*Alright, this is a bit longer than the last one...though not much. I love doing these little vignettes. First person narrative gets annoying after a while. Since I'm doing this story and writing a novel in first person, it's getting old. The words I, me, my and mine become almost painful after a while. Anyhoo. Enjoy!*

It had been nearly a week since they'd arrived on the little island and Gia had managed to hardly speak to Mari pretty much the entire time. Mind you, she wasn't always sure if Mari noticed…but she felt moderately accomplished anyway. She was going to be mad at Mari, no matter how difficult it was.

On that sixth day since their arrival Erol finally said, "Alright. I give. Why are you giving Mari the cold shoulder? I don't get it."

This wasn't a surprise to Gia. As far as she was concerned, Erol didn't get much that went on around him. "I'm not…you wouldn't understand," she sighed, cringing at her own drama.

"Is this about Mari encouraging you to make a move on that Astrid chick?" Gia's jaw dropped. Maybe Erol wasn't so oblivious. "Mari mentioned something about suggesting it but wouldn't say anymore. Care to…expound?"

Gia pursed her lips and stared out at the moonlit water. They sat on the dock, everyone else inside. Gia kicked her legs, wishing her legs were long enough for her feet to touch the water. "She's trying to get rid of me," Gia finally sighed, kind of pathetically. She knew she was being pathetic but it was just Erol. He knew something about being weakened by Mari. "She's scared and so she wants to push me away."

"Well yeah," Erol scoffed. "You say that like it's a surprise." Gia turned to glare at Erol. This was not the response she had expected.

"Well it was a surprise to me!" Gia shouted, indignantly. Erol's smile only angered her further. "Fine, you can laugh and think it's so funny. You don't understand."

"Sure I do," Erol sighed with a shrug. "She's tried to get rid of me a bunch of times since we left the underground city." Gia stared at Erol, her big brown eyes assessing him. "What? You thought you were the only one she wanted to scare off?"

Gia opened her mouth to speak then remembered her argument with Mari.

"I don't see you telling Erol to move on and flirt with some hottie."

"Well I haven't told you to do so until just now. There's a first for everything. Besides…I planned on pushing him to look elsewhere too."

Gia shrugged. "She made it sound like she hadn't done anything to push you away yet."

Erol chuckled. "Oh she has, she's just secretive about it. Just like she didn't say anything to me about you. Also, may I point out that she is MUCH pickier when it comes to picking chicks out for you? Seriously, she's thrown me at anyone who so much as batted an eye at me. At least that Astrid chick is pretty hot." He grinned to himself and Gia rolled her eyes, waiting for him to come back from the fantasy world men drift off to when thinking about lesbians. He shook his head and eyed little Gia. "Just curious…did you do anything with Astrid?"

Gia punched Erol in the arm, though it hardly affected him at all. "Not really," Gia sighed, feeling color rise to her cheeks. "We kinda…talked all day and then she…kissed me. A little. Not even a long kiss." Erol just kept grinning. "Oh get your filthy mind away from me," Gia laughed, shoving Erol.

Erol smiled, resisting the urge to hug the little vampyre. He'd do anything for a smile, even pretend to be a letch. "Just…quit acting mad at Mari. I'm not sure she completely gets it and she really needs us right now."

Gia shook her head, though she wasn't as cranky as she had been when she'd come out here. "She still tried to get rid of us Erol."

"Yeah, because she doesn't want us hurt. It's Mari's warped way of looking out for us. Just means she cares." Gia thought about that for a moment then sighed. She was tired of being mad and she missed Mari a lot. "So…what did you and Astrid talk about all day?"

"What do you think?" Gia sighed, staring out at the water. "We talked about Mari…"


Connor and Sarvajna sat across from one another. Connor stared into Sarvajna's eyes, unblinking, and Sarvajna stared back with a grin plastered across her face. She seemed to think this was a fun game. In reality, Connor was trying desperately to feel useful. He thought that if he tried hard enough he could trigger a vision. He'd yet to learn how to control them but he could always try. He wanted a vision of...something. Anything. Something that might help them figure out exactly what happened to this poor girl. Maybe he'd see what medicines they used or something.

"What?" a voice chuckled from the doorway. "Are you trying a Vulcan mind meld or something?" Connor fell out of his chair and turned to see Sonja smiling down at him. "Because I've got to tell you, there's no way that will turn out well. We'll just have another crazy person on our hands.

Connor jumped to his feet, his eyes wide. For some reason he was always tongue tied around this vampyre. For some reason? Who was he kidding? He knew why. She was beautiful. Her dark Japanese hair always seemed to be billowing around her shoulders. Her Mark, blue flames guarding the crescent moon in the center, was brilliant against her soft porcelain skin and her soft brown eyes seemed to look right through him.

"I'm," he started, pausing when his voice cracked. "I'm trying to induce a vision or…something helpful." He put an emphasis on the last word because just the night before Sonja, during one of her frustrated fits, had screamed at him that he was useless and needed to find a way to be helpful. That was the main reason he was doing this. Not to impress her. She'd already expressed a distaste for romance so that would be a lost cause. He just wanted her respect. He thought. He wasn't certain.

Sonja looked him up and down in an appraising manner. He felt naked but did his best not to show it. "Sorry about that," she sighed, leaning against the door frame.

Connor scratched his head. "It's fine…"

"Dýskoli stigmí," Sarvajna giggled in a sing song manner.

Sonja shook her head. "It's really screwed up the way they messed with her."

"With all of you," Connor sighed, giving Sonja a hard look before turning to Sarvajna. "I just want to find some way to help. I don't have great powers like some of you…but I'm working with what I've got." When he turned back to Sonja she was staring at him.

"There aren't many humans like you," she sighed.

"Sure there are," Connor replied, though he wasn't entirely sure what she meant.

"Hai. Koko de karera ga kuru," Sarvajna said excitedly.

Sonja furrowed her brow. "That one I understood." Connor gave her a curious look. "That was Japanese. Basically, she said 'Here they come'."

Connor turned to stare at Sarvajna with Sonja. "They who?"


Daydream had passed out, scaring the hell out of Desmond. He was used to this, sort of. It happened a lot when she needed to have visions but was not already asleep. Didn't stop terrifying him. She tossed and turned in his arms. Desmond began stroking her hair and repeating the only Mandarin he knew. "An ning. An ning," he whispered to his mate. It meant calm, tranquility. He often did this, both to calm her mind so she wouldn't struggle and to calm himself to keep from losing his mind.

Finally her eyelids fluttered open. "What was it, love?" Desmond asked, grateful to see her skin regain its natural blush.

Daydream sat up and looked around. "There were people…three of them, coming from the water. Each were followed by a different large figure. They had invitations in their hands and gave them to Mari." She stared towards the nearest window. "Somewhere, a coyote was laughing."

Desmond touched his mate's cheek and she returned to him. "But what does it mean?"

Daydream smiled and kissed Desmond softly. "It means we have some visitors coming."

*This time I want to apologize to anyone who speaks Greek or Japanese. I'm doing my best. :) *