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Fill This Out in Triplicate Please

An opportunity for a unique and rewarding life experience, at least that’s what they called it when he had spoken with them over the phone a week before. Strangely, they had called him in the middle of the night, shortly after 2 am, if he was remembering it correctly. He was awake, of course, working on one of his projects, but still it had seemed odd; either they somehow knew he would be awake or they hoped to catch him mid slumber, hoping he might be easier to convince in a befuddled state. Regardless of their aims in that initial contact, he now found himself inside the labs waiting to be seen.

To be honest, he had no idea whether he would actually go through with it, not until he breached the front doors at least; at that point it was decided. He would finally put down some roots and raise this most unusual child. It might be attributed to an oversized ego, but despite the unusual heritage of the children here, he felt it was entirely within his capabilities to raise one, but still; only time would tell.

“Vilyum Cth..cth..f?” an employee started before giving up on the last name she viewed as unpronounceable; she simply pointed to the lone man in the waiting area and stated, slightly irritated at her inability to say his name, “You, over there, in the hat, we’ll see you now, follow me.”

Sliding out of his chair, he stood and wordlessly followed the woman down a long passageway, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his aging greatcoat.

“That’s an unusual last name you have there, where exactly does your family originate?” she inquired as she led him into a small office.
Not caring to divulge his family’s past, he simply stated, “Around,” and then sat down in front of the desk.

“Well, first things first then,” she replied, obviously ignoring his previous comment. Opening a file cabinet, she pulled a large stack of forms out and placed them on the desk in front of Vilyum.

“Oh, I just love paperwork,” expressed Vilyum in his most sincere sarcasm.

“Well,” she retorted, a snide grin spread across her face, “they do have to be filled out, and in triplicate. Have fun. Push the buzzer on the desk when you complete them.” She then left the room and quickly shut the door behind her; the sound of a lock clicking into place was heard shortly after.

“Well this is just great,” he muttered to himself as he looked through the overwhelming stack of documents; some seemed to have nothing to do with the proceedings, almost like the woman was having a bad day and using this severe form filled process as a means to elevate her mood. Some people are such sadists he thought, with much annoyance.

Several hours passed, over which he filled out a large variety of documents, in triplicate. They had only one thing in common; except for a name here and there, a favorite food or two, and some other truly random and useless facts, they were all works of complete fiction; bound together and published he could very well end up with a Pulitzer Prize. He had determined from the onset that if he had to fill out forms he would, they just needn’t be true.

With a sigh of relief, he pushed the buzzer, ready for the proceedings to continue. Within minutes, the door made a distinct clicking sound of being unlocked and the woman from before stuck her head in after sliding open the door. ‘How are the forms coming? Did you have a question?” she inquired with a self satisfied grin, only to have it removed when he informed her that he was finished with the forms. “My, that was quick,” she uttered in shock as she came fully into the room. She made her way to the desk and sat down across from Vilyum then began looking through the forms, an incredulous look on her face.

“Quite an, um, interesting read,” she remarked, peering at the man through squinted eyes.

“Well I have lived a most interesting life,” he returned, a smirk spread across his face.

“Very well,” she responded, still seemingly annoyed, as she stood up and made her way to the door, “now that all of the paperwork is out of the way, we may proceed .”

Vilyum stood and followed her out the door, back into the hallway, and they headed further into the facility.

“So how does this work?” he inquired, “do I meet a bunch of kids and pick one or something?”

“It varies on a case by case basis,” she answered, “but in your case, we have a child picked out specifically for you.”

She escorted him into a large room, nearly empty except for a table and some chairs, that had a distinct feel to it, sanitized, like a hospital room would feel, and continued, “you are aware of the nature of these children, yes? That most are the result of the combination of 1 of 7 types of demonic DNA and 1 of 7 angelic types, right?”

“Yes, I was aware, and I couldn’t help but notice a certain bit of emphasis on the word most,” countered Vilyum.

“Oh, you caught that did you? Well there was reason for the emphasis. Your child is one of the exceptions, she has a rarer demonic bit of DNA infused into to her genetic structure; her demonic heritage is revenge.”

“Revenge? Sounds fun; what of her angelic heritage?”

“Well that would be one of the seven basic types, patience.”

“So wait, she is revenge mixed with patience? Sounds downright diabolical; wouldn’t want to get on her bad side I take it.”

“Luckily, I wouldn’t know, according to the files she has yet to really display much of a bad side, but who knows, maybe that will change while she is in you care.”

“What are you implying, exactly?

“Oh, nothing, just, good luck. Someone will be in shortly with your ward.”
At that, the woman left the room and Vilyum sat at the table to wait. “She seemed so nice,” he remarked to himself, “and I didn’t even get her name.”

After about a half an hour or so of waiting, he scooted the chair backwards, leaned back, and gingerly placed his boots on the sanitized table. If they are going to make me wait this long, he thought, I might as well do it comfortably. Before long, however, he drifted off to sleep.

Vilyum jumped awake at a slight tugging on the sleeve of his coat, which in turn made him lose his balance and tumble backwards in the chair, landing on his back.

Vilyum shook off his slight daze to the sound of a little girl giggling. “You’re silly,” she laughed out, a wide grin on her face.

As he stood up and brushed himself off, he noticed a man in a lab coat standing just behind the little girl.

Seeing that Vilyum had composed himself, at least somewhat, after the fall, the man in the lab coat addressed him while looking down into his clip board, “Mr. Cth…. Err… Vilyum is it? This is Áróra, she is to be your charge.”

“Hi, Áróra,” he said to the girl, not quite sure what to say in this situation, “I’m Vilyum. Cute wings.” He then held out his hand to shake.

Looking up at him, she asked, “Are you my daddy?”

“Why, yes, I guess I am.”

“DADDY!” she exclaimed, running past his outstretched hand, and jumping up to wrap her arms around his torso.

Interjecting into this heartwarming scene, the man in the coat remarked, “Well, here is her file; feel free to call if you have any questions. Good day, you can see yourself out.” He then set the file down on the table, and scurried out from whence he had come.

Setting Áróra down, he grabbed the file and, with a grin, remarked, “C’mon Áróra, let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

Play Date 1


Link: [PD] Cinnamon in the Morning (Áróra/Xanthe)
Participants: Xanthe, Sterre, Áróra, & Vilyum
Stage: Toddler
Status: Ongoing

Play Date 3

Link: [PD] Something Fishy This Way Comes (Avani/Áróra)
Participants: Avani, Sabra, Áróra, & Vilyum
Stage: Toddler
Status: Ongoing

Homeschooling Session

Set Your Sights for Learning

“A...p…p...l…e… apple!” Áróra exclaimed, a large grin upon her face.

“Very good,” replied Vilyum, “you’re next word is xenomorph.”

Áróra giggled and countered, “Silly Daddy, I can’t spell that; is that even a word?”

“Of course it is a word, and an important word at that. You can’t spell xenomorph but you can spell striped burrfish?”

“Of course! It is a fishy, fish, fish!”

“Hmm, how about…. crossbow ?”

Biting her lower lip, she thought, well, let’s see, that sounds like two words, cross and bow. I can spell those! Let’s see… and then carefully uttered, “C…r….o….s….s…. um ….b…o….w?”

“Very good Áróra,” Vilyum said with a grin, “want to know why I chose to have you spell that word?”

Áróra nodded and said, “Mmmhmm, why daddy?”

“Why, because I’ve got a surprise for you, come here, let us make our way, to the workshop,” he replied. She then ran over to him and he bent down and lifted her up, setting her on his shoulders.

“Wheeee,” she exclaimed from her vantage point, as he carried her out of the library and into the main hall of the first floor. I wonder what it could be, she thought, I love surprises! And it is in the workshop! I love it in there, all the gizmos and doohickeys. She smiled and brushed her hand against the ceiling as they came to the stairwell leading to the second subbasement.

“You know,” Vilyum remarked, “with how quick you are growing, and how strong you are, it won’t be long before you are carrying me.”

Áróra giggled in response and retorted, “But I like when you carry me daddy!”

“Fine, fine, you barely weigh more than a feather, so I guess I can,” Vilyum conceded.

“Yay!”Áróra exclaimed as they made their way down the stairs.
“So ready to do some math?” he asked as they made their way down the
hall to the workshop.

“Ok, daddy, um, is math my surprise?” she questioned.

“You will see,” he chuckled with a grin.

As they reach the door, Vilyum informed her, “Ok, it is time to cover your eyes.”

Closing her eyes tightly, she exclaimed, “OK, daddy! I’m ready!”

He then pushed open the door and stepped into the large room. He lifted her light frame and set her down, before stating, “Ok hold out your hands.”
With a grin she complied and an object was soon placed in her waiting hands.

“Go ahead, open your eyes,” he announced.

She quickly opened her eyes and looked down to the prize that was waiting within her grasp. “It’s a crossbow?” she questioned, looking up at Vilyum for confirmation.

“Well actually, it is a nerf crossbow, a tad young for the real thing,” he replied waiting to see her reaction.

“Yay!” she exclaimed, “thank you daddy!” She then rushed him and jumped up to give him a hug.

Letting go, she looked down at the nerf crossbow and puzzled, asked,
“What does this have to do with math?”

“Well,” he answered as he pointed towards the far wall, “You see those metal plates over there? Each of them has a number written on them, zero through nine. I will give you a math problem and you will shoot at the correct answer with your crossbow. And if the answer is like twelve, for example, you will shoot one then two; do you understand?”

“Yes daddy, that sounds like fun,” she responded with a grin.

“Ok,” he commanded in a faux, stern tone, “get in position to start firing.”

She giggled at his command, saluted, and then countered, “Yes sir!”

She then scrambled over to where the targets were and fumbled over the gun, figuring out how it worked, before readying it to shoot.

“What is five minus three?” Vilyum asked.

She thought for a moment and then took aim at the plate labeled two; she missed by about a yard.

“Well,” he stated with a grin, “you need to work on your aim a bit, but that is fine, it was your first shot after all.”

“Ok, daddy, will do!” she exclaimed before asking, “What’s the next problem?”

Vilyum laughed at her eagerness before answering back, “Ok, your next problem is two plus six, oh and why don’t you take a few steps up. We can move you farther back as your aim gets better.”

Wordlessly, she moved a few feet closer and took aim at the eight. She held the crossbow as steady as she could and let fire; the foam bolt shot forth and right into the very edge of the plate marked eight.

“Good job Áróra!” Vilyum exclaimed, “Maybe when you get older, we will upgrade you to a real crossbow.”

“Really? Yay!” she exclaimed in reply.

“Well, I am going to go check on dinner,” he explained, “but go ahead and keep working on your aim and we will do some more math later.”

“Ok, will do!” she declared with a grin before turning back to the targets and taking aim.

Word Count: 836

Parent Meeting Worksheet

1: What is the name of the parent that you picked to study this time around?
Vaelaeli

2: What is the Virtue or Vice of the creature? Or was the one your studying a Neutral? Or is it Reshmi who doesn't fall into any of those categories?
Revenge

3: What made you pick this person? Was it because you were more curious about them? Or was it something else?
I was curious about him and he is so pointy…

4: From the photo do you see anything right away that reminds you of you? Answer Yes or No.
Yes!

5: Name at least one thing you have in common with the one that your studying up on today.
Face tentacles, though mine are longer! Pointy teeth! Four red eyes! Glowing tattoo thingies! Spikes, but not on my shoulders…. Oh! I can lift a lot more than most people my age!

6: From the reference material do you find that it sounds as though you have anything in common with this creature that isn't something physical? Answer Yes or No.
Yes!

7: If you answered yes, what is it you have in common with the one your studying up on today other then physical traits?
Well, sometimes, I can sense things that are magical, like daddy’s secret door! He won’t ever let me see what is on the other side….

8: What is it that you find the most interesting the one your studying today be it something physical or perhaps a skill that they might have.
The poisons…. I don’t have those, it sounds scary… what if I did and I accidently poisoned someone?

9: If you had one question you could ask of this person what might it be?
Do you ever have a hard time eating with those big tusks?

Play Date 7

Link:[PD] Poolside Inside [Áróra and Ciúin]
Participants: Ciúin, Áróra, & Vilyum
Stage: Child
Status: Complete!

Play Date 9

Reserved for AIM PD with Nina

Play Date 11

Link: Candy? Ice cream? All of the above? (Azubahiel/Áróra)
Participants: Azubahiel, Áróra, & Vilyum
Stage: Child
Status: Ongoing