CHRYSANTHEMUM

Dusk

When the day is almost done

And the light is almost up

When darkness seems to knock

And shadows seem to stop

When it gets a little dim

And is often hard to see

Then comes the time when you most need

A light to shine on

The trip to the fifth realm had proved sobering for the lot of them. Everyone went about their task with the new found sense of identity and purpose. They were excelling and all recognised it. One thing however was gnawing away at Lyric's heart. He could not quite place it but it was there, a strong yearning and desire for something. He would soon discover what.

Chosen approached Lyric one time and asked him to follow him. They walked towards the Council hall. Lyric wondered whether they were going on another mission. As they approached they reached a certain small door that Lyric had never seen before, rather, he had never noticed. They entered and there was something of a looking glass but very large it took up an third of the wall.

"Have a sit Lyric; there is something I would love to show you" they sat down.

"There are certain stages of growth that a being goes through that are critical. As I am about to show you, the difference will come out clearly." The looking glass lit up and through it they could see into another realm. This one was beautiful. There were trees of all kinds, green and bearing fruit, there was pure water which was crystal clear and everything was peaceful. There were many lively creatures all around moving about, eating and playing. The looking glass zoomed in on a particular place where beings like those they had encountered in the other realm were swimming in what looked like a lagoon. They were having such a fun time, laughing and slashing around. He could tell they were of the female kind. A short distance away, was the males, who had heard them and had come to see what it was.

"This is the introductory stage. Normally we introduce the two genders of a newly formed species to each other a short while after they have gotten a hang of the surroundings. The males usually have a sense of exploration and would go out and search out new things. The female love to be together and they usually hurdle up as a group. When the males finally get to reach the females, that is when you will see a magical thing unfold. By now the only thing they are accustomed to is the other creatures but when they see one that looks like them but not completely so, it provokes their interest."

Lyric could see the fascination on their faces as they caught sight of each other. They were a bit cautious but seeing they meant no harm the two were able to get past the differences and have a field day splashing around in the water, eating and just having plenty of laughs.

"At this point though their bodies are fully formed, their minds are still young. They only know the basics, eat, play and sleep; a simple life. But after a while we introduce an idea to enable the continuity of the species."

Lyric now saw a bunch of animals were playing around next to them, but it was a different type of play they had never seen before. It was something of a dance with their bodies quite close. It was very unusual. They were rolling around in the grass. One would run after the other and catch them, they would tumble down in the grass and do the little dance and then run off. After some time they realized they started walking in twos, a male and a female. The female would start getting bigger after their little dance and after some time they would remove small animals from their belly. It was a weird occurrence. The females were fascinated by the little animals. They were delicate and very adorable. Perhaps they could also get some.