Waiting for a Wizard, Introduction.

Maya had been sitting silently for the past four days outside the mages guild in Westbridge, barely moving, eating or drinking, there was no sleeping for her eyes were glued to the building.  Novices, the lot of them, that wont do at all.  Maya needed a Wizard, one who didn't know her and wouldnt ask questions, She needed a wizard of immense power, one who understood their art and all she saw here were beginners, magicians, skinny folk good at hand tricks and a few light shows, not the being of manipulation she needed.  She growled low in her throat and pushed herself to her feet calmly, smoothing down her robes, what little there was, and wandered into the Market square.  Taking a sip of water from the fountain and buying the paper from the skinny kid shouting its headlines, Maya uttered a small quiet phrase, grasping at something by her throat and vanished.  Reappearing across the street from the Mages guild in New Thalos Maya found a quiet and recluse spot where she wouldnt be noticed obviously and sat down to watch. 

The Eventide of Loathing

The disruption in the plane was like a peal of happiness over Velentham's heart. She had returned. He knew she would. Sanria had used the rose, and she was here. In an instant, Velentham collapsed space onto itself and arrived at the side of... the priest? It didn't make sense. Before him was the same priest that had come to take Sanria away. Why?

"Greetings, Priest." Velentham knew immediately the priest understood. "I suppose she chose not to return?"

"Well, I'm afraid she didnt' know she could... I don't think anyone did."

"If I would have had time to discuss it with her, perhaps," Velentham said with a tad more venom than he intended.

"Actually, she doesn't remember you at all."

Impossible. There is no way his Sanria would have forgotten him. Utterly impossible. "What do you mean?"

"There is much I think we should discuss... shall we go somewhere to sit?"

In silence, Velentham spirited Gilean through space and onto the porch of the cabin. His ire was raised, his anger palpable. Greetings finished, his father spoke lightly, "I was telling my son here that we ought to have more visitors to our slice of heaven." In an instant, Telfenham was in Velentham's mind. 'How did this happen?'

'I don't know.'

"Well, I must admit arriving here was a surprise," Gilean said. "I did not know that this was a portal back to this realm."

Again the elder Celestial looked to his son. 'You did not tell them?'

'Father, I didn't have the time to-'

'Such a foolish, foolish thing to do, Velentham. Look now, we have a guest that has no way home.'

'He wasn't supposed to be the one!'

'Watch your tone.'

"Well, a portal it was and here you now are," Telfenham spoke with a gen- ial smile. In an instant, the rose was vanished.

"Yes. I was only hoping to study it. I was hopeful that it might allow me to connect with more of my past."

"It seems your past has lead you right here."

"Wrong path," Velentham growled under his breath. It was all he could take. He rose from the chair and stormed from the cottage.

Dismissal

When Sanria told Colin she had given the rose away, the relief that crossed his features troubled her. She didn't understand how or why he could be so pleased to see the rose gone and it made her a little hurt that something so special to her could be so gladly removed.

Later, in the cool of the evening, Sanria sat in the bed with Colin. She had to face the fact that her feelings were beginning to change. The dreams of tea with Throm, of his eyes, and her growing discontent with staying in the cavern - it were as though she had somewhere she needed to go. Someplace was calling to her, she just didn't know where. Colin pulled her to face him, "Sanria... Throm is... He's dead. No matter what you remember, nothing will change that."

"I know... I just, can't help but... I don't know."

"And if you need to go somewhere... we can all go. We can take a trip, all three of us..."

Sanria looked at Colin, his eyes welling with unshed tears. The worry she saw on his face was clear. "Sanria Stone, I can't lose you again. I followed you everywhere, even when you were with Throm, I always found a way. If I lost you... I don't know what I'd do."

Sanria looked down at Colin's hands in hers. She was pregnant, she had a child, she had a husband, she had... a home. She slowly looked back to Colin and melted into an embrace. "I will go to the Druid Grove... maybe they can stop the memories from coming back."

The embrace grew tight and Colin kissed her head. "I promise you, we have time to make many, many more memories."

Sanria let out a long sigh and nodded in return. Perhaps this was exactly where she was supposed to be and everything had happened in order to keep it that way. She drifted off to her dreams wrapped in Colin's large arms where Throm sat beside her hunched in a blanket, a cup of tea in his hand.

Vanishing Rose

Claire didn't know why he did it, or even if he had done it, but at their feet, in front of the cavern, was a sea of lavender orchids. Gilean cheerfully went about smelling them as Claire held her breath. She could only think of Psycho - his offering of orchids, this being one of his favorite spots - and once Gilean caught wind of it, he lost all enthusiasm for their scent.

They proceeded to Sanria's home in search of the rose she brought back with her from the Celestial plane. Gilean felt it would lead him to his past, and Claire agreed. She would support him since, to discover his past, would mean that they either would be married or wouldn't.

Claire hadn't expected Sanria to be so protective of the rose, but they had at last separated it from her. After a pensive conversation regarding its return, she and Gilean left the cavern and walked back through the orchids. For a time, I thought I wouldn't have any chance with you because of him, Gilean said, stopping for a moment to glance at the flowers. I guess I need to let that go. 'Yes. You do. He and I were an entity that was not to be.'

Claire smiled at the grateful expression on Gilean's face. They continued on their way, finally reaching the cottage and the library within. It happened faster than either of them could have anticipated. Gilean merely stared down intently at the rose and in a flash, he was gone. Inwardly, Claire cursed herself for not anticipating it might be a portal. She could only hope that wherever he was, Gilean was again meeting with Velentham and discovering who he truly was.

Vanishing Rose

"I don't know, it's rather special to me, though I can't truly say why..." Sanria looked at her mug of tea. Something in her was riled, angry, protective of the trinket. She didn't know why she would feel such a way, why this dark sensation would rise from her to the point she had to hide her face.

"Yes, I don't know how much time might be needed to awaken more than just impressions of my memories."

Sanria could hear the desperation in Gilean's voice. She knew that to let him borrow the rose might enable him to be with the one he loved, and didn't everyone deserve that? She was also jealous. Jealous that someone who lost their memories could come to her, request a simple flower, and recover what made them who they were. It wasn't fair.

"Mama!" The tiny voice of her son brought her from her thoughts and a smile broke over her face as relief flooded her body. The little boy slowed down suddenly, his brown eyes warily eying their company. "These are our friends. Do you remember them?" She chuckled as Orn shook his head bashfully. "Well let's meet them." Sanria lifted Orn into her arms and turned him to the table. "This is Miss Claire, and this is Mister Gilean."

"What you doing?" Orn asked after all introductions had been handled.

"We are talking," Sanria replied, a slight frown playing on her face.

"Bout what?"

"About mama's rose."

"Don't touch. You get in trouble."

Sanria set the boy on the floor, her frown increasing. Had she truly been so protective over a flower that even her son knew not to touch it? There was no reason for her to feel as she did, was there? "It's very important to you, isn't it?" Gilean asked once Orn had run out into the garden to play.

"When I look at it, I feel like I'm drifting away to a better place. Somehow, as though it will take me far from here. Colin doesn't really like it when I stare at it..." And truly, as she looked down over the petals, it felt as though a part of her was floating away.

"Sanria."

"I only know that I love to look at it... it helps me when I feel down..."

"Sanria."

Gilean's voice pulled her from the floating place in her mind and she looked over at him. "I can promise you that I will take utmost care of it. I will return it to you just as soon as I have found out what I may." There were no other questions, for it seemed there was only one choice. Sanria slowly offered the rose to Gilean, her heart sinking beneath the weight of the decision.

Blushing Rose

Sanria, Colin, and Orn sat up in the boy's room. He had grown so much, so quickly and looked all of three rather than the infant he still should have been. Sanria rested her hand over her stomach and patted lightly. Her hope was that Leandra would come quickly enough to have a brother that wasn't years her senior. At the very least, she would have a sister or brother in the child that would be joining them from Arlenia. She watched Colin tickle Orn and a tiny smile crept onto her face. There was joy to be had here.

The tinkling of bells sounded, pulling Sanria and Colin from their play with Orn. "I'll go see who it is," Sanria volunteered, and headed down to the door. Upon opening it, she saw Gilean along with a glowing purple woman for whom her mind had no remembrance, but stories told her was an integral part of her return.

"I don't want to keep you from your family," Gilean said, "I was just hoping you might be able to help me with something."

"Would you like to ask over tea?" Sanria led the way into her kitchen and busily made preparations for tea. She had remembered more of how to do it the more she made it, as though the very muscles of her body had minds of their own and needed no thought over the matter.

"I would like to move forward in my relationship with Claire... but it would seem prudent to ensure that I don't already have a family out there somewhere," Gilean said.

"Well that definitely makes sense. You could have someone out there like Colin."

Sanria paused, realizing she had potentially made Claire feel very uncomfortable. "Not to say that... oh... forgive me."

"No. You are correct. It is why I don't wish to move forward."

"Not that it would change how I feel... but... anyway," Gilean said. "You see, most of my past is a mystery to me. It seems that I am actually a celestial being."

"Celestial..." Sanria asked, her brow furrowing. She should have known what the word meant, obviously, but her mind drew a complete blank.

"You don't remember your time spent in that plane, with the celestials, do you?"

"No. Only what Colin has told me, and it seems he doesn't want me to repeat the experience."

It was an experience that Sanria could not recall. It was the same black wall of nothing that greeted her for many thousands of memories that should be easily recalled. "When you returned, I noticed you brought a rose with you, from that place," Gilean said.

"That one?" Sanria asked, pointing to the perfectly shaped rose that sat in a vase on her kitchen counter.

"I was hoping I might be able to borrow it. To study it."

Sanria's stomach fell to her feet as she looked from the fiery purple Claire to Gilean. Let her treasure out of her sight... the thought of it was almost more than she could bear, and she didn't even understand why.

Without Claire

It had been some time since the younger Esper Claire had taken her quest. Psycho was inexplicably lost after the result of Claire's quest. Was it  his fault that she struggled so much? He believed that Claire would have completed her task a little easier but was astounded at how fast she gave up. When she gave up she magically removed herself from his life. It was as sudden as a flower cutting left in the sun's wilt when it has run out  of water.

Just because the young Esper fled quickly did not mean that the memories of her would fade as quickly. Her lavender glow was in all of the purple gems in he pouch, her wisps of energy were around westbridge and Psycho could feel her sorrow in the air. It was not for lack of concern that he had let her go, he felt that this was her choiceful rejection of himself or even fear of being so close to being accepted but the Order.

Psycho did not entirely sit back and watch her from afar. He had tried to keep himself busy with work, Sune forgiving that would never let up. But he had begun to plant orchids around places that reminded him of her.

One night while the Esper was planting some orchids near Sune's waterfall he had made up his mind to confront Claire and attempt to get some closer. When He spoke to Claire she seemed to be hiding something, but she glowed happy. If it was a show, it was a good one, Psycho understood Claire's hesitation to proceed after his quest, but was unaware of what she had been doing since he had last seen her.  But she had voiced a union between her and the priest  of Lathander, Gilean.

The shock was swift and powerful, but Psycho was sure to keep his composure.