Welcome to Gaia! ::

Nima led they way down the drive, watching her new silent charge out of the corner of her eye. All the way home, Mehiyal had been quiet, save for a few monosyllabic answers. He'd merely watched her and their surroundings with mild interest. At first it was uncomfortable and unnerving. Children were rarely that quiet. After a while though, the silence became soothing. There was so little of that in the house after all.

Mehiyal came slowly out of his reverie, confused at his surroundings. "....And this place is....?" he asked softly.

Finally, more than two words in a row! Nima thought. "This is my home. It's yours too now I guess." She grinned. "We're lucky that Airden decided to move into the attic recently. We've got a room open for you now."

"I see..." He lasped back into silence. If they were going to be living in the same house, he'd find out who this Airden was eventually. He didn't see the point in asking now.

Nima stifled a sigh. Not much of a talker, this one. She and the rest of the household would just have to get used to it. "Come on in and I'll show you around." The front door unlocked magically for her. She would have to rekey all the spells again to work for Mehiyal. She flicked on a light.

Mehiyal's eyes went wide at the sudden glimmers around the room. There were so many facinating things here! He could be distracted for hours in this room alone.

Nima grinned happily and patted his curly hair. "Like what you see? This is Seronil, my store."

He nodded, but frowned a little. "I thought you said this was home.'

"It is. The store is just one room in the house. See?" she held open a door on the back wall, revealing a kitchen beyond.

His frown eased back it a more pleasant expression. But it was obvious Nima wanted to move on from the room. He didn't want to leave! He hadn't even had a chance to look at anything yet.

Nima guessed the train of her new son's thoughts. "Don't worry, you can come into the store anytime you like. But we'll need to meet the rest of the family. And get you something to eat. Are you hungry at all?"

Mehiyal shook his head and reluctantly followed. He would be coming back here though. And often if he had anything to say about it. "Coming Mother."

Mother?! None of her children had called her that yet. But he was her child now, so there was no reason to stop him. And speaking of other children, there was Serin starting dinner. "Hello! I'm home!"

"Miss Nima! Welcome home," Serin called over her shoulder. She glanced over a wing and spotted the scrawny child with Nima. "Oh, do we have a guest tonight?"

"Er...not really. Serin, this is Mehiyal. He'll be living with us from now on." She stroked Mehiyal's curls gently. "Mehiyal, this is Serin. She's your new big sister."

"Ooooo!" Serin squealed happily and leaned down to his eye level. Not that she had to lean far. "It's nice to meet you Mehiyal. I hope you'll like me," she flashed him a bright smile. "You're so cute!"

Was everyone in this house going to be this forward? Ah well, at least she was nice. "A pleasure to meet you Serin," he replied softly.

"And so polite!" The angel girl straightened and clapped her hands once. "Finally a boy with manners around here!"

While the two were getting aquainted, Nima spotted Querna hovering on Surf by the living room door. And the mermaid did not look happy. In fact, she looked about to cry. Before she could call out to the tiny girl, the child zoomed out to the backyard. She sighed and made a mental note to talk to her. "Serin, make sure to put out another place setting tonight. I'm going to show Mehiyal his room." Serin nodded and the pair went upstairs.

Nima opened one of the doors, revealing a bland guest room. "This will be yours now," she explained while etching sigils into the air. She drew the glowing signs together, murmured something, and sent them flying around the room. One landed on Mehiyal's head and disappated, the rest sank into the walls, ceiling, and floor. "There we go! The room recognizes itself as yours. We'll have to get you some better furnishings, but you can tell the walls and carpet how you want them to be and they'll change." She pointed to another door in the hallway. "You can use that bathroom, you'll just have to share it with Darek." She turned to go. "Come downstairs when you're done and I'll show you the rest of the house." She grinned and ruffled his curls. "Welcome home Mehiyal."

"I'll be down shortly Mother. And thank you." He drew over the desk chair and plunked down on it. He looked at the bland walls, dreaming up what could be done with the blank space.

~reserved for playdate with Elena~

Nima fumbled the front door open, trying to keep Sanalus from fall out of her arms. Then she remembered the door opened to the shop front. Stifling a groan, she glanced down at the girls following her. "Okay kids, don't touch anything in here."

"She means it!" Arilin trilled as it zoomed next to Anamarie. The girl had started to swipe a bracelet, but stopped, blushing at the Fandangle's warning.

She set down Sanalus and opened the kitchen door. Serin wasn't there yet, it was too early for the angel to start dinner by her standards. Airden and Querna, however, were. Somewhere Airden had found mini Oreo cookies and was instructing his niece on the finer points of snacking.

"No no, it's twist, lick, then dunk. Like this." Air demonstrated, deftly going through the process with a normal Oreo before popping it whole in his mouth. Que struggled to twist open her cookie. Even the mini one was larger than her hands. Finally she managed it and dunked it into a glass of milk only a little shorter than her. She took a bite and smiled up at Air, her blue face covered in Oreo crumbs.

"Nummy! Hi Mama!" she called, spotting Nima and the three children.

"Hey Nimmy..." Air's voice trailed off as he noticed the children beside his sister. "Who is this?"

"Cookies!" Anamarie cried, hopping up on a chair before Nima could answer. The pirate girl snatched up an Oreo and dunked it into Air's milk without asking.

"That's Anamarie," Nima pointed to the cookie thief. "This is Sanalus," she gestured to the tiny wizard inching his way to the table. "And this is..." the redhead twisted to reveal a small genie hiding behind her leg, "Zirande. They'll be living here from now on."

"Uh, hi...Nimmy, can I talk to you? Privately?" He rose from his seat, which was promptly taken by Sanalus. The boy had to stand on the chair to reach the cookies, his hat starting to fall askew.

"Sure thing." She made to follow him out of the kitchen, but a tugging on her pant leg stopped her. Zirande looked up at her with big pleading eyes. "You're coming back, right?"

"Of course I'm coming back!" Nima stooped down to give the genie a reassuring hug. "I'll only be gone for a moment. Promise. Why don't you wait here and have some cookies, hmm?" She helped Zirande into a seat as Que slithered along the table to offer the girl an Oreo.

In the shoproom, Nima could hear the kids getting aquainted. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Air crossed his arms and paced. "How many more kids are you gonna adopt Nimmy? We're running out of room for them all."

"I know...but...Orphanage!" Nima flailed her arms at the kitchen door. "I just couldn't bear to leave them there."

"That and Anamarie insisted you take them home. Softie," Arilin piped up. Nima shot it a glare.

"We don't have room for everyone Nim! Unless you want us all to share rooms." Air made a face. "I'm not too keen on bunking with a kid."

Nima sighed. "I know, I know. I guess I'll have to get the house remodeled."

"And where's everyone supposed to go while you do? We can't all stay in a hotel or something." Air had started pacing in agitation. To him, his baby sister had a pathetic bleeding heart. Course he thought It is why she brought me back to life... He shook his head, trying to ignore the tiny voice.

"Hey...can you bug that mad scientist friend of yours? Wotshername...the elf chick."

Nima raised an eyebrow. "You mean Jerava?"

Arilin bonked Air on the head. "Jer's not a mad scientist. She's an intelligent researcher. You of all people should be nice to her."

Air waved the Fandangle off. "Whatever. She's got that huge house of hers. Think she could put us up for however long it takes?"

"Maybe," Nima mused. "Why don't you go ask her?"

"Me?! Why do I gotta do it? She's your friend."

"Because you suggested it," both Nima and Arilin said at the same time. Nima pointed in the direction of Jer's room. "So march brother dear." Airden knew better than to argue. Jamming his hands in his pockets he trudged out the door. Nima walked much more leisurely back to the kitchen. At some point during her talk with Air, Mehiyal must have wandered into the kitchen as she saw him sitting in the middle of all his new siblings. The boy looked so bewildered as Querna offered him a cookie and Anamarie tried to swipe his parasol. Smiling gently, Nima went over to explain. Zirande immediatly latched onto Nima's leg again. I'll tell them all when Air gets back. No need to get them all worked up just yet...

Pleasant nonsense. An oddly purple sky out the windows. A house all to himself. Illus large enough to wrap around the building twice, but fitting inside it anyway. He wandered through the halls aimlessly. He opened a door to one of the girl's rooms and the whole world darkened. The soft pleasant colors became dark. He was suddenly smaller, and much more fearful. The empty house now terrified him, tall dark walls echoing every sound hollowly. An unknown terror wandered the halls just behind him, waiting for him to be completely alone. There was no huge Illus, there was no one to hear. He ran into another room and suddently wanted to face this menace head on. Confident, fearless, he was now taller and stronger. But even this terror made him shiver. Then, filled with a need to protect. But there was no one around but him. In an instant he was tiny, barely able to move on his own. But no limitations would stop him from meeting it head on.

Flashes of emotion, images, vague thoughts. He was surrounded by confusion, unable to decide. He had to get away, had to figure out what was going on. He ran, away from the confusion, down the stairs, out the door-

Mehiyal woke up to sobs, murmurs, and cries of fear from bed in the house. On the bunk below him he could hear Darek breathing harshly. Across the room Sanalus cried quietly into his pillow. He hugged his knees close to his chest and sat wide eyed in the dark, while outside he could hear his mother working her way through the rooms calming everyone down.

Backlogged Journal

Mehiyal found his mother at the kitchen table, scanning a large dusty book while trying to eat lunch. Sighing, he did something highly unusual: curled up in her lap and hugged her, burying his face in her shirt.

Nima sat back, surprised. She expected this sort of thing out of Sanalus and Zirande, not from withdrawn Mehiyal. "Mehiyal?" She stroked his hair and back gently. "What's wrong loveh?" she asked softly, knowing how much he disliked loud voices.

After pause, the muffled reply came. "It's all....my fault...right? I'm giving everyone nightmares."

Nima hugged him close, wondering how to phrase it. She should have seen something like this coming. "It's because of you, but it's not your fault." He sat back and looked up at her, confused. "You're just...linking everyone's dreams. And since Zirande's having nightmares, everyone else does when they're linked with you. But you didn't know you were doing this. And you didn't want to give anyone nightmares, right?"

"No...I don't....I wouldn't want to give anyone bad dreams...not even-" he broke of suddenly, his eyes wide, as if he'd said to much. Before Nima could coax the rest of the sentence out of him, he asked, "How can I...stop it? I don't even know what I'm doing..."

"Well, I think eventually you'll have to figure out how to control it. But for now, I can some type of mental shield around you for when you sleep. Hopefully it'll keep you from wandering into everyone's dreams. Sound good?"

He nodded. "But...what if it doesn't work?

She shrugged. "Then we figure out something else."

Mehiyal didn't look entirely sure, but his mother was the adult. She'd know what was best. "You won't...tell anyone? Will you?"

"Not right now," she said, lightly kissing his forehead. "I think everyone'd be pretty upset about it. Maybe later, when we've got everything under control." She hugged him gently and rocked him, taking advantage of the rare moment. "Everything will turn out okay. Just wait and see."

Backlogged Journal

Welcome Home!

The entire family stood out on the sidewalk, looking at the mist-shrouded house. A couple of the younger children had covered their eyes, waiting for the surprise. Nima grinned and pulled out her wand. After living so long in a small house, this was going to be a very welcome improvement. "Okay everybody! Welcome home!" She drew a huge sigil in the air and pushed it towards the mist, making it leave in a cloud of sparkles. Both the effect and the house left jaws hanging open and squeals of happiness.

What was once a mid-sized suburban home is now a sprawling three-story manor with a tall rooftop.Where the garage used to be, there is now an elegant shoproom for Nimaina's home business. Beyond Seronil is a kitchen and dining room able to accomadate the entire family and any guests. The living room/playroom also now suits the larger family, with plenty of space for any games the children think up. Connected to the living room is Tentei's study and two magic workrooms: one for everyone's use and instruction, the other for Nimaina's private usage. The living room, Nima's workroom and Tentei's study all have doors to the spacious backyard containing a pond for the Nereids, koi and Querna.

There are two elevators and a set of stairs connecting each floor. The second floor has the master bedroom, rooms for the younger children, and the room reserved for Jerava's dimensional portal and anchor. A small room has been specially made for Querna. It contains a fishtank that dominates over half the room and is connected to the house plumbing system to keep fresh water in it. There is a raised shelf with minature bedroom furniture leading into the tank and small stair going from the floor to shelf, giving Que easy access to everything. Next to the shelf is a chair for large visitors There is also a playroom connecting to a balcony that may be converted into a nursery if any babies arrive.

The third floor has more bedrooms, mostly for the older girls. One of the larger rooms is shared by Serin and Zirande.There are multiple extra bedrooms in anticipation of Nimaina's adoption habits.

The attic also containes bedrooms, having been converted for the older boys' use. Half the attic has four bedrooms and a training room for Sesshou, Tentei, and anyone else that feels up to joining them.The other half has been reserved for Airden, containing a fully stocked kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, and private magic workroom.Both Airden's and the general area connect to a third balcony overlooking the backyard.

"Is this really ours?" someone asked, Nima wasn't sure who.

"Yes, it's really ours." She grinned at the assembled children. "Well don't just stand there! Go check it out." The entire group swarmed into the house. Nima walked in with more decorum, Arilin floating behind her. As she settled onto the living room couch, she could hear feet thudding up the stairs and the quiet workings of the elevators. Hearing squeals of delight, she grinned, happy to be home.