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 Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2006 1:03 am
...:: 03.06.06 ::...
12345"...another one?" Winter stared at Raven in disbelief. "You want me to get you another house? Don't you have enough houses in this place? You've got the huge one, the one for your little Jrocker, the one on the island, the one with the paint, the one for your girls, the one you gave to the dragon, the one for those slippers-- and now a new one?"
12345"I explained this, didn't I?" Raven sighed, pulling her manager aside. "Winter, dear, I can't take Mekt to the big house. Rekka and Mekt wouldn't get along. The island's closed off for right now, Lia's going through enough trouble adjusting as it is, I'm certainly not taking him to the Malfoys', Ian's running the slipper home, and so I need a new place. Mekt needs a place he can be comfortable in, a place he can relax in. I intend to provide that," the girl sighed, stroking back a strand of her black locks. "He's been through too much--"
12345"You always take the bleeding hearts," Winter sighed, but her tone told Raven she was already giving into the request. "All right. But this better be the last one!"
12345Raven smiled as she led Mekt inside the house while Winter hammered out the remaining details with the real estate agent. This place was perfect-- even Mekt seemed to think so in his silent way, garnet eyes glancing about to take in every aspect, every nook and cranny of the house. At least... he didn't seem to dislike it. As Mekt hadn't actually spoken to Raven since she'd picked him up at the mansion, Raven couldn't be completely certain she understood the boy.
12345But there would be time for that later. For now, Raven let Mekt have the first pick of the rooms, not entirely surprised when he chose a room on the ground floor, right by the staircase. It was the ideal room for a child-- or a teenager, for that matter. The room was large enough for a good amount of personalization-- and was right near the storeroom and not too far from the garage. Sneak-out privileges? If it would draw Mekt out of his shell, why not?
~*~*~*~
12345Mekt watched Raven watch him as he inspected the room he'd claimed as his own. The closet was the main reason he'd decided this would be his place. A trap door to the basement could be installed there, hidden under layers of carpetting. This 'Raven' didn't seem the type to head down to the basement too often, so Mekt should be free to work on his systems most of the time, if he didn't worry her too much.
12345That would be the problem, wouldn't it? She seemd quite the worrier-- and strangely the idealist. From the brief conversation between Winter and Raven, Mekt had discerned that Raven was something of a nutcase about anyone she thought needed to be helped-- and Winter had very little backbone when it came to Raven and her whims. Their relationship was an interesting one. Symbiotic in that it seemed Winter wouldn't have dreams without the impulsive influence of Raven, and Raven didn't have to deal with as much reality if Winter were about. Would they stay together and raise him? Or would it just be Raven?
12345Mekt was willing to bet it would just be Raven. She seemed the type to want to do things herself when it came to saving others. That would be interesting. Mekt didn't need saving-- he needed himself. Everyone else who'd been taking care of him had left-- why should he rely on this one when she'd probably leave as soon as she realized that the little boy in her possession wasn't quite... 'normal'?
12345Ah well. She was going off to get some food or something like that. That meant Mekt could just lie down... and sleep...
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Posted: Wed Mar 08, 2006 1:24 am
...:: 03.07.06 ::...
12345It hadn't been difficult to skip dinner-- Mekt had relied on Raven's need to make everything in the house 'perfect' to hide the food. He'd mostly grown out of the refusing to eat pattern he'd fallen into long ago-- but now he needed to store the food for another reason. He didn't want to have to put his faith in anyone for any reason, so stocking up on supplies was imperative.
12345The next step, of course, was to wait until he heard Raven's frantic pacings above him pause for several minutes-- a sign she'd probably gone to bed. Good. That meant that Mekt was truly left to his own devices and could begin his plans.
12345The moon had been up for several hours, and Mekt had been waiting in his room, taking precautions not to turn on any lights so his eyes would adjust to the darkness. He didn't know enough about Raven to know how much would wake her, how much he could get away with. Later he'd find out, but for now he'd play it safe.
12345Carefully removing a floorboard from deep within his closet, Mekt found himself sorely disappointed by the concrete floor. It would take such a long time to get through that and make his way to the basement-- unless the garage played host to a secret entrance. Yes... that might be the best way to go about doing this.
12345But not tonight. Tomorrow. Replacing the board, Mekt crawled into bed, his tiny body exhausted from all the moving he'd had to do that day. He'd figure this all out tomorrow...
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Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:12 pm
...:: 03.09.06 ::...
12345He hadn't eaten today either-- mostly because Raven had asked him to. Mekt didn't see a reason to listen to Raven-- she wasn't his mother. She was this woman who'd come to take care of him for the moment. Until she got bored of him and left as well, right? It was better to take this opportunity to learn whatever he can while he had access to Raven's extensive library and computer systems.
12345Already, Mekt had found that Raven was more than willing to let people she 'cared' about use her home and everything within it. This included the library full of all the books and papers she'd recorded over the years, included the charts within her office. And the little boy planned to extract everything he could from this girl.
12345It wasn't that he bore any malice towards Raven. It was more that he didn't see any reason for him to care about her. Whenever he cared in the past, he ended up being left behind. It no longer seemed to be worthwhile to care. So he simply didn't.
12345So now he'd use Raven for what he saw fit. And what he saw fit was really her collections right now.
12345Half of the second floor was dedicated to a huge library, filled with books upon books, tomes of stories and information he'd never been able to read before. It was interesting-- and intriguing. He could put so much he'd read to use-- and there was still more to read. It was saddening he'd probably be leaving before he got to the end of the books...
12345Especially since the damn library kept growing. Mekt could've sworn that some of the shelves weren't so full the last time he was in there. Where did Raven get all her money from? It was bewildering to the boy. No one had the ability to conjure something out of nothing. Then again, there was a lot about Raven he didn't know, so she could have a perfectly legitimate business or three running. Or a few illegitimate ones.
12345What did it really matter? Mekt just wanted to deal with... nothing. Just the systems that sat there, waiting to be learned, waiting to be understood. After devouring book upon book of psychology, the boy had finally decided to move on. He still had three or four more shelves if the subject interested him further-- but right now, he wanted to look into surgery and mythology...
12345Some would think those an odd combination, but surgery could be performed as a ritual-- something Mekt had discovered through his few nights in the library. Which meant it had more ties to mythology. Which meant that there was a reasoning behind cutting people open when they were still perfectly healthy.
12345Mekt found himself intrigued by this...
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Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2006 8:24 pm
...:: 03.13.06 ::...
12345...Raven had come to the conclusion that she was a horrible, horrible mother. Erm. Caretaker. Whatever you wanted to call her little 'profession', 'assignment of choice', whatnot. Whatever it was, she was bad at it.
12345How could she have missed that Mekt wasn't eating? How could she have missed that her precious little boy was skipping meals, hiding the food she gave him and pressing it to the small animals frequenting the outside of the Nest? How could she have not seen that he was exerting his personality in an adverse way?
12345He'd been working himself so hard, working on learning-- Raven hadn't thought much of it because she'd seen her other kids on Gaia do much of the same. But she hadn't noticed that he hadn't been eating. She'd been so focused on this new house, on taking care of the way things were going, that she hadn't been paying attention to him, and... damnit.
12345So now he lay in bed, unconscious. And Raven was cursing herself and her terrible abilities as a parental figure. Legal guardian. Just because she'd been busy didn't excuse her negligence, did it? Of course not. Mekt was just a kid.
12345A kid in bed who shivered every time he shifted, whose already pale skin seemed ashen, a greyish hue stealing across his flesh. A child who seemed so fragile he could break at any moment. A little boy who shouldn't be as sick as he so obviously had become.
12345Raven really, really hated her inattentiveness at times like these.
12345Ok. What could she do? Short of grabbing a doctor from somewhere and trying to get them to help her, how could she help her little boy? After all, all the doctors Raven knew on Gaia were untrustworthy at best and dangerous at worst. They ranged from the bitingly sarcastic to the clinically insane. None of them were creatures Raven wanted Mekt exposed to this early in his life.
12345So what could she do? She'd been spoon-feeding him chicken soup and water, but he still shook. Maybe it was time to just... take him to a hospital. They had a hospital on Gaia, right? They had to. Wasn't there some big name in a hospital?
12345...damnit. Mekt was lying here, weakened by days of not eating, and Raven was thinking about big names. She needed to pull in someone less emotional and more pragmatic before anything worse happened.
12345"Winter?" Raven called the girl on her cell phone. "I need help."
12345"Yes, you do. That's what your psychiatrist is for."
12345Trust Winter to take this opportunity to make a jab at Raven. "No, seriously."
12345"I am serious, Raven."
12345"No! Mekt! He needs a doctor!"
12345This actually made Winter pause for a moment. "...what did you do, Raven?" she asked carefully.
12345"He wasn't eating... I didn't notice--"
12345"You didn't notice the boy wasn't eating."
12345"...that's what I said."
12345Winter sighed deeply, wondering how in the name of hell she'd gotten stuck with this girl. "All right. I'll see what I can do. But calm down. Screeching about this all over town isn't going to help Mekt, and it's giving me a headache."
12345"What do I do??" Raven asked, now becoming mildly hysterical, now that she'd confided the problem to Winter and handed the issue over to the more capable girl.
12345"Calm down. Sit with him. Give him soup. Read him something. Play some nice, quiet music-- instrumental music, none of that deep, lyric-ridden stuff you listen to-- and just try to keep in mind that Mekt's a growing boy and he'll probably be fine. You're doing everything you can."
12345Winter's words calmed the girl, and she nodded, even though Winter couldn't see it. "...ok. I'll try," she sighed. "...doumo, Fuyu-chan," she added before hanging up.
12345...Mekt. He was sweet-- or at least he seemed sweet-- and earnest about learning. But he refused to open up to Raven, no matter how hard she'd tried. She'd given him everything he'd asked for (within reason) but he wouldn't even talk to her. So she couldn't even begin to fathom why he might have chosen not to eat. Did he know what that could do to a growing body?
12345Raven was worried about him. In spite of the way she usually tried to keep a distance from the kids she took care of-- this was Gaia after all, and the children of Gaia were prone to doing strange things-- not unlike the Werewolf Tribe. No! There she went wandering off on a tangent again. This wasn't working. Mekt. Mekt, Mekt, Mekt.
12345He was... adorable. Sweet. He held a passion for learning. He seemed so... hurt though. Probably after being shuffled from caretaker to caretaker he'd been left with a trust complex. It wasn't... fair. The boy shouldn't have gone through all of that. He was gorgeous in and of himself. Why hadn't people taken care of him?
12345Because he was different, perhaps. Different from other children Raven had met as night from day-- then again, Raven had, admittedly, not met many of the other children from the mansion.
12345...other children from the mansion. Raven wanted to find the other children from the mansion Mekt had been friends with. She wanted to try to find some way to open him up and give him the affection he deserved and probably needed. He was just a kid.
12345A kid who she'd made sick.
12345...damnit.
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Posted: Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:33 am
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Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2006 1:23 am
...:: 04.01.06 ::...
12345Winter had spent every single day of the past ten days with the little boy. He'd finally come back home after a few days in the hospital to restore to his body the nutrients he'd been denying himself for weeks-- and Winter had fought long and hard to convince Raven to go with Jan to Italy after their missing Anthropomorphs. After all, her fretting wasn't going to do anyone any good-- least of all Mekt.
12345As for the boy himself... he'd been quiet since returning to the house-- though less quiet than usual, so Winter supposed it could be construed as him being loud. Though, she'd be damned if she'd call speaking a word or two every hour 'loud'-- it was simply less than silent.
12345This Mekt... he was an odd child. He would sit and read long books, then suddenly rise up and dart away like a little hellion and skittishly dash away from Winter to find a place where he could scribble fiercely. All in all, he acted a great deal like Raven did nowadays-- excepting he was younger. Much younger. And that made all the difference in the world.
12345Part of Winter knew she'd have to obfuscate her worries about Mekt from Raven when she returned. After all, Mekt was still young. There were chances that he wouldn't become everything Winter feared-- and, after all, she'd be keeping a close eye on the boy. Closer than she kept on the other children Raven cared for...
~*~*~*~
12345...so he'd been out for several days; he'd made himself sick again. That didn't matter. He was back now; he carried more information now about what he needed to do to just keep going without having to accept food from Raven and her other-half. He'd just have to be more careful about things in the future.
12345Mekt wasn't a foolish boy. He worked hard to figure out the best, most effective way to work his angle here. Unfortunately, sometimes he simply got too caught up in what he was doing.
12345Like now, for example. Winter was musing again, brooding somewhere else-- probably in her room, as she hated the studies and the library was taken by Mekt. This created a perfect opportunity for Mekt to head down the stairs to the basement, where he'd slowly begun to use the pipes and wires left down there (probably as spares in case of emergency, since a little bit of research had taught Mekt that Raven always wanted to be prepared for just about everything) to create something of a workspace for himself. Mekt really, really wanted to just... fix things. He wanted to find out how everything worked so he could manipulate it to his advantage.
12345In all honesty, the area was crude, and yet, it served its purpose well. Mekt had his writing desk upstairs-- and down here, he had his little paradisio. He had his tiny blades and the shimmering test tubes he'd discovered in the library. Eventually, if he was given enough time in this place, he'd work hard to make this a real laboratory.
12345That was the if, wasn't it? Raven had all the power of that. If she was like all the others, she'd abandon him the instant she lost interest. Already she'd disappeared-- though Winter claimed Raven was coming back, she just had things to take care of-- like her other children. Raven apparently had over a hundred different beings she looked after-- Mekt was simply another one.
12345...who knew how this would go? Not Mekt, for sure. He was still confused by this whole mess, trying to understand what the differences were between Raven and the façade she presented to the world, trying to understand the connection between Winter and Raven...
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Posted: Tue Apr 11, 2006 1:32 am
...:: 04.10.06 ::...
12345...Mekt still didn't understand why Winter had insisted on taking him shopping of all things. If she'd been like the normal girl, it would've been quite comprehensible, but as it became extraordinarily apparent that Winter didn't like shopping any more than Mekt did, the boy couldn't understand why she would do such a thing-- especially since he wouldn't be staying at Raven's house for much longer. Right? He'd already stayed such a long while.
12345Unless... this was a sign that they were planning on keeping him?
12345If that was the case, Mekt wasn't sure how to react. He'd been so focused on the idea that he wasn't going to stay that the thought of actually being kept in one place seemed somewhat... terrifying? How strange that his thoughts would shift so quickly from one to the other. And yet, it somehow... fit. Raven and Winter were two of the oddest girls he'd ever come across-- it made sense that they would want to keep him around, if only for amusement's sake.
12345But back to the subject at hand. They'd been wandering around the mall for a full three hours, and they were no closer to finding an outfit than they'd been when they first arrived. However, at the same time, Mekt had learned a lot about Winter through the snippets of conversation which jumped between the pair as they moved through the crowded company in the mall.
12345For example, Winter hated people. Especially in large groups. She apparently hated crowds, hated dealing with the masses because, in general, the masses were idiots-- something Mekt found himself agreeing with her on. The masses could be counted on to do something wrong-- like that fight they'd witnessed in the sale area. After that, Winter swore she wouldn't take Mekt to another such place-- and she hadn't, as of yet.
12345Beyond that, Mekt had discovered quiet facts about Raven as well. The girl apparently had a caring streak a mile wide, although she was considered dangerous in some matters. A stickler for the rules which made sense to her, and a careful revolutionist, Raven seemed to be a paradox in and of herself. A jaded hopeless romantic, a traditionalistic reformist... it was strange. She broke the system by existing.
12345Winter asked a few questions about Mekt as well-- but nothing too probing. Either she really didn't care, or she was cautious of the way Mekt might adversely react to her. It didn't matter either way, it was simply... curious.
12345What Mekt had picked up from Winter's comments about Raven seemed to imply that Raven had a habit of picking up strays and taking care of them until they could stand on their own two feet. Mekt wanted to protest that he could already do that, but kept his mouth shut. If it kept him in one place for a longer period of time, he'd let them think he was helpless.
12345Then again, when he thought about the drama he'd pulled with the not eating... maybe he wasn't ready to stand on his own just yet.
12345It was strange. He found himself filled with a desire to focus his energies on staying in this strange home environment Winter called 'The (Newest) Nest', even though he didn't understand either of the girls who resided there. Even though he didn't feel like he quite belonged, he felt... at ease. Which in and of itself put him ill at ease, given that he'd always associated places with people, and it had always been his relationship with people which made him feel like he belonged.
12345People... he'd known people before he'd gotten sent back to the mansion the first time. He'd met people, gotten to know them-- made friends with some of them. Names, faces from the past-- they'd probably changed by now. Mekt knew he'd changed-- he could feel the subtle shiftings of his body, the way clothes hung differently on him, the way he'd been growing... yes. He'd changed from the time he'd been a little boy as well.
12345Therein lay the problem. How was he to associate this place with people if the people he'd once known would no longer recognize him? It was to be assumed that some of his physical traits remained-- eye and hair color couldn't be changed so easily, as pigment was determined at birth, but... at the same time, age changed people, led them to greater heights and different thoughts. This led to physical changes which surpassed any sort of mental difference between one's former self and one's elder self...
12345But the mall. Yes, the mall-- it took another several hours before Mekt and Winter found clothes which satisfied the boy, and then off they went, back to the Nest...
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Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2006 12:54 am
...:: 04.13.06 ::...
12345For some reason, Mekt was beginning to worry about Raven's absence. It didn't make sense-- he'd seldom spent time with the girl. And yet, her continued absence led to a feeling within the boy he didn't understand. It created... an uncomfortable turmoil.
12345Delicately slicing open the deceased bird, Mekt considered this. The discomfort found itself centered somewhere about his stomach-- or perhaps it was his spleen? No, more likely his small intestine, that strange curved organ which, upon being stretched out led to such a long, thin creature... that was the way it felt, all twisted and knotted.
12345But why?
12345In all honesty, Mekt couldn't find a logical answer to that. In fact, the knots within him had begun to take from him a sense of reason, which bothered him on a deeper level than he'd first considered. After all, if he had not logic, what did he have? Mekt well knew that he was a creature of the system, one who sought to devour his unfortunate parent.
12345And yet...
12345Strange. A bird's wings could be stretched out to reveal the tiny tendons upon the feathers being plucked, the sinews of the creature's mystery of flight still moved as though attempting to escape Mekt's grasp. The rows of feathers which had been painstakingly removed from the wings still bore the ghostly visage of the wing itself-- everything that had once been connected remained connected.
12345Was that the way humans were as well? Connected and yet so separate at the same time? Did everything that had once existed in the same vicinity carry the grim illusion of whatever it had once been exposed to?
12345Mekt didn't know the answers to these questions-- nor was he supposed to, he decided after careful consideration. These strange emotions could be dealt with as he saw fit later-- for now, he needed to concentrate on this experiment, lest something happen wrong. He couldn't run that risk, even for the chance to understand something new. Everything new came at the price of something old.
12345The bird had died by accident-- Mekt had only wanted to sever the wing to consider it. But the shock of the pain had caused the bird to die, and Mekt couldn't waste the rest of the body, could he? Of course not. So he found himself working to dissect the entire tiny creature, trying to understand how it had been put together and how it managed to survive.
12345Life was rather illogical. Those who tended to be creatures who would've been weeded out by natural selection in the past were allowed to remain in these times as it was considered 'cruel' to allow Darwin to rule the day. Then again, in the past, it hadn't always been the strong who survived, but those who, by accident of birth, managed to procure a spot that was coveted by others. This sometimes also led to early death, but it didn't matter for what they did accomplish was remembered far longer than the length of their lives.
12345Mekt couldn't understand any of it-- emotion, evolution... it didn't make sense. These weren't systems, they were the issues within the systems which made things impossible to comprehend on a fundemental level. On a theoretical level, it might make sense, depending on if one depended more upon the humanities or upon the sciences...
12345Ah well. He'd figure this out later...
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Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:17 pm
.:4.30.06:.
12345Mekt shuddered slightly as he stared at his hands. White, bone-white flesh had been stained, the purity tarnished by the vicious, deadly mistake he'd created. He hadn't so much created it as caused it-- the fault lay at his doorstep for the tainted flesh. His flesh.
12345He'd been carving up the bird, listening to the quiet chirrs of agony whispering through the anesthetized haze. It was necessary to open the bird's body while the creature still lived-- otherwise the organs soured too quickly, slowed by the blackness of death. Carefully, carefully, Mekt had been slicing open the avian creature's chest to remove the heart, the center of the body--
12345And that's when it had happened. The scalpel slipped, moving to cut just enough of the latex gloves covering Mekt's hands to reveal his flesh as blood splattered upon the pale, pale skin--
12345The boy shuddered as he remembered it, the way the hot blood seared his flesh, the way he'd felt for that one instant like he could see into the bird's pain, agony shooting through the flesh soon dulled by the icy breath of Hades--
12345It wasn't right. It wasn't fair that he'd been through that, felt the shivering pain of the creature he'd been experimenting on! His experiments were condoned by God--
12345Weren't they?
12345If God existed at all, had any shred of anger for Mekt's experiments. He would have struck Mekt down by now, moved to destroy this boy who killed in the name of science. But He didn't move, thus meaning that He condoned Mekt's actions-- if He existed at all. Perhaps Nietzsche was right-- perhaps God was dead.
12345Or perhaps He simply sat up there, biding Hs time until Mekt crossed the line from the deaf and dumb creatures of the planet who had been put there to service the humans to higher up on the food chain...
12345When had Mekt begun to think of God? When had the divine entered into the pale boy's thoughts; when had the gloriously radiant slipped within the boy's fragile mental state? It made no sense. He had never cared much for theology in the past, but since that bird's blood had touched his skin, Mekt found himself increasingly obsessed with the unknown, the mystery that had haunted mankind for so many years.
12345It wasn't fair. A simple bloody stream shouldn't have such a vicious consequence attached. Even if there wasn't a clear-cut reason for Mekt's experiments, even if the boy hadn't presented anything more than question after question, query after query, there was no logical explanation for why he'd begun to feel like this.
12345He was becoming obsessive, and it had only been a few days. This didn't bode well for the near future.
12345Then again, Mekt had always carried within him something of a weird streak. Perhaps it came from the juggling from home to home that he'd been through. Maybe it came from Raven's strained belief in God. Maybe it came from reading too many philosophers, too many strange ideas flitting through the pages of books left in Raven's library. However, at the same time, Mekt couldn't completely blame anyone other than himself...
12345He was the one who'd slit the bird's chest, the one who'd slipped and cut his glove, the one who'd watched in growing horror as the yellow-tinged latex peeled back to reveal his pristine flesh, the one who'd been frozen as the garnet droplets flew onto the gloves, coating his skin, marking it, tainting it...
12345The bird's body still haunted him, even though Mekt had properly disposed of the creature's corpse in a sepulchre-- just as Mekt himself was a painted sepulchre, The more the boy thought about it, the more he realized how many connections existed between himself and the bird he'd killed. Not just the bird though-- all the little things he'd sacrificed in the name of a deeper understanding of the anatomy.
12345He needed to consider this...
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Posted: Mon May 08, 2006 1:47 pm
.:5.8.06:.
12345No.
12345No no no no no!
12345Mekt shuddered as the beings swirled around him again. One. Two. Three.
12345Was this his punishment? Was this what he would have to suffer through for taking the lives of all those creatures in the name of science? These ethereal, wind-swept beings-- were these to be his torment on earth? They would drive him mad.
12345Snarling under his breath, the boy struck blindly out at one of the creatures-- the red one-- with his scalpel, trying to drive it back.
12345"Aww, look! Pretty boy's trying to cut me-- again," Vare scoffed, wrapping his ghostly tendrils around Mekt just to watch him squirm before moving away again. "Poor, poor baby. Do we scare you?"
12345Don't let them see you sweat. Don't let them know how terrified you are. "Get out of my lab!"
12345"We're not in your lab, dear," the deep purple-haired spirit crooned as he wrapped around Mekt as well. "We're in your head. In your soul."
12345Souls? Who believed in them any more but the foolish and the fleeting idealists? Who indeed-- other than the spirits of the dead who challenged everything Mekt knew of life and death. Death was the end, that was all there was. But these... things... they seemed to argue against him without reason! It didn't make sense, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair... "Get out," Mekt growled under his breath, breaking away from them, moving through their ghostly figures.
12345"What if we don't want to?" Cayden asked, wrapping Mekt in his frigid embrace, "What if we like it here? You're comfortable to be around..."
12345"I don't care what you want--"
12345"And we don't care what you want, sweetheart," Disa whispered, surrounding Mekt again. "We're here to stay, dearie, whether you like it or not. So you should just learn to live with us-- otherwise you're going to be upset for a very long time, I'm afraid."
12345They wouldn't stay forever. They couldn't stay forever. That wasn't fair, that wasn't right-- Mekt had to have some semblance of freedom from them-- otherwise there was nothing left for the little boy to do. Otherwise he'd go mad from their constant whispering, their vicious, gentle touches of ice...
12345Running upstairs, trying to get away from them, Mekt darted up, out of the reach of the cackling laughter in his laboratory. Get away from them, get out, get--
12345The pale, pale boy froze.
12345Raven had been traveling all over, trying to track down Mordred to no avail. Something in her body, however, told her to stop looking-- go home and take care of your children, it pushed her. And so she'd come back, returned to her home that she'd created for the little boy who stared at her now as if he'd seen a ghost.
12345"Mekt?" Raven whispered, blinking slowly.
12345The boy let his pride slip away. What was the point of pride at this point? He ran to her, pulling his guardian into a tight embrace, hot tears running down his cheeks. This was comfort; this was warmth to chase away the icy touches of the dead. Raven was home. She'd make everything better.
12345Wouldn't she?
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Posted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:41 pm
...:6.6.06:...
12345The day of the Beast, according to mythology. Its coming could mean nothing or it could mean the end of the world. And yet, Mekt found himself unafraid of doom and destruction. As superstitious as he'd come to be because of the ghosts, the whispers... Mekt firmly believed in science. The world wouldn't end because of a date on a calender. The world would end in several hundred million years when the sun expanded to become a Red Giant and kill the solar system.
12345Mekt had always been a cheerful boy on that subject.
12345Even the vicious mutterings of the ghosts couldn't stop Mekt from feeling somewhat pleased about the day. It was always amusing to watch the uneducated masses run about in panic over one apocalyptic theory or another. None of them even seemed to remember that the concept of the calender was a human creation.
12345Then again, if they'd remembered, it wouldn't be nearly as fun, would it?
12345"What are you smiling about, pretty boy?" Vare asked, slipping his arms around the boy. "Think there's something to all this apocalypse stuff after all? You're practically laughing, after all."
12345"Not at all. It just amuses me that there would be so many who believe in the presence of the end of the world when half of them walk around asleep as it is," Mekt shrugged. He'd gotten used to the ghosts, somewhat, his fleeting obsession with God having fled.
12345"The boy's waxing poetic," Cayden laughed. "Now this world really has to end."
12345"Do you always have to be so negative, Cayden?" Mekt asked as he flipped open another book in the library. "In all honesty, I'm not attempting to be poetic, simply attempting to work out the mysteries of life, same as always. Philosophy is simply another attempt."
12345"Such a sweet little boy," Disa laughed, wrapping ethereal arms around Mekt, passing through Vare to do so. "You really shouldn't chide him for it, boyos."
12345"Thank you, Disa," Mekt murmured as he flipped another page. "It's good to have a kind voice once in a while among these ruffians."
12345"He calls us ruffians, Cay!" Vare laughed as he played with the pages. "I'm offended."
12345"I'm not-- after all, that just means we're doing our job right," Cay grinned.
12345"That's true," Vare mused. "That is very true."
12345"Do you two mind? I'm trying to read," Mekt murmured softly.
12345Raven sighed softly, watching the boy in the library from above. He... was doing it again. He was talking to himself again. When had that happened? When had her darling boy become so afflicted? It had been happening more and more frequently, this talking to himself when he thought no one watched. It was unsettling to say the least...
12345But she shouldn't worry too much, right? After all, it was probably going to go away....
DT's quick edit-note:
I'll be sure to change your old gaian name to your current one on the tag when Mekt is next grown!
-feel free to remove this note at your leisure.
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Posted: Sun Jun 11, 2006 7:07 pm
...:6.11.06:...
12345Banging her hand against the wall, watching the grey sky outside her window, Raven felt the strange sense of hopelessness rising up within her again. Her beautiful, darling little boy was losing it. Or she was. Either way, she didn't seem to be able to do anything about it. These episodes where Mekt would speak to himself became more and more frequent as the days went on, and frankly, Raven was getting tired of pretending she didn't see him speaking in low whispers to himself, didn't see the way Mekt's red eyes focused on what couldn't possibly be there.
12345Raven didn't care that half the 'family' she'd brought over claimed there was something there that she wasn't seeing-- Arch especially. She insisted there were spirits around Mekt. If the girl's word could be trusted, Raven would've put her mind at ease, but instead she found herself more and more frustrated. Spirits? In her house? And where would they've come from? Why could only Mekt see them? And why was Arch so insistent on them? She only remained that adamant when something else was afoot, and Raven wasn't sure she wanted to know what that something else was.
12345"Raven?" Mekt called cautiously into the room. That... 'friend' of Raven's who Raven didn't seem to think much of, Arch, had directed the boy to the sitting room when he'd inquired about Raven's whereabouts. As a result, he'd come here, a bit dubious, but he found himself more than a little pleased to discover that Arch could be trusted at least a bit, seeing as Raven actually was in the room, though her state of mind appeared to be less than enthusiastically pleased.
12345Starting at the sound of her boy's voice, Raven turned and gave Mekt a slight smile, attempting to hide her internal distress. "Oh, Mekt-- I didn't expect you..." she trailed off before shaking her head. "Never mind that. What's going on, dear?"
12345It had always been some form of endearment, hadn't it? Raven's little way of keeping her hand in things. "Miss Arch told me I could find you here." Of all of Raven's 'friends', the only one who'd lost the title 'Miss' was Winter, and that had only happened after Raven's long absence. The rest remained somewhat at a distance.
12345"And here I certainly am," Raven laughed softly, mentally cursing the meddlesome girl over and over again. "What's wrong, dear one?"
12345"Nothing, I just... wanted to know how you were doing," Mekt shrugged for lack of a better explanation. Part of him wanted to ask why she'd been sleeping less and less as of late, why she'd been appearing in strange places at odd intervals... but at the same time, asking would do no good and quite possibly a grand world of harm.
12345How she was doing? She was going mildly insane watching him. But of course, that couldn't be said. Instead, "I'm... a bit tired," she would confess only that much, sighing softly as her gaze drifted outdoors again. "And you, Mekt-dear?"
12345"Well enough," he shrugged. He couldn't explain to her that he'd been growing stronger and stronger in his control over the ghosts, that even if they didn't realize it now, he began to hold the threads which shaped the way they moved, spoke, and even existed. That would involve admitting the presence of the ghosts, and he hadn't spoken of them to her. She couldn't be tainted with the knowledge, it might make her most upset, and Mekt didn't want that to happen.
12345The air quickly swelled with all the words the pair didn't speak, and Raven could feel the oppressive heaviness. If this were any other place, time, she would've called the strange tension in the air UST, but, for one, she was taken and happy enough with that, and Mekt was a boy who'd shown no signs of sexual interest in anyone. Ever. "Mekt... is there something you're not telling me?" she finally asked, turning to look the boy straight in the eye.
12345Taking the time to slowly straighten his coat, Mekt considered this. The problem at hand appeared to be that Raven wanted to know whether or not something was wrong. The theory he'd been operating under was that she couldn't handle the truth, but if Mekt went with the null hypothesis, that Raven could handle the truth, it begged some sort of experimentation... "...children don't always tell their guardians everything, Raven," he murmured as his mind soared quickly, trying to sort this out in his mind.
12345...that struck Raven hard. She hadn't meant to intrude, she'd simply asked-- and... "...I'm well aware of that, Mekt. I just don't want you to deal with something on your own unless you have to-- it's not fair to you if you have to face everything alone, and there's been something strange ever since I came back," Raven shrugged. She could feel herself already emotionally distancing herself from the boy. If he didn't want her interference, she shouldn't-- wait. This was no peer of hers she was dealing with-- this was her child, her precious boy, and someone, somewhere had to set an example for him. If she didn't, who would? She couldn't just back down... "...I wish you would tell me what's going on, Mekt."
12345...and he wanted to. It simply was that--
12345"Worried we might scare her, dear?" Disa asked as the spirit materialized next to Mekt, attracting the boy's attention. "Now, now, that's no way to treat us! We'll behave-- we'll even let her see us for once. Maybe even hear what we're saying."
12345...Disa spoke as though Raven had never actually seen them before-- which would follow. But even now, Raven didn't give off any indication that she could see the spirits materializing around them. "...there are many things going on, Raven. I don't know that it's imperative that you understand all of them--"
12345"C'mon, Mekt-boy, just tell her we're here. I'm sure she'd love to hear all about us," Vare grinned as he breathed along Mekt's neck. "Or we could try playing tricks on her instead, she might like that, what do you think?"
12345Mekt simply stopped speaking in the middle of his explanation. Strangeness like this bothered Raven more than she could possibly say-- after all, what did it mean if he couldn't finish his logic? Had something happened while she'd been away, something Winter had neglected to tell her about? No... Winter was thorough. But perhaps there'd been something she'd missed? Something beyond the dead bird and Mekt's minor obsession with cleaning himself thereafter? Something...
12345Giving in, Mekt shook his head slowly, as if clearing a haze from his mind. "...Raven... do you believe in spirits?"
12345...now they were getting somewhere, but Raven wasn't altogether certain she liked this. "Spirits as in ghosts, Mekt?" she asked, a touch concerned. "I... suppose, on some level," she admitted after Mekt nodded. "...I believe there's something that still exists after a person's gone, some intangible form which humans can't necessarily communicate with without assistance."
12345"She's a smart one, your guardian," Cay laughed, weaving his way around Mekt's torso. "So what kind of game are we playing with her?"
12345No game. Just truth, Mekt thought to himself as he sighed softly. "...well... I didn't believe in ghosts. But I do now. I've... seen them, as strange as it sounds." ...he was beginning to sound insane, wasn't he? Ah well. It had to be said. "They're creatures who have personalities and characteristics not unlike humans, even though their semi-tangible forms aren't entirely anthropomorphic--"
12345"Who're you calling not anthropomorphic?" Vare rolled his eyes.
12345"--and actually there are three with me here in this room right now," Mekt finished, resisting the urge to attempt to hit Vare. The last time he'd attempted such a feat, it hadn't turned out so well, as the spirit ended up dematerializing through his fist and sufficiently messing the boy's sense of balance up enough to make his mind spin a bit.
12345...well, if that's what Mekt believed, it explained a lot, didn't it? After all, it meant that the boy wasn't insane if these spirits actually existed. If they didn't, it also meant that Mekt was having delusions, which could be any number of problems, though most were easily remedied with the proper treatments. "...all right then," Raven nodded slowly. "May I see them, or are they not going--" Abruptly shutting up as the three spirits slowly faded into view, Raven's eyes widened disbelievingly as she glanced at the three almost identical creatures.
12345"Vare, Cay, Disa, what did I tell you about scaring her?" Mekt chided the spirits gently. "You're not particularly kind, are you?"
12345"Have we ever been?" Vare laughed as he disentangled himself from Mekt to drift towards the now-frozen Raven. "Hey there, Missie. You're the guardian Mek here's been raving about, hm? Don't see why, you're not much to look at, and my understanding is that you're not always around either. So tell me-- what gives? What makes a pretty boy like him so obsessed with you?"
12345"Vare!" Mekt glared at the creature, part of him knowing it was already too late to stop the wheels set in motion.
12345"The boy's right, Vare-- you should mind your tongue," Disa chided, gliding over to the redheaded ghost warningly. "Mayhap that you'll do something wrong and get us all in trouble again-- this one looks like she might know just enough of the dark arts to get rid of us for a more permanent amount of time than the last one."
12345"Don't get so uptight, just having my fun," Vare grinned before turning his attention back on Raven. "Well? We're waiting."
12345"I think Mekt's thoughts and ideas are for him to explain, not me," Raven murmured finally, trying to get over her surprise. It certainly came as a relief that Mekt wasn't insane (unless this was the contagious insanity, which would suggest she was coming down with it as well. "...and I think that you three should leave for now, and let me speak with Mekt alone."
12345"Don't think you can dismiss us so easily--"
12345"I think the lady's right, Vare-dear. Let's leave the puppies alone to discuss the semantics of the twists in this situation," Disa purred, pulling Vare away from Mekt. "Cay, let's go."
12345Watching the spirits depart, Mekt took a deep breath. Damn. He had some explaining to do, didn't he?
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Posted: Tue Jun 20, 2006 3:15 am
...:6.20.06:...
12345Mekt didn't know whether to be infuriated or overjoyed.
12345Raven had brought someone else from the mansion home.
12345Not only someone, but a girl. A blue girl. Hera. That was her name, Hera. Like the the long lost queen of the long lost gods. The jealous, bitter, vengeful queen.
12345...somehow, Mekt wondered if the name suited her.
12345But there were other, bigger problems at hand than the girl who'd suddenly appeared one day. Much bigger. Much more important. Much more pressing.
12345Like the fact that Disa, Cay, and Vare had simply vanished.
12345Yes, vanished. The spirits had just disappeared after they'd left the library, and Mekt found himself more and more certain that they weren't on the premises at all. This disturbed the boy on many levels, for a multitude of reasons-- first and foremost being that he disliked the idea of people just disappearing. Not that the ghosts were people, but that didn't factor into it much. They were still just gone.
12345Mekt's first suspicion was that someone had tried an exorcism or something-- someone like Miss Arch-- but there had been no residual signs of such an event taking place. In fact, there was nothing. Absolutely ******** nothing.
12345Inexplicable occurances weren't exactly Mekt's favorite things in the world. In fact, they were nearing some of his least favorite. That could probably be attributed to the fact that every time something happened he couldn't explain, he ended up somewhere else. Somewhere he didn't know how to handle. Usually, this meant going back to the mansion until a more suitable place could be found, but...
12345Somehow, Mekt had come to believe the mansion wasn't at the end of this road. Which lead to the simple question-- where the hell were the ghosts?
12345The lab had gotten so quiet since they'd gone. No matter how much Mekt had hated the chatter, the interference of the spirits-- especially Vare-- he'd become used to it-- so used to it that the quiet deafened the boy, leaving him wishing for someone to say something, even though he was the only person around.
12345"I'm going to go crazy and actually start talking to myself-- oh wait, it appears I already have," Mekt muttered under his breath as he moved to get some of his specimens from the wall. "Where could they have--"
12345"Canna find them, dearie~?" a sweet, sultry voice drifted out of the shadows behind Mekt.
12345Whirling about-- careful not to drop the formaldehyde filled jar where the dead cat floated-- Mekt glanced about in silence. He didn't know that voice, which meant it had to be someone new. One of Raven's friends? No... they wouldn't be down here, at least not without Raven. Another kid? No... Hera had just shown up, Raven wouldn't have found someone else so quickly. Give her a few more days maybe. Then who?
12345...or what?
12345"They've gone away for a bit, but I'll be keepin' ya company, dearie~" the voice drifted out again as the spirit slipped into view, shimmering slightly as she brushed the butterfly clip deeper into her whispy hair. "I'm Jem."
12345Mekt thought he was going to be sick.
12345ANOTHER ONE?!
12345He's just gotten used to the idea of the three being his keepers, in a sense, and now there was another one-- and this one was distinctly feminine-shaped. Mekt hadn't known ghosts could have genders, the other three were so... similar...
12345"I haven' scared ya now, have I, dearie~?" Jem asked, floating closer to the pale boy. "That'd be a pity..."
12345"Who are you, what are you doing here, and where are the others?" Mekt finally asked, wondering why it felt so strange to be near this creature. Spirit. Ethereal being. Back away, back away, get as far away as you can without seeming like you're retreating overmuch...
12345"I told ya, didn' I? I'm Jem. They've gone away for a bit, but I'm here to keep ya company, dearie~" Jem murmured, slipping closer.
12345For the first time in a long while, Mekt had the urge to run and hide behind someone. Preferably Raven. "Get out of my lab."
12345"Thass not a way to treat a lady, dearie~" Jem chided in her sing-song voice. "Come on, show Jem what you've been up to~"
12345There was no escaping this, was there? There had to be.
12345Grabbing his coat and running upstairs, Mekt darted towards his room with all speed-- he had to put as much distance between him and the thing-- it was following him! It was following him, leaving the lab--
12345"Leave him alone."
12345Jem turned to face the speaker, surprised. She'd only revealed herself to Mekt--
12345Hera glared at the spirit. "You're not wanted. Leave him alone. You want to talk to someone, you can come bother me later. But leave him alone. Got it?"
12345Biting back a hiss, Jem slipped away, thwarted for now.
12345...what the hell was that?! Who was she to be--.... .... ... well... saving him from spirits?
12345"Tch. Wraiths. Think they can do whatever they want," Hera muttered before giving Mekt a slight smile. "You ok then?"
12345...what the hell had just happened? "...yeah." Begrudgingly, the boy added, "...thanks."
12345Hera shrugged. "Just watch out for her," the girl suggested before walking off.
12345On second thought, maybe next time he should just hide behind his new, blue... friend?
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Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:27 am
...::6.27.06::...
12345The fact that the new spirit wasn't bothering him anymore didn't ease Mekt's growing agitation. Something was going on-- something strange and vicious. Unfortunately, he didn't quite have a chance to figure out what was happening. The main problem was that the ghosts were still missing. The first friends the boy had made here-- how strange to call them friends!-- had simply vanished. It didn't sit well with Mekt at all.
12345His first suspicion was that they'd gone to the woods. Vare had once teased Mekt that there was more to be found in the outside world than in the boy's excursions into science-- thus, it would follow that they could be hiding in the closest place to the outside world that existed on Raven's property. This, of course, assumed that the outside world meant the wild, something so different from Raven's well kept little nest.
12345"Where are you?" Mekt whispered to himself, glancing around nervously. He hated the fact that he couldn't sense any of the spirits. Why had they left him? It didn't make sense. Or perhaps it did. Perhaps this was another facet of his abilities-- the ability to drive others away. It would explain--
12345Now he was simply getting wrapped up in himself. That would never do. He had to come up with something, some plausible reason for them to have left. Perhaps that other ghost-- but Mekt didn't want to deal with her. He didn't want to have to run into her, especially of his own volition. She seemed too... possessive. Obsessive even. He'd only spent a few minutes with her, and she already made something feel... sick inside. Like she was attempting to steal something from Mekt's Self.
12345How strange. He was reverting to thinking in those abstract terms again. He hadn't been thinking like that in a while. Why were there so many conflicting thoughts, conflicting ideas? He needed... something. Someone.
12345...s**t. He wasn't thinking of asking someone for help, was he?
12345That would never do. He had to be strong enough to stand on his own, had to be able to pick his own problems apart until they satisfied the strange need within him for Truth. Truth. Whether it be good or evil, that is what he sought. Some measure of Truth which would lead him to the final understandings of the world. It... truly was his goal.
12345Understanding. How--
12345He'd wandered off the subject again, and somehow found himself back in his lab. How queer. A mild fugue state. That would never do. He'd have to do further experiments on himself in order to understand why such a thing had occurred. He'd have to...
12345...why was he so... exhausted suddenly? A strange perfume wafted through the air-- a drug? He had to remain rational. Take shallow breaths, try not to take in the odor which brought him to this point of weakness. What was that... at the edge of his vision?
12345Turning, the boy couldn't see anything. Anyone. Then what had made this smell? This delicate--
12345"I told 'em I'd take care o'ya. Even if you don' want me to. Someone has to educate you, don' you think, little boy? You're not very wise in the ways of the worlds if you let me in here, are ya?"
12345"I didn't let you in," Mekt muttered as he worked his way towards the stairs. If he could get upstairs, he could get away from Jem. Right? Right. Then he'd be safe. Upstairs, there would be other people. She wouldn't be able to touch him there. He hoped.
12345"You didn't safeguard this place against me, so you let me in, darlin'~" Jem crooned as she moved closer to him. "Or do you no' know how yet?"
12345Well, this certainly gave him incentive to find out how. More than a little bit of incentive. A lot of incentive. But now there was the issue that he needed to get out first. Somehow.
12345Unfortunately, you can't really hit a ghost.
12345At least not in a conventional way.
12345Formaldehyde filled bottles and jars filled the room. It would only take a slight effort to throw one at the creature-- hopefully startling the creature long enough to get upstairs to safety. Wait for it... wait for it... so difficult to stay still as she floated closer...
12345There!
12345Mekt took his opportunity, throwing a dog's heart at Jem as he darted sluggishly up the stairs and into his room.
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Posted: Thu Jun 29, 2006 2:50 pm
...:: 6.29.06 ::...
12345Mekt was really, really beginning to hate long, serious discussions with the women in this place. Well, females at least, Hera could scarcely be called a woman. In fact, she was a girl. Mekt found himself tempted to say 'just' a girl, but Hera had proven herself to be much more than 'just' anything.
12345...why did he feel like he'd gotten himself into more trouble?
12345What it came down to was thus: Hera didn't trust Mekt because he kept running into the unfriendly (or overly friendly) spirit and she wanted to know why. Mekt didn't trust Hera because the said unfriendly spirit seemed to feel more than a little uncomfortable around the blue girl. There had to be some reason behind this, which made Hera more than a little dangerous in Mekt's book. This, of course, wasn't a thought which gave Mekt a warm feeling inside-- in fact, it more made his blood run cold with terrifying worry rather than anything else. But what could he do? The girl had proven herself to be more than a match physically. Psychicallly speaking, she obviously wielded some type of power. And beyond that--
12345...that was a little girl outside, wasn't it? ...ohgods. Was she going to come here? Live here? Was there going to be yet another female introduced into the house? Mekt wasn't sure he could stand the increasingly higher and higher levels of estrogen in this place.
12345It wasn't that he had anything AGAINST girls, it was just that they kept causing him so many problems--
12345...she was still outside. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? Why wasn't Winter about to swoop down and take care of the overall necessary venues that small children needed? Why wasn't Raven about to run with arms wide open to enfold the girl into the family? Why wasn't...
12345...why was he foisting responsibility off on everyone else? He should just go down there and take charge, ushering the little girl inside--
12345...damn. The moment had passed. Raven had wandered outside, smiled at the little girl and brought her inside. Perhaps Mekt had merely missed the incident where she'd first entered the home, since she didn't appear to be a surprise to Raven. That meant he'd been more distracted than he first thought. That would never do.
12345...he was losing it, wasn't he?
12345Time to take a deep breath, head for the library, do some research in both the natural and scientific as well as the supernatural and warding spells... yes. That's what he'd do. It would calm him, this easy, familiar task of researching the unknown. It always had in the past...
12345The library carried a deep, musky smell, the smell of old books and scrolls and knowledge of a sort Mekt couldn't obtain from the sterile laboratory. The stacks of books surrounding him, rather than filling him with a kind of dread which surfaced in those who saw only the cramped spaces and lack of visibility, filled him with a sense of eagerness and pride. He couldn't wait to learn more, understand what was happening.
12345Sanctuary. Zion. Safety from crazy ghosts. Wonderful stuff.
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