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 Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2005 3:59 pm
"What in god's name is that smell?" Naraka's voice hissed hotly like the tea kettle on the stove, steam wizzing out through her ears. Akina turned to look at her with a hand on her hip before moving the boiling water from the stove, pouring it into two cups full of tea leaves while wondering idly which god's name her roommate was taking in vain.
"It's sulfur," the elf replied as casually as she could manage, letting a limp hand gesture towards a small cauldron filled with a strange yellow rock. Wrinkling her own nose, she set a cup of tea in front of her roommate before lighting another incense stick and setting it beside the sulfur. "Sorry, but I have to do it somewhere." Akina shrugged before moving back over to the cauldron, face contorting as she got downwind of the bowl.
Naraka took a seat at the kitchen table, not daring to venture any closer, to sip at her tea. "Have to do what?" she interrogated with an eyebrow raised. Not getting a response soon enough, Naraka asked again, though slightly sharper, "Have to do what?"
"I heard you the first time, Naraka," Akina replied curtly, knocking a piece of hair from her eyes. Again, the elf fell quiet, not really wanting to divulge the motivations behind her bowl of sulfur. "I just did something stupid," she murmured at last, opening the oven door to pull out a silver dish a strange, green liquid. At the sight of this, Naraka's eyes widened before flashing to Akina.
"What is that for?" she asked curiously, unsure of what it was aside from that fact that it did not appear to be very organic.
Akina kept her back to Naraka, ashamed to show her face. "Do you remember the slave gems from back... then?" The sweet dynamics of the sylvan tongue filled the room, a language that Akina had tried to avoid in order to help perfect the English of Naraka and Calliope. Wordlessly, Naraka nodded, lips drawn into a line.
"The Madame... well, she stumbled upon my collection of them." Slave gems were a device used to mark a creature in Akina and Naraka's land as a servant. Different colors symbolized different levels on the caste system, and these gems were always implanted into a creature's skin so that they could not be removed... usually.
Very often, they would be put into foreheads and on wrists so that, should a slave even attempt to break the magical seal on them, the surgery needed to cut it out of the skin would be fatal if done incorrectly. But Akina would not let that stop her. Each time she secretly freed a slave, she would break the seal for them, and thanks to her studies in healing, would be able to separate it from their entity, keeping them as a reminder of the good she had done as well as protection for those slaves. Whoever holds the gem of a slave can see where they are at all times, and once that slave is dead, the gem will turn black.
Naraka remained silent, head bowing to the table. Akina continued to explain, saying, "I had brought them with me when I was at the Manor because I had a bad feeling. I wanted to check how everyone was doing, and... there were many black stones." She fell silent again to gather herself before continuing. "Through an unlucky string of events, she saw them, and... you know how greedy she is."
"And why didn't you tell her no?" Naraka demanded in English, forsaking the language of her birth. "Why didn't you tell her that black stones mean death? Does she even know how they are MADE?" Fierce green eyes flew to the cauldron of sulfur, and something in Naraka's brain clicked as Akina turned around, taking out a glass vial and filling it with the green liquid. "Akina," Naraka hissed darkly, rising from her chair and resting both hands on the table. "Don't you dare make a damn thing for that b***h!"
But the blue-eyed elf gave no reply, quietly dripping a red liquid into the vial. Her hands did not shake, but Akina was rattled, knowing that Naraka was right but seeing no way out. If she didn't provide these gems to the Lady, she would be thrown out of her house. And then where would they go? Akina could make enough to provide for herself, but what about everyone else? Even Naraka in all her pretentions, would have to admit that they would not be able to support the gaggle of children and pets that the Cottage housed without the generosity of the Lady.
"I won't let you do this," Naraka fumed, marching towards Akina and snatching her wrist. "Whose gem would you make for her? Mine? Yours? Maybe even my goddamn daughter's!?"
"What would you have me do, Naraka?" Akina snipped, wrenching her wrist free so that she could concentrate on keeping the vial at the correct height above the caludron. "The Lady does not understand the word no, and she most definitely does not care about the sacred nature of these gems. I tried to explain to her that it was like what the Nazis did when they put numbers on the arms of their slaves, but she knew nothing of Earth history. I must have cited a thousand signs of oppression, but she did---not---care. How could she understand the plight of an opressed people when she had never wanted for one thing her entire life?" Losing her temper, Akina let her voice fly, "WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO?"
"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE SOME PRIDE!" Naraka screamed, matching Akina's frustration. "YOU CANNOT MAKE YOURSELF A SLAVE FOR THAT ******** WHORE!"
"STOP CURSING!" Akina shouted before taking a moment to calm herself, swallowing her anger so that it could burn like lava in her stomach. "The kids are going to hear those words, and think it is okay to say them."
Naraka pounded a fist on the counter with such force that Akina's tea spilled, but still, Naraka glared angrily at the vial in Akina's hand as it hovered over the cauldron, flecks of blue appearing in its contents. "Sulfur is brimstone, isn't it? Fire, blood, and brimstone. That's what you needed. So who's blood, is it, huh? TELL ME, DAMNIT!"
Cornered and confused, Akina tried to reason with Naraka again. "I have no choice, Naraka!" Smoke began to curl off the solution in large wisps, as the atoms in the mixture began to fuse and solidify.
"Well, I do..." Naraka's voice eeked out from her lips as she moved in one flash over Akina's left side, slamming her wrist so that the vial fell from her grasp, shattering over the rocks of sulfur. The solution hissed and screamed as it slowly turned black, dulling the smell of the rocks. "There is always an alternative, Akina. Do you remember what you told me when you took me in?"
Akina did not respond, eyes lost on the mess of her attempt before her.
"You told me that I would never have to go back. And I won't let you go back either." Her voice was lukewarm, eyes still serious and threatening. "Nothing good ever comes from alchemy." Silence hung in the air between them, the only sound being the heavy breathing from Akina. "Give her one of your black stones. Whoever's soul it had a part of is no longer in this world. I'm sure they will forgive you, considering what you did for them."
"Look, we can't help you with these problems if you don't tell us." Naraka walked away, eyes still narrow and darkly reminiscient. "Whose blood was it?"
Silence. "I'll clean this up."
"Whose blood, Akina?" Naraka pushed.
"...what does it matter now?" The elf glanced at her roommate over her shoulder, refusing to submit to her entirely.
"Fine. Clean it up then." And she was gone, door slamming and sending echoes down the hallway. The sound of Calliope's door clicking shut came next; apparently she had wondered what all the commotion was about.
Silently, Akina began to clean, face she expressionless but mind reeling. She gathered the tea cups first before washing the silver dish that had held the green liquid, letting the cauldron sit for a moment longer, stench of sulfur now filling the kitchen once more.
Naraka was right. What was she thinking?
Moving to the cauldron, Akina picked out all the sulfur first, throwing it in a separate bag that she would take far from the house to be buried in the ground. All that remained was a small pool of liquid in the bottom of the cauldron and the broken glass. Lean, fearless fingers fished for the glass first, sprinkling the shards into the trashcan. Next, she moved to the sink, pouring the ruined concoction down the drain, but when she went to wash the cauldron, she noted that there was still a shard of glass left in its basin, wedged between the uneven sides.
Carefully, she pulled it free from the cauldron, noting how it seemed too large to be part of the vile and not near clear enough. Plus, it was... smoking? Nearly invisible licks of smoke seemed to be coming off of the shard in waves, not to mention the fact that it smelled distinctly of sulfur.
The elf had stumbled upon enough creatures in her day to be suspicious. Setting the cauldron aside, she walked to the kitchen table, setting the shard of glass in the center to stare at it. Only one thought went through her head. Not another one...
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Posted: Thu Sep 22, 2005 11:54 am
The day passed slowly for Akina, mind twisted from her earlier argument with Naraka and her discover of this odd shard. She sat quietly at the kitchen table, as she had been for the past few hours, staring blankly at an array of broken glass before her. Meticulously, she had pieced together the shattered vial as much as possible, sealing it with some super glue she had purchased from a local craft store.
Granted that she had lost most of the smaller pieces down the drain and in her fingers as she tried to collect them all, the general shape of the vial was clear. But there was something else that was clear; it was most definitely not missing a substantial piece. And the only remaining shard was the same one that Akina had been surprised to find lodged in the cauldron basin.
"Oh..." she sighed lightly, finally accepting this fate as she swept the vial and assorted pieces into a trashcan, leaving only the clouded shard sitting at the center of the table. Akina moaned and swayed, wondering what to do. She was no stranger to the odd magical pets that found their way to Gaia. After all, Renon and Jubilee came to her as spirits circling her favorite glass bonsai tree. And she had heard stories of souls being drawn to paintings and feathers and all sorts of bizarre objects. So why not a piece of glass?
Blue eyes stared bittersweetly out the window. The elf had dealt with this before. Somehow, she would discover some creature and bring it home, and after a few weeks, it would bond with one of her roommates, regarding Akina as a kind of aunt. And she didn't mind... usually. But after a while, it had made Akina feel useless and undesired. She hadn't had a date in over a year, and even the family cat prefered Calliope to her. And yet, she was the one who had brought them all together. So why was she the one left out? Was it just her mission in life to help connects souls to others? Would there never be a soul for her?
Shina was atleast someone that she could identify as a companion of hers, but the angelic Fa'e was far too independent to really rely on Akina. Besides, Akina was just a second-string family to the angel; it wasn't anyone's fault, but it was still true. Akina knew that no matter what, Shina would always think of Eirnae as her mother. And Hoshi definitely took precedence in the Fa'e's life as the father of her child. And there was Sei too... No, Shina was already grown; she only needed Akina as a soulbond so that she could remain in Gaia.
And then there was Nadia, a soul who had not really connected with anyone though she seemed to have a very slight preference to Akina. But Nadia had a father back in "England" and an aunt (despite the fact that the Lady wanted nothing to do with her) that could help her should she need it. Again, Akina was just a back-up. Not to mention the fact that Nadia would be spending the majority of her time at Hogwarts and not with Akina.
So what was left for the elf to cling to? Again, she felt alone, just as she had in her old world. But this loneliness was more monotonous, more desperate, more wearing on the body and mind. Perhaps this little shard held a secret for her?
Or maybe it was just glass.
Akina laughed aloud, letting her forehead rest in her palm. Perhaps these years of taking in all sorts of creatures had made her paranoid... Reaching out a hand, the elf gently grabbed the shard of glass, dangling it over the trashcan. All she had to do was drop it and avoid all this uncertainty. But something in the elf could not do it.
"Damn it..." she cursed aloud, pushing the trashcan away with her foot. She got to her feet, stumbling towards her own room to go lay down. Opening a drawer in her nightstand, she dropped the glass in it, before collapsing on the bed. "One week," she coached herself. "If nothing has changed in one week, then I know I am just going crazy, and I'll throw it out."
Nodding silently, she closed her eyes, not sure what she wanted to be true of the shard. For all she knew, it might be a negative talisman created by the botched attempt at alchemy. Another sigh escaped her lips before the elf finally willed herself to sleep, chest rising slowly in the dusk.
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:06 pm
The end of the week had come, and there had still been no activity from the little shard of glass. Despite her reservations, the elf Akina had promised herself that she would dispose of it after a week without any change; she couldn't just hang on to trash in the hopes that it was something special, could she? But living in Gaia will do that to a girl, what with babies popping out of hats and feathers and who knows what else.
Lean fingers opened the side drawer, pulling out the shard so that it rested in her palm. It was a normal piece of glass, just with a slight cloud to it. Crossing out of her bedroom, she entered the living room, stepping around the partial wall into the kitchen, glancing to the front door as she took a seat at the kitchen table.
The house was empty, save for Akina. Naraka and Calliope had taken all of the kids for ice cream, and the Equu had taken off into the forest with Cathsee some time ago. So, in the stillness of her little cottage on the back acres of the Manor, Akina bid farewell to her little shard, wanting to let it go. It was only validation of her paranoia.
"I'm going crazy," she said aloud, slapping her forehead with an empty palm. Refusing to let a piece of glass complicate her mind like this, Akina rose to her feet and walked to the trashcan, letting the shard slip down into the receptacle.
The game was over. Akina must be thinking too much, over analyzing things. With a sigh, she crossed into the family room, stopping to straighten the books and magazines that lay on the coffee table and grabbing two dirty tea cups.
She reentered the kitchen and set the cups in the sink, prepared to leave the room. But... she lingered. Glancing over her shoulder, she reached into the trashcan to pull out the shard again, watching it as it began to... glow?
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:23 pm
The shard was biding it's time. It was quite content to remain in the dark, watching, waiting. The touch of the elf called it forth, and the shard dissolved in her hand like a pocket of dry ice; one moment there, and the next, gone. The pocket of smoke exploded in her face, blinding and suffocating. When it cleared, in it's place was a grinning child.
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Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2005 12:44 pm
The glow was not quite a glow as it was a sonic boom. Within moments of it lighting up, the glass dissolved in Akina's hand. Her eyes searched for any sign of its remains, but all she could find was a small bit of smoke in the air... that promptly exploded in her face.
Staggering backwards, she clutched at her eyes and covered her mouth, hacking out cough after cough. Water filled her deep blue eyes so that she could not see; her back collided with the wall and her head followed suit so that she slid partially down the wall in an attempt to catch her breath and see.
Wiping away tears with her hands, Akina cursed in Elvish, scratching the black soot off her face as best she could manage. Slowly, her eyes began to adjust, straining to look straight ahead. There was a... shadow?
It was as if the smoke had blown up and then condensed all in one moment, as Akina stared at the small blob of black, still trying to see. Suddenly, two radioactive green orbs blazed up at the top of the mass, thick chunks of blue falling at the crest. Then a splash of red across the middle. Confused and on alert, what Akina experienced next would confuse her the most.
Laughter. A furtive hand pushed the last bit of ash from her eyes so that she may finally see. Sitting before her on the edge of her kitchen table was... a boy? Yes, it was a little boy. A cloud of thick smoke hung about him, but as she looked harder, she realized that the smog was concentrated around his back like... wings? It was as if he was a fallen angel who had tumbled quite a ways from heaven.
And worst of all, he was laughing with finger pointed right at Akina and her soot face. "Stop it!" Akina commanded, agitated. The boy was quiet for a moment before he broke out into an even wilder laugh. Bits of ooze dripped from his skin onto the floor, and Akina grimaced. He looked so developed, but judging by his non-permanent form (much of which was staining her floor), he must be some kind of baby waiting for his permanent structure to grow.
Sitting at the table, the little boy yawned, finding himself both bored and sleepy. Akina hopped up, grabbing him in her hands and holding him at an arm's distance from herself as she made a mad dash for her bathroom. She placed him in the tub, checking behind her to see that none of his ooze had hit the carpet. Thankfully, it hadn't.
Running his hands on the porcelain walls of the tub, the little Shattered yawned again, letting himself fall backwards in the tub and snoring loudly. His face seemed formed entirely, but his arms and torso still appeared malleable. Akina was stunned, but she knew better than to move him at this stage. Small bubbles appeared on his skin as she sat, elbow resting on the tub.
"Good news," she whispered to herself. "You're not crazy, but you are know the proud parent of an oozing glass baby that still smells faintly of brimstone." Brimstone? she echoed in her mind, rolling the name over in her mouth. Seeing that he was asleep, Akina shut the door to the bathroom and made a run for the kitchen, cleaning every surface as not to stun Naraka.
She could only imagine what her roommate was going to have to say.
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Posted: Mon Nov 21, 2005 1:20 pm
Naraka had taken Brimstone's arrival... not so well. But it would have been worse had Akina told her his true origins. The story of the "swamp baby" seemed to appease the curiosity of her roommate, and the blue-eyed elf thought that this would be good enough. No need to rehash the pain of her attempt at alchemy, right?
Besides, Brimstone was her prob-- joy to deal with everyday. Brim was just so different from everything Akina was drawn to. He was so toxic, and she was so organic. He seemed a foreignor in the home, staring curiously at Akina as she moved about the house.
He watched reactions, tested how far he could push people until they snapped on him. Naraka seemed to be his favorite test subject, which did nothing to allay her resentment towards him. It had been several months now, and already, Brimstone was taking on a stronger personality, showing little love towards his caregivers.
Everyone was a specimen to him, and Akina hated it. He was just a kid!
So, shaking her head and sighing, the elf would clean up his messes, praying that one day he would learn the beauty of creation, instead of the fury of destruction. Until then, she would just have to keep scolding him.
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Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 7:04 pm
"I'll cuuut yooooooooooooou!" wailed the cracking voice of an aging toddler. He flailed on the cracking mahogany floor, gnashing his teeth at every move that his guardian made.
"Hold still, you little prat!" the blue-eyed elf cursed, grabbing at his wrists. Brim, of course, would then take that opportunity to show off his new talent. With a smirk, his ankles would go soft and gooey so that, before she realized it, Akina was just squeezing the air.
In this fashion, Brim broke free once more, stumbling awkwardly across the floor until he collapsed behind the couch. He wriggled his chubby little body into a prone position, watching Akina's boots move across the ground. They stopped for a moment, and the little Shattered breathed a sigh of relief. He had tricked---
"WAAAAAAAAAAAA~!" he exclaimed, feeling firm hands at his sides. In one swift move, Akina yanked the toddler out from under the couch, dangling him upside down by his ankles. Electric blue hair hung in a thick sheet, masking the radioactive green eyes, but Akina could feel his acid glare on her stomach, as he was eye level with it.
She grinned as he struggled, leaning back as his naked butt swung dangerously close to her face. Akina could barely trust Brim's face let alone his business end. Turning him once more, the elf collapsed on the couch, wrapping one arm around him and grabbing a pair of pants from the floor with another. Brim's eyes fell onto the pair of boots she had slipped off to confuse him. Wench!
"Honestly, I thought you were quicker than that, Brim. The ole 'watch-the-boots-and-run-away' trick will only work for so long on me," Akina chided, pinning the child's legs as she slid on the pants. "Clothing is not optional in life."
The shirt came on well enough, though Akina did not venture to put shoes on him. Setting Brim on the ground, the elf watched him perform his best pout. Of course, she let him fester for a bit, before drooping her arms around his shoulders. His little body went stiff for a moment before relaxing; try as he might, Brim was growing more and more attached to Akina with each passing day.
Bringing her lips close to his ear, Akina lowered her voice to a mischevious level, "Will it make you feel better to go scare Naraka? I think I just heard her head to the bathroom, which means her room is totally empty..." She smirked for a moment, recalling the many times that Brim had brought out the child in Naraka. He forced her to laugh at herself, and at the same time, it gave Brim a wild thrill that seemed to satisfy his craving for mischief in a healthy way.
Grinning from ear to ear, Brim teetered away from his guardians arms, disappearing through Naraka's bedroom door. Akina's eyes flickered up as Naraka passed through the hallway, raising an eyebrow at her roommate. "What are you looking so smug about?" she questioned, not waiting for an answer as she stepped into her bedroom.
A few moments passed before a very distinct scream, followed by a series of shouts, and eventually, laughter echoed down the hallway. Closing her eyes, Akina joined in on the laughter, letting the warmth spread out to her extremities as the sun waned in the west.
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Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2006 5:58 pm
Akina's daily regiment included several duties within, around, and even outside the house, and as of late, Brimstone had taken to accompanying her everywhere she went. With bright green eyes, he would drink in her actions to the extent that it made the elf slightly uncomfortable at times, especially his curiosity during visits to Durem and Aekea.
But today, the blue-eyed elf had only a few household chores to finish, including painting the trim in Naraka's bathroom and harvesting some herbs from the garden to the side of the house. After nearly fainting following Brim's repeated 'samplings' of the paint, Akina was watching the child with a stern eye as the pair made their way out to the garden, hopping over the small enchanted gate.
In his youth, Brim would turn up his nose at the plants, choosing instead to eat paint chips from the peeling ceiling, but as of late, he seemed so interested in the different properties. In fact, Akina had caught him digging his hands in the soil to smell and taste it nearly every time they came out to the garden now. She wasn't quite sure what he was doing, but she was glad to see her little Shattered playing nicely again. Perhaps his tumultous years were as long last over?
So, today, kneeling in the dirt and pinching off the purple stems of an elvish herb at the root, Akina went about her work to fill the basket, leaving Brim to play in the dead plants in the opposite corner. The elf continued to work quietly, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
In a flash, she was on her feet, shouting Brim's name all in one inhuman movement. His yelp of pain barely issued forth from dark lips before Akina was on top of him, scooping him into her arms away from whatever danger might have just taken a hold of him.
"Brim, what happened?" she cooed in the midst of his broken whimpers. After a few moments, the little Shattered extended a charred palm that was covered in tiny, light blue crystals. Akina furrowed her brow, reaching with her free hand to scratch off a few of the glittering bits.
Nitrogen. It was solidified nitrogen.
Turning to look at the spot where Brim had been playing, the elf noted that the soil was disturbed and burned in with imprints of his hands. Had her little boy extracted the nitrogen straight from the soil? And if so, how in the world had he crystallized it like that?
Ignoring the anomaly of the situation and scooping up her basket, Akina made her way inside, whispering soothingly to the Shattered. "We'll get you cleaned up," she promised, setting her things on the counter and making a beeline for the bathtub. "And then maybe you can learn to talk in solid English so that I can find out just how you did that little trick in the herb garden."
Bright green eyes stared at Akina, but the only response was a dark gurgle and ripping sneeze square into the elf's face. And of course, seeing this, Brim began to do his baby version of a cackle. "Real nice, Brim. Real nice."
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Posted: Sat Mar 18, 2006 11:48 am
Akina's Journal Things have been so hectic lately.
I feel as if my life has been turned upside down. Naraka doesn't trust me. Calliope has practically gone into hiding. All the children and pets seem to have aligned against me. (This morning, I went for a jog to my favorite spring where I happened to see Calliope the Mare grazing on some fresh grass. She took one look at me and cantered off into the woods.)
It's so strange for me to say that the only constant thing in my life right now is Brimstone, my little smelly baby. He is still so young and so attached to me, but this is how it started with Yurimi too... I guess part of me is afraid that he is going to grow up and leave me for yet another one of my roommates.
I am toxic... but so is he. Perhaps that is why we fit so well? Even when he pretends to hate me, the second that he gets scared or tired, I am the one he runs to. I have really begun to enjoy it. I enjoy him.
And the smog clouds that he shoots out, despite staining my curtains, are becoming stronger. He's growing up and gaining more power. Finding myself separated from all else, I can't help, but pour everything I have into him. He is the only one who seems to need me.
I can hear him stirring from his nap now. Until next time...
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 2:28 pm
"I'm going out for a bit."
Naraka's voice wrapped itself around the corner of the half wall separating the kitchen from the living room and front door. She clasped a knock off Louis Vutton bag under her right arm, a new accoutrement she had recently purchased. Akina wondered briefly if it was a vain attempt to blend in better with her new collegiate atmosphere that occupied her days and nights now. Naraka was in her second month of college, and each day, she was becoming more and more... assimilated.
Akina did her best to shield his disapproval, but without fail, her green-eyed roommate would catch her scathing eye and a bickering fit would surely ensue. Hands on her hips, Naraka would insist that becoming a nurse was a calling and that it would help out the family. Akina, all the while, would sit silently, trying to remind Naraka that natural healing practices are just as effective as whatever that blasted college might try to teach her.
But that was a fight for another day, not this morning.
Sitting in the kitchen, Akina was busy watching Brimstone in his high chair staring with disdain at a piece of dry toast. He would bring it to his mouth, sniff, scowl, and throw it across the table. And each time, his caretaker would retrieve it only for the dance to be repeated.
"Calliope took Renon, Jules, and Yurimi to the park for some fresh air."
Blue eyes flickered to the doorway, but Akina made no move to answer, choosing instead to retrieve the toast for Brim once more.
"Maybe Brim would like some fresh air, too?"
Brim snorted. "Maybe," Akina volunteered at last, brushing a chunk of electric hair from Brim's eyes and making a face at him.
There was a silence between the two for a few moments. Lingering in the doorway, Naraka opened her mouth to speak again, but the mournful look in her eyes faded abruptly into the resolved bitterness she generally emanated. "Great. Whatever you want. Just make sure the dishes are done when I get back. I hate having to come home from a long day and finish up all of the chores you have ignored."
Turning on her heel, Naraka zipped out the door, letting it slam shut. Akina's expression remained unchanged for a moment, as she stared unfocused out the window over the kitchen sink. Her pensive state was interrupted as a rogue piece of toast smacked her squarely in the right temple. "Easy killer," she chided, at last tossing the toast into the trash can.
She glanced out the window again, rising to her feet. Brim began to squirm and twitch against the confines of his highchair, reaching with anticipation at Akina. Complying, she scooped him out of the chair, setting the toddler on the ground so that he could waddle after her as she made her way to the front door. "Alright, let's go outside."
The shattered, who had already made his way to the television, turned over his shoulder and glared, clutching the remote to his chest and shaking his head. "C'mon, couch potato, I won't take no for an answer." Taking a step forward, Brim froze for two seconds before attempting to dash off to the bathroom.
Akina was on him in seconds, laughing and throwing him over her shoulder. "Brim, when will you ever learn that you can't run from an elf?" Grabbing her travel basket of Brim's things, Akina nudged the front door open as the shattered grappled for freedom on her shoulder.
She began to head out towards the stream, and after three solid minutes of fruitless struggle, Brimstone finally resolved himself to have fun outside as the two disappeared into the woods behind the house.
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Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 6:40 pm
"Sit still, B." Akina's voice barked with authority in response to the full-body flailing that her little Shattered Brimstone would be overcome with everytime the elf lifted his red dinosaur tee shirt toward his head. "You love this shirt!" Radioactive green eyes narrowed in disgust at the offending garment, rolling across her bed as best he could manage to avoid its interloping red presence.
"What, oh fickle child of mine, what in all of Gaia is wrong with this shirt?" Akina exclaimed, letting her mild frustration take hold.
Brim, who appeared to be rolling over her question in his little toddler brain, stared at his hands for a few moments before struggling to sit up. Akina watched him curiously, keeping a maternal hand ready to catch him should he fall. Inching closer to Akina, Brim laid a foot on top of the shirt that lay at the foot of the bed, pushing it around. Suddenly, as if struck by some fit of nature, he shouted, "BABY SHIRT!" and began pumping his legs against the bed so that the red blob collasped onto the floor.
Pouting, he rolled to his stomach, refusing to look at his guardian. "Baby shirt?" she echoed, snatching the red tee with the big green T-rex and blue raptor off the floor. Brim had always loved this shirt. In fact, when his physical form still had not solidified, it was the only article of clothing that he would even look at.
Sitting on the edge of the side beside Brim, Akina pulled the shattered into her arms, cradling him and savoring the fact that he would even let her do so. "B," she began, pushing neon blue locks out of his face, "if you don't want to wear your red dinosaur shirt, then you don't have to. I know that you're a growing boy, and if you want some new clothes, well, I don't mind--"
"Spaceship."
Akina paused, unsure of what had just been said at all. "...what?"
"SPACESHIIIIP!"
Brimstone popped up, crawling on all fours toward his mother and spewing out an array of mechanical sounds. "Vroom! Vroom! BANG! Bew-bew-bew!" A long strand of drool spilled down his chin as he did this, continuing his noises through fits of laughter.
"Thank you, television," Akina cursed, realizing what had happened at last. Naraka had let Brim watch a Star Wars marathon on TV with her a few days ago, and this was the obvious repercussion. The blue-eyed elf was not a fan on this electronic world, but her distaste for it would not quell Brim's obsession.
Taking a moment to compose herself, the elf dropped her eyes to her giggling shattered. "So... would you like a new spaceship tee shirt?" Akina had barely gotten out the words "would you like" before Brim was grabbing at her arm, nodding and pulling to leave now.
It only took Akina a matter of seconds to grab her things, though, judging by Brim's whining, it seemed to have taken a decade. Opening the door, the elf scooped Brim up to her side, forcing him to let her hold him as they made their way to her outdated car. "Alright, spaceship tee shirt today, but maybe we can look at one with a nice tree on it tomorrow?"
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Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 5:27 pm
Naraka's Newly Started Journal Good evening, blank pages.
Damn. I never know how to start these things. You things.
Journals, is what I mean.
The preceding text has been struck through with a series of long pen marks.
Dearest Diary...
Also struck through with a flourish.
The next section is written in broken English. Here and there, Elven words are substituted for those that Naraka cannot translate yet. The writing is starkly slanted and without flair. It's structure is elementary with very few paragraph divisions and many run-on sentences.
Hey, you are a journal, and I am Naraka. Apparently, I have anger management problems, and apparently, writing about all the bullshit I go through every damn day is going to make it better. Atleast that is what my best friend Myrrah always tells me. She's a psychology major so I guess I should listen to her, right? I met her at medical school. I'm in medical school, you see, to become a nurse because it is something that I think will really help me improve my life and belong to Gaia even more and it'll just be a good idea, I think. Akina doesn't. Akina's is my roommate. Yeah, you might say I owe her a lot because she took in me and my daughter, Ana, but there comes a point when she has to stop holding it over my head. I mean, I don't rub it in her face that I do all the damn cleaning around here while she is out running around in the forests like she is still living in one big forest to clear her head. Or all those days that she disappears without warning, and I have to arrange a babysitter at the last moment or just skip classes or something. It's so damn irresponsible.
Okay, new page. I didn't realize I had written so much. But back to my selfish roommate. Akina doesn't know what she wants. She never has. I came here, and she took me in and taught me English and helped get me started. But now she just drifts through life as if she has no purpose and the only person she really invests any time to is my latest unwelcome houseguest, this little s**t named Brimstone. I mean, the kid's a swamp baby, for crying out loud! Akina found him while she was out hiking in some swamp all by himself so she took him home. Without asking me. Typical. I pay for this house and I should have a say in what happens in it, right? I mean, really. It's ridiculous. Calliope has noticed Akina's new recluse tendencies as well, but she's too quiet to say anything. I guess it's because she is another one that Akina took in. But that was back before, and Akina is different now. If I didn't have Calliope to calm me down, I don't know what I'd do.
Whoa, another new page. But yeah, Akina is always with Brimstone. They have a secret laugh that pisses me off. You know, the one that people have when they are laughing at you. And I swear that little swamp baby has been oozing in my shoes every morning. If I get one more gooey sock, I swear I will have one less roommate in the morning. Well, this has gone on too long. I'll just count this as my good deed for the day. I feel less angry already.
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Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 7:16 pm
I seek the words to speak the magnitude of my soul.
Sitting with eyes closed on the edge of Cathsee's cat bed, the tempermental Shattered sat pensively, brow furrowed together in absolute concentration. He had been there for some time now, hiding out while Akina was asleep in her room. The elf had not realized that her clever young child had mastered the art of liquifying himself so that he could slip through the bars of his crib without leaving so much as a trace of excess goo on the floor to give him away.
I seek the power to realize all my most ambitious aspirations.
Night after night, Brimstone had made use of this talent, practicing how he could escape his toddler-size prison and even testing how long he could be out of the crib until the other members of the house stirred. He had no purpose in this, not at first. It was just something to keep his mind off of the numbers and symbols that paraded through his head every single day. He was too young to understand them, formulas and elements and physics, things from a time gone by the wayside. Yet, still they came, pressing upon his skull while he slept.
I seek the knowledge to defeat impossibility.
These were heavy thoughts for a child who was not even a year old, who struggled to seclude himself from his earthy guardian, who found himself torn between her naturalism and his own drive towards harnessing the power of science. Of course, he could not fathom this yet, but restricted though he may be physically, Brimstone's mind had gone into overdrive in its development. Still, he had not reached an age where abstract thought was a possibility so for now these visions of scientific theory would remain in his dreams, unrealized.
I will not take no for an answer.
A knot had formed in the toddler's stomach as it often did after he entered into one of these bizzarre trances. Blackened eyelids crack open as a soft green glow began to permeate through the room, lighting the opposite wall in an eerie sheen.
Footsteps in the hallway. The door opened before he could blink an eye, exposing the escaped Shattered to the worried face of Akina. He watched her apathetically as she scooped him into her arms, scolding him for leaving his crib though he felt fairly certain that she did not know how he had managed it. Her furrowed brow and annoyed tone spoke volumes of her attitude as she returned him to his crib.
The door to his room shut once more, leaving only the glow of his new spaceship nightlight and the glare of his own eyes. Resolving himself to finish the night asleep in his crib, Brimstone laid himself back down, closing his eyes. He would try to forget the confusing symbols and elements. For now, he would dream of spaceships and be content.
He can worry about his destiny another day.
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Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 6:08 pm
"He's reading." The acidic tone of Naraka's deep voice cut through the quiet evening ambience with a flourish. Despite her attempt to assimilate into Gaian culture, the tall, green-eyed woman still moved very much so like an elf, and had Akina not been so sensitive to sounds herself, she might not have heard Naraka as she made her way to the doorway to Akina's room.
Again came her voice, more persistant this time, "Akina, are you deaf? He's reading?"
Lying face down in her bed, Akina turned her neck so that her face was directed at Naraka. She opened one eye at a time, blinking lazily. After having such wretched insomnia for the past month, the blue-eyed elf had finally been able to fall asleep (nocturnal though it made her), and it was with great lethargy that she stirred now prematurely, shooting irritated glares at her roommate from puffy red eyes.
Rubbing her forehead, she yawned once before murmuring, "Who did what?"
Naraka scoffed and crossed the room harshly, pulling the blanket off of Akina. "Brimstone," she began with added attitude. "You know, that slimy blob of goop that followed you home from school one day? The one who won't eat? Who breaks out of his crib at night? Who oozes in my best shoes like some kind of disgruntled puppy?"
Her expression eased at the sight of confusion on Akina's face as she struggled to sit up in bed. "Oh, so now you care." Crossing her arms, Naraka pressed on, choosing to ignore this for now, though she saved the anecdote for future possible battles. "He's reading. As in, books."
"Books?"
"Yeah, you know, those tome things with all the paper and writing inside. Gee, you only have about... 5000 laying about the house. 400 in this room alone, I'd venture."
Akina seemed to ponder this for a moment, rolling the thought over in her temporal and parietal lobes before flatly replying, "No, he's too young. He is still perfecting potty training, Naraka."
Narka sighed, but continued on unphased. "Look, princess, the only reason I bring this to your attention is because it is MY textbook, and if you don't take it from him, I will be hanging him upside down until the little pus-ball drops it." The dull thud of her sock'd feet paraded out of the room and up the stairs toward Brim's room, ready to exercise some corporal punishment.
It didn't take long for Akina to react, bounding up the stairs after her roommate to save Brimstone. Knocking the door open, the elf found herself watching a seemingly one-sided fight between a two foot toddler and six foot elf over a thick college level chemistry book.
Lurching forward, Akina saw an all too familiar vein pulse in Brim's neck, as she issued forth a glutteral, "BRIM! NO--" But the explosion of a smog cloud choked out her words as she hit the deck at the last moment, narrowly dodging a mouthful of smoke.
Naraka's surprised scream was enough to let Akina know that this wasn't a game anymore. Doing her best army crawl, the elf wrapped a strong had around Brim's ankle, pulling him to the ground and rolling away from the slowly disappating smog cloud.
The smog cleared to reveal an extremely pissed Naraka clutching a very stained chemistry book. She took one look at Brimstone and Akina and appeared to shiver, stuffing her fiery anger down to the pit of her stomach.
Through clenched teeth, she seethed out a few choice words, "Keep that little ******** away from me, or I'll kill him and make it look like an accident." Pride wounded, Naraka stamped her way to the door, slamming it so hard that the periodic table poster on the wall crashed to the ground.
Clutching Akina's left arm, Brimstone glanced up to his guardian before letting out a stifled giggle and marching over to his little book shelf. He continued to chuckle to himself as he pulled out a brightly colored children's book, opened it, and pulled out a handful of folded newspaper.
Stumbling back to his guardian, he collapsed at her feet, smoothing out the crumpled article. The words were faded from repeated foldings, but there was a a clear headline and picture. In bold black lettering, it read, "New Power Plant in Aekea" with a black and white image of a few smoke stacks accenting the article.
Akina glanced down at Brim, lifting the article so that she could read it. Her eyes went from the paper back to the top of Brim's head, wondering if he could actually understand the words that were printed there. Deciding to put this theory to the test, Akina slid the paper back infront of her son and quietly asked, "Brim, what does this say?"
Without missing a beat, the blue-haired toddler quipped, "New power plant in Aekea." His short attention span took hold as he got to his feet once more, hiding the paper in his book once more and wandering off to play with his toy spaceships.
Sitting there on the carpet, Akina was dumbstruck. Brim was still working on building syntax, and yet, he had taught himself how to read? She knew this probably had some significance, but instead, the elf resolved herself to go back to bed, contemplating what had happened.
Perhaps a field trip to Aekea was in order.
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 6:12 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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