Patrick: What did you do? Where are we now?

Nar.: Crytos looked around with his brows furrowed. In most aspects, it did appear that they had landed in Anthrax, but something about the electrically charged air told them otherwise.

Crytos: don't know. I put in the coordinates of what I believed was the Blue Ether�

Nar.: He looked around again, puzzled.

Calia: (softly) I've been here before�

Crytos: What?

Calia: I've been here before� it's a renegade plane that got in the way.

Patrick: How have you been here before? That's impossible.

Nar.: Calia stared off into the distance and then began to walk away without answering Patrick.

Crytos: Where are you going?

Calia: (trance-like) Home�

Nar.: Patrick and Crytos watched her walk away confused, and then followed her at a distance.

Patrick: How can she be going home? Wouldn't home be her cottage in the Otherworld or possibly the lab in Anthrax?

Nar.: Patrick clasped his hands together and wrung them nervously as they followed Calia. He looked at Crytos. Crytos stared ahead, his features seemingly calm above his tumultuous inner thoughts. Finally, he answered Patrick.

Crytos: This would be Calia's home alright.

Nar.: Patrick stopped staring at the ground and looked up at Crytos, his eyes wide.

Patrick: What? How? Th-that cannot be!

Nar.: They stopped walking. Patrick continued to babble incoherently as he tried to regain his composure. When he finally fell silent, Crytos continued, calm and seemingly unaffected by Patrick's outburst.

Crytos: It's actually quite simple. That girl� (He said nodding in the direction of the fading silhouette of Calia.) is not our dear Calia.

Patrick: Not Calia?

Nar.: There was a brief pause as Crytos thought of how to phrase his newly discovered revelation. Finally, his eyes brightened and focused back on Patrick's thin frame.

Crytos: That would be a cleverly engineered replica of Calia.

Nar.: As soon as the words had left Crytos's lips, a loud clapping began. It was not the clapping of a multitude, but rather one person applauding Crytos's astute realization. Out of the darkness around them, a woman's voice resounded, seeming to fill the emptiness around them.

Voice: (slowly) Congratulations. You have discovered my secret.

Nar.: To their left, the figure of a woman coalesced from the darkness. Thin shards of what seemed to be opaque glass knitted themselves together to form a young woman in black with her auburn hair pulled back into an impossible mass of braids.

Crytos: Hello Calia. (He regarded her with a raised eyebrow and curious stare.)

Calia: Why you must be� Crytos? And you're Patrick.

Patrick: Yes� H-how� How did you know that?

Calia: Ah. I see you haven't figured it out yet. Come. Let me show you my humble abode.

Nar.: Calia closed her eyes and said a few inaudible words. Suddenly, the darkness melted around them, the black sliding downward and mixing with the new reds and grays, like paint splashed on a canvas. Slowly, the world around them became more and more defined, until they were standing in a large hall. The hall was largely made of gray stone, with thick red tapestries hanging on the walls, and a thick red carpet on the floor. Two huge mahogany doors were behind them, and a ruby chandelier with black candles burned high overhead.

Patrick: (surprised) You call this humble?

Calia: (ignoring Patrick) welcome to my home. Welcome to Faerchae, and the land of the gathering dark.

Crytos: Where exactly are we?

Calia: A renegade plane I have reserved for myself, long before my birth�

Crytos: Long before your� so you are one f the Shifrah?

Calia: No.

Crytos: What then?

Calia: I am� pure magic�

Nar.: As she said this, a light welled up, filling the space around her. she looked around, eyes wide, until she realized what was going on.

Calia: Oh� not now�

Nar.: The intensity of the light grew until it was a burning star. Patrick melted into his ever-shifting form and Crytos covered his eyes, the light still burning brightly behind his eyelids. Suddenly, as suddenly as it had begun, the light subsided. Crytos opened his eyes and found a young man standing in front of him. He was dressed in a black tunic and pants, with black lace up boots. His hair was black and his skin, pale. Under his longish locks, two icy blue eyes peered at them.

Man: Ah� I see Calia has found you two.

Nar.: Patrick rematerialized as a human shape and took in what was going on around them.

Man: Allow me to introduce myself� I am Calia's patron and ruler of the island of Cretu� I don't suppose you've heard of the place, but that is of no matter. You may call me Morpheus.

Patrick: Greetings, Morpheus. I don't suppose you could tell me what is going on? It seems my friend Crytos and my daughter-

Morpheus: You're daughter? (turns to Calia) You are of shapeshifting heritage?

Calia: Not directly� They created me in a lab.

Morpheus: I see� Continue Mr. Ballard.

Patrick: Well, as I was going to say, it seems I'm lost and do not understand what's going on.

Morpheus: I see� Come, follow me.

Nar.: Patrick, Crytos, and Calia followed Morpheus through twisting hallways made of stone and lit by torchlight. They hardly made a sound on the cold hard floors because of the thick carpeting that seemed to line every room and hallway. Finally, they arrived in a large study. The study's walls were lined with shelves of books, with an occasional bit of stone wall showing. Even these bits of wall were covered by a large blue tapestries with golden symbols and designs stitched in them. The room had a thick blue carpet and all manner of desks and worktables about. There were a couple of globes held up by golden stands randomly put around the room. The room's very air gave them the impression that the room was often and well used.

Morpheus: This is my archmage's study. You will meet him later on. His name is Daltran. Anyway, to answer you question changeling, a few years back�

(scene fades out into darkness)

Morpheus: And there you have it.

Patrick: Um� right� so when Lilith died you took Calia under your wings and created a fake Calia so that no one would be suspicious?

Morpheus: Pretty much.

Patrick: Riiight� and you are who exactly?

Morpheus: Morpheus Dominaria, ruler of the Cretu Islands.

Crytos: Mmmm-hmmm� Patrick� May I speak to you alone for a moment?

Patrick: Sure� (They walk out of the room and close the door behind them.) Yes?

Crytos: What do you think of this guy?

Patrick: He seems okay. He reminds me of Morgead though�

Crytos: Exactly.

Patrick: So� We should be careful?

Crytos: Yes. (They reenter the room.)

Morpheus: I trust that all is well?

Nar.: Morpheus looked at the two of them. The changeling and the gnome regarded him for a moment before nodding.

Morpheus: Good� so let us go forth to the feast that we have planned to celebrate Calia's good fortune.