Dori'ba, the Land of the Dead. Alba Meria had not been to this tragic land for so very long now. This was indeed a strange and dark place that Alba liked to travel to a lot but for so very long he had not had any time to come back here. The sky was of course dark on that very night and the Phoenix could smell the aroma of blood within the air. The Phoenix felt almost at home in this place, as if the dead were calling him back every time that he left.

He was dressed in his usual armour that he had gotten from the Goddess of Chaos, but weapon wise all the Phoenix had taken with him was his Katar, strapped to his right leg within a sheath, his Spineslicer, which was strapped his left leg and of course the mighty Scythe that the Phoenix held within his death grip. All the other items that Alba had with him were his Flame Dance Ring, his Wedding Band, the two silver bangles of strength on each arm and also his Vampire Tooth Earrings that had gotten not to long ago. These earrings were new to Alba and the magic they held within them made Alba have vampire like fangs perfect for ripping into those he killed.

Now deep within the land of the dead Albas gaze was shifting from gravestone to gravestone. So many had been ripped apart and killed in this place it was such an amazing sight. The Phoenix smirked into the night air as he looked at two of the gravestones before him. The names upon the stones were Zenon Meria, and Juliet Meria. The two fools that had raised Alba for many years, well before Alba had killed them of course. Yes his foolish parents, Alba needed to kill his father and that woman he was with, that spiteful Juliet. Alba had always hated Juliet, his stepmother; after all, the Phoenix had never been able to meet his birth mother since she had died giving birth to both Alba and Rinoa.

As he looked upon these two graves the Phoenix began to hear footsteps growing in closer and closer towards him. He was not exactly sure what or who was drawing closer but Alba was ready to battle none the less. Here he was standing at the graves of his pitiful parents with someone else drawing near to him. With any luck it would not be someone that would want to attack Alba as the Phoenix really wanted a small break from causing chaos, a chance to actually rest for once. But for some reason Alba did not think that would be case on this day!

There was no sound at all... nothing. No grass, no sunlight and there were plenty of bones all around the area, as Rothardan trudged on through the lands of Dori'ba, the land of the dead. He was travelling to the Sanctuary of the Angels, a holy place that was connected to the goddesses Temple of Life. However, as a test, he was instructed to make the long journey around and travel through many different lands before he was able to even seek the help he needed.

The sun began to slowly but surely set and this only set to remind Rothardan that time was running out. What was it that the goddess had told him?

"...time is passing very rapidly in Imythess, and though you may experience little time here, you will spend ages away from your home in Chaon. Each hour that passes will be one day and four hours more that you are not home. If and when you return, many of what you knew will be very changed or even gone."

Another 24 hours had past... 33 days and 6 hours had gone past in Imythess. At the moment, Rothardan had been away from Imythess for just over a year. 470 days to be more precise. Time was running out for the Paladin and he had to make it back soon before everything he knew was swept up by the hand of time.

Rothardan kept on trudging, ignoring the pain in his feet... he even saw another figure looking at the gravestones of two people. But Rothardan didn't stop to talk, he kept on going... determined that no matter what, he would make it to the sanctuary of the angels. From there on, he would seek the help of the archangels and see what can be done to get back to get to Imythess.

Slowly the form of Alba began to run towards the figure that seemed to be drawing closer to him. That’s when the Phoenix seen a man, a man that looked rather worried about something. However this man did not seem to want to stop where Alba, seeing this the Phoenix smirked a little and pushed off from the place he was standing. Now walking over to the figure Alba let out a small growl from his fangs, thanks to his Vampire Tooth Earrings.

His grip tightened around the pole section of his scythe as Alba drew closer towards this man before saying, “You there. It’s rather rude to not make yourself known to others as you walk by them, don’t you think? Even more so in a place such as this.” Once these words had slips past the open lips of Alba he began to steadily curve then in a dark and sinister smirk. He did not know this male before him, but for some reason he could feel he was with the order of life. Yes his magical energy gave that much away anyway, but other than that Alba knew nothing of this new man.

As he waited on the reply from the holy being before him Alba shifted his stance so that he was slightly leaning on his scythe. The Phoenix seemed to do this a lot of late when not in battle and waiting on a reply from someone. As he waited Alba began to think to himself, what was this being looking so worried about? What had happened in his past? Or was it something that has happened on this present day? Alba of course did not know the answer to any of these questions, but in time the Phoenix might find out!

Now usually Alba would have attacked any being of Holiness on sight, but this man seemed different and the only reason Alba had not attacked him as of yet was because he wanted to know more about him. For some reason the Phoenix felt something different about him, like there was some strange reason he was in not only the land of the dead, but in Arda as a whole. Of course this might have just been the chaotic mind of Alba thinking of many different reasons the man was here. For now he just wanted a reply!