Artemis stood on the balcony of her temple staring off into space and watching the events she'd started play out. It amused her to think that the actions she'd planned would bring her everything she'd ever wanted all at once with little to no work on her part. She had simply seen an opportunity and pushed a few beings into their proper places and viola! Now she could stand back and watch the pieces slip into the grooves and her future brighten immeasurably.

OoOoOo

Phaedryn's cell phone rang in her pocket and she rolled to one side and fumbled for it in her pants pocket. She pulled the slender black phone out and flipped it open with a frown when she read the name on the display. "Please tell me you don't have bad news."

Amanda sat on the couch opposite the other woman and watched her face as she listened to the person on the other end of the call. First Phaedryn was concerned; she listened carefully to what the caller was telling her. Then her eyebrows shot up and her face darkened evilly. Amanda shifted uncomfortably in her seat, usually when people she knew got looks like that on their face something really, seriously bad was about to happen.

"I see. Fine, I'll look into it. No, I'll let you know if I need any help." She curled her lip up and her eyes flashed anger as she flipped the phone closed and she glared down at. She took a deep breath and her face washed back to it's usual appearance as if the phone call had never happened but Amanda knew better, she could feel the anger radiating off of her friend in waves and she actually leaned farther back on the couch to avoid being caught up in the miasma of fury.

"You okay?" Amanda asked hesitantly.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just…oh never mind. Not your problem." She reached for the glass of lemonade she'd been sipping at and took a swig of it before asking, "Would you mind if I left Nea here for a little while? I've got something I need to take care of and it's better if I know she's okay."

Something about the way that the other woman phrased her question made Amanda extremely nervous about what the future held. "Sure, you know she's always welcome here."

"Thank you," Phaedryn said, rising from the chair and nodding gratefully at her friend. "I'll just let her know that I'll be back in a while." She paused as the words she had spoken sank into her brain and she stepped over to where Amanda was standing, wrapping her arms around the other woman in a loving hug, "Thank you for everything."

"Whoa, that sounds really final there, girly. You're coming back right?"

Phaedryn's face hinted at a deep sadness but she smiled and nodded, "Of course I am." In her head though, she was wondering if that was really the case. She'd gone up against a lot of very powerful beings in her time but this one would be a little bit harder than the rest. This time if she died, it was forever, and her unborn child would die too. Not wanting to give any more away than she already had, she turned and headed for Marissa's playroom to speak with her daughter.

She stood outside the closed door for a moment, listening to the two girls giggle and enjoying the feeling of love and completion she got from the happy sound. Sighing softly to herself she opened the door and looked inside to find the girls dancing in a circle around Bob the pterygsaura. The tiny dragon was bouncing around in a circle like an overgrown frog and squawking in some sort of rhythm that imitated one of the many songs Ash played on his guitar. The sight amused her to no end and she hated to break up the party. "Nea?"

The little goddess looked up at her mother, thankful that she'd come back to Marissa's room before anyone came looking for her. "Mommy? What's wrong?" She could feel the tension radiating from her mother along with an anger that threatened to shadow even her father's potent rage.

"Nothing's wrong baby," she said with a gulp. When she saw the look on Nea's face she amended her statement, "Okay, a lot is wrong, but it's nothing I can't take care of. I need to go solve an ongoing problem. It's going to take me a little while so I'm going to leave you here with Aunt Amanda and Marissa okay?"

Nea knew exactly what had happened and she nodded carefully. She knew how much danger her mother was walking into but there really wasn't anything she could do to stop her without tipping her hand on the knowledge she'd just obtained. If there had been any way at all of making her mother hold off on rushing headlong into the danger she was facing Nea would have jumped at it but now she would have to just wait and see what happened. "Okay Mommy." She looked down at her feet for a moment and when Phaedryn started to rise from the crouch she was in Nea grabbed her hand, "Be careful."

Phaedryn looked down at her daughter and once again wondered just how powerful the little girl actually was. "I will honey, don't worry. I love you." She kissed Nea tenderly and flashed out of the room.

OoOoOo

Nea watched her mother disappear and she stretched out her mind to the dark cave where Misos sat monitoring the events through his link to her. He'd asked her to allow him access to her mind before she'd left and he explained that he could better help her solve any problems that arose if she didn't have to come explain things to him first. What he hadn't said was that it would also allow him to take a small amount of her power for himself. Not enough that she would know anything was wrong, but enough that he could free himself when the time came and then he would take the rest of her energy.

Misos reassured the girl with a gentle touch to her mind. Then he sent his own thoughts out, searching the future for the opportunity he so ravenously wanted.