Emily walked through the overgrown swirl of plants on Xanadu. The suns shone brightly in the speckless blue sky. As the opportunity  to walk alone was quite rare she used this time to contemplate her life now. After the mutated titans had been destroyed, Riza turned Emily into a human-xan hybrid. The best of both worlds. There was an opportunity to live on Xanadu and become part of this ancient society, and although she loves to do the latter, Emily realised that living away from everyone she loved was far too much to bear. Instead she now lives with her family on a deserted but lavish moon full of Olympians  - who could not bear to live on Titus - and animals whose home has been destroyed. Occasionally she would visit Xanadu to help Riza and aid her in some rescue trips but other than she spent most of her time on  χαμένος or chaménos in English.

As the path through the dense forest full of exotic and fruitful trees cleared Emily came to her favourite place on Xanadu. It was secluded and not too lavish. There were tiny white flowers surrounding a jewel like turquoise lake.  Though not as pretty, Emily loved the way she could come here with or without Pegasus and just enjoy some quiet time in her even more chaotic life. The role as a Xan had so far been extremely demanding and exhausting. Life in this universe was plagued with problems and disasters; it was hard to reach everyone in time. Relationships were smooth to say the least. Her father, Tom, Alexis and many more had a strengthened love with her after everything. Yet Paelen and Joel were still confusing her to this day. Paelen was still grieving the death of Lorin, who despite her horrendous background, gave her life for him when fighting the Titans.

Joel. Oh, sweet Joel. What could she say about him? There were thousands and thousands of words that she wanted to say to him but they would just not come out of her mouth. The feelings were there but still a wall was between them and she did not know how to knock it down. The situation had passed her mind so many time but nothing would help. How could they move forward? A hidden though in her mind was that Joel kept himself together because he did not want to hurt Paelen. That was long ago now. If he could not move forward then she would. But how? Every single time she tried Emily froze up like the time the gorgons turned her to stone.

"We will come through this." she said aloud. "I know we will."

"Who will?"

"ARRAGH!" Emily was shocked by the sudden appearance in her secret place. Cautiously she turned around only to see Paelen's emotionless face staring at her.
"Paelen you scared me. This is a private place. How did - "  

"I just asked the sandals to find you. It was easy." his lips curled into a smile as he realised that Emily forgot his skills of stealth and his sandals ability to find anyone in any part of the universe. She seemed to become quite forgetful these days.

" I know,you feel you need a place to cool yourself down, you can get very hot-tempered." he joked

"Paelen!" Emily whispered blushed but laughing. He always found a way to annoy her but make her laugh at the same time.

"Why is this place private anyway, it could be very nice for.."

"It just is my place Paelen. I want somewhere I can relax for a few minutes. Is that too much?" Immediately she regretted uttering those words. 

"Yeah, well maybe you always need somewhere to go. You always have everything and never share some of the things that maybe other people need. You have no concept of sharing; rememeber that time on the beach. She just wanted to stay and..." he stopped himself before it got extreme. This never used to happen. He was always calm and collected.   Paelen walked away, still his muscles tense and sweat bathing his brows. After a few seconds he came back and she could see the visible pain in his face.

"I am so..."

"Just please go to the main temple. Everyone is there. I will come in a little while." he sighed a long and soft sigh of defeat. Emily though better than to talk it through with him. Instead she decided to slowly walk back to the main temple and leave the troubled Paelen to calm.

"I wish things were less complicated" she thought.

But after this moment, things were about to get so much worse...