ORIGIN

James just shrugged, "I don't know. So far? It doesn't seem that way. I watched people beg their family members to stay and they left for Ursa anyway because Mother said so."

His heart still yearned for Carja, who was still a child as she watched her father and aunt escape into Ursa, her cries agonizing.

"I witnessed her break a family apart," he said softly, eyes sad, "My friend, Carja. She was a child and Mother told her father and aunt to go into Ursa despite her screams for them to stay. She left my friend alone, without a parent, her family torn in two. She dyed her scales black for them, and she still mourns."

That might have been what convinced him.

"I think Mother is angry," he said, "And she uses gembounds to lash out. Perhaps she wants a family too, but this is no way to get it. Violence is never the answer. I hate it so much and I wish I could have used my magic better so that Tahi didn't have to do what he did and get chrysalized by the monsters she sent... she was going to kill us."

James shuddered and shook his head, "I don't think she wants you here, Aethereal. There has to be a reason you're here, and I think it's the chaos-magic you possess. I've seen it before. There is a person named Master Vargas, who lives in Draco. If you seek answers, he'll know why the chaos calls so strongly, and maybe he can help you. He has creations of chaos, great beasts that drip and ooze like you."

He turned to Isolde next and sagged a bit, "I-I... I ask you to stay. Let Aethereal ask Mother these questions and try to convince Mother to stop this violence."

Hopefully before the war.

"I have a home in Pegasus," he said, "Both of you, if you wish, are welcome to stay there with me. I don't know if it's big enough to house you, but there is safety in the clearing I built it in, and perhaps you can meet my children if they come home, and the ones who grow in their chrysali."

He looked at the two, tired and exhausted, "For now, can we all go into Pegasus? I have a friend who lives in this tunnel, and she doesn't like people who linger here for too long. Not that I'm afraid that she'll get violent, but if we are to talk in private without listeners, we should move on."