The breeze was crisp as it blew through the trees, taking leaves off their branches as it passed. The temperatures dropped suddenly in the last week, making it cool enough out to where a heavier cloak. But the Goddess of Blades had her cloak off as she stood near the lake, her scimitars unsheathed, reflecting the sunlight on the dark blades. She swung them in precise patterns, stopping them in mid swings and changing directions with an ease only very few could accomplish.

Vaoulrah, on the other hand, had her blue, wool lined cloak on as she chased squirrels and leaves, falling over several times but always standing back up to pursue her targets.

Veronna was breathing heavily, and sweat could be seen on her bare arms and face, her concentration on her practices, not worried about her surroundings. She then halted her practice, letting her arms fall to her sides, all of a sudden feeling tired. She had been feeling this way lately, unable to carry on her practices for very long.

She looked over at Vaoulrah and smiled, feeling proud of her child, who was growing up too fast for Veronna. She was now three years old, able to walk and talk, though her sentences were short, and normally in the Dark Elf language, though she knew some common.

Veronna realized she was panting and that her legs felt weak. Something was going on with her, not sure if it was psychological or physical. It felt physical, but something else was going on, it almost felt like something, or someone was taking her power and only let her use it when in actually combat, when she felt the rush of combat with another person.

She sheathed her scimitars and walked up to the lake and sat on her knees, looking in to the dark, cold depths of the lake. She cupped her hands and scooped some water up in them and splashed it in her face, trying to see if it would help her feel more strong, more alive. But it just felt cold, and made her wet. She put her hands in to the water again and poured it into her mouth, Just noticing how thirsty she was.

Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail and wrapped around into a bun at the back of her head. She stuck her face into the water this time, leaving it there for a few moments before pulling herself back up. The water running down her neck over her shoulders. While she was doing this, her attention was on only that, and not her surroundings, leaving it opened for someone to come by with out her noticing.

Ace was quite annoyed with himself when the sudden realization of how long it had been since he had last visited his good friend Veronna. The worst part was that he could think of no real reason for him to have not done so. The academy of magic was still in need of students and certainly hadn’t kept him too busy to visit a friend. Sure he had been actively trying to recruit more students into the academy, but that wasn’t it either. It certainly wasn’t that Veronna’s temple was dangerous to himself as the temples of the elemental deities were. That had been, however, his reasons for not greeting Meera after she became a goddess not too long ago or Ranewen well before her. It wasn’t that Ace hadn’t been in Taras either, for Ace often had academy business to handle there. The only thing Ace could think of was the second disappearance of his mother. This disappearance had been of her own accord and seemed to have to do more with her own past than Clawd’s design. Perhaps that was indeed it, but the time had come to end this excuse and whatever had held him back before.

When Ace got to the Temple, Ace had found out that the goddess had taken a trip to Norwood forest with her daughter. Ace decided to follow them. They hadn’t left too long ago and neither of them surely had wings to help cover the distance faster. Ace took off and swiftly followed the trail they had taken. The cool wind felt nice as it rustled through his silvery hair, and passed over his skin and silver scales. He may have seemed a bit underdressed for the weather, but it didn’t bother him much as he was quite adjusted to the change by now. As Ace neared Norwood Forest he realized that he had no idea where in forest they were headed. The easiest spot to pick out was Norwood Lake and pretty much every where they would be would be hidden from his bird’s eye view. He wove together a spell to remedy the problem and point out where he could find the mother and daughter. A misty arrow sprouted out of nowhere before him and pointed towards the Lake.

As Ace drew in towards the Lake he saw little Vaoulrah chasing a few of the woodland creatures and leaves near the lake in her cute little blue cloak. “Greetings Veronna and Vaoulrah,” Ace greeted as he flew in lower and landed down near Veronna after she pulled her head out of the water.

As Veronna pulled her head out of the water as a voice greeted her. She was taken by surprise and quickly drew her one of her scimitars with her right hand as she stood up to face the voice. She had not recognized the voice, but when she saw who had spoken the words she let her weapon bearing hand relax at her side, and a smile spread on to her face. "Well, this is a surprise." Is all she said as she sheathed her weapon once more, ignoring the instinct to attack this man who had come out of no where without her noticing. But her was not just any man. He was a good friend of hers, and she forced that in to her brain, keeping whatever urge that told her to attack at bay.

"How have you been Ace?" She asked, her smile remaining on her face as she looked him up and down, seeing how much he had changed over the last few years. Had it really been that long ago since she last saw him? She looked over at Vaoulrah, who was standing a few feet away, cautious of the stranger who was talking with her mother. "Or should I ask, where have you been? It's been a little over three years since I last saw you. Have you been to busy to come visit an old friend?" She raised her eyebrows questioningly at him.

Veronna knew that she had changed in three years. After she had Vaoulrah, she realized she had gotten soft. She tried denying it, but she stopped doing that and started hardening herself again, working to get in perfect physical condition. Which she believed she had reached, but she could not shake the tiredness that seem to be following her around. She ignored it for now, ignoring that her legs felt weak and that her hands were on she verge of shaking from exhaustion, though she had barely done anything to make herself feel tired.

She hid these signs from those around her, even Ocar. She believed she could figure out what was wrong on her own. Which was most likely a mistake, but she was stubborn that way, never accepting help from anyone unless they force it upon her. Ace here, he had helped her once before, and she would never ask for his help again, for worry of putting him in danger. She was more powerful now then anytime before. Her divine powers were above any of the other deities, she was in most senses the head goddess now since Laoura was gone. She doubted, however, she could control these powers, worried that they may over power her, but she slowly realized that she only got the powers she was ready for. She behaved more like a goddess now, especially when around strangers. She had to act the way her status told her too, having to take control of things and make people know that she is there.

But she was around a friend right now, and she put on no face around him. She merely looked like a fighter, out in the woods with her child.

Surprising the Goddess of Blades had not quite been his intention, nor did it seem a wise course of action as he did not need to test whether her blades reacted before she did. It was good that she remembered and wasn’t showing signs of being angry at him not giving her a visit in quite some time. Still, it didn’t take long for the question to arise. He had thought more on the answer when he soared in the air and even as he made his way to her temple, but he still wasn’t satisfied with his answer. Of course he couldn’t think of any reason being good when it explained withdrawing from ones friends for three years. It was truly quite shameful, yet there was nothing to be done of the past, save learn from it and move on.

“Aye, you indeed should ask that. I’d like to say I’ve been in some exotic elsewhere, yet no, I am still a magister at the Academy of Magic and have not left that job in all these years. The first few months were merely time for you and your husband to enjoy yourself without disturbance, but after that I had intended to visit you. Yet, I became consumed within with my studies and work after failing to find clues on the whereabouts of my father and mother and lost touch with things outside of the Academy and things would not sate my thirst for knowledge. I hoped learning more of magic itself would help me think of something that would work. Quite shameful, I know, but not all truths are glamorous,” Ace explained trying not to sound as pathetic as he felt.

“If you hadn’t been a pregnant goddess that didn’t become the effective head of Deities as well as a mother of a beautiful child, I would have to ask why you never visited me at the Academy of magic. But aside from that I’ve been quite well,” Ace smiled.

Ace as looked at Veronna he noticed a faint aura about her that he didn’t remember before. As far as he remembered gods did not have such auras normal, but it had been forever since Ace had last seen a god. He had seen Ornell recently, but her powers were quite dulled in comparison to Lady Era. It could be some sort of sign of being head goddess, or perhaps his training had brought him to a point of noticing such auras. If was some sort of enchantment it was one well guarded that was meant to be kept unnoticed by even studious mages. Yet, the aura was also so faint that it could have been merely a figment of his imagination. Ace decided to dismiss it as his imagination after all Vernnona had no spells to hide and it was certainly ludicrous to think that one could slip an enchantment upon her without her knowing.

“And I don’t think I’ve properly introduced myself to Vaoulrah. I am Ace, an old friend of your mother. It is a pleasure to meet you, Vaoulrah,” Ace smiled to Vaoulrah.

“Usstan tlun Ace, natha zhuanth abbil d'dosst ilhar. Ol zhah natha ssrigg'tul ulu thalra dos, Vaoulrah,” Ace said in case the child had understood drow and not common yet.

“How have you been? You have quite a few titles on your shoulders, warrior, goddess, wife, mother, they certainly must have kept your life entertaining over the years,” Ace said, directing his attention back to Veronna.

Veronna listened to Ace's answer, not angry at him at all for not visiting her, just a bit curious. His answer seemed quite good, for it sounded as if his life had been busy like hers, except he did not have thousands of different responsibilities laid upon his shoulders, unlike her. She understood his life was consumed for several years, and there was nothing to change that. She felt bad that she had never found time to visit him at the academy, but truth be told, mages made her slightly uneasy.

When Ace said he had not properly introduced himself to Vaoulrah, who now was standing behind her mother's leg, gripping it tightly as her bright green eyes stared at the stranger. She did not react to the common he spoke, than she tilted her head slightly when he spoke dark elf, but still said nothing, holding on to her mother's leg even tighter.

Veronna smiled down at the child, than bent down and lifted her up, and held her, Ace not leaving the child's gaze, which looked like the same stare her mother gave people she did not know. "Abbil." Veronna said pointing towards Ace, and looking at Vaoulrah.
The waited a moment, then repeated; "Abbil." In a quiet, small voice, her stare becoming less intense.

Veronna lowered the child to the ground again, "Alu inbal jivvin." She said to Vaoulrah, who than gave Ace one more stare then turned and ran off to find some other kind of animal to annoy.

When Ace asked how she had been, she sighed and gave him a smile. "Busy." She said looking down at the ground. "When I first became a Goddess, I thought it would be fun, exciting, never being able to die. Then, I find someone I love, and I have never regretted marrying him. Now I'm a mother, and love it, but things have begun to stack, more problems arise everyday, matters have to be attended too." She said as she started to pace slightly, irritation slowly seeping into her voice and body. "Not to mention the other Gods. I know they are all here and willing to help and most do, but it always ends up with one more deity of Imythess leaving." She stopped pacing, still staring at the ground. "And truth be told, I don't know how to be a leader to them. I can be a leader to armies, and fighters, but I don't quite understand how I'm suppose to lead the deities of Imythess. That was why we had Laoura, she was a born leader, she knew what to do. Me?" She spread her arms open, "I'm worried no one will ever respect me the way they respected Laoura." She fell silent, just realizing what all she had just said.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be ranting this to you, it's nothing you have to worry about." She looked up at him with an apologetic face. "So, I guess to answer your question truthfully; frustrated. Frustrated and tired, that's how I have been."

Vaoulrah had seemed to have a decent fear of strangers. Rather strange for her being the daughter of ruler of Taras as well as the head of the deities. Ace imagined that the goddess god got countless visitors into the temple, though perhaps Veronna kept her daughter away from the crowd. There was also the fact that she had not likely seen many people like Ace. The unfamiliar draconic wings, tail, and clawed hands might have been enough to frighten her. Dragons and half-dragons were not a common sight in Taras and it was even less common to find a half-dragon seeming more human than dragon as Ace did.

The goddess comforted her child and then sent the child off to go play around, allowing Veronna to talk to Ace without the frightened staring child. Ace was not at all surprised that afterward Veronna brought her own definition of busy which certainly topped his own, but he was surprised to hear her doubt her own skills or the pacing that came irritation collecting in her voice. Of all the things keeping her busy the management of the gods certainly seemed the most stressful. Ace imagined that it could indeed be a little difficult, particularly if the ascension to godhood also brought along a growth in one’s ego.

“No, it’s quite alright. That’s what Abbil are for, isn’t it, to be there for you when things are rough as well as smooth. Besides, you worry too much. You are a leader. You have been the ruler of Taras even when Laoura was here, you have lead armies to battle, and warriors from across all of Imythess seek your advice in one matter or another. You may be no born leader, but I do not think there was any mistake in making you the head goddess. You are a leader, whether you were born one or have become one,” Ace replied coolly.

“I can’t say much of gods, but would assume that leading them is not as hard as leading any other group. Sure they have, well, godly powers, but so do you. Besides, when it comes to being a deity you’ve got ample experience over all of them to use at your advantage. You know of the troubles and frustrations that might come the responsibilities of being a deity.” Hopefully that would be enough to make her feel better about herself and alleviate some of here frustration.

“As far as your tiredness goes, one would think being a deity would put an end to all weariness,” Ace jested. “But, I could see where it might stem from your frustration and busy life. Meditation, might be enough help solve the problem. If you like, I could teach you a few good meditation methods,” Ace offered with a more serious tone. Ace had learned a little of meditation through his magical studies, though he hadn't gotten into meditating regularly.

Veronna listened, grateful to have Ace around. She forgot what having friends was like. She had alienated herself from several people in the past few months, including her husband. She loved him, but she was always busy and found it harder and harder to spend time with him. What Ace said made her feel better, but she still did not feel right. For one, was that no one really appointed her head goddess, she just sort of took that role upon herself, not asking any of the other current gods what they thought. Someone had to do it, and she was the most experienced one out of all of them, which Ace was correct about. Even if she was younger then all the other gods, she had been a goddess longer.

Leading them was something else. She knew they were just like people, only with powers that came from a stronger source. She just found it hard to tell the gods what to do, since they were like her, their powers almost as strong as hers. But perhaps she would figure out how to lead them when she actually gathered them together.

When Ace joked about her tiredness, she glared at him quickly, her eyes obviously showing she was not amused. As he mentioned meditation, she frowned; meditation was not something she was good at. She had tried once or twice while living in the Dark Lands, but was always to distracted to actually do it seriously. "I'm not sure that will help. Meditation has never been something I was god at." She said, knowing he would insist if she did not say anything else, so she added more. "I have a hunch this tiredness is not natural. It started a few months back, and I think it's getting worse." She explained, her voice still strong, but her body shaking slightly, this was something she was truly worried about. She had kept ignoring it until now, realizing she could not continue to put this off, knowing she had to tell someone about it.

"When I am fighting, I don't feel tired, it actually gives me strength, but when I am not fighting, or when I am not angry, I feel as if I am about to collapse. You are a mage, perhaps you know of something like this? Some sort of enchantment or curse?" She asked, hoping he knew. She was tired of living like this, and she was worried that it was going to get out of control, until when she did enter battle she would use too much power and hurt someone, perhaps even her own child. She knew Ace was not a god, but his understanding in magic would be greater then hers, for she only specialized in non-magical combat.

(>.< sorry that took foooooorever)
Meditation itself was something Ace didn’t like so much himself. He had learned of it over the course of his study of magic, but never managed to work it out into a habit. Whenever he tried his hand at it he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was simply wasting his time. He didn’t need it for his own spellcasting like some mages, and he did have a fair amount of work to do as magister, so what ever the benefits might possibly be they never quite seemed to overwhelm time taken to meditate. As such, Ace saw no need to pressure her further when she explained that meditation wasn’t something she was good at. It wasn’t something for everyone after all.

Ace paled as Veronna explained what she actually was going through. It was certainly no laughing matter or anything to make light of. That meant he was correct, someone had indeed cursed the goddess and then made to hide their work. Who ever it was certainly was no amateur, but before he could learn more of who did it or more importantly, how to get rid of it, he would need to remove the illusion hiding the curse. He knew wouldn’t be able to get rid of the curse from here or easily for that matter. Given that it was having this sort of effect on a goddess meant that this was a very powerful curse and that would make it all the more difficult to remove.

“It would indeed seem to be something of arcane nature. I thought I sensed something amiss when I came here. I can’t tell what nature of curse it is for it is presently masked; though that is something I sure lies within my power to fix. I am sure I won’t be able to do anything about the curse immediately, but I’d like to dispel the illusion hiding it and see what we are up against now,” Ace explained before moving into action. His fingers busied themselves in an intricate, yet brief dance and soft arcane words were ushered forth by his tongue. A light green translucent bubble began to fade into view. It seemed almost material, yet was not and would not be felt in any manner if Veronna to reach out to touch it. Ace lightly touched the arcane energy and it audibly cracked. The crack spread quickly and branched out around the bubble. Once the entire bubble was well decorated with fissures it shattered loudly leaving the shards to fade into oblivion as the fell down.

A strong arcane aura was then exposed with its cover destroyed. Ace was both horrified and awed by the aura and hating himself for seeing the malignant curse in such a gracious light. He shook his head and concentrated on looking at the aura analytically. It was strong spell cast by powerful caster; possibly besting Ace and clearly besting anyone in the Academy of Magic. The spell was not one Ace was familiar with as Ace had thought would be the case and brought a use to many of the magical theories that Ace had learned over the year. “Tracing the spell to its caster shouldn’t be a problem with an aura this strong, but the process still take time and will require materials I have presently at the academy. I suggest we make a band to meet this mage beforehand, so that we make act quickly once we find out where to act. You may send your chosen, but I do not suggest you join us. There is no telling what else that mage can do to you after pulling off a curse like this, and it is possible that it will worsen with proximity,” Ace explained as he paused from his study of her Aura. Ace was annoyed with himself for not being able to tell much of the spell. The biggest question was whether the mage would have to be killed to remove the curse or something more intricate was required.

Veronna grimaced when Ace said that he had noticed something amiss when arriving at the lake. She lightened up slightly when her friend said he could remove the illusion hiding the curse. She waited patiently as the mage made quick movements with his hands, speaking some language she did not know, creating a bubble that floated in front of her. She did not flinch as the loud crack came from it, her eyes not leaving the magic that floated in front of her.

She watched as a couple different emotions appeared on Ace's face, ones that were not to comforting. She started to feel something, a strange tingling around her. She looked down at herself, then lifting her hand to observe it. It looked normal, but she knew better, she was a goddess! She was more powerful then even the mage standing before. She half-closed her eyes, reaching for something deep within her mind that spanned past the material plane. She opened her eyes again, and saw the curse to it's full extent. Her hand looked withered, old and worn. A darkness seemed to surround it, one that was darker then even the aura Seele gave off.

She heard Ace speaking, but did not hear the words. She started breathing heavy, and realized she was loosing it. This darkness scared her, and she could not remember the last time she had been scared. The more she looked at her hand, the more she saw it looking worse. Pain then started, feeling like daggers stabbing in to her hand. "Ace..." She managed before doubling over, pain now in her gut. She gritted her teeth, biting down until she made her jaw and mouth sore. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, trying to stand the pain. "Stop it..." She fell to her knees, starting to cough. Blood came up in a matter of seconds of her coughing, the pain getting worse.

Maybe she was doing it, maybe she was causing it to get worse. She closed her eyes, trying to concentrate, trying to stop the pain. It wouldn't. It wouldn't stop. What was wrong? Was it Ace? Maybe he was causing the pain, maybe he was inflicting her with this curse. She looked up at Ace, her eyes on fire, ready to attack him. Her hand whipped to her scimitar, ready to draw the blade. Maybe by removing the illusion it would stop. Maybe the darkness was released by the disillusion. She had her weapon drawn, but could not stand, and ended up dropping her blade to the ground. Now on her hands and knees, her head was spinning, and could not think. She felt a black out coming, but pushed it back for a second more, hoping Ace would be able to do something to help her.

Suddenly a new aura bloomed into view. It’s was clearly of the same caster as the first, but it was stronger, unlike the curse intended for it effect to last over a long duration. This spell would be short-lived, but Ace knew full well he could not let it continue for long. He could not discern what feel thing it would do Veronna aside from the fact that it was malignant energy, but he knew immediately what it would do to himself. The aura was strong enough to swiftly shift Ace’s alignment to darkness. If he didn’t stop it in time, he would lose it, and after that Veronna could possibly die from the assault of the spell, or she could kill Ace, or worst of all Ace might kill Veronna’s daughter. Ace could let any of those possibilities come to reality and had to act fast.

Ace acted mostly out of quick relflex, only slightly aware of what he was doing. In a swift motion he shot hand forward such that his palm was parallel with the still standing goddess. He could her talking to him, but could do more than hope his spell worked. Even trying to speak to her to reassure her might cause him to fumble the spell and evaporate his one chance to stop the influx of energy. Colored waves spread out from Ace’s hand in rainbow-like bands that seemed to blend into each new color. The wave curve away from Ace and curled around Veronna, forming another bubble around the goddess. The bubble rapidly shrunk down into a skintight wrapping and then seemed to slowly fade into nothingness. The spell had taken more out of Ace than he had thought or hoped it would, but hopefully it would work and be enough. If it did it would make the goddess immune not only to the influx of magic, but also the curse. This was of course no permanent fix as would need to keep control of the spell which would slowly wear away at his energy.

Ace rushed to Veronna side. He shuddered to think of what the spell would have done to her if Ace had not interfered. Hopefully she was still conscious; He needed to get her to her temple where it might be safe to remove the magic barrier he had erected around her, and it would be difficult to get her and her daughter there by himself in his present state. “Are you okay?” Ace said as he reached into the bag he had brought with him. He fumbled around for the potion bottle he was looking for. Gripping it he pulled it out. If she was awake he could give the potion to her and help her return her strength, but that wouldn’t be a possibility if she was blacked out as he would instead choke her with the healing liquid. “Are you okay, Veronna?” Ace repeated shaking her slightly.