Dawn brushes past his vision, caress of 'good morning' touching his crown as Midas lifted and disappeared during his rest. This morn, Cera did not stir or awaken upon the daily kiss of beckoning. Peacefully he continued to slumber into the crisp air of autumn, cradled lovingly beneath the flaming colors of the tree he returned to every night. Only once the sun had risen further to birth more than a simple hazy glow upon the horizon did Ilaria awaken her beloved. Fina's gaze was the first he sought out after nuzzling his bonded lovingly, wishing to assure her safety in the branches as he did every morning. Smiling, he called quietly up to her, knowing her sharp ears would catch his words without needing to shout. "Good morning, pretty Fina," he cooed lovingly. Additional adjective had somehow bled into his greeting with every rise of the sun, and even if she didn't understand him- something he honestly did not know- the cherub called her by the adoring title each time his eyes opened to greet the day. Love for her had blossomed easily in his heart, for he always had room to spare for wandering souls to fit in. Cera had love to spare, and Fina had quickly become as great of a friend to him as Ilaria.

Yawning he mentally nudged Ilaria away from his knees from where she was curled up against his heart, and waited patiently for her to settle on his shoulders once more before rising. Tall, willowy form strode mindlessly across the sand, snow and caramel wings budding and stretching soothingly from his sides. Again, emerald gaze turned skyward and smiled when just as he had grown used to, Fina was soaring effortlessly overhead. Flight was not something he desired that morning, preferring a leisurely stroll over the skies. Truthfully it was Ilaria's sharp pang of unhappiness when he thought of spreading his wings that kept him grounded. A creature of the night, her sleeping habits had slowly changed to match his a little more, but some days she really needed her rest beneath the sun. Placatingly he kept his wings at his sides and his hooves on the earth, letting her dream peacefully on his back. It was a beautiful crisp autumn morning, and with the spirit restored to him after the bloodied stallion's attack, Cera was enticed to adventure out from the borders once more.

A few hours were spent beneath the significantly cooler streams of sunlight as the odd trio passed over the borders and into territory they all knew well from midnight meetings and family vacations. It was Fina that first noticed the stallion ahead, circling and crying down to Cera. Intrigued by her sudden change in behavior he quickened his pace, Ilaria being nudged awake as well. When the thistle cleared it gave way to a charcoal face he knew well, and jade eyes brightened happily. Oblivious nature suited him for those moments, but Ilaria was a different story. Sharp chocolate eyes caught the disgruntled look upon his visage, the scars that arced gracefully and even gruesomely across his canvas that had never been there before, the void look in his eyes. Hissing she bit and pulled at his mane, claws digging in. Cera whimpered and shot her a bewildered shot of anger through their bond. What in the world was she doing? Focusing again on the stallion he smiled brilliantly and ran forward to greet him, muzzle extending to brush in hello as they always did. "Dad! What are you doing out here?" By then even Fina was making sounds of anger, hissing and screeching from above, though her flight had dropped her closer to the cherub. Ilaria flashed repeated images of his father's body, far less scared than this stallion's, and clambered atop his crown to hiss at the imposter. Cera's soft face crumpled, confused, and he took two steps back from Midas. "Daddy? Where'd you get all those scars? They weren't there before. And what's wrong with Fina?" Gaze flickered up to where Fina was flying agitatedly overhead, sharp eyes showing no significant positive emotion towards his father, and became suddenly nervous. What was going on here?