Nanako looked around and realized that she'd never seen this garden before in her life.

And she could have sworn that she'd been asleep in her bed in Tokyo.

Her expedition had been cancelled since the cavern they were supposed to explore had collapsed. She never mentioned to her colleagues about what she'd seen and done. She had told them that she'd heard a strange sound and went to investigate and got there just as the cave collapsed. Fortunately, exploring the cavern hadn't been needed for her to get her Ph.D.

She was extremely proud of what she had achieved but, now, she seriously wanted to know where the hell she was.

"You're in Elysian."

Nanako's shriek startled birds from the trees.

She spun around and stared wide-eyed at a boy with a golden horn on his forehead.

The boy's face didn't change from the polite smile but there was a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm sorry for scaring you." He bowed to her. "I am Helios, priest and Guardian of Elysian."

"Elysian? Where…what's that?"

"The where is…difficult to explain. The best I can do is that it's in its own dimension on the edge of your world, waiting for its time to come again." Helios smiled "And the what is…probably just as difficult but it's a place of power for the Rulers of Earth as well as a few others."

"Okay…"

Helios grinned "I know. It made my head hurt too when it was first explained to me." He held out his hand. "Will you walk with me?"

Nanako reached out and took his hand and realized that she wasn't wearing the yoga pants and tank top that she'd gone to bed with. She was now wearing a sleeveless green gown similar to those worn in ancient Greek and Roman art. There was a wide brown sash around her waist. Her feet were bare. She wriggled her toes and she could feel…something. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she wanted to bend down and bury her fingers into the rich brown soil. She wanted to gather the flowers to her. She felt the trees begin to whisper their secrets to her

She began to breath hard.

Then she felt a pinch on her hand.

That broke her away from the overwhelming sensations. She looked down at the boy standing next to her. He ran his fingers across her hand and took away the sting. "Well, that proves that you are meant to be here. And what you're going to become. I'll show you how to control it."

"Control what? I don't understand?! What's going on."

"Easy, Nanako. Come sit."

Numbly. Blindly she followed him to a white gazebo covered in red roses. She sat down and breathed in the almost overwhelming scents but somehow, they soothed her.

Helios sat down next to her, still holding her hand. "Nanako, I'm so sorry."

"Sorry? What are you sorry?"

Then he touched her forehead.

And she remembered.

Everything. Every horrible thought. Every horrible, disgusting deed.

Nanako came back and found herself on the floor of the gazebo weeping against Helios' knees. He cupped her head. "I'm so sorry but it had to be done."

Nanako brushed the tears away but more kept coming. "I was so close to being…her…again. Oh, Blessed Gaia, thank you for saving me!" She lurched to her feet and lunged for the gazebo's railing and vomited into the plants below. A glass of water was placed before her. She rinsed her mouth out and spit onto the ground. Then she carefully drank down the rest of the contents.

She sat back down, and Helios poured her a cup of tea from a set that Nanako didn't recall being there before. She didn't remember seeing the table either.

Helios smiled as he sipped from his own cup. "There are some other things I must tell you." He sighed. "Your mother, on her deathbed, made your father promise that he would pledge you to the Priestesses of Gaia."

Nanako blinked as she searched ancient memories. "Really? I don't remember him saying anything to me about it."

"No. He broke his promise…which started you on the wrong path."

Nanako rubbed her forehead. "He broke a deathbed promise. The Gods disapproved of that sort of thing."

"Yes."

She sighed. "Father was…greedy. He always wanted more. And a daughter was a valuable tool to have."

"Yes."

"He told me things. Said so many things to me. I was beautiful. I knew I was. And I had boys and men of all sorts panting after me. Sons of other merchants, sons of guild masters even minor noblemen. But father told me that I was better than that. That I was able to achieve much more."

"I think your father was already being used by Metallia at that time. He prepared you for her, in a way."

Nanako looked at Helios. "And if he had done as he promised, I would have met Endymion as a novice of Gaia…"

"Novice of Gaia with great potential." Interrupted Helios.

"Novice of Gaia with great potential instead of a merchant's daughter with delusions of grandeur. Damn you, father." She whispered.

"Well, he was one of the first ones you sacrificed to Metallia, so…"

"Oh, that makes me so much happier to know." Her voice was very dry.

Helios chuckled.

"And as a novice I would have either not wanted Endymion because I would have known he was something I could never get or that I had something that was so much more important than a mortal marriage."

"Yes."

"So many lives ruined because one man broke a promise." She placed her cup down on the table and looked at Helios. "What now?"

"Gaia loves you still. You have much to learn from her, but you will achieve something…wonderful." He set down his own cup. "Your path may not be easy. I don't know. But there is a starting point. Remember those four lights that were in the cavern?"