[i]"As you wander Through the storm Let my song, dear Keep you safe and warm Go see the world, Love River and sea But hold me in your memory."[/i] Mommy's lap is even warmer than the fire. It's even softer than the wonderful rug that's just for Mittens to take naps on. Mittens squirms happily under the ministrations of her favorite brush and looks up with eyes so filled with love they're almost leaking. Mommy's voice washes over her like a river, so powerful and deep, but at the same time calm and soothing. Mittens purrs her accompaniment. It's the only sound she needs or wants to be making right now. The brush feels heavenly in her hair. Every time it finds a tangle there's a happy tingling sensation that crawls across her entire silly head and sends a shiver straight down her spine so that there's nothing left to do but swish her tail contentedly. It's even painted through with green, her favorite color ever. Mittens' eyes drift shut and there's nothing in the whole world beyond the gentle tap tap tap of raindrops on the glass saying hello in their soothing voices, Mommy's singing that sets her heart adrift, and the sensation of the the brush running through her hair and making she brain go all fuzzy happy squeak squeak mew. She opens her eyes. The brush is painted through with pink. Her favorite color ever! [i]"In the valley Past the hills Lies our meadow Full of daffodils There sleep, my Darling And in your dreams Take my hand and dance with me."[/i] It's been a very long time since Mittens last heard this song. It's an old song, much older than she is. The first time Mommy sang it to her was the Sad Day, the one where... where the... it's so hard to remember but there was a... a really important lady. Mommy's special friend who left on an adventure. And for a while after that this was Mommy's favorite song. Mittens heard it every night as she fell asleep, her and the two little girls she shared a bed with. On the mantle over the hearth sits a picture of Mommy with Mittens on her lap and two smiling girls with their arms wrapped around either side of Mommy, one of them like Mommy in miniature, the other a little older and a little more out of place. Mittens yawns and nuzzles Mommy's stomach so the old song doesn't make her sad. On the mantle over the hearth sits a picture of Mommy with three silly kittens on her lap. Even though Mommy is looking at all her little kittens with so much love, looking at her back then you can't help but think she looks the tiniest bit lonely. That's why she's singing her old lullaby, you know. She still misses her Special Friend. The one with the long fingers who gives the best ear rubs in all of Hyperborea! On the mantle over the hearth sits a picture of Mommy, an excited smile on her face. The teeny, tiny, itty bitty Mittens is sitting on her shoulder, headbutting her cheek with all the affection she can muster in her silly little heart. It's just the two of them. It's only ever been the two of them in all the world. Who needs anybody else, if Mittens and Mommy have each other? [i]"See the river White with foam Let the waters Carry you back home I beg my Starlight Listen to my song Come back to where your heart belongs."[/i] This is not the perfect moment. There's no Rita here, none of her friends are around, and sooner or later her heart would start yearning for adventure. Or maybe she'd... maybe she'd... the catnip carries the thought away again. This is not the perfect moment. But she feels safe, and warm, and oh-so-loved, and oh-so-very-needed. Even still, all the catnip and all the brushies and all the singing in the impossibly vast universe might not have kept her here forever. It's the open door to the hallway that finishes weaving the net around her forever. Mittens can leave any time she wants! It's so easy! All she has to do is stretch her fuzzy body and hop hop down onto the floor, and she can trot through that door as simple as you please! She can do it whenever. She can do it now! That's why... one more tiny moment can't hurt. One more round of brushing. One more verse. One more hug, one more nuzzle, one more extra special hug. Mommy needs her Mittens. For just more minute. Until forever. *** Mistress is missing! She's missing! Yellow and Orange chime anxiously at each other. They've been chasing her all the way through the labyrinth and she's been slipping farther and farther away but now she's just gone! Blue thinks that somebody needs to find Gold, but she's being ridiculous. What good is the Queen of Lights without a Princess to wield her? The little lights spiral around each other. Their chimes are heart rending as they slip into the strange tunnel of air and dirt and Euphie's discarded ideas. Find! Find the princess! They zip across the scene like twin bolts of lightning, and hurl themselves straight at the door made for Alina. They remember. They'll never forget. Crash! Crash! Orange and Yellow hammer the door frame with unshaped blasts of raw magic. She needs them! Princess Alina needs her little lights! But they can't! They can't they can't they can't they can't get through! What is? Where is? Help! Need help! Two lights zip back and forth through the chaos and confusion like a pair of glowing hummingbirds. Back! Forth! Up! Down! Chime! Chime! As a pair, they find Kazelia. The closest thing to a hope they've noticed. They tug on her sleeves, insistent. Come! Come! Please! Please! Help! Help! Tug! Tug! They pull her away from her sister, away from the Caduceus, away from the madness. Toward their Alina's door. There's just the tiniest bit of a crack in the middle of the portal. Not enough to fit even a light through, but just maybe... a voice? Alina's lights are asking you to be their hero, Kazelia. Reach their princess' heart and bring her back to them. Or if you can't, then find the voice that will reach far enough in your stead. But do something! Do anything! Please! Please!