Erais' body was completely frozen of its own accord as he spoke. Her mind was piecing things together as he spoke. When he confessed to her that he wasn't Daidrea's brother and that the part of him he killed who was Daidrea's actual brother made all of her fears return. After he explained what he would do, she decided she'd rather have not known. Her eyes went wide as dark energy started to circle around her neck.

It felt as though something was being burned into her throat. It melted away and she looked at Kuja with a mix of horror and anger. "What did you do?!" she screamed angrily at him. "You said you'd get rid of it!" she screeched as he disappeared on his dragon. Night was falling quickly and now she was completely alone, deep in the Empire, with a deadly dangerous thing harboring in her. Her neck stung slightly and she felt her anger boil up against Kuja for doing this to her.

As her anger boiled up, the small boulders that surrounded her exploded as dark mist like tendrils swirled around. She felt so alone, and so angry she wanted to explode. Finally she was able to calm down, but only after she'd caused a rather large mess that made the closest area to her look like a fire hail storm had just run through.

Erais stood there as she looked around. Her temper was starting to cool down. What do I do now? she thought to herself. She couldn't very well keep going. Kuja had put a seal on her and now she was stuck. Arden was nowhere to be found, she had no way of communicating with him. Do I go after Daidrea? she asked herself. How would he react though, she wasn't sure what to do now. All she knew was that she had underestimated Kuja when she shouldn't have.

Erais couldn't exactly figure out what she was feeling right now. She was mad at Kuja, but it was so different from every other time she'd become very angry. She could only guess that it was from the seal he'd put on her neck. She stood up and sighed. Well I could just go and cause havoc in the Empire, she thought to herself, but she really wanted to find Kuja and force him to take the seal off. The only problem was she didn't know where he was, and she was mountless. Right now it felt as though Arden had disappeared off the face of the world. So she figured she'd just have to walk. But where do I go? she asked herself as she started out.

Erais was stumbling in the dark. There was abosolutely no moon out. Even though she had the eyes of an experianced rider, there was no light to help her see. Within moments of cursing the dark, her foot found a hard rock and she tripped, falling into a thistle bush. Erais cursed long and loudly. She decided she couldn't get anywhere in the dark, so climbing out of the thistles, she sat against a tree. What am I doing here? I shouldn't be tracking down Kuja, he's on a dragon and most likely settled back in the heart of the Empire. I have no dragon with me and I don't have any companions to back me up. She thought dismally as she sat under that tree. Her mind filled with questions, none of them getting answered.

Even though Erais wanted to sleep, she couldn't. Her throat was irritating her terribly, so she decided to keep heading off in a random direction. She let her mind wander as she continued to stumble through under brush. After a while her mind hit a strong mind block. Instantly she became hyper ware of it. She began to go in that direction. Finally she was close enough to get a little bit past the mind block and realized who in was.

Erais went into a rage as she began to move swiftly to his direction. Now there was enough light for her to see with. She cleared a few trees and saw him lying on the ground. "You monster!" she shouted as she came forward, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"Yes MONSTER!!" she said in outrage and kicked him hard in the gut. "I don't even want this! I don't want to be more powerful! I WANT IT GONE!!!" she shouted while glaring at him with all the hate she could. Erais felt no intimidation as Selris growled at her. Shut up Dragon! I've had enough experiance with your kind! I'm not afraid! her voice was dark as she glowered at the dragon. "Take it back! Take it all back!" she screeched.

Erais refused to give him the satisfaction that he was hurting her. The unbearable pressure on her neck coupled with the pain from the seal, well it hurt. Though she couldn't help but call out when she slammed into a tree. Something had snapped in her back, she staggered to her feet and nearly fell over from the pain. She leaned against the tree and was barely able to draw her sword. Erais didin't show it, but she was terrified with what was about to happen. She was in no condition to fight, her dragon gone, and no one to back her up, also with the newly inflicted damage on her... she just knew she wouldn't last long. "Then come at me pig!" she snarled, putting every effort into seeming brave. When inside, she was scared real scared with what was about to happen.

Erais could barely deflect Kuja's blows. Most of them she couldn't even do that. She gasped for air after he struck her each time. Her vision was starting to fade as she saw him approach her. His sword raised and he was about to strike her, but the pain never came. Even in her hazy vision, she knew something was going on. Arden immediately entered her mind and began blocking some of the pain from her awareness. With that, she was able to clear her vision a little bit. "Daidrea?" she asked in shock as he lifted her off the ground. Her sword laying limpy in her hand.

Erais I shouldn't have left you for so long, I'm sorry. Arden spoke to her as he lifted to the air before Selris could come after them. He flew carefully, making sure that neither Daidrea or her would fall. "I'm just glad you came," Erais said, meaning both of them as the damage finally knocked her out cold. The seal around her neck tightened slightly, but was nothing compared to what she was feeling.

Arden quickly dodged the blast as best he could, luckily it was in time. He was glad they weren't being followed and landed carefully in the clearing Daidrea had pointed out. He entered Erais' mind and helped to coax her into consciousness. Erais opened her eyes slowly and looked up at Daidrea. "I shouldn't have trusted him," she said quietly as it was difficult to speak. When she'd been thrown into the tree previously, it had done terrible damage to her back, which in turn made it hard for her to use her lungs to breathe. "He wouldn't take it back," she mumbled in a pained voice.

"You didn't recognize him?" she asked him a bit confused. Of course though, she remembered that Kuja had killed Xaldin. Erais flinched slightly from the memories. "The stupid seal he put on me. He told me it was a gift so I could harness the darkness in me, I don't want it. He promised to take the dark matter from me, especially since it was his fault that we both are stuck with it." She said slightly angry and wanted to vent her frustration, but was too exhausted physically.

"I do not need rest! I'm just fine!" she said in defiance as she stood up quickly from the ground. Instantly the pain in her back flared up and she crashed against Arden. "Wow," she said as she gripped her head slightly, trying to get rid of the dizziness. "Actually, maybe rest might be good." Erais said as she shifted carefully so she would have enough warmth through the night. Alright, but keep a very sharp eye out. I don't know exactly what went on, but her mind is screaming warning against this Kuja person. I can only assume he was the one we saw. Arden said and nestled against the ground as he fell asleep.

It was hours before Erais woke up, but as each moment passed by, the blackness in her was slowly starting to twist her mind. It was happening so slowly that Arden wasn't able to detect it, at least, not quite yet. Erais opened her eyes, only to have the sun glare in them. She shut her eyes and shifted herself so Arden's wing was blocking the suns glare. She rubbed her eyes as she sat up. The pain in her back was just a dull throb now, but it was still there and very sore.

Looking to the side, she was Daidrea. With a small sigh she stood up and walked over to him. "I'm really starting to get sick of running into trouble at every bend." She said absently, and then turned to him. "I don't know how many times I could ever thank you for already saving me so much, and I don't know how many more times you might have to save me. I don't really like having to be rescued, but I'm glad that its you." Erais said softly and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek as a small thanks.

Erais watched and listened to him. What he said was exactly how she felt. "I want the same thing, just as much as you. This has been going on far too long and I'm ready for it to be over so we can live in peace for once. No threatening influence always hanging over our head. I just want to live quietly and away from everything, with you." She told him with a tired sigh. The fight had really gone on too long and it was about time Galbatorix just keeled over and died.

Daidrea thought for a moment. "So what do you think we should do now? Should we head back to the forest or keep stirring things up here?"

He really wanted to know what she was thinking.

OC- sorry for short post

"I really don't know," Erais said while burying her face in her hands. She did not want to deal with the world at the moment. It was too hard and with what she'd been through, she just wanted to fade away into nothing. Knowing that the seal Kuja put on her wouldn't just go away made her tremble slightly. Erais was ready for this to be over, almost to the point of suicidle, but she was smarter then that. At least for now. Since the blackness in her had easier access to her normally closed off mind, it was slowly seeping into her, causing more damage by the minute.

Erais thought about it for a moment. "I guess, and if something horrible happens and they need to call in reserves, we'll be on hand." She spoke while getting to her feet. Arden looked around, something had shifted, but he didn't know what. He didn't want to worry Erais much, but someone should know. I don't like the feeling I'm getting, like something bad is going to happen. Arden said to Daidrea.

Erais was going to protest to him, but he was already gone. She mumbled slightly while walking over to where Arden had moved to rest. Rest easy Erais, he knows you're capable of handling many things; but he feels that he still needs to protect you the same way I do. Even though you've got more experiance then I have, it's still a little bit of instinct. Don't be so harsh on him, he told her gently as she sat against his hot belly. Either way, I still would rather be asked then have everyone assume. She responded before closing her mind from him and let herself relax. As she fell into sleep, something dark and dangerous harbored inside of her, leeching into every corner of her body.