"Mother?"

The word hung heavily in the air, taking it's time in becoming lost among the distant hum of the wires and imperceptible blips of the millions of tiny green coding. Sentinel and Overseer both looked up, a little confused, but neither even remotely as confused as Gino, who stood there with his mouth hanging open and eyes as wide as saucers, or even as Edmund, who stood quietly to the side, peering up at the beautiful, shimmering figure with a mixture of shock and disbelief.

But the figure simply smiled, and despite the fact that they were comprised of mere sparkling bits, the eyes grew sad. "No, little one," she spoke again in that voice that sounded more human than anything they had encountered down there. "I am not your mother. What you see before you is merely a projection, a holographic shell built to house me and keep me safe should the worst happen. And as you have no doubt seen for yourselves, the worst has indeed happened." Bringing up one graceful, glittering arm, she made a sweeping motion to the room that housed them all. "Your father built this, Gino, a long time ago, with the help of the three original founders of Gaia. It was a technology that as of yet even he with his laboratories and machinery could not produce, and without their help, it never would have been built at all. Here in this room lies all of the information regarding Gaia; its history, its present happenings, and easily enough programming to house and protect my very essence and allow me to project myself in another chosen form; apparently your father thought this form to be most becoming of me. I apologize if it confused you at all; I have no control over the program. It merely chooses the shape I can communicate with and houses me when, as I have said, the worst has happened."

"If I may," Edmund said, stepping up beside Gino and offering a gentleman's bow toward the figure. "What exactly HAS happened? We returned to find Gaia in so much wealth to be in ruin, the people gone, and…this once great mansion, a beacon in times of trouble, desecrated by persons we have never even heard of." The graceful golden head bowed low, the eyes closed in sadness. "Yes, all is not as you had left it. It seemed as though your ship had barely been lost from view when all of this…." Raising her head again, Gaia brought her other hand up and gestured to the other side of the room, where as though awaiting a signal, several gigantic screens appeared from nothing and flickered into life. It showed first the land of Gaia, seemingly normal despite the heavy threat of dark elves and rogue vampires that hung over it like a shroud. "Even at first, it was not apparent; he always did like to bide his time."

"He is coming." Edmund mused to himself aloud. The form of Gaia nodded in reply. "Yes. There were some who could sense it before anyone else, but for many of us, it was far too late." The screens flickered, and were suddenly filled with a strange image of a woman. Her hair was long and a vibrant red, and she wore a garish pink, red, and yellow costume so tight it looked as though it grew on her like a second skin. It was hard to ignore the accentuated shape of the hot pink breasts, and the curves of shiny red material that clung to her thighs and butt. Chunky shoulder armor reached high enough to touch her ears, and matching white and orange boots with tiny toothpick heels reached all the way up to her knees. A long, magenta cape swirled in the wind behind her, and in her hand she held a laser sword the same eye-searing pink color as her breastplate. The only thing sensible about the woman's dress was the respectable pair of glasses that sat in front of a pair of bright, hazel eyes; eyes that Edmund found oddly familiar. As she began to speak, that same tinny voice that he had heard on the way to the mansion filled the room, and it suddenly hit him. "Flynn?"

Gaia looked down at Edmund. "You know this woman?" He nodded. "She used to run the Gaia cash shop, but I must say her dress was much more…respectable back then." As he watched her, he quashed the urge to reach out and cover Gino's eyes as she brandished her bright pink sword and made some obviously suggestive gestures, her voice ringing out, but the volume too low to make out any of the words. "She was the first to change." Gaia went on, "The change seemed to happen overnight; she claimed to have traveled through space, and she returned with strange items that seemed to combust gold all the way to the far corners of Gaia. People became greedy, and as she left again and again, and returned each time bringing more of these strange items, people began to obtain them by any means possible, and soon gold started becoming worth less and less."

She gestured again, and the image of Flynn vanished, replaced with someone nobody had ever seen before, but one that caused Sentinel and Overseer to start. This time it was a man, with skin a dusky dull purple, almost like a dark elf but for the hair that seemed to swallow up all light in its sheer blackness. His chest was bare, his pants and scrap of a vest the same dark hue as his hair, contrasting with the white wraps around his ankles, wrists and waist. But most alarming were the eyes, a pair of magenta orbs that glowed like coals, beneath dark eyebrows that seemed to accentuate hatred for anything they saw. Perched on his shoulder like a cocky little parrot was something that at first glance looked like a Kitten Star, but colored jet black and standing upright, with two icy blue eyes that showed none of the original's benign cuteness. It appeared to be pointing this way and that, giving orders to unseen people while the man looked stoically on.

"When Flynn left the cash shop, these two stepped in out of nowhere and took over it for her. They renamed it La Victoire, and since then it has become little more than a gaping wound in Gaia's lung, every breath taking in more and more life force and returning only destruction to our land's very symbols and integrity. They call themselves-" "Cygnus and Jet", Gino and Gaia both said at the same time. The latter nodded sadly. "Doubtless you all have witnessed the destruction upstairs; their doing of course. They have no regard for what makes our world great, but seek to desecrate it any way they can by using its own people to destroy it. It is for this reason that I believe that these two are agents of the very evil which has descended on our land and is even now choking it in its strangulating grasp."

"Wait a second." Edmund held up his hand quickly in interruption. "What of the other shopkeepers; Louie, Logan, Moira- " The figure shook her head slowly. "There has been no indication from anyone that they suspect anything from the pair; in fact they seemed to accept it quite easily, which I feel is very strange, but as we all know, strange has become the new order of Gaia." Edmund scowled at the answer; try as he might, he simply couldn't picture his fellow shopkeepers allowing such a drastic change, especially one that resulted in such terrible changes to their home. He had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach; just how deep had this evil taken root in so short a time?

"Gino," the woman said suddenly, turning her gaze fully on the boy. "I'm sure you know now of your father's fate." Gino nodded miserably, his face lowered, his eyes to the floor. "However, I am sure as of yet you do not exactly know why." Gino didn't raise his head, but his voice sounded out, small and quiet, reminding Edmund that it was really not so long ago that the young man beside him had once been a child. "He…always had accidents to contend with or people going after him. I guess it was just a matter of time before one of them finally succeeded. But… this seems different somehow, from all the rest."
"That is because it is," the figure replied, and raising one of the slender hands, she brought forth a stream of sparkles that instead of the figure's gold, blazed white, and a piece of paper materialized in the woman's hand. "Before he died, your father managed to write this letter for you." Gino's head shot up in surprise, his eyes fixed on the hovering parchment. "Unlike my image, it is very real. Go on; take it." Taking a few steps forward as the figure leaned down, Gino reached up and carefully closed his fingers around the parchment, which became solid the instant he pulled it out of the hologram's light. He stared at it in complete disbelief for a few minutes, his eyes not even roving to read it, but just reveling in the fact of its existence; his own father's final words to him.

It was a rather forced cough from Sentinel that brought his violet eyes back into focus and reminded him that the others were still there and undoubtedly curious about the letter. Clearing his throat, Gino started to read aloud.

"My son,

I only have a short time to tell you what needs to be said, and I have no one to blame but myself. I should have told you all of this from the very beginning, but I always had the foolish notion that I had enough time, for that was always what I was striving for; to add more time to my own existence, sometimes at the sacrifice of yours. One day, I hope you'll forgive your old man. I am so sorry Gino; dark times are coming and I failed to prepare you for any of it. I should have done so much more, and I couldn't even be the father you so desperately needed.

But you must understand that my insane quest for eternal life is a part of a curse that our family has had to live with for countless years. This may come as a shock to you, and I can only pray that you do not take this as the ramblings of a dying man. You, my son, are the last of a line that these days only lives on in myth and legend. Our ancestor was none other than the titan Iapetus, who was considered by all to be the titan of mortality. Because of this, our family has always been obsessed with our own mortality and how best to prolong it, or even dispose of it altogether. It is in our blood, as both a strength and a weakness, and has always been our burden to bear. It drove my mind to madness time and again, pursuing immortality while ignoring everything else around me, including you. I tried to tell myself that it was for the best, that if I only could become the very image of the great Iapetus, then I would stand tall as Gaia's guardian, and you would never have to be exposed to any danger.

But now the threat has come, and I have seen what my foolishness has reaped. I am dying at the hands of a foe far worse than anything our land has ever seen, and you are all that stands between it and the end of Gaia and all who call it home. You knew nothing of this threat, and for all I know you might never know; this letter might burn with my mansion and signal the end of us all. You are the last of the only power strong enough to combat this ancient threat, for the blood in your veins is also thrumming with power every bit as ancient as his. It took my death to show me that you are meant to be the guardian, not I. You should have been trained, honed in body and guided in wisdom, but my selfish preoccupation has cost us both, perhaps cost us all everything.

But there will always be hope, my son. For no matter the state of your body or mind, you are still the only hope Gaia has left. You must face this foe, the being called Nyx, who now closes his fingers in a stranglehold around all that we hold precious. I cannot tell you how, for I do not know myself, but you were always clever, and I know you shall find a way. Be brave, my son, and do what I could not; save Gaia from this evil, and ensure that it lives on."

Gino's voice stopped, and after a full minute, his eyes finally left the paper and looked up at the shimmering figure of Gaia. "Th-that's all it says." The figure's eyebrows rose just slightly, and Edmund, who had been contemplating the letter's words and holding his fresh grief in check, took notice. He also had noticed that after Gino had finished reading the letter aloud, his eyes had continued to skim the paper, as though there was more to be found there. But he didn't have the heart to press the boy; it was probably a small personal note just for him from his father. Sentinel and Overseer had remained quiet for most of the reading, only uttering twin gasps of surprise at the mention of the ancient titan. Even Sentinel found herself unable to offer a quip at such news.

Gino lowered his head and made a fist, the paper crackling in protest, a few tears dripping down from the shrouded eyes to land at his feet. "My father….he was a great man. He had his shortcomings, and I know he wasn't very good at being a father, but I always tried to be the best son and to please him, even if he never seemed to notice. Now…" Edmund nodded, reaching out to place a hand on Gino's shoulder. "I know it's a lot to take in, but you must believe your father. Johnny was my closest friend for many, many years, and I knew how he struggled between choosing you and what his blood called out for. I'm not saying it's any sort of excuse, but you must know that in spite of it all, he loved you." Gino's head moved in a barely perceptible nod. "I know."

Gino raised his head once more and looked steadily at the image of Gaia, his eyes rapidly drying. "I'll do what my father wants; I'll face this Nyx, the one responsible for all of this mess, but I have no idea where to start. Can you help me?" Gaia nodded and smiled. "I see your father's determination in your eyes, and it gives me hope, young Gino. Do not waver in your task, and let the power that lies sleeping within you be your guide." She turned and indicated the screen, which began to slowly transition its images, displaying all of the well-known shops of Gaia. "Yet that alone might not be enough to sustain you before you meet Nyx. Gather your friends to you, and let them add their strength to your own. Visit them at their shops, and you might even discover the reason behind their complacency of late. It will be a strong start in the retaking of Gaia from Nyx." Edmund nodded his approval; already he was itching to return to the surface and find that out for himself.

"One more thing." Gaia turned to look at the unusually silent Sentinel and Overseer. "You two now have a chance to make amends for all of your trouble. Go with Gino and continue to help him, and in time you might discover what real power really is." Overseer nodded his head in obedience, but Sentinel wasn't so easily cowed. "What the hell is THAT supposed to mean!?" she yelled at the sparkling figure, but the image was already fading, and without another word, the hologram went dark.