[jobiehanna]

Meeko watched the diosol curiously, wondering how she had sensed a wish. But then again, it really was no surprise she had such an a ability, he was seeing spirits now, wasn't he? "Um, no, no wish," he said hastily. At least he hadn't been thinking of a wish right now. In the past he had been, but not now.

He turned back to Dulce. "You don't have to call me sir," he began, realizing that he hadn't given his name yet. "You can call me Meeko." He offered the paragon a friendly smile, then began his story. It's all very blurry," he answered her. "I remember thinking I was dead. There were voices talking, discussing my fate and that of my pack mates, but then there was a louder voice. I don't remember all the words, other than 'second chance to live' and 'good creatures can do more good' and 'there is more in store'. It was all confusing, but then I found myself here, in Evelon with a new body. It was all rather strange," he finished his story. "Does that help any?"

[Freezair]

"Doing good... Sounds like Them."

Dulce turned her head away, her skull dipping towards the ground. Her red horns stuck out like fire against the whirling snow, and the glowing of her eyes dimmed. "For her there was no good..."

"Her!" Esperanza floated up, and her ears and nose twitched. "You! You have a wish!" She twisted through the air, into the Lucain-man's face. "I believe you woke up a wish in her. I believe? Not sure... Is strange. Believe I would have noticed, but... you are not alive. What are you called?"

"Dulce," she said.

For a moment, Esperanza hung there, thinking, as if she almost remembered something. But she shook it away.  

[9, 17]

[jobiehanna]

Meeko was confused by Dulce's comment, but he just assumed it had something to do with the realm of spirits and pushed the confusion away. Listening to this conversation was much more interesting. He flinched when the diosol fluttered toward his face. He hadn't expected that. But with these guys, he should really be expecting anything, right?

"Well, uh, I don't know," Meeko said looking toward Dulce. "How did I awaken a wish in you?" He didn't understand what was going on with the diosol and paragon at all.

[Freezair]

"Is nothing!" The Paragon turned her head away in vehement denial. "Is a mistake." The light in her eyes died completely.

So strong was her denial, however, it was obvious that it wasn't a mistake. Dwarfed by her great size, the Diosol drifted up to her. She landed in the snow at Dulce's feet. She did not sink in or leave so much as a mark. She blinked slowly.

"You do. You have a wish. A wish... Someone beloved by you has died."

"I am dead. Would be simple, yes, very very simple, to see that person... There is not a problem."  Her eyes re-lit, and she stood defensively. Her head gazed off toward the temple emptily. On her back, the little boy shifted. He seemed to be listening intently, puzzling over the conversation.

[jobiehanna]

Meeko tilted his head and watched the exchange. There wasn't very much he could do at this point other than listen and stare, which was a little awkward for him. The little diosol talking to the large paragon was actually a comical sight if you compared their size difference. He was interested in the conversation, but he was a little confused as to where it was going. Was Dulce hiding something from the diosol? It certainly seemed like it.

((Sorry for the wait, I can leave if you'd like so you won't have to wait any longer if you'd like. I've been busy lately.))

[Freezair]

((No, it's alright. You can stay. ))

"But you not have seen this person," the Diosol said. "Wish of you is... to see this person, again."

Again, there was a faint twinge of recognition in the Diosol's... face? Yes, indeed. Although rabbitlike in shape, she displayed emotions with her face, the same way a person might. Her ears did droop a little with this. She seemed to be thinking hard, and her words were strained. Shamed, the big Paragon drooped down.

"...Yes. Is true," she sighed. "Sir, Meeko, who has returned from death... I wish to meet someone. Someone who has died. ...My mother. You returned because you were good.  Mother of mine... do not believe they would believe her good." She sighed deeply. "You truly know no more of the other world? The situation of you? Want only... to know why. Why mother did it.

[11, 19]

[jobiehanna]

Meeko shook his head sadly. "I'm sorry," he said to Dulce. "I wasn't there very long, and I was never enlightened any further." He really wished he could help Dulce with her situation, but he really had no clue. "Was your mother a bad person?" He wasn't sure if the question was too personal for Dulce, but she had caught his interest about her mother. It seemed sad that Dulce would think her mother a bad being, but maybe she was. Meeko didn't know anything about the spirit paragon, only what he had just learned from this meeting, which wasn't all that much.

((Alright, just let me know if I get in the way. ))

[Freezair]

Dulce was brief and unromantic. "Mother killed me."

The Diosol suddenly shot up with a flutter. "Killed you? Your mother?" Suddenly she was alive, circling in the air around Dulce's head. "What mother does this?"

"Not know," Dulce sighed. "Was only a small child. We were taken to the river... my brothers and I... Drowned." She shook her head. "Mother cried all the while. Knew there was a man... a new lover... Father was gone. But when I rose... believe I saw Mother jump in after us. Think she drowned, too, but have not seen her..."

"You never knew why," Esperanza said suddenly. "Now that you are wiser... You want to know why," she breathed. "Yes?"

"...Yes," Dulce admitted. "Is... true. Is my wish. You understand why my mother... was not a good person?"

[jobiehanna]

"You're own mother killed you?" Meeko asked the question before he had a chance to stop it. It was such a repulsive idea to think that Dulce's own mother had murdered her and her brothers. "Yes, I understand," he said softly. "I'd want to know why she did it as well." He looked up at the large paragon, sympathy in his eyes. "You haven't seen her since?" It was so sad to think of what had happened to Dulce. Why had her mother killed her though? It was such a mysterious question, Meeko wondered if it would ever be answered.

[Freezair]

"You understand!" Dulce suddenly brightened, and looked between Meeko and Esperanza. With a quick flick, she looked over her shoulder, but the little boy appeared to have fallen asleep. Her tongue lolled out in a sort of a frown, while her eyes dimmed. She should not leave this little boy out here; he needed to go to the other side. And yet... He was sleeping. Perhaps there was time here, just to check... Dulce felt bad, but this girl, Esperanza... Dulce felt she was important. She was a spirit anyway, so surely she had been sent by Them?

"Mother was not cruel before that day. She loved us, my older sisters and I... and our little brother. He was only a baby. As a woman, I am more confused... Why? Why?"

((Quick Spanish lesson: Due to the way plurals work in Spanish, the word for "siblings" directly translates as "brothers." So it's the word Dulce uses, even though she only had one brother.))

[13, 21]

[jobiehanna]

It seemed odd that Dulce's mother had just decided to drown her own children, as if on some kind of impulse or something. Meeko shook his head sadly, it truly was sad. But, if it hadn't happened, Dulce wouldn't be guiding children like she was now. Or, maybe she would have been. He didn't really know. "Perhaps because, as a child, we just accept things like that, but as we age, we become more curious," Meeko said thoughtfully. "Maybe, it's just an idea." He glanced at the paragon once more. Just a magnificent creature, but so confused as well.

((Alright. Feel free to through in Spanish here and there if you want, I'm taking it as a language in college, I'm only in Spanish one now, but it's always fun to pick out what I know. Though, Meeko himself doesn't know any Spanish. XP))

[Freezair]

((Heh. I was just making sure you knew, since it might be confusing... but it's totally OK for Meeko to be in-character confused. XD))

"I believe that you are right," Dulce said to Meeko. "Maybe is because I was a child when she did it... An adult killed by an other adult... Would he forgive he who killed him? As a child, I accepted that a bad thing, for me there was happening. I can forgive... maybe."

Esperanza sat in the snow next to Meeko, her ears twitching. "Your mother... she was like?"

"Hair, dark. Eyes, dark also. She had many white dresses... Eggs were her favorite food. A sweet voice. When Father left, many men asked for her. The new lover... I remember him."

"A good description. But vague," Esperanza sighed. "Her name was what? ...Not told you mine," she chuckled slightly. "I call myself Esperanza."  

Dulce gasped, only slightly.

"Esperanza... was my oldest sister's name..."

[14, 22]

[jobiehanna]

((Spanish is confusing sometimes.    But yeah, totally okay for Meeko to be confused.   ))

"You're mother must have been very pretty," Meeko commented after Dulce had given a description of her mother. He could imagine the young woman with her children, taking care of them. But, to kill them? It seemed like there was a whole story behind that. If only her mother was alive, Dulce might be able to find her better.

At the mention of the name sharing between the diosol and Dulce's older sister, Meeko wondered if there was any connection between them. After all, everyone changed in the after life. "Perhaps there is a connection there?" He suggested the question innocently, purely curious.

[Freezair]

"Aye. Beautiful," Dulce sighed. Momentarily, lost in the nostalgia, she forgot about the loss of her mother. But there was Esperanza, staring her in the face. No. She couldn't forget.

...But had Esperanza?

"I have no brothers," Esperanza shook her head. "Don't believe so. I know that I had a life before this one. Do not remember much. This sad story... I believe I would remember that. Didn't forget," she said, looking at Dulce. "Is a name, not rare."

"It means 'hope,'" Dulce observed. "A name someone might give to a granter of wishes... Might be nothing. Coincidence."

[jobiehanna]

Meeko looked from Dulce to Esperanza. The two definitely did not seem related in any way. One was a paragon, the other a diosol. The only common characteristic was the familiar name of Esperanza and that both of them had been brought to do different deeds in the spirit world. It surprised him that both of the spirit beings, himself included, had once had another like. "What were your lives like, before?" He asked the pair of them.