Spirit awoke the next morning to the sight of Marie laying on his stomach, still asleep, but happily purring. With no desire to wake her, he just lay there with his head against a pillow, thinking about what would happen next. She awoke a few minutes later with a gentle yawn, and curled up next to Spirit. He blushed, as usual, but was deeply overjoyed. He could tell by the way Marie acted, and the way she looked at him, that she felt the same for him as he did about her.

"Mornin'..." she said with a smile, wanting to lay there and preserve this moment of happiness. She let out another yawn and blinked, still purring. Even though they were both awake, they wanted to stay on the bed and enjoy the moment, the birds chirping, the sunlight that crept through the window, it could only be described as heaven.

Eventually, Marie sat up, stretching her arms as she looked to Spirit, ready to get on with the day "Today we get some furniture! I betcha there's some nice ones in storage in the Cryssnan Temple..." she said "Kina can help us transport it! I'm sure she'll love to meet ya!"

"Kina?" Spirit asked.

"The goddess of fire." Marie answered happily "However, we might have to disguise you. You look a lot like a Feina, and the Klonians aren't trusting of them."

Spirit nodded nervously, wondering what she had in mind.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna' dye your fur or anything. We just need to hide what you look like until we reach the temple." Marie petted him gently, calming him a bit as she did.

"Okay, but I would have done all that for you."

"Hmmm... simple illusion magic..." she raised a hand to him, as his body seemed to change before him "You'll look different, but you're taking on no change... this spell should last til we get there..."
Spirit looked down at himself, his tail shortened and less bushy, his fur, black, and he felt a pair of long ears brush his side.
"See, that didn't hut, did it?" she asked, petting him again and receiving a nod "Onto my homeworld! Cryssna!"
Marie waved both hands enveloped in blue, tearing a hole in the air, as Spirit leapt inside and she followed. They both appeared in the middle of a eutopian city, rich with vegetation, and full of natural beauty. Spirit gazed around, eyes wide with amazement.

"It looks so much like Zarconia!"

. Marie smiled, and pointed to a temple in the center of the city "That's where we want to go. Kina will probably be there already" she took Spirit by the hand, interlacing her fingers with his, and led him toward the Temple. As they walked through the city, he gazed on in amazement. Klonians were all about, children playing tag on the streets, traders and merchants of every type shouting out deals and bargains as they approached the temple grounds. Canals flowed around the city, providing water to its people, as well as the lush vegetation and gardens around the temple, filled with wild flowers, emptying out into a pond, filled with lilies. Soon the cobblestone ended into earthy trail, lined with many wild flowers of every color and scent imaginable. Marie closed her eyes, taking in the scents that tickled her nose, Spirit did as well, as they continued onward towards her home. They walked on and on, hand in hand, as in the distance, a temple could be seen, towering over the gardens of Cryssna, surrounded by forests. They both entered, just as the spell wore off. Spirit returned to his normal self, which Marie seemed to like better.

Just then, they were greeted by another Klonian girl. Her physical form appeared to be in the teens, and her clothes were the color of flame.

"Don't worry, he's not a Feina." Marie said before she could react.

"He doesn't seem like he is. Even if he was, I know you don't befriend anyone evil."

Marie turned back to Spirit, and happily introduced the two.

"Kina, this is my bo... Err... Friend, Spirit."

Kina chuckled a little. "Are you sure he's just a friend?" she asked, hoping to hear some juicy details. Both Spirit and Marie blushed at this, not knowing what to say.

"Heh" she chuckled, patting Marie "The littlest goddess has fallen in love, just don't tell Ben... you know how he gets..."
"What do you mean, 'how I get'?" a dark Klonian phased behind Spirit, glaring him down with red eyes, huffing in his face. Spirit backed away a bit in fear as Marie pulled on his arm, trying to distract Bendilen.

"We need some leftover furniture from the temple, to be brought to earth... at these coordinates" she began whispering instructions into his ear as Bendilen sighed and walked off, doing whatever she asked him. When he was out of sight, Marie let out a sigh of relief.

"That's the God of Chaos, Bendilen... he doesn't warm up well to mortals..."

"I can see that..." Spirit looked as-if he'd rather take his chances with Zeetan.

"Bendilen is really a nice guy, he's just mistrusting of mortals." the fire deity explained. Marie looked at Kina, a look of curiosity in her eyes "Looks like you have a thing for him." she said with an evil snicker. Kina blushed this time, but tried to cover it up.

"Spirit, you can wait here. Kina and I are going to help Bendilen." The two then walked off, leaving Spirit feeling left out. After a good half an hour of creating portals and lifting furniture, Marie and Kina finished their job, wiping away some sweat. She looked to her friend and smiled "Thanks, our home needs touching up..."
"Yeah" she chuckled "Never thought I'd see you settling down..." she teased as Marie blushed "Let's keep this between us"
Meanwhile, as Spirit looked around the temple, Bendilen snuck up on him, lifting the Gaia by his shirt. He slammed Spirit's back to the wall, sending a dull pain through his head as he gritted his teeth.
"I don't care who you are, or where you came from, but you stay away from Marie! Don't be getting any ideas about her, she's a goddess, too good for your kind!"

Spirit struggled to speak, but Bendilin's immortal strength was almost too much for him.

"No..." he coughed.

"Consider that your last word." Bendilen said, as he tightened his grip. Spirit felt dizzier by each passing moment, his air cut off from him, just as his vision blurred he heard a sudden 'slap!' as his body was dropped. He opened his eyes to see Kina, and a red hand mark on Bendilen's face, as she said "What the heck is wrong with you!"

Behind her stood Marie, who rushed over to Spirit and comforted him in her arms.

"Are you alright!" she said in concern.

"Yeah..." he said, gasping for air.

"Thank goodness..." she smiled in relief, kneeling by him as Kina started chewing Bendilen out in the corner, yelling at him "I can't believe you would try to kill a friend!"
"Kina, I'm so-"

"Just because you have some grudge against mortals doesn't mean you can force them towards your will!"
Marie stood up, offering a hand to help Spirit stand "C'mon, Spirit, let's leave while they're distracted"
He nodded, as she held his hand and lead him off "I have something to show you..."
She lead him down the hallways of the temple, a path suspended among a blanket of dark crystals, as beautiful as the night sky. Spirit gazed down in amazement, as Marie slightly tugged on his hand to remind him "We're not there yet..."
"Oh..." he forced a smile, blushing slightly as they approached a portal, enveloped in light. Marie stood in front of it, pausing a moment.

"Once you cross this portal, you'll be in our spirit world... so keep close to me, I don't want you to get lost..."

Spirit nodded, and followed Marie inside. Upon exiting, he looked around at another new surrounding. It was a lush, green world, filled with all manner of plants and vegetation, almost a mirror to Cryssna.

"This is the spirit world; it's a boundless plane where souls go after their bodies pass on." Marie explain. "The spirits of the ones who rewrote my memory live here, but I just call them mom and dad."

Spirit looked stunned "Are they really your parents?" he asked.

Marie chuckled a little. "No, but they wrote themselves in history as my parents, and they did raise me when I was just a toddler... It's what I've known them as for most of my life, so why change it?"

He nodded, as she took his hand, causing him to float. This surprised him at first, but then noticed Marie suspended above the ground as well. She smiled "This'll allow us to travel faster, here my spiritual energy is much stronger..."
He understood, as he held tighter, and she soared among the sky, over the mountains. He looked down in amazement, as he felt himself descend along with her to a shrine, their feet touched solid ground, they walked to the statue, one of a great dragon. Standing by, a dark Klonian like Bendilen, with the exception of a third eye, and a white Feina, with long, brown hair and delicate, blue eyes, stared at the goddess of water and smiled.
"Mother... Father..." Marie approached and embraced the two, as she looked back to her friend "I'd like you to meet Spirit..."

Spirit gave a friendly smile "It's nice to meet you."

"So, you're the young Gaia we heard about." Leie said.

"You know!" he said in astonishment.

"Of course. Lumina told us long ago that you would be born." the feina woman answered. "Lumina... Who's that?" Marie asked. She then looked to Spirit, who seemed frozen in shock.

"I know that name, she's the Gaia of light! That's who my mother is!" he seemed as-if he could faint at any moment.

"Spirit, you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost..." Marie said "So you have anticipated his birth?"
Leie nodded "Yeah, but I never thought you'd meet him, or that he would save you a few times..."
Spirit's ears perked "You knew what happened between us?"
"Uh huh..." Ranoke nodded "We are her guardian spirits, we love Marie like a daughter, and we'll always watch over her..." she floated to Marie, and whispered something in her ear as Marie gasped then blushed intensely.

"Mom!" Marie backed away as her mother chuckled.
"Eh? What did she say?" Spirit looked over to Marie.
"Nothing!" she quickly said, trying to hid her red face as Leie tried to shift the conversation back towards Spirit.

"There is much more to you than being a Gaia, but you will learn it in time." Leie continued. Spirit looked puzzled by this, but he nodded understandingly "As for now, we understand the shadow lord has returned."

Marie turned back to them, face still a bit pink "You mean that Zeetan guy?"

Leie nodded "I feel somewhat responsible for him. When I was killed, it caused the power of darkness to go out of balance. It then noticed the powers of hate from the mortals, and accepted it as a regulator for its power. The hate then caused the darkness to think for itself, and it took the form and name you saw; Zeetan."

Marie's mother then explained the rest. "Over time, his name has been skewed into Satan, and his form caused others to form ideas of the Grim Reaper."

"Ah, I see..." she paused, as her surrogate mother held her hands together, a light surrounding them both. It confused Spirit at first, but Marie closed her eyes, tilting her head towards the sky as a light emitted. When she glanced back at Spirit, her body became enveloped in light, he looked down at himself, and found his body showing the same effect.
"What's this?"

Marie found herself blushing "Mom is giving us her blessing..."
"Blessing?"
"You'll learn in time..." Ranoke said, as the light blinded the two. The world began to fade before them, their home coming back into view. They found themself in the main room, furniture sprawled about as Marie rubbed her hands together.

"Time to get to work!"

Spirit helped Marie move the furniture around, though still trying to understand all that happened. His mind was reeling from thoughts of Gaias, deities, and what lay ahead. However, Marie was all that mattered to him, and he was just glad having her there with him. After their intense day, both of them needed a long rest. Spirit now found it impossible to fall asleep without Marie laying on his stomach. It was a necessity, much like a blanket and pillow.

"Heh, looks like maybe we should share a bedroom..." Marie said, curled up by him, her head on his stomach as always "I like sleeping with you, you're stomach's soft..." she snuggled her whiskers against his vest, as he nodded slightly, letting out a yawn.

"I wonder who to recruit next? Ah well... we'll worry tomorrow... after a good night's rest..."
Marie smiled, letting out on last yawn as her eyes closed, finding herself drifting off to dreamland. Spirit soon joined her in that dream realm, they were always together by a strong bond, even in their sleep, and nothing would change that.