The last thing he had recalled before the "catastrophe" had occurred was him laying next to Aelwen in bed and were about to become more intimate when they were pulled apart by some weird phenomenon and the next thing he knew he woke up to find his head buried in sand with nothing but his pants still on. After some time of wandering, he came across a familiar little kingdom in the middle of nowhere, but it wasn't until he reached the gate and the guards saw his birthmark that they recognized him as Prince of Crowa. Christian had been confused as his homeland was an island but now was a part of a continent. The coming days didn't ease matters for him even with the reunion with the rest of his family. Apparently their old world was absorbed into this one somehow and their home was moved. Worse still was that he had no clue as to where Aelwen was, or if she was even alive. Sulking for weeks on end, he would eventually come to learn of one of the neighboring cities was one filled with Rosenites, the very beings that she belonged to. Without a wasted moment, he prepared himself and left abruptly, only leaving them with the words "I will be back!", before scurrying to Sularia.

The young man was in a panic as he reached the city days later. Night had fallen and the desert air was much cooler than before. It didn't deter him though as he went about, looking for any trace or sign of his beloved. After much wandering, he managed to cross paths with a woman that claimed to be her cousin and eased his worries and fears over something happening to her. In fact, she had been safe and sound for some time now in the cities and in her mother's realm. The latter had confused him greatly but he was more so concerned about Aelwen's whereabouts. She told him where the manor resided and after a rushed thank you, he headed off towards the direction all the way there. When he spotted the manor, he beat on the door merciless. "Aelwen! Aelwen! Are you there? Please tell me you are!" He shouted out while still banging the door, unconcerned about whoever he was waking up at this time. In Christian's mind, she was his only concern and he would be damned if he couldn't find her.

"AELLLLLLLLLLLLLLWEN!"
 

Nerezza was enjoying a fine evening of ‘Chase Kaiser around Rose Manor’ when she finally got him paralyzed on the bed and ready to negotiate terms of their engagement again. He had said no sex to protect her innocence until the day they wed. It was something foreign to Nerezza and she wanted Kaiser to give in to her. The man was persistent but at least she could torture him until the day they said ‘I do’.

When the sound of banging on the door came she rolled her eyes and got up off of him from her straddled position. “I’ll give ya fucking Aelwen if you don’t shut your damn mouth.” It was the whirl of a finger as a gate opened up and Aelwen toppled out of it like a doll. Her strawberry blonde hair was a mess as the little halfling stood up and dusted herself off.

“You fucking bitch I’m going to kill you! I’m going to kick you so hard you go right back to DaeLuin.” Aellie was made as her face was bright red in frustration.

“I’d like to see you try you damn midget. Come up here and make me.” Nerezza pointed behind her. “And shut him the fuck up before I shove you up his ass.” Nerezza slammed the window shut and opened it. “MIDGET.” Normally Nerezza was more reserved but this was their sisterly banter. “HEY, YOU GET BACK ON THAT BED WE GOT NEGOTIATIONS!” 

“Raegueelllll,” a cry came from the hallway as a thud was heard from outside from Kaiser. "Helpppp."

“Poor fucker,” Aellie said softly as she turned around. Her body went stiff as she stared at the very man she had been looking for this entire time. “Christian…” It took minutes for her body to react to her words as she flung herself onto him. “I was so worried about you! I haven’t seen you since it all happened and I didn’t think you made it.” She was crying now much like the last time he had come home.

He continued to yell like madman for Aelwen, yet the response he finally managed to get wasn't the one he was expecting. While he was readying himself to see her come out from the door or even the window above and scream at him to stop, he spotted a different one doing just that. He had few encounters with Nerezza, and up until now they had been pleasant enough, but this time she seemed very annoyed. He was about to call out to her about her sister, but she had different plans and he barely had time to brace himself before she dropped something or more so someone high above him. Christian fell on his back with the delivery on top of him until she got off and bickered right back at her. The two went back and forth as he recovered enough to recognize that it was Aelwen shouting. He watched from his position, a part of him wondering if getting involved with this family was worth all this.

The argument ceased and Nerezza went back to whatever it was she was doing, and all that could be heard from that was panicking from someone else and things crashing into the floor above them. His eyes met with hers once his love turned around and she immediately responded to his presence. Christian couldn't help but to smile widely as she collapsed onto him and he wrapped his arms around her small frame tightly as if she would slip away from him forever if he didn't. "Aelwen…" He could barely choke out her name as he comforted her. Placing his chin onto her head, he let her cry until she felt better before wiping the tears from her. "I know. I've been looking for you as soon as I'd learned of this place. Everything has changed somehow…my home is nearby in fact. I don't understand anything but I do know that I hadn't lost you yet."   

Aellie was beside herself as she tried to think of the next words that she needed to tell him. “You were there and then we weren’t there at all. Mother caught me but she told me she didn’t know where you were.” She held onto him tightly and snuggled into him. “I was so scared that I lost you but she kept sending me on jobs and telling me to calm down and let her help. I didn’t let her help because I was afraid she wasn’t her.” It was cryptic but she knew what she meant. “She’s just always been in this world but she hasn’t been. It’s so weird and it scared me. She’s my mother but she’s not my mother?”

She rubbed her face into his chest in a panic. “I was all by myself when Nezzie was asleep.” Speaking of Nezzie she looked up at the window and laughed. “She’s still giving Kaiser hell. He won’t sleep with her until they get married.” She tried to lighten the mood up. “She must have had him cornered when you showed up.” She reached up and kissed him gently.

“Gods I missed you… WE can’t stay here. Nezzie probably has the entire place trapped for him.” She was still in her clothes, thank god she hadn’t been doing anything else, lets I don’t know get a room at an inn. I don’t feel like getting caught in magic traps.” She held onto him tightly and pointed in the direction of an inn. “Not too far from here…” She held onto his hand tightly as she dragged him along.

“So Crowia is here? That is good… I heard from Aaryona that Marius, her father, didn’t make it in the fall. Lots of people died… but I am glad Crowia’s people did not.” She smiled up at him. “You put a lot of work into making sure their trades were good… and now that they are here I’m sure my mother could help with that…” She stopped for a moment. “Holy hell, my mother would be a matron goddess of their’s now.” She groaned a bit. “She has her fingers in everything now.”

Once they got to the inn and had a room she flopped onto the bed with him. It was like the first night he came home all over again. She just wanted to lay with him. “We gotta stop meeting like this Christian.” She chuckled a bit. “That’s three times now. Well twice that we’ve actually known each other.”

"I know, I know", he said, stroking at the back of her head as he thought back to those moments before they were forced apart. Christian wasn't too surprised to see that Aelwen had been pained about their separation as well; as tough as she was, he had learned soon enough that she was a kitten. Albeit, a very dangerous one but one nonetheless. It took her a while to get comfortable around him and it also took him leaving for Crowia and coming back to get her to come around. When it came to her mother, he was less than trusting  of Angela considering what they went through. Especially that of her "plan", but still she was Aelwen's mother and he had to respect that. "I don't know, but I think you are on to something. Much about this world feels similar to ours, but at the same time certain things feel…foreign." Scratching at his head, Christian had to think about it for a moment or two. Everyone he encountered felt as though there was another side to them, even his parents and brothers seemed a bit odd. Perhaps much more had changed than what they realized.

Getting back up to his feet, he glanced back up to the window and sighed. "Well, that would help to explain her mood. She was normally soft spoken and reserved from my interactions with her. But then again I suppose she's been frustrated with her suitor for a while now?" He couldn't help but to look at Aelwen for a moment after saying those words. Any more thoughts about the matter were erased once she got a hold of him and kissed him. It had been ages since he felt the comfort of her lips pressed against his and he took his time enjoying it.

Rather than risking setting foot in a house that her seemingly lunatic sister may or may not have booby-trapped, he nodded in agreement to go with her elsewhere for the night, despite it being clear that she wasn't giving him a choice in that matter. Once they were settled in, he sat on the bed and grew quiet for a bit. "Well, not everyone made it there. It is unfortunate, but the ones that I knew greatly did, so that is at least comforting. I am sorry for your sister's lost though, as well as for the others that had perished." Too much death had been dealt with and he feared that it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He knew not of the politics his land had with the others around it now and he was hoping that they would not have to go to war anytime soon. "Perhaps, but we had followed different gods in the past, so who knows? As bizarre as all of this is, you may be right though. Now, enough of all that." He smiled back at her as she climbed into the bed and he fell back beside her. "Why, getting tired of it? I feel as though fate plays with us alot. Just when things for us get good, then something has to happen and stir things up."

Aellie thought about her sister and laughed. “They only recently got engaged but Kaiser wants to preserve her innocence until they are married. She is more trying to create a challenge for herself.” She reached over and cupped his face. She missed him so much and it showed in her silver eyes.

Once they were in the room she stared at him with remorse. “Yeah, the losses have been bad haven’t they? I am glad you haven’t lose anyone close to you Christian.” She reached over to him and cupped his face one more time before gently placing a kiss on his lips. 

When they fell onto the bed together, she gave him a laugh. “I am tired of fate playing with us. Every time we start to get to a good spot we get lost, separated, or worse. I think we should just tie ourselves to each other.” She curled her small body into his and chuckled. “We’ve been trying to move on with our lives and it seems like something always gets in the way. Do we dare try and move forward again? Do we try to get intimidate and hope the world doesn’t fall apart?”

Christian couldn’t help but to think of the Rosenites as more like venus flytraps rather than roses. They were a strange lot and they were able to capture mates and drag them through the most challenging of situations. He couldn’t help but to wonder if Kaiser had gotten way over his head with Nerezza like he was thinking he was with Aelwen. Damn Angela having to have pretty daughters. Regardless he didn’t want to live without the little halfling though, that much had been proven time and time again.

There had been some losses on his side, but for the most part he would have to move on without the departed. He couldn’t help but to look at her though. “What about with you? Are your other loved ones here as well?” His body gave into her as she pulled him into a kiss. Gods knew it had been so very long since he had been blessed by them. He eagerly returned it right back to her own lips. “Well at least now some good has come from this. I could take you to my home at some point and see what it’s like.” It felt strange but the Crowia here was very similar to the one he grew up in. But how could that be? This new land they were on was very strange and at the same time it wasn’t. Just like how Aelwen felt about her mother. Too many mysteries for people as young as they were to have to deal with, he believed.

For while he laid on the bed in thought; she was right that every time they tried to be further intimate with one another something always came up. Who knew, the next time they attempted to try could really bring an end to the world. He doubted that her mother would let something happened like that, but fate really seemed against them. He looked into her eyes and smiled, Aelwen and him had been waiting and trying all this time, as awkward as it had been. Every opportunity that presented itself they tried to take and here they were again, another opportunity. Would they find themselves in yet another world if they dared? Christian plopped himself up on his elbows and turned to her. “I guess the next time it happens, I buy the rope to tie us them.” With that, he moved in to kiss her deeply and loomed himself over her body. “Does this answer your question?” They went through too much to let anything stop them aside from each other. If she wanted it as much as he did, then they would take this night.

Angela froze up just a bit as she laughed. “Funny thing, so after we showed up here and Ma was already a goddess for a good amount of time. It turns out I have over hundred siblings… Crazy thing ain’t it?” Her smile left as she pouted. “I can’t find my Da and Rey is missing… They most likely didn’t make it.” Her eyes were only teary for a moment as she braved through the feelings. 

She put up a smile and nodded. “I would love to see Crowia. You’ve always been so proud of it and you worked so hard to make sure it was alright despite what your dumb brothers said.” 

As he kissed her and slid over her Aellie let out a simple laugh. “It does but also.. you don’t have any rope. How the hell are we suppose to find each other if the world ends again.” Her arms slipped over him and she found herself suddenly not caring anymore. They were in the spot that they had left off time and time again. 

For as much as they built up to it, it was sloppy and funny in a way. They hadn’t ever made it this far and now that they had it was like they had not a clue what to do. They figured it out the best way they could. They tired themselves out and Aellie curled up onto him and laid her head on his chest. Her elven ear pressed against him so she could listen to the soft beats of his heart. “About time we didn’t bring the world down attempting that.” She pulled the blankets up on them and kissed Christian’s neck. “I’ve missed you.”

Christian gave a sad look at her, it was a shame that Aelwen lost both her father and brother. Of course he knew by now that she wouldn’t let herself be depressed by it, or at least show it visibly. The news of her new relatives made him stare out and ponder if this realm was some sort of reflection to the one they had belonged to. He wasn’t sure what to make of any of this, but what mattered to him was the small woman right beside him. As long as he was with Aelwen, then he was sure everything would be alright.

“Aside from the dumb brothers, the place is rather beautiful”, he commented with a snicker following suit. “Pretty sure my parents would love to see the woman that made me leave home as soon as possible to find.” He was sure that they would like her, and to hell with what his brothers would think. As long as they didn’t touch her, then everything would be fine otherwise he would show them his fangs. They wouldn’t be parted that easily, the world had rippled and they had been physically separated but they still managed to find one another through it all. He wasn’t sure that any force in the realms would be enough to keep them apart for too long. “Fate won’t stop us from being together.” He wasn’t trying to sound brash or arrogant, but he wouldn’t allow for it. “And if we get parted again, we will find each other. I think that is our destiny.” Any more words that were left in either of them faded and weren’t needed any longer as they carried on throughout the night. Both were inexperienced and went on instinct alone. The intense moment didn’t last too long, but he didn’t feel as if they had wasted any time at all. Everything that had built up to it and they finally were able to make love without having to worry about something else occurring. He felt exhausted and fell back onto the bed while Aelwen fell onto him and he wrapped his arm around her now naked body. At least this time he could look at her without having to worry about getting pummeled by a broomstick or hammer or something else. Beneath that hard exterior, she was more soft and docile and as she laid on him, Christian could feel her warmth against him even as they wrapped themselves into blankets. He kissed the top of her head as she spoke, agreeing that for once they could be in their own little world right now. Nothing else existed or mattered save for one another. “I have a feeling that if your sister was to learn of this, she would really hate us”, he said, giving her another kiss. “I missed you too, Aelwen.” Nuzzling against her, Christian felt the exhaustion of not only what they had done, but also of him making the travel from Crowia to Arri. His body felt like a ton of stones right now and sleep was unavoidable. “I love you…”, he spoke as he drifted to sleep.

The rays of the morning light came and shined onto his face through the window. He struggled a bit but eventually he awoken with a hazily stare and looked down to the sleeping girl. He lifted his head for a bit before flinging it back down and looking up to the ceiling. Everything seemed like…like a dream. Like everything last night hadn’t happened and yet it did.  

Aelwen was absolutely overjoyed to hear she could go to Crowia. “I mean, I think it would be fun dumb brothers aside. Even if they did say anything or do anything I could just hurt them badly.” She chuckled as she brought him to her for a small kiss. The halfling began to laugh and she shook her head. “I’m tying a rope to both of us. That way we’re never going to be separated and it won’t matter if fate tries.” She teased him softly as she laid with him. “I don’t plan on going anywhere anymore.”

She snuggled into him and gently shrugged at the mention of Nerezza. “I have a feeling she is just trying to break him and if he gives in she will giggle and walk away. Kaiser is strong I’m sure he can live with it for a little while longer.” She was just as exhausted as he was as she settled into a nook she found on his shoulder. She gently wrapped her arms where she could and nodded. “and I love you.”

She fell asleep quickly and only awoke when he threw his head back. It was enough movement to stir her a bit. “You move too much Chris.” She took a big yawn as she kissed his neck and nuzzled it softly. “Should stop that.” She pulled the blankets over her head so she could hide away from the light. Look her silver eyes were peeking up at him from under the blanket.

“Can we go to Crowia?” She had managed to rub her eyes with little effort as she sat up on his chest now with the blankets draped over her head. “It sounds like an adventure and we could get out of Arri. I could meet everyone… It’s something we’ve always talked about doing.”