the winding road ahead of her. She looked to him when he spoke, and she nodded at his words. She followed him and she asked tilting her head slightly, "Why wait until we get to the fork of the road to talk about where we're going?" She was curious about his thinking, and there was also the fact that traveling would be better than just walking in awkward silence.

Ash was silent after she asked the question waiting until they were out of range of the gate into Gennovia. "You never know who is listening in the crowd. You may call me over cautious, but sometimes secrecy will save you a lot of trouble later on." he replied glancing around them, not seeing anyone following them. "The man that asked me to take you to Azen, he said it's important that we stop at the Temples of the High Priestess on the way to the city. Before I came to meet you I mapped out the locations where the six other temples are at. Unfortunately there are only two that are close to the main road. The rest are going to require us to backtrack a little bit. The first one is one of those nearby ones in the small city of Fennire to the west." Ash explained now as he walked at a steady pace on the main road as they headed towards the fork in the road.

Ash grew quiet after that as they went. He wasn't the best at making conversation, especially when it came to talking to women. That being said he wasn't comfortable with the awkward silence either so he searched for something to talk about, anything that would break the silence would do. "Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think you're from the city of Gennovia at all are you? I'm sorry we couldn't spend more time sight seeing, but what did you think of the city?"

Vivian bit her the bottom of her lip during the silence, but thankfully he answered her once they were away from the crowd. She nodded in understanding at his answer and commented "Makes sense..." She listened carefully as he talked about the Temples and where they were going. She answered when he finished "I see..." She thought about how long it might take for them to get to these temples and for her to get home with all of the backtracking involved, but considering that she didn't know anything about the place, it was hard to gauge distance and time.

She looked to Ashton when he spoke up and she smiled when he asked his questions. She answered "You're right, I'm not from the city of Gennovia. I thought the city was interesting from what I was able to see," She didn't mind that they didn't take too much time to sightsee. Vivian asked, keeping the conversation going and out of curiosity, "Are you from the city of Gennovia?"

Soon they reached the fork in the road and noticed that one path led into a forest while the other led through more of the grasslands. There was also a signpost that had wooden arrows pointing in the directions of each paths with the destination carved into the wooden arrows, Fennire pointing towards the forest, while the second arrow that pointed towards the grasslands ahead of them read "The City of Gaminster", and the third arrow that pointed towards the direction they came from read "The City of Gennovia"