There was no going back. There was no changing her mind. Truly the girl thought it best for everyone, though it would perhaps be a hard sale to make. For Nayru there would be no regrets, no holding onto the past. One must look to the future and there was never any better time to start than the present. The future was not in Dahlia de Mai, as she had thought once. They had done an amazing job rebuilding. The Victorian home stood proud again after Saluce had patched the pieces together, the vineyards were thriving, and Saul's beautiful home was complete with plans for more development on the land. Nayru thought of all this and knew that few would want to let go of the lives they had created here, but if only they could see the life that lay before them…
The sprawling mountainside with the fertile valley was far more suitable for gardens and vineyards-- they could and would move the plants. The towns at the foot of the mountain were not as picked over as Wolfville, the residential area not as dilapidated as Berwick, and neither were they haunted by memories of ghosts or monsters that lived on in the minds of the members. There was peace there. There was no history, no what went before, no sins clinging to creatures who just wished to wash away past mistakes and wrong doings. There was only a future. A bright, shining future and Nayru was eager to make the move.
If Fate had dropped her at the footstep of Dahlia de Mai, it had been the same force that brought her to the rolling lands she wished to move her members now. The dream of Dahlia burning still was fresh in her mind, and the anxiety that had come with it resurfaced whenever ruby eyes closed long enough, but the serenity she had found up the mountain, in the Abbey, more than chased away what haunted her. And Nayru believed that there was peace enough for all of them. They would be able to lay down to rest whatever demons they still carried with them.
The town square of Wolfville was deserted in the early morning when the two of them arrived, and Nayru moved slowly round the stone bench circle, finally settling herself atop one of them. Motioning to Razekiel to sit beside her, she looked around at the familiar scene. They could all sit, all talk it over here as equals. As they should be. As they would be in the new lands. Equals. Brothers and sisters of Mother Nature. Children of the earth just living their lives as peacefully and prosperously as possible. The distance between them now, so spread out here and there some of them were, would be gone. The lack of a family feeling. Although Nayru knew the scents and names of all her members, some of their faces were unfamiliar. This was the sad fact of Dahlia, something she had always encountered now and then, something that would not be in Ichika no Ho-en.
Lifting her head up, she glanced once more to Razekiel, glad they were getting Dahlia de Mai over with first. Early in the afternoon they would make their way to Phoenix Valley and have this same meeting, with a different set of faces, and while both were of great concern for her, this one would be filled with faces she already knew. Faces she hoped would light up rather than fall with disappointment or even filled with anger. Parting ebony lips, her melodic voice calked out, loud and clear, summoning the members of Dahlia de Mai for one final meeting.
As they filed in and eyed the man they did not know, she smiled to each one of them reassuringly. It was unlike her, the normally stoic woman, but it couldn’t be helped. There was a slight nervousness about her, but it was more giddy excitement than any feelings of uncertainty. As they came, more of them gathering together, she realized how excited she was for this. How excited she was to share this with them all. Finally enough time had elapsed, anyone missing was not coming. Smiling once more at them all, her gentle voice came floating out, louder than usual but still with the soft quality it never seemed to lose.
"Some of you may have heard murmurings, some of you may have no idea yet, but a big change is coming upon us." Gideon knew. Saluce knew. It would have trickled through to some of the others, she hadn’t meant to keep any of them in the dark but it all had happened so fast she had only time to tell those closest before she told them all, before it was made official. "As of this moment, Dahlia de Mai is no more." She paused, knowing that for many of them it would strike a chord, and not quite a happy one, yet she gave them no time for the unhappy feelings to sink in. "Yet I do not abandon you. There are greater things in store for all of us, if you would join me. Join us."
She smiled and turned to Razekiel, laying a gentle hand upon his own. "This is Razekiel Lykoi. He comes from Phoenix Valley, a pack destined for the same fate as our own. He will help me in establishing, and leading, our new home: Ichika no Ho-en." And still Nayru knew that was not enough. They would want reasons. Why? Why leave? Why go there? And she was ready. Her gentle voice was steady and serious, her eyes glittered as the alpha spoke. "Dahlia de Mai has served as home for us a long time, but it has never been the sanctuary many of us seek. Too often disaster and war has found us, and I believe here it will find us again. I cannot in good faith keep this pack together, for I would be failing all of you, to whom I am sworn to protect. Dahlia de Mai will never be able to shake the reputation that some of the clans carry of us. We will never be able to move forward under this shadows, so we will start anew." It was just a name, did they want to hold so tightly to a name that held so tightly to sins it had committed long ago.
"Know that I love these lands will all my being, but the lands I will bring us to, I love more. They are perched up in the mountains and along the coast north of here. For those of you who call Wolfville or Berwick home, know that towns greater and larger than these lay waiting for you. For those who love the sands of our beaches, know there are miles more where we go. For those who love forest, this too will we not be without. The soil there is fertile, perfect for our vineyards. The air there is fresh, waiting for our small amount of livestock and that of Phoenix Valley's…" They would have to see it, but surely they would see all the potential there. The potential that Dahlia sadly lacked any longer.
"Ichika no Ho-en is centered around family, of which all of you are to me." Ruby eyes ran over all of them, those she knew best and those she knew barely at all and to each one a meaningful glance was given. " My brothers and sisters, do not fear change. Change is inevitable. Embrace it. High in the mountains, with such numbers that will come from the merging of Dahlia de Mai and Phoenix Valley, we will be protected from harm. We can live in peace. Which is what I wish for all of us: peace. There, together, we will find it. I promise you." She paused, lowering her head, extending her open palm to all of them in a gesture, giving them the option and also the floor. "Will you join me?"
