Regaining Power

[Ceverus]

It was as though nothing had happened to the realm during the battle. Only a handful of the Council's forces had entered here when Ceverus had opened a rift in one of his attacks. Those that survived the transportation through realms were soon torn to prices by starving wraiths with little chance at defending themselves. Ceverus stood ontop of his Ziggaraut temple arms held open, as he does this, the wandering souls of the land flock to him to replenish their master's strength and return him to his former glory, a restoration only possible in his own realm. Once rejuvenated he prepares to return to the mortal realm he had become so fond of as well as the coven he had considered to be his new home.

[Ariana]

Ariana had walked and walked until she could go no further. She finally gave up her walking until she fell beneath the shadow of a large tree. Mandre landed on the branches just above her, keeping watch as exhaustion finally took over. Darkness clouded her vision and puller her into a world of slumber. There was nothing left to do. Fighting had taken its toll on her. She had not recovered in the field after the battle and now she had been pushed to her limits.

[Ceverus]

Ceverus stretches slightly, walking casually down the stairs leading to the only entrance of the Ziggurat. He pauses at the base of the stairs when he feels the entry of another coven member. "Strange..." he mutters as he reaches out within the shadows to find Ariana, the female he had spoken to briefly before the battle. Rather than waking her he presents himself within her dream. "Come to recuperate have we?" He says, presenting himself as little more than a pair of glowing red eyes peering out of the surrounding darkness. Speaking to her in her dreams would allow her to continue resting and keep him from her personal thoughts, a task that never came easily for him, initial mental barriers stopped him cold whenever he attempted to do so, leaving little concern for the privacy of others while he communicates like this.

[Ariana]

Within her dream she could only see darkness, but it was comforting to her. Perhaps it had been the fact that she was so exhausted from fighting that she just cared not to be in a world of pitch black. She was standing in her dream so when the glowing red eyes appeared she blinked a few times. Even taking the moment to comprehend the voice whom it belonged too.

"Ceverus..Yes. It has been an entire day after the fight without any rest. I feel like I deserve something."

She sighed and the scenery around her changed to a dark forest that reminded her of home. A place she longed to be for now. The trees were a dark green and they littered the entire forest. Making it nearly too dense to walk through but she found comfort in this.

[Ceverus]

As the scene brightens slightly his form becomes visible, lighting one of his black wrapped cigarettes that smell of incense as he leans back against a tree. "As do we all. The wrath of war is taxing on the physical as well as emotional bodies." He says as he looks around at the change of scenery, taking in what she had made of it. "A forest? Home I take it?" he asks as his attention is returned to her again, dragging lightly off his cigarette.

[Ariana]

She glanced over at him before reaching out to touch a tree that was in front of her.

"Just images of my subconcious. However it does resemble my former home.."

Ariana turned and looked over at Ceverus.

"Now, how did you come to enter my dream? I would take it as an invasion of privacy since you did not ask.. "

[Ceverus]

A slight chuckle given he lowers himself to a seated position. "It's complicated but when you enter a state of sleep a peice of your soul enters my realm to be greeted with a dream. Your mind controls what happens, my shadows grant you the ability to see what goes on, hence why you only saw darkness at first. I sit far off now because any closer and I will be in your mind with all your thoughts at my disposal. Now anyone could keep me away with a simple 'piss off' seeing as my skills with the mind are severely limited...then there's the fact that the gates to my realm happen to be under the tree your physical body now sits." he says, words trailing off. He takes another drag off his cigarette before adding, " Excuse me, I'm rambling" with a light laugh.

[Ariana]

She raised an eye brow at him before making a small hmmm sound. Here she felt no pain that her physical body felt. The bones in her leg were fine, the wound by her left collarbone healed. Here it was bliss. Folding her arms over her chest she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Do I need to be concerned that my physical body will be harmed at the gate to your realm by any of your minions?"

Ariana tilted her head as she watched him closely, coffee color tresses falling to one side of her shoulder in the direction that her head had tilted.

[Ceverus]

Again he chuckles with a shake of his head, "You have nothing to worry about. My creations venture through those gates only when permitted. And they're closed off at the moment. After what transpired the last thing anyone needs is a pack of flesh hungry wraiths running about town. They're perfectly content here in my realm, their home." he says, gauging her actions towards him. "Does my presence make you uneasy? I only wished to see how you were holding up." he asks, tilting his head in the opposite direction as hers, his tone reverting from being more relaxed to sincere. If she wanted him to leave he would with no questions asked.

[Ariana]

"No. I was merely curious if I was going to wake up in a realm with shadow creatures corrupting my body or even my friend who is watching over my body. If he hasn't fallen asleep either.."

She smiled and shook her head, thinking back to Mandre. Then she moved into the forest. Looking to see how similar this was to her home.

"Tell me Ceverus, what is your home like?"

[Ceverus]

Ceverus takes a long drag off his cigarette, thinking of how best to describe his home. "Well, it's beautiful in my eyes however one of the mortal realm may find it...depressing, to put it mildly. The forests are like this one, however the trees are dead in appearance, Spanish moss hanging from the branches, the glowing eyes of wraiths and other of my creations stare unblinkingly at you from the brush. The sky is constantly overcast, as though no light had ever penetrated those great masses of clouds...the cities are just like the ones here only what mortals call the night life is everyday life. Everyone's happy there in the darkness that consumes the realm, we thrive off it and in turn it keeps even the boldest of treasure hunters or demons out, none who I have not personally allowed to enter my realm has never returned." he says, words once again trailing off as thinks about how glorious he thought his home to be. A small, rare, smile spreads across his lips at the thought.

[Ariana]

She turned and looked at him, watching his facial expressions as he spoke of his home. She would have dared to say his face lit up as he spoke of it. It must be a glorious place no matter how someone looked at it. Not many could see something beautiful in darkness, it took one of different walks of life to see the light in the darkness. Ariana smiled and nodded her head at his words.

"Perhaps one day you can take me there. I am curious to find out what this place appears to myself but you have given such vivid detail that I feel as though I have already stepped foot there."

[Ceverus]

Snapping out of his trance he looks at Ariana when she speaks. "I would be happy to show you. I'm fact, I could show you after you are rested here since you're already so close." he says, smile widening. It felt good to have another member of the coven wish to see his home, no one had ever asked before now and it brought a certain joy to his heart. "Now, I've seen the forest. What's the rest of your home like?" He asks as he drags off his cigarette.

[Ariana]

Ariana motioned for him to follow her. If this was like her previous home than they were not that far away.

"Follow me and I will show you what it used to look like."

She weaved her way through the dense trees until she came to a river. A smile lit up her face. It was just as she remembered, except her home was no longer there. As she walked across the river she was greeted with the aroma of food her people made. To someone else it may have seemed an awkward smell but to her it was wonderful. As they drew closer she needed to stop, panic taking over her as she knew that this was just a dream and as such a dream will either turn to a nightmare or she will wake up.

"This is my home. We live amongst the trees, amongst nature. Hidden by our charms, we did not ever come in contact with human items as we had for thousands of years before. There was no harsh winter here. No snow to fall. Only what a human would call spring, summer, and autumn. The trees are taller and thicker than those found in the Red Wood forest. At night the trees give off a light glow to light the way in the darkness. If you are lucky on a late summers night you could find a mushroom that is so sweet it would cause even the most expensive chocolate to turn away in shame. There is no place like it and there will never be another place.."

[Ceverus]

Cev butts out his cigarette, the shadows pulling out of the dream as he stands and follows Ariana, slipping his hands into his pockets. He looks around at the scenery, a tad too bright for him but beautiful none the less. "It sounds wonderful. To be in a constant state of comfort, no way for corruption...the perfect existence." he says pensively, being located parallel to hell didn't make for the most peaceful of times until recently when Jinko had taken over as its ruler. "It must have been nice. What's happened to it to make you say what it used to look like?" he asks, moving next to her, looking from her to the area around her.