Author's Note: I had a review that stated that the reader wished for the 'evil persona' to be gone. I suspected that it was the name of Riddick's ship (Event Horizon) that prompted it, but after reviewing the previous chapter "Flowers Accompany Death", I have decided to change a few things. Adasta's experiences with her "demons" were just a dream, and the ship's name is now "Omega 99". Also, Riddick nor any other things mentioned in my story do not belong to me. However, Adasta and H'Karun, Gracarda, Braun, etc. do.

Adasta's eyes flew open, and pain erupted in her head, and she groaned, rolling over face-first in her pillow. Her head ached like a sonofabitch. She vaguely remembered helping Riddick with the bolts, then them snapping and the pipe banging her head. She had had the strangest dream… about Mercs and evil demons…

"That pipe gave you a hell of a beatin'," Riddick said, coming through the doorway. "You've been out for about seven hours." He walked over to the bedside and sat on the corner.

"Have I really?" She asked. The dream had seemed so real… she shook her head slightly, ridding herself of the images. Oh well. She knew that she wasn't that monster she had been in her dream. She rubbed her eyes free of sleep, and her hand bumped the knot on her forehead. "Ouch!" She cried, jerking her hand back. Riddick smiled and handed her an icepack.

"Here," he said. "This will numb the pain." Adasta took it willingly and held it to the goosebump, shivering from the sudden cold.

"I need to talk to you," She said, looking at him, remembering Fuliton from her dream.

"Yeah?" He said, looking at her face through his goggles. Then he remembered something, too. "I need to talk to you, too."

"I need to go to Fuliton," She said hurriedly. She put the icepack down and looked at her hands. "I plan on living there,"

Riddick felt a strange sadness in him. He had grown accustomed the bright, enigmatic girl, and would miss her company, as strange as it was. But if she wanted to go, she could.

"Nothing's keeping you here," He muttered. "But I have to stop in New Mecca to re-supply and for you to go shopping. I also know people there, and we'll be paying them a visit." Adasta's face lit up like a new star at the mention of people. Her eyes twinkled and her cheeks dimpled when she smiled widely.

"People?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah, a kid and a holy man," Riddick said, her happiness rubbing off on him. He remembered Jack and Imam and smiled. "Kid's name is Jack, but she's a girl. Took 'em off of T2." T2 got a blank stare from Adasta, and she looked at him curiously. He knew questions were coming, so he hurried along. "We'll go in cryo-sleep till we get there." Adasta nodded her head in agreement.

"I've heard a bunch of things about cryo," She said, trying to make more conversation. "How long will we be under?"

"For about 34 days," Riddick replied. "But it only seems like 34 seconds. We can go under in about thirty minutes, I just have to set the auto-pilot up."

The idea of being in cryo-sleep didn't appeal to Adasta much. Being out of everything for 34 days frightened her. What if she had a heart attack or something, or she forgot to breathe? All the what if's scared her. She began fidgeting with her hands.

"Never been in cryo-sleep before?" He asked her, as he walked out of the room. She trailed along behind him.

"No," She said, looking at the back of his head. "I don't like the idea of chemicals in my body," He looked at her, with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

"Are you a hippie?" He asked her sarcastically. She frowned at him.

"No! A 'hippie'," She said, anger in her voice, "is a stupid person who blows everything out of proportion! I dislike them immensely!" She made a small huffing noise through her nose. Riddick had noticed that whatever emotion she was feeling was accompanied by a small noise. He liked it, and thought it was cute.

"God! Don't get offended," He growled. "I was just asking a simple question," He set the auto-pilot on and walked to the cryo-chairs, and motioned for her to sit down. "When I put the needle in, it'll hurt, but don't tense," He instructed. Adasta nodded, and relaxed in the chair. He pumped the I.V. full of the blue fluid, then took the long needle and pinched the delicate skin of Adasta's inner elbow. He glanced up at her through his goggles, and saw that her eyes were shut and her mouth pinched together. He smiled, and put the needle in her arm quickly. She squeaked as the needle penetrated her skin, and the blue fluid drained into her body. Quickly, her eyes took on the glazed look that many first-timers experienced. "Please lock your tray in the upright position, and good night," Riddick said, taking his fingertips and closing Adasta's eyelids gently. She smiled lightly, the tips of her cherubic mouth turning up. Her breathing became lighter, and shallower, and then she fell asleep. He smiled again, looking at her sleeping form. Then he buckled himself up and went under also.

34 DAYS LATER

Adasta's eyes fluttered open slowly. She had had one jacked-up dream. She shook her head quickly to clear her mind, her greasy, unwashed hair swinging about her head. A snore came form Riddick, followed by some high-intensity crotch scratching. Adasta smiled. She liked the large, gruff man. He had made a good first impression, and she believed that a first impression usually exposes the person inside. He had saved her life, and she would always be in debt to him. She made a mental note to always remember that.

As she tried to figure out the complex latches for her chair restraints, Adasta planned out her day. First, she would check on the destination tracker, take a shower, see if Riddick was up, then get him up if he wasn't, then eat. Food made her realize that she was starving. She walked back into the room with a plate full of fried potatoes (a food Riddick had introduced her to), and plopped down on the floor. According to the analog on the destination tracker, they would be on Helion Prime in about five hours. Maybe she should wake up Riddick, she thought, chewing on the potatoes. After all, she had no idea how to land these things. Adasta took her fork from her mouth and poked his leg gently, but all he did was shift around. She frowned, setting her plate down and standing up beside him. Time to be bad, she thought, looking at him. She studied his face closely, then deciding he was asleep. Maybe he was ticklish? She wiggled her fingers lightly, in a feather-like caress, under his armpit. When he twitched, she knew she was getting somewhere. And with his arms locked down, he couldn't do a single thing about it. She smiled in triumph, and tickled his side.

"I've been awake for quite awhile," He said suddenly, startling Adasta and almost making her fall over. "Did you know that you grind your teeth in your sleep?" She looked at him with big, innocent eyes. "Sexy," He said, giving her a half smile. What he didn't expect was for her to blush. To him, it was cute. He made a mental note to do it more often. She tilted her head down, brushing an oily lock of hair out of her face, avoiding his eyes.

"I call shower!" She screeched, leaping up and dashing down the hallway, her excitement coming out of nowhere. Riddick shook his head, and undid his straps, and got up. He ran a hand over his head, feeling sharp stubbles of hair. He really needed to shave. But with Adasta's obsession with her hygiene, (a shower in the morning and one at night) he barely had time to take a good shower or a shave, for that matter. He went to the bridge and checked all the fuel levels and the autopilot, then went to the kitchen for some coffee and a snack.

Adasta stripped down in front of the full-length mirror, eyeing her body critically. She didn't really like her body's shape. Too often had a man's eyes drifted over her to look at one of her friends. To herself, she looked like a large, underdeveloped girl. Her breasts were not large at all, and seemed to be almost nonexistent compared to her ribcage, which took up 90 percent of her upper body. The plus to this was that she was a great runner, and could hold her breath for five minutes. She held up her arms and flexed, frowning. Her girlfriends told her that she had the upper body of a man, and was not at all feminine. Oh, how Adasta hated that. The only thing she liked about her bod was her legs. Long, well built, great for running and kickboxing. She smiled. Her legs were her pride. Her chest swelled up with pride as it always did when she was happy about something. She turned on the water and stepped in, quickly scrubbing her dirty hair and shaving her legs and pits. She wrapped a towel around herself and dashed to her room and threw on some clothes, putting a belt on to hold up her Riddick-sized pants. About thirty minutes later, she walked into the bridge to talk to Riddick. When she sat down, she noticed the lack of fauna and flora, and deposited a rose bush in an unoccupied bucket.

"What is it with you and makin' plants?" Riddick asked grumpily. Adasta looked at him.

"It is my nature to create life," She said primly. "I am an earth nymph. That is my purpose. To put life where there is none,"

He looked back at her. "I wish I could do that," He said quietly, looking at the stars. "Put back some of the life I have destroyed,"

Adasta sighed, and beckoned him to join her on the floor. "Richard," She said, using his first name, "Everyone has the capability to create and end life. It is to what extent they use it." She looked at her hands as she said that. "Even you," He looked back at her, not really listening. She 'hfffed', and grabbed his hands, folding them into a cup-like stance, putting hers over his. She blew into them, her warm breath sending shivers down his spine. She pulled back and closed her eyes, letting her magic do it's thing. Riddick felt a flutter in his hands, and looked at Adasta, who was now smiling at him.

"Open them," She said, and he did. A large, beautifully colored Zebra butterfly floated lazily out, bobbing in the air gracefully. "See?" She asked, looking at his amazed expression. "If you were truly evil, that life would have died,"

"Okay…" he said, thinking. Maybe she was right. Adasta frowned again, thinking he was ignoring her.

"Just because you think that you are a monster in here," She touched a finger to his temple, "Doesn't mean you are one in here," And she laid her hand over his heart. "I know that there is a good man in there somewhere, along with a beast. As long as you balance them out, you too will be balanced." And with that, she got up and walked to her room.

Riddick watched her retreating back with astonishment. No one, except Carolyn, had ever told him that, but Adasta was the first to state it so plainly. So she, a little stick compared to him- thought he was a good person? He felt a sense of pride well up inside him. At least someone understood him, to an extent. He smiled as he took the ship of autopilot and set down at the controls. He felt like flying. He reclined back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head.

She could not believe she had just said that to him. Adasta leaned against the doorframe, eyes closed. To her, her words were like ones spoken to a lover, not a friend. And they were certainly not lovers. She contemplated the thought for a moment, but she didn't see it happening. They were too much like brother and sister now. She sighed, looking at the ceiling, then walked back to the bridge.

He had been thinking about god when Adasta walked back in, sitting in the co-pilots' seat. He looked at her, then out at space.

"Have you ever really looked out at the stars?" he asked her. "I mean, looked at them and forgot everything, like who you are and why you are here?"

"I do it all the time," She replied, hands on her knees. Then she leaned back in the seat.

"What do you think about god?" Riddick asked her quickly. When she looked at him, he avoided her gaze.

She sighed. "I believe that there is one God, and he sent a son from above to save us. If we do good in life, we are allowed to enter Paradise, but if we are bad, we go to hell."

"So I'd go to Hell?"

"Only if you kill for pleasure, or are truly evil."

"Do you have any legends?" He asked her. He liked stories.

"There is one," Adasta said. "A long time ago, when the universe was young, God made the three Realms. One of Good, one of Magic, and one of Evil. He was obliged to make one for the Devil, that is the Realm of Chaos. The realm of Chaos grew out of control, and began taking over the realm of Good, sending it's minions and demons through a thing called the Threshold. In the realm of Good, a planet lay, H'Karun, my home. It was also called Furia 1"

Riddick interrupted her. "Whoa whoa whoa! Furia was destroyed! That's not possible!"

"Furia 2 was destroyed. Furia means "the first planet", as does H'Karun. They are the same place."

"I'm a furian, though," Riddick mused. Maybe he could find his home, after all.

"Really!" Adasta squealed out of happiness. "But on with my story. H'Karun was, and is, the protector planet of the realm of Good. It is said, a man from H'Karun and a Guardian, a woman chosen by God to lead him to the Devil, will be the ones to save the universe."

"Didn't you say something about a threshold?" He asked her. Those damned Necros' had a thing called a threshold. It was the gateway to the "Underverse", as they called it. Stupid, really. But hey, maybe this was the entry to the world of Chaos, or whatever Adasta called it. He frowned. "There's a religion that has a thing called the threshold, they go to it when they die,"

"Necromongers!" Adasta exclaimed, horror in her voice. Fear dripped off of her, he could smell it. "They are our worst enemies! They are some of the things from the Devil!" Her eyes were wide with fear, then they narrowed. "I must go through the threshold," She whispered.

"No, you're not," Riddick said gruffly. No way in hell was she going there, not if he could help it. "I'm not sending you halfway across the fuckin' universe just so you can die. Fuck that," He ended his sentence yelling.

"It is an obligation to my planet, my family, and this realm!" She too was yelling now. "I must try to stop the Devil from annihilating this entire universe!" She was standing now, hands on hips, eyes blazing. He frowned at her, his face contorted with fury.

"You are not going!" He yelled at her.

"Yes I AM!" She retorted.

"No."

"yes."

"NO!"

"YES!" They were nose to nose now. Even though Adasta was a full head shorter that Riddick, she seemed bigger when she was angry. "I AM going! I'll hitchhike all the way there if I have too!" She stomped off angrily, her face red and making little annoyed noises. "I'll find my own ship and fly it there if I have too, I'll get the best crew from anywhere, even Mercs!" She plopped on the bed, thinking. Each and every H'Karun citizen, at the age of 16, made an oath to stop the tirade of evil in the realms, even if it meant death. The realms were known only by the people of H'Karun, and only them. This also went for the whole battle of evil thing as well.

She would have to find the man who was the Protector, though. And the Guardian. She sighed. Adasta would do that later. Right now she wanted to go shopping and meet Riddick's friends. She wondered what they would be like. The Protector and the Guardian