Mariya and Dante return to the castle, and Mariya goes to the castle, finding Vanessa talking to Allissa. "Hey, who let you in?"

"I showed the guards at the door my Maelstrom Symbol. They let me in." Vanessa says. "I'm afraid I got a little home sick."

"She was asking if we need any help. If it's okay with you, Mariya, I'd be glad to hire her." Allissa says.

"It's fine with me." Mariya says, smiling a little. "I'll have Merlin make you a symbol ASAP." She says. "Would either of you mind getting me something to eat?"

"Not at all, Queen Mariya." Allissa says. "And welcome back, Dante. A pizza for you?"

Dante nodded.

"Common Vanessa, I'll show you around the kitchen." Allissa says.

Vanessa nods, following her.

A few seconds later, however, something runs into Mariya from behind with a loud "kweh", suddenly wrapping its wings around her for a hug. Incredibly, it's Xildus, who should have been in Gysahl Fields still. Unbeknown to all, he had stowed in the cargo bay just before the ship took off.

Mariya turns, alarmed. "XILDUS!" She exclaims, and hugs him back. "Welcome home." She says, overjoyed.

Allissa comes back with a plate of Mariya's favorites, and a slice of Pizza for Dante. She smiles at Xildus. "Want an apple, Xildus?"

Xildus smiles and nods. "Kweh!" he states, sitting down next to Mariya and being happy to be home.

Allissa smiles. "Vanessa, get out a bushel of apples!" She shouts, going into the kitchen.

"I thought you were going to stay on Gysahl." Mariya says.

Dante seems to want to comment, but he eats his slice instead.

Xildus smiles in response to Mariya, removing a copy of the letter he left behind from his cloak and showing it to her.

Mariya wipes a tear after she reads the letter. "We all would have missed you." She says, hugging him again.

Vanessa comes out with a bushel of apples, and puts it infront of Xildus, smiling before going back to the kitchen.

"Wark," Xildus responds, as if saying he would have missed them too much to stay. He hugs Mariya once more before beginning on his first apple.

Mariya smiles, and eats her entire plate.

Axel enters into the marketplace, and mutters something. But before anyone could approach him, he turns into his demon form and runs to the castle, a blur to most.

Mario steps out of the portal shortly afterward, and he caught off guard by Axel's sudden change and dash. "Hey, wait up!" he yells, running as fast as he can to keep up but falling behind drastically.

"HEY!" Axel shouts to the guards at the Postern. "OPEN THE GATE!'

The guards see him, and open the door, just in time for Axel to run threw. However, Axel must wait for the elevator to come down. He appears annoyed with this, and changes back to normal.

Mario eventually catches up, out of breath and coughing a bit. "I know *pant* you're eager, but *pant* try to slow down *pant* a bit..."

"Sorry. I just got annoyed that I opened the portal in the Marketplace, not the Castle." Axel says.

The elevator arrives then, and Axel boards once Mario was in he shuts the door and presses the button to go to the main floor.

"Fair enough, I guess," Mario states as he rides the lift. "Just hope you didn't cause too big a panic in the square. Not every day a demon rampages through the town, even less so when it's the king."

"Well, they'll learn soon enough." Axel says as the elevator stops. He gets out and searches for Mariya, moving quickly.

Mario stays a step behind him, also wondering about how Xildus is doing.

Axel finally finds Mariya, heading to the throne room, Dante right behind her. "Axel!" She says, and runs to hug him. She kisses him for almost a minute.

"I missed you to." Axel says, smiling.

"I didn't expect you back so soon." She says, putting her head on his chest.

"I came not long after Dante delivered the letter." Axel says. "Is there a reason Xildus wasn't the one who delivered it?"

Mariya sighs. "I'll explain in the throne room."

Axel nods, and pics her up, carrying her to the throne room.

Mario smiles as he watches them reunite. He sits down next to Xildus. "So did I miss anything?"

Xildus thinks for a moment, then smiles and shakes his head.

Mario can tell that something is up, but he hides his befuddled look and decides to drop the topic for now.

When they reach the throne room, Axel sets her down in one of the chairs. "So what happened?" He asks.

Mariya takes a deep breath before explaining everything that happened while he and Mario were gone, leaving out the vision.

"Did you get hurt?" Axel asks, a little concerned.

"No, I'm fine." Mariya says. "But there was something.....I think it might be wise to hide my pregnancy for as long as we can."

"What did you see?"

Mariya sighs, and tells him. "I would have seen more, but Dante shook me out of it."

Axel sighs.

Mario, meanwhile, remains in the dining room, eating some of the apples Xildus gave him while they wait for either orders or something else to happen.

Vanessa walks in and spots Mario. "Hey." She says, smiling. She sits next to him. "Did you just get back?"

Mario smiles and swallows his mouthful. "Yeah," he states. "The Four Nations was a rather interesting place."

"Mario....I don't know if I was seeing things, but the girl who came to Maelstrom while you were away...she seems so odd. When I went to take her some food, I swear she had light blue wings coming out of her back." Vanessa whispers. "Am I going crazy?"

Mario blinks. "Wings?" he asks, rather confused. He exchanges a look with Xildus, who seems to be as intrigued. "Who is this girl you mention?"

"Her name is Azure." Vanessa says. "She's very pail and has light blue hair. She acts odd to, she barely leaves her room."

"Hmmm..." Mario can't help but be reminded of Danni due to the strange nature of this mysterious girl. "Would you mind if I had a chance to see this girl?"

"Yea." Vanessa says. "Maybe you can figure out who...or what she is. But please, be careful."

Mario nods. "So where is she?"

"Still on Maelstrom." Vanessa says. "Colette knows where her room is."

Mario nods to Xildus, who drafts a note to let Mariya know where they are as Mario opens a dark portal back to Maelstrom. He and Xildus step through, and he leaves it open in case Vanessa wants to follow them back.

{Mario and Xildus to Maelstrom Peak}

Vanessa hesitates, but remains behind with the note. She was uneasy about Azure.

Mario soon returns through another dark portal, and he begins searching the castle for Vanessa.

Vanessa hadn't moved from the table. She was sipping chamomile tea.

Mario soon finds her and approaches her. "I found someone who knows Azure. I don't think there's going to be anything else to worry about concerning her."

Vanessa sighs. "Alright. Could you tell Mariya I changed my mind? It seems I wasn't homesick after all." She says.

"Alright," Mario states, a bit curious but not questioning it. "I'll be back shortly." He then goes off to find Mariya.

Mariya and Axel are in the Garden, sitting under a tree together. They seem oblivious to anything besides one another.

Mario sees them, and he waits until a good time to interrupt before approaching. "Vanessa says she changed her mind; she isn't homesick after all."

"Oh, alright." Mariya says, smiling. "We were gonna go out tomorrow, did you wanna come and invite her?"

Mario blinks, blushing slightly. "Um...well, sure, okay..." he studders, sheepishly rubbing the back of his head and clearly a bit shy. "I guess I can go ask her." He then walks off to find her, still blushing slightly.

Mariya giggles a bit after Mario leaves. Axel smiles. "You will be a great mother."

"And you will be a great father." Mariya says, kissing him.

Vanessa leaves the kitchen, and walks threw the castle, looking at the various paintings and photo's on the walls.

Mario soon finds Vanessa. "I told Mariya," he states, blushing a bit afterwards. "She then told me that she and Axel were going out and that there was room for two more...so, um...would you happen to be available?"

"Oh, sure." Vanessa says, blushing herself. "When are they going out?"

"Sometime tomorrow," Mario states. "They'll probably give us more details once they pick a time and place. For now, I'm probably heading back to Maelstrom. Wanna come?"

"Sure." Vanessa says, smiling.

Mario smiles and nods, opening a dark portal for them to pass through. "Ladies first."

Vanessa smiles, and steps threw.

{Vanessa to Maelstrom}

Mario smiles and follows her through, the portal closing behind him.

{Mario to Maelstrom}