The night was slightly warm, but quiet and still. The thick woods were thick with shadows and it was here that she shadow jumped to. She had left Turin asleep on her bed. Her summoning book was left there too. She didn’t know if she would be able to still summon all the things she learned how to if what she had in mind worked. That was something she was willing to risk though. Too many of her friends were enraged about it. Too many others wished to go with her when ever she decided she was ready to go back and face Gregory… not yet, not yet…

It hadn’t been this deep into the woods when she had first met Rith, but she had something she wanted to talk to him about. She had found out more information and there might be a better way for her to handle her chaotic soul. Trying to balance it wasn’t going to work the way she wanted it to. Not with people like Gregory trying to save her… That memory had seemed to burn itself into her mind and once more it was brought to the forefront. Without thinking about it, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She had felt like she was drowning in that holy power. She didn’t care of she was sacrificing the chance to ever have wings. She couldn’t even fly, so it didn’t matter. It was worse to have wings and not be able to fly then not to have them at all.

She wanted it hidden. She couldn’t hide it well enough on her own. That was clear enough. She needed to hide it in another way. She shook her head and whispered to herself, “Focus.” She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Becoming still once more caused the shadows to curl about her and to try to hide her from sight. She didn’t let them. Instead she focused on a single name. It came out as barely a whisper from her lips. “Rith.”

( short but I'll do better next time)
The words reached Rith just as they exited her mouth. He knew whose lips it was that whispered his name, Aether Draka. He did not know her immediate need, but had been keeping tabs on her well enough to know what was on her mind. He had not expected her to try and contact him, but he had given her the means to do so, though he had not informed her of them. Her interruption was timely and Rith was not handling anything that was immediately important. Lust would be more than enough for the negotiations with the small time organization. Rith only took a moment to visualize, before the shadows withdrew from AD and gathered together to form Rith’s small form and Torment’s worg form. “It has been a while since our last meeting, though it is a pity to see you disturbed,” Rith stated as color flooded into the shadows and gave them substance.

Rith wondered why she choose to come here to meet him, but it was obvious, the woods gave privacy, shadows, and she was also close to the place where they had first met. Torment would also be useful here, but much more than before if Rith was correct. “What is it that troubles you, AD?” Rith asked tilting his pumpkin head slighlty. Rith knew or at least believed he knew, but it was better let AD explain her feelings herself. Tapping into her mind wasn’t much of an option. She was a skilled Shadowdancer. Sure it had been weakened from the removal of her auras, but her recovery was notably impressive and was not likely due solely to the energy sapped from Irucher.

She opened her eyes as she felt the shadows shift and her emerald eyes focused on Rith as he appeared. She had been expecting his question, in one form or another. Still, seeing him made her smile. She trusted him and felt it was warranted. He had helped her before and even though she wasn't sure if he would be able to help her now, he would be able to tell her if it was possible.

She sighed and sat down, crossing her legs and pushing her braids over her shoulder. "I've been looking around, trying to find some things out, and I think that I have to do something about the two parts of my soul who seem to have it out for each other. More specifically one side. I'm getting very tiered of... certain types of people... thinking that they can somehow help me by killing me. What they want to do simply wont work, so I want to hide that part of me. I want to see if it is possible to take it and seal it away so it can't be seen or be attacked, or attack." She shook her head then. "Not separate, it will still be there, but hidden. Like how I can hide in the shadows and no one will see me or know that I'm there." She looked at him, so sure he knew more about magic then she did and that he would know. She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees and her hands settle next to each other.

She glanced down, turning her right hand enough to see the scar on her palm. "I don't want to try and balance it. I know I should, but... I don't want to become anything like them." She meant Gregory, Rothardan, and even Raven. She was starting to really dislike the angels and part angels. It wasn't like she hadn't tried to get along with them. She had and it hadn't worked. No matter how hard she tried it just didn't seem to work. She had walked away from those encounters, yes, but she didn't want to keep doing things like that. She didn't want to have the risk of dieing because they insisted. It was like they didn't understand why she didn't want their so called help. It wasn’t help at all. It was just trouble. She closed her fist over the scar and looked back up at Rith expectantly.

Amusing how all of the good she could think of turned out bad for her and she herself wasn’t even evil. They all had failed her and her only home was to be found in evil. Rith knew she meant to hide her good side; her encounter with Gregory was enough to show that, but there was also her good friend Lynth who gave her a home and the want-to-be lord of demons would not likely take well to those who appeared good in alignment. What she wanted to do was not as hard as balancing her soul, but it was far more dangerous. Rith had a feeling that AD was quite willing to take the necessary risks, after all it could be little worse from Gregory’s attempt to purify her soul and would at least serve to ensure that such a thing never happened again.

“What you want is possible, but shall be no simple task. It will be painful, normally so painful that you would likely die, but I have measures against that. It will bring you so near death you may even briefly see your grandmother in the abyss, but she will not yet be able to claim your soul. You would have nothing to fear if this were to happen, but must be prepared to face her nonetheless,” Rith explained as he sat on a fair sized rock. He found out earlier of AD and her grandmother though there were still details that eluded him. It was unlikely she would meet her, but it still could happen.

“I can isolate part of your soul in a gem, and fashion it into jewelry. That part of your soul would be protected from your other portion as well as from detection, but that piece of jewelry would also be nearly as important to you as life itself for you would not live long without it. As I said the risks are great, but it also rubs out many potential dangers for you in the future. It is the best, if not the only method in which one might be able to seal away part of your soul,” Rith continued. The process was simply enough and the difficulty was only holding the balance between life and death and walking the fine line between.

Aether Draka shook her head here she was sitting and her braids, no bound back at the moment, tumbled over her shoulders once more. She absently pushed her hair back behind her shoulders. “I have already summoned and spoken with my grandmother. If I do end up seeing her, then I will know that she has not done as she said she was going to and then I will have to summon her once again and confront her about it, though I won’t do that any time soon. She can wait a little while.” AD doubted she could trust the word of a demon like her own grandmother, but it was not something she really could do anything about at the moment. This might be a good chance to test it though.

She took a breath and held it for a moment. Rith knew that what she wanted to do could be done. From the sound of it, he might also know how to do it. “I’m sure that this would work better then to have to keep trying to stay allies with people who keep accusing me of being something I’m not.” She seemed to become almost mournful and her voice dropped nearly to a whisper. “I’m not sure if you know anything about where I came from… as I don’t know as much as I would like anyways, but I had been on the same side as the angels… here in Imythess though, they all seem to judge you without even knowing what or who you are. They keep knitting themselves into a smaller and smaller group and if you want to aid them in any way, they either insist that they have to make you good first or that you can’t because you are evil. I may not be as good as the angels I used to fight alongside of, but at least they let me fight alongside them. Here I am branded as evil even though I am not. I don’t understand it. I don’t know why they abandon me here in Imythess while I was an allied with them in my own home.”

Tears glistened in her eyes, but she would not allow them to fall. She clinched her hands into fists and blinked a few times to make the lingering tears that didn’t fall go away. She clinched her jaw for a moment then nodded to him. “I want to know what I have to do in order to hide away my angelic side. If I’m going to be treated like a demon I might as well make it so that the demons won’t have a reason to kill me.”

As trustworthy as demons might seem, they were still demons and far more often as not their words were worth less than the dirt beneath one’s feet. For demons with power such as Chel, this was even more so true as they had to deceive many to get there and even more to maintain one’s position in power. Rith doubted Chel had entirely intended to keep her end of the bargain, particularly when there was little for AD to offer the Demon Matriarch in return. Perhaps he should make himself present the next time she summoned Chel if her last summoning had not been as productive as AD had hoped.

Rith pondered over her words and noticed there was a slight detail he had been missing in his own plans. By the sound of it, the only way to make it work was what she wanted anyways. “I can hide away your angelic side, but it would make you closer to your demonic side, changing who you are and making you more like it, just like it had been intending from the war against your angelic side. You might even find yourself waging war against paladins and angels unprovoked,” Rith explained. The influence of the divschatten and even Irucher’s ring would only worsen things as well and would have her acting like a demon in no time.

“There is, however, another option. I could hide both sides, preventing either from having increased influence over you. Few would see you as more than a half-elf. You wouldn’t be treated like a demon, nor would you be treated like an angel. You’d still be you and might even hold more clarity in thought, with both sides reduced to mere whispers if not something less,” Rith said as he pulled another gem from his pocket. This one was not ebon, but instead it had a marvelous white that might have made it pearl if weren’t shaped in the same manner as gem Rith had given her before.

“Which ever you choose, the process is the same. I will bring you to a near death state and then draw the different sides of your soul into gems, and then bring you out of your near-death state. The gems can then be fashioned into jewelry such that they can always be on you. All you would have to do is stay strong and endure the pain,” Rith said as he readied the spell that would suppress her life. He knew the risks were not the issue, and the only question was whether she wanted one side or both hidden.

AD shifter her wight back slightly as she thought about what Rith suggested. Both sides? Being a half-elf... That didn't seem like such a bad thing, but while she felt she still needed the demonic side there to est work with the Divschatten. If this worked and later on her demonic side became too much of a problem, she doubted she would have any problem herself with repeating the process, or even using that as a threat to keep her demonic side in line.

"If this works out with the angelic side and my demonic side becomes too much trouble, or if the demons start turning on me too, I may take you up on that. Then I could distance myself from both sides. Right now though, I need to stay with the Divschatten and see what I can do there." She smiled slightly, her attitude lightening some. "Besides, it's not like I won't be able to contact you." She really did like that fact that she was able to call on him if she really needed to. It wasn't something she was going to take for granted though. Having a friend like that was something she had never had before and she really like that she could do that. She hoped he understood that she was willing to return favors for him. All he really had to do was ask. She didn't feel that she was any where near as powerful as Rith was, but she felt as if she could trust him, even with this.

AD was determined though and she had thought long and hard about it before even coming out here. She tended to be a little rash when helping others go through with their plans in her willingness to help her friends, but when she was making a choice for herself, she was very careful. She had yet to even eat or drink any of the food in the Abyss even, just in case... she doubted that the others there had even noticed. Her gaze leveled with the pumpkin faced figure that was only as tall as a child. It was a good defense though, being that small. Ignorant people would misjudge things.

"I'm ready Rith." She said and squared her shoulders. "What do I need to do?"

She didn’t seem to understand what he meant. It would be a slow nearly unnoticeable process. Before she knew it she would likely be someone else. Hopefully she didn’t spend too much time trying to play with the local want to be demon horde. Rith would go along with her wishes anyways. The change might make her more useful when it came time to ask for a few favors for those given, and if not he could likely undo the effects without her request later. Rith’s hand clamped over the small white gem. He opened it a moment later and instead he was found to be holding the black gem he had given her before; he would use white gem when the time came to seal the other portion of her soul.

“Very well. Just lie down, close your eyes, and brace yourself,” Rith warned as he rose to his feet. He gave her time to comply and then continued one with the left over preparations for the procedures. The ebon gem floated out of his hand and drifted down to AD’s chest like a feather as an aura of dark purple energy grew around his left hand. A narrow ray shot out from his hand and filtered through the ebon gem to strike Aether Draka. As soon as the ray struck her the pain that would ripple through her would be intense. Torment would help in this slightly, by feeding directly of her pains and lessening what she felt. With out that the pain alone would be enough to kill her if it continued as it needed to. The ray continued to flow suppressing life and nearly killing her. Now is where precision and concentration were key. He needed to discern the moment between life and death and extend it long enough to perform the procedure. He could not help her if she was fully alive and he would have to make her a new body if he killed her.

A translucent hand emerged out of Rith’s right hand. It traveled along the ray, pushed onward by an ethereal arm that continued to lengthen. The hand slipped through the gem and AD’s Body, making its way to her soul. Now was when it would e most painful, though her consciousness likely to be on another realm, which would make it either unnoticed or at least bearable. The hand drew celestial portion of her soul slowly into the ebon gem. When the portion finally broke free from her, both spells ended and the ebon gem shined with a glorious new glimmer of life, which would go unnoticed by most.

“Be mindful of the gem. It shall need to stay in contact with you for the moment. It would be best that you hold it in your hand,” Rith instructed. “How do you feel?” The question seemed quite redundant as it was probably that remnants of the dark energy would make her feel rather awful, but it was mainly to see if she fully had her reasoning and consciousness.

She nodded to his instructions and followed them. Lying flat she braced herself for something akin to the feel of her soul fighting with itself combined with Raven's holy anger when he had last seen her and Gregory's painful attempt to help her... Sadly, that expectation was not to far off. She tensed up when the pain first reached her and she was grateful to feel it lesson some almost immediately after she felt it. She kept her eyes closed tight as she clenched her fists and jaw. For a moment the world seemed to fall away and with it the pain. Precious dark reached out to welcome her and for a moment she saw a flicker of something, like she was being watched and then it was gone. Then something reached out to her mind, a trickle of shadow, and she recognized the little cat from Belfire. She saw it watching her for a moment in perfect silence. AD looked back and then, it was as if AD finally understood something about her small 'mute' friend... though what it meant was not something she had time to ponder about as just then another spike of pain ran through her and then it reached beyond her expectations.

She felt herself being pulled in a few different ways and if she could have lost consciousness, she would have gladly. Being unable to do that, she had to push herself through it on her own. Not a sound other then a gasp escaped her and the muscles along her back tightened as the pain increased. Unlike her confusion and uncertainty with pain like this before though, she knew what was happening and felt so sure that she grasped that certainty and held on tightly. Then it was gone. All of it was simply gone. She had no idea how long it had taken or what had actually happened, but it was all gone. Her form relaxed against the cool ground and she felt exhausted. Not drained really, just like she should just stay where she was for a moment. Just stay right here and still. She didn't need to do anything or be anywhere. No one needed her...

AD balanced on the edge of death still, the feeling of it lingering about her with arms open wide until she heard a voice. Words filled her head without meaning for a moment until the question came. Then things seemed to snap back together with a sharp clarity and she began to feel the ache in her muscles even thought they were now relaxed. She opened her eyes and for a moment they didn't focus. Then she saw the still house of treetops above her with tiny bits of the night sky giving way to starlight.

A swallow preceded her reply. “Thirsty.” Though she wasn't sure why or for what she thirsted for...

Thirsty? Quite an awkward reply, though it was not with out meaning. It was possible that moving of her lighter side had cleared her mind to the point where she was more aware of herself. Still, it didn’t appear immediately relevant. It was good to see that her recovery had bested his expectations. There didn’t even seem to be any residual pain to Torment’s dismay. He reached once more into his robes and withdrew an ornate ebon goblet. “Fetch some water,” Rith said as he tossed the gobbet to the side. The cup never fell back down, but was instead whisked away by some unseen force. The unseen force happened to be a summoned wind elemental, who was unnoticeable aside from slight disturbances in the air. “You’ll have something to drink shortly,” Rith nodded before sitting down.

“You seem to have a specific goal, but I must again warn you that your present state is still a dangerous one. The influence of the Divschatten and Irucher will only empower your dark side. Your mind is no longer a battlefield, but that only means that your dark side goes uncountered and is free test itself against your own will. Given enough time you would become a part of it instead it being a part of you,” Rith warned. He had warned her of this ealier, but had not explained it in such details or the common dangers in her life that would speed up the process.

“So, what exactly do you seek to accomplish with the Divschatten aside from clearing their name aiding your dear friend Lynthear in gathering its scattered strength?” Rith asked hoping that the answer proved to be something worth while. Perhaps it was something that he had chanced to over look, or information that had hidden out of reach. The goblet retuned filled nearly to the brim with water and floated gently before AD waiting for her to grasp it out of the air.

She let her head turn to face Rith, though she was still on the ground. Everything seemed so... harsh. Like the line between light and dark was sharper and she didn't like that. Or what Rith said about the Divschatten...

Letting her head roll back to her center she tried to sit up and at first was unable to. She tried again and managed to get an elbow under her by the time the glass had returned. The muscles twitched in protest, but she was too stubborn to not make herself at least sit up on her own. She felt like she had been drinking again without actually doing it. AD accepted the glass and had to hold it in both hands because it felt really heavy. She took a drink and held it in her mouth for a moment before swallowing it. Then she drank the water. The thirst wasn't really quenched, but it was lessoned enough that she could put it out of her mind.

She looked down into the now empty glass and said, "I don't have plans for the Divshatten. It's Lynthaer I care about. It's not like I need any of them. If I need a demon I can summon one and it won't argue or want an explanation. Lynthaer wants the Guild though and if I must I will keep it for him." She let her gaze rise from the glass to Rith, the goblet dropping smoothly to rest in her lap. "I owe him much and he has never asked for anything in return. He has given me more then I could have asked for without me ever having to ask. Even with him being a demon and being a vampire, not once, not a single time, has he ever harmed me. Not once, and he knows what I am." The fingers of her right hand twitched. Her attempt to befriend Gregory had gone much worse and he thought Lynthaer was the evil one...

While AD’s attention was drawn elsewhere, the gem dragged lightly along her body and traveled up the back of her arm. It stopped before reaching her hand. Bands of darkness stretched out and quickly bridged the distance between the sides of arm and became one. The darkness faded leaving a golden bracelet in its place. Now she would be able to keep her gem near her without fear of loosing it.

It was clear within the twinkle in her eyes, even her voice as she spoke of Lynthaer. She had fond feelings for the half-fiend, though she didn’t seem to understand his point at all. This had nothing to do with him and very little to do with the Divschatten, this was her. “I know Lynthaer is special to you and that you love him, but what I am speaking has nothing to do with him or his guild. You need to set a goal or goals with the guild that your darker part of your soul will help you obtain. You don’t need the dark portion of your soul so close for you to help Lynthaer or his guild. In fact it is possible that this portion of your soul may even interfere. You want to help Lynthaer, but as you already know, the other parts of your soul have their own agendas. You’ll be given power to a persona that may seek to work against Lynth. It shouldn’t be a threat immediately, but you must keep it mind. Sooner or later you shall have to come to me to get this part of your soul sealed away as well. I just want you to know that sooner is much better than later for your own sake,” Rith explained after shaking his head.

“There is naught to be done about it presently, so just keep it in mind. Do you have another subject you’d like to bring up,” Rith asked as he wondered if their meeting had neared it's end. He had no tasks and no relevant questions left for her at present. It was possible that the less business-minded AD had something else on her mind.

Aether Draka fell perfectly silent and still, though the shadows didn't shift to hide her. She had a blank look on her face for more then a moment. Then she blinked and shook her head as if she was shaking herself from something. She simply wasn't able to have her mind wrap around the concept of love that Rith had mentioned. The only thing she knew about it was that her mother had been killed for falling in love with the man she was supposed to kill. That idea didn't work with Rith's statement and made her completely loose track of what they were talking about. She was forced to try and back track again before speaking

"I'm sorry, I don't think that made any sort of sense..." She looked down at her hands and seemed surprised to see the empty glass in her hands. She offered it back to Rith. "The Divshcatten is Lynthaer's, not mine. I take care of the Choronzon Gebäude, it is mine. For me, the guild is a place. That's all. How could I have any sort of plan for a place? I don't ever plan ahead. I can't read minds or see into the future after all, so what use is there trying to fight against something like that? I couldn't even use magic until I arrived in Imythess..." She frowned as she recalled that. If it hadn't been for her good friend Seele, she would have never gotten as far as she had with magic. She sighed and let herself fall back to the ground so the starry sky twinkled in front of her eyes.

"If I ever do seal away both the light and dark parts of my soul, I will have to make a place for myself. I've already learned that you can't really count on people. I wonder if I can get a dwarf to build me a place..." She trailed off as she propped herself up on her elbow to look at Rith. "I'm sorry, I'm sure I've managed to change the subject again. I don't want to waste your time though, so if you need to go, feel free." She said.

'We should go back to the Guild Hall...' a voice whispered in the back of AD's mind. She shook her head slightly. "I'm fine here." She said out loud to the voice. 'We can't be followed back to the Guild Hall. He's never been there.' the voice said, referring to Rith. AD didn't catch that though and her own thoughts went to Gregory and her worry that he would try to "save" her again. An unease settled over her and she let her gaze flicker back to the sky.