[Freezair]

Eurydice didn't need to be told twice! She felt her heart aglow, and she focused her mind on Umberto. She didn't mean to meld with him. Really, she didn't. But she felt a touch of his thoughts at the edge of hers.

And his thoughts were not like others.

Other minds were like ponds. She jumped into them, splashed around for a bit, and came out to dry. Umberto's mind was like a vast ocean, roaring in the thrall of a heavy storm. His thoughts surged and lapped. They rose off into the horizon, far into the depths of unconsciousness and across several layers of thought at once. And they shone. Oh, how they shone! The light from that ocean drove her back with blindness. She stumbled away from him, and though it didn't help, she reflexively covered her eyes. She groaned quietly, her belief temporarily broken.

To an outsider, she would have appeared to stumble for no reason. And so vast was Umberto's mind, even he did not notice the tiny tracks along the shore of it. With his eyes closed, he sat on the floor, pacing out a stretch of it. Almost as if he were beating down a roadway with his feet.

[GrayGriffin]

Shawn was not really one for leaping into others' thoughts, so he merely closed his eyes, crossed his claws, and did his best to imagine the man going home. Admittedly, he had no solid impression of what the man's home looked like, so he just imagined a vague image of a home and some other humans, with the man running towards them, and Umberto guiding him from above. However, when he heard the groan, he opened his eyes, turning to Eurydice.

"Eurydice! Are you alright?" he exclaimed.

Morgan was slowly reading off the man's aura, trying to pick up traces of his homeworld. In his mind, he was collecting fragments, slowly assembling them into a map that he would present to Umberto.

[8]

[Freezair]

"Ugggh." Eurydice picked up her head with a cough. Her body felt sore and shaky. "I... I don't know what happened! I was just trying to help like you, and... I guess my mind drifted a little bit, but it went somewhere... weird. And it was really big and it gave me a headache." She put a claw to her forehead.

Umberto's own concentration was severed by the shout. The spell began to drift away from him. He hastily anchored it in place and drifted over to Eurydice. "Are you alright?"

Eurydice lifted her head and blinked at him. In the depths of his large, lavender eyes, she saw the shore of the great sea.

"...You! It... it was you! I... I must have touched you mi--what are you?"

Umberto's smile was secretive. "I am someone who can help you. And that is all that is important right now. But I must warn you, dream child--my dreams are not safe to wade through. I appreciate your help, but you must keep your thoughts contained around me."

"I--yes," Eurydice gulped.

"Good. Take a deep breath and try to restrain yourself. I must get back to the working." Umberto drifted back to his spot, leaving Eurydice to wonder. And wonder she did.

"Restrain... myself?"

[GrayGriffin]

Shawn sighed in relief as Eurydice righted himself. Even though most of the conversation between Umberto and Eurydice went over his head, he could figure out that apparently there was something really strange about the rabbit's mind. The warning seemed a little odd. Hadn't Eurydice already said she wouldn't try to look into his mind again?

"Maybe he just means to be careful when you do that kind of thing in the future," he suggested. "And...do we have to start again?"

Morgan shook his head. "Do not worry. The spell has been secured in its current state. As soon as we get back into a proper state of mind, it can continue."

"Good," said the man. "Um...do you still have to be holding my arm?"

"Yes. I have not completed my part of the spell yet."

"Okay."

[9]

[Freezair]

"I do not think she meant to look upon my mind," Umberto said. "But her nature is such an exhuberant one, I imagine she had difficulty controlling herself. Which is why I say: Focus yourself, child. Take deep breaths. Measure yourself. I do appreciate your help, but you must learn how to be of help."

"Learn how to... You have to learn how to help?" Umberto seemed to have trapped Eurydice in a kind of logic loop. She sat their on her haunches, looking not quite as pensive as she had been when helping Umberto, and more aloof and wondering. But her thoughts were still with Umberto, and wondering out his words. Perhaps it was not quite what he had hoped for. But it was a kind of belief in him and his cause, and he felt power rushing through him.

"The gate is opening...!" Something seemed to glow around his chest, as if he had a light-up necklace. But light fountained out of the spot in a waterfall, and seemed to spill out in a trail that darted across the floor. The path of light flowed into the space between two buildings. Umberto sank to the ground, and blinked slowly.

"There. I think it's done."

The white pathway glimmered, like a sparkling river or pearl-colored sidewalk. The space between the two buildings looked normal, at first, but went hazy the deeper into the alleyway you looked--it seemed to go off much farther than it should, a road winding towards the horizon, with a faint vision of something that looked like a house at the end.

Umberto nodded to his friend. "Well done. I think we did a bang-up job."

[GrayGriffin]

[Sorry for replying to this kind of late. I just got my order of Candy Shop War 2 from Amazon, and reading that took top priority. Great book. Now I want to make custom versions of the protagonists along with the ones I'm already planning.]

The hooded man smiled, releasing the other man's arm. Tears were trickling down that man's cheeks. "That's...that's really my home!" Suddenly, on an impulse, he wrapped his arms around the man in front of him, then turned to Shawn and Eurydice, grabbing their legs as well. "Thank you! Thank you all so much!" He was already moving towards the portal, waving. "Goodbye!" he called. "Hopefully we won't meet under such circumstances again!"

"You're welcome!" called Shawn. He had appreciated the hug, and was now waving as well, as the man started on the pathway home.

[10]

[Freezair]

((FFFF. You have to let me meet them if you get them. I'd be totally jealous if you got a Lindy custom, f'reals. She kind of became my favorite character by a whole lot in that book.))

"Oh! It worked!" Eurydice seemed to snap out of her daze, and lifted a claw. "Goodbye! It's been fun! Tell all your friends about us!"

Umberto chuckled. Although Eurydice meant well, he somehow had difficulty imagining the man sharing the details of this particular encounter too closely. Perhaps, though, it would give him a story to share with his children, of perhaps a lovely (if a bit frightening) dream he'd had after falling asleep in the backyard.

Eurydice seemed to turn inwardly again, however, after waving the man off. "But... But what happened still... What DID he mean...?" An exhuberant personality? Reining that in? The whole idea seemed alien and bizarre. Once again, she was unusually thoughtful and quiet as she sat there.

((And I think we're close to the end. A few more posts to round this off?))

[GrayGriffin]

[Pfft, I've already got seven other Kid Hero customs lined up. I've got sample images and everything for them.]

The man laughed at Eurydice's line. "Unfortunately, I'm not sure I can!" he said, his voice growing fainter and fainter. Shawn watched as the man slowly seemed to fade away, the portal closing behind him.

"That went fairly well," commented the hooded man. "It was good of you to think of taking him here. I'm very glad that I could be of assistance at last."

"Yeah...but I think we have to go back now, right?" asked Shawn. "Thank you for helping us, though!"

"Oh, it is no problem. My pleasure, in fact."

[11]

[Freezair]

((Sorry I've been such a slow replyer. I had a crazy week at work, and I was always working night shifts, so I was doing nothing but coming home exhausted every day. I've only been replying to the breeding I'm in because it's timed. This week will hopefully be better!))

"Oh, right! Our room!" Eurydice's crest flared, as if it bounced every time she had an idea. "We do have to go back. I'm sorry we have to rush. But it's a timed thing we're in, and, um, well. It's... important." Eurydice gave a sideways glance at Shawn. At least she got to spend a decent amount of time with him before... the things happened. People didn't always get that benefit when they went to the rooms. And Shawn seemed nice, even if she'd really spent more time conversing directly with the man, anyway.

"No, no. I understand," Umberto said. "I wish you luck in your future endeavors. And Eurydice?"

Her crest flared again. She stared into the Diosol's eyes. She could still see a hint of that shore, far-off and distant.

"Remember yourself. You have the power within you for self-control. I know you do. Take a few deep breaths, and learn to center yourself."

"I... Yes," she replied with a slightly dazed look.

Self control... whatever that would mean. Self control.

[GrayGriffin]

[It's okay. I've suddenly caught a bad cold that's been wreaking havoc on my sleeping ability. Also making me have really weird dreams that may be symbolic of something.]

Morgan nodded, waving to the two Paragon as he retreated into his shop. "I wish you well," he added, before disappearing.

"Bye!" added Shawn, waving as well as he took off into the air, flapping his wings eagerly.

"That was a great adventure!" he added, turning to Eurydice. "But I guess we have to go back now, right? It was really nice spending time with you, though! Maybe we can meet again sometime!"

[I guess we can end it around here?]

[12]