Welcome to Gaia! ::

You cannot be serious...She's my bonded?

Munich was already seething as she jammed her hands into the doorbell as forcefully as possible. Her face was twisted into a scowl as she stood defensively on the stoop, hands on her hips, in typical Munich fashion. Her wings were tired from the long flight from Barton. She was now in Gambino, at the address that she'd been told to go to. Though she found it rather pleasant to be near the ocean, she was a little more than annoyed that she'd had to fly so far. After all, she wasn't the athletic one in her group of siblings. Bav and Bruns certainly took pride in their athletic prowess, but Munich was more capable in other things--magic and socializing, for example.

Muttering to herself, she cursed her new bond for not coming to pick her up at the shop. She'd just arrived on Gaia that morning, and had waited several hours in the waiting room of the Fleet Gaia HQ, assuming someone was coming to get her. After boring herself to tears flipping through the pages of a TV Guide, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She got the address of her bonded's home from the receptionist, also remembering to get directions. With that, she flew down the stairs and out the door, into the streets of Barton.

And after a few hours of flying, she'd finally arrived at the whitewashed house on the beach, tired and feeling quite dirty. Things were already off to a grand start, she figured, tapping her foot in annoyance as she waited for someone to answer the door. Sweet new bond, she thought to herself. She loves you so much already she doesn't bother coming to pick you up!

When the door creaked open on it's weather-beaten hinges, she was not expecting the sight she saw. Instead of an adult standing there, she was greeted by the smiling face of a child with rosy cheeks and dark, wind-whipped wavy hair.

"Hello," she said, pushing the screen door open and giving the small creature a wave. "Who're you?" she asked innocently, staring at the Feien with wide eyes. She was similar to a Fury in size, Rhea noticed. But still, she was quite a bit smaller--a real, honest to goodness fairy! The little girl's crimson eyes twinkled with excitement. Rhea hadn't known that Munich was coming. Elysia had wanted it to be a surprise, so she hadn't mentioned anything. And the psion would certainly be getting a surprise...And it would probably not be a surprise that she wanted...

three.

two.

one.

"WHO am I?!" Munich, who had suddenly become a hardcore-b***h-of-a-Feien, practically yelled at the little girl. "Good lord! Are you absolutely clueless! I'm Munich. And I'm looking for my bonded. I'm a Feien, and I was sent here to be someone's companion or something," she huffed, pulling a small piece of paper from her napkin knapsack. She unfolded the paper, and read the note out loud to the little girl.


"Says here I'm supposed to find my bonded at this address," she said, checking the house number, just to be sure. "Yep, this is definitely the right place." Looking down at the paper again, she read the name aloud. "Rhea Medea Marvel." She paused, hoping the little girl would run off and find her bonded quickly, without her having to prod her to do it." Still, the girl didn't budge.

The chlid smiled even wider. This was HER fairy? No way! "I'm Rhea!" she exclaimed, throwing the door open so she could get a closer look at the Feien. "I'm your bonded? Wow, that's so exciting! We're going to have so much fun! Come on in! I'll find you a place where you can leave your things." The little psion ushered the Feien into the house, not even noticing Munich's irritation.

Munich's eyes looked as if they were about to pop out of her head when she heard that this little kid would be her bonded. "No, surely not!" she said, her wings twitching in hidden anger. She flew over to the little girl's shoulder as she stepped inside the house. She certainly wasn't going to fly any more than necessary at this point. Plopping down on her shoulder, she made sure her voice was sharp. "Are you really Rhea? You can't be my bonded. You're tiny! Just a friggin' kid!" Munich wasn't one to mince words.

Rhea wasn't expecting Munich to be so...difficult. "Yes, I'm Rhea. And I'd say that you're definitely my Feien. Sorry I'm not what you were expecting," she answered apologetically. "I think you'll be pleasantly surprised though. I'm not quite like a normal kid my age..." They were now walking down the hallway to Rhea's room, where she figured she'd set up Munich's living space. Munich would be Rhea's first companion that could actually live indoors, and that excited her more than anything. They would be the BEST of friends, she assumed. Little did she know that Munich didn't want to be friends. Munich just needed a puppet...she wanted to pull the strings. "Here's my room--and I guess your room too." She paused, glancing around the room for a suitable living quarters. There wasn't much to use, she saw as she scanned the room. Well, there was one thing...and it'd do, for now.

Rhea pulled the box out of the top of her closet, and emptied the contents out onto her bed. It was an assortment of items, but mostly trinkets, bits of sea glass and shells that she'd picked up on the beach. "Here, we'll use this for your house right now...I'll get something soft to put down for carpet, and we'll have to make you a bed," she said, now planning the innards of the shoebox bedroom.

Munich fluttered down to the tabletop and looked at the shoebox in horror:


Was this really what she'd be subjected to while livng here? This new bonded of hers couldn't do any better than an old shoebox with sand collecting in the corners?! Munich was so irritated with everything that she reached out to give her bonded a hearty pinch between two tiny fingers. But she didn't succeed. She pulled her arm back just in time for Rhea's head to whip back around. Phew. She had almost gotten caught. Instead of lashing out like she wanted to do, she figured it'd be better for her bonded to want to do things for her instead of hate her forever.

"Fine, I guess it'll work for now. Get me something to sleep on. I'll try to make this place more liveable," she said as she pried the box top open to take a look inside. It was rather sandy, but it was doable...at least for a short while. Fluttering into the box, she again stood akimbo, taking in her surroundings.

Rhea returned with a pile of tissues and a tiny pillow that fit inside the box nicely. "Here you go. This stuff should help make it more homey. Just let me know what else you'll need. I know it's not much, but I'll see what I can do to get you a dollhouse or something...For now though, this should do it." She held her palm out in offering. "It's almost dinner time. Do you want to come meet everyone else?" she asked, hoping to make Munich feel more at home.

Arranging the tisssues so that they made a nice floorcovering, Munich then plopped down on the pillow, looking up at Rhea with a smirk on her face. "No, not hungry. Just close the lid would you? I need to get some beauty sleep." Her words were again sharp. She rolled over onto her side, obviously willing to ignore anything else Rhea had to say about the subject. She needed to forget about this for awhile, she thought as her eyes drifted shut. And when she woke up, she'd be much more pleasant...maybe.

Rhea's face flushed a bright red as the little fairy gave her orders. "Um, okay," she said, her voice soft. "I'll, um...see you later then I guess...Munich right?" She got no answer as the fairy rolled over onto her side and ignored her. "Fine. Night." She shut the boxtop with quick hand movement and sighed. This would be more of a challenge than she wanted...but it was too late now.

[ Message temporarily off-line ]

Oh Mr. Inquisitor!

Leaving Geiseric to deal with Ruya and Ares for the moment, Inquisitor William Gunn made himself comfortable in the Gaia Fleet HQ's lounge, lying crosswise on the couch and reviewing notes. Lily was back at the Den and that meant Gunn was unaccompanied for the moment, enjoying the peace and quiet of the otherwise empty room. If anything came up that would require his commentary, Geiseric would record it and they could review it together.

The files Gunn was reviewing now were hardly crucial to this investigation, but some of the materials were related. It was mostly records dealing with the initial Fleet involvement and command structuring. Dry stuff, really. As much as Gunn enjoyed the peace and quiet, he would not mind an interruption.

Munich flew to the doorway of the Fleet building, landing softly on the stoop next to the buzzer, her wings rippling slightly in the breeze. While her bonded was off doing other things, she figured she might as well stop by and make a 'friend' or two, and perhaps make a complaint about her toddler-sized bonded, who was now off galavanting with her strange friends.

Pushing her hand into the button, a buzzer sounded and Munich entered the building, flying up the stairs and into the entryway. Finding no one in the waiting area, she continued down the hallway, passing a few closed doors on the way. Was anyone even here?

Finally, she came to the lounge, and saw a man sprawled out on the couch. He certainly wasn't a feien, and she wondered if he worked in the building. He did look quite official. The feien landed on the table in the center of the room, wondering if the man would even notice that she was there. She supposed that meeting him might be beneficial in some way or another, and though she was really on the lookout for other feien, she figured she could spare a minute. After all, Munich was quite keen on meeting new people.

Gunn's eyes flicked to the feien's movement through the air. "Hello," he said, amicably enough. His eyes went back to the papers he was holding, not to intentionally ignore Munich, just because it was his habit to speak to others without looking at them. "Looking for someone?"

Far behind Munich came Raphael, who entered through the window door rather quietly. He held a small scrap of folded paper in his left hand and had a piece of thin graphite stuck uncomfortably in one of his ears - for safe keeping. When he entered the waiting room, he heard talking coming from the lounge and paused. He was still hesitant about other people and settled himself with surveying the waiting room, considering the boring shape of it. Most buildings seemed to have this square shape to them, he noted.

She looked at him curiously as he turned back to his papers. "Not necessarily. I was just out and about with my bonded and thought I'd come by to see if I could meet some feien I don't know," she paused, and then added cooly. "And maybe see if I could find someone who worked here. Someone I could file a small complaint with," she said, holding up her hand, her thumb and forefinger millimeters apart, her other hand on her hip.

"Do you work here?"

"No," said Gunn, "but I do work for the Fleet. I'm with IS. What's the complaint?"

As much as Munich's memory of the Fleet was murky, Investigative Services registered in her mind as being part of Security, and Security was who you lodged complaints with.

"IS you say? Well, then, I guess you're the most appropriate person to talk to. Do you know how it is exactly that a feien's bonded is picked out? Is there a reason why I was placed with my bonded? I mean, I realize that she's going to grow...eventually! She's a damn kid!"

The Feien crossed her arms over her chest. She had come to like Rhea more, but she was still a bit peeved about her situation. After all, she was still sleeping in an old shoebox. She hadn't quite decided if she wanted to stick around longer or not.

"Oh?" said Gunn with faint amusement, eyebrows shooting up. "I'm not sure about the procedures. You might check with the staff here. Dr. M probably knows. I'm afraid there's not much I can do about that." As much as he wanted to be helpful to any Fleet citizen, the "complaint" was out of his area of expertise.

Remembering why he had come here in the first place, Raphael took the piece of graphite out of his ear, staining his fingers in the process. He then painstakingly unfolded the scrap of paper and looked around for some place to set it down. He settled for the desk and put it there, keeping the paper in place with a foot. It was still completely blank, except for a few creases. He knelt over it and started drawing what looked like a bunch of rectangles overlapping each other.
Since he thought he could sense something, Raphael paused to see if he could detect who was making the mumbling/talking sounds coming from the lounge. Was that a feien there? He had thought a man was talking to himself.

"Dr. M? I don't believe I've met the man. But I'll ask around and maybe next time I can find out. I was just expecting something totally different when I got here, so I'm curious. You'd think that they'd ask us if we liked our bonded first!" Her voice, originally demanding, had become a tad more cheerful and not quite so harsh.

Sitting down on the table, she inquired at the man again. "Well, what brings you here, Mister--" She paused. "What was your name again? I don't think I caught it. My apologies. Investigative Services? Sounds like you probably have an intriguing job."

He introduced himself: "Inquisitor William Gunn." He made no attempt to gesture in greeting, since the sheer size difference made any sort of handshake impossible, particularly given Gunn's thick fingers. "I'm investigating some missing feien."

Odd that he did not inquire about the individuals to Munich, but then, he had not even asked her name.[

The Feien giggled. "What an excellent title Mr. Gunn! I shall call you Inquisitor from now on. It suits you I think," she said cheerily, nodding her head. Munich loved names with titles. They were very proper, she thought.

"Well, I don't know much about any missing feien, but I hope you get some good leads while you're here. How many are missing?" she asked, suddenly wondering if there were a lot. Missing feien could not be a good thing. "Do you know where they were reported being seen last?"

Gunn shrugged. He was not himself a fan of the title inquisitor, but since Munich seemed to like it he acquiesced to her preference. "A dozen give or take. My partner is still collecting statements, but so far, it seems they've been missing for two years. Your bond-- Is there something in particular she's doing you find frustrating?" He laid the papers he held down flat on his chest and shifted on the couch, sinking further down in the cushions.

Even in repose the giant of a man could not stay completely still. He reached into one of his coat pockets and withdrew a rubber band, twisting and pulling it between his fingers.

"A dozen? My, that's more than I thought! And for such a long time...Wow. I wonder where they could have run off to. Has this ever happened in the past? Do lots of feien go missing, or is this the first incident?"

She tapped her forehead, debating the frustrating things that Rhea had done. There were a few, but she figured she'd only air her main annoyances. "Well," she snapped. "She's four. That's probably my biggest complaint. I was certainly expecting someone a bit older...someone who had their life together, you know? Maybe it's just my own disappointment, and maybe I should get over it...but regardless, it made me quite displeased when I first met her. Secondly..." she rambled, "She has left me to live in a smelly old shoebox, and I don't like that at all." Obviously, Munich was too good for her surroundings.

Munich watched as the Inquisitor played with the rubber band. He seemed a bit antsy.

He also seemed somewhat reluctant the details of his investigation. "They went missing before the Fleet arrived," he said, and left it at that. "Kids... they don't always understand when their actions have an affect on other people, even if you explain it. You're still a juvenile. If you found someone wiling, you could probably rebond." Never mind that this advice was probably contrary to the legal proceedings involving the sale of feien on Gaia by the Fleet.

Knowing when to quit prodding, Munich dropped the subject of the missing Feien once getting the answer she wanted. She was curious if any of her siblings would know about some missing feien. She'd have to tell them about this meeting the next time she saw them.

"Yes, she is pretty smart, considering her age, but still...I dunno. I guess I'll hold off for awhile, and if I'm still unhappy, perhaps I'll think of rebonding. Until then, I have to train her for myself I suppose. I'm sure she can be easily molded," she added, nodding with a slight smirk on her face.

"Well Inquisitor, how did you get into Investigative Services. It sounds like an intriguing job." She was happy to prattle on with conversation, and she would be even happier to know that there was a feien just down the hall that she hadn't met yet. It was too bad he hadn't decided to join them as well.

"Lily recruited me," he said, as if that would mean something to Munich when they both knew it did not. "I did police work previously, department and FBI." He was also somewhat tight-lipped about his past. Gunn twisted the rubber band into a helix shape, each twist turning the band tight and tighter.

And then he was right back at her with a question: "Do you visit here often?"

"Aaah, well, it looks as if you have quite the resume. I'm sure you're quite qualified. Do any feien work for IS?" she inquired. It sounded like something she could be good at...

She watched as Gunn's fingertips turned purple from the increasingly tight grip of the rubberband, and wondered how long he'd continue twisting. Strange.

"No," she said, and then stopped herself. "Well, I've not been on Gaia long. I think this is the third time I've been here...and that's including my arrival visit. I came here with my brothers and my sister, but they are all bonded to different people."

Raphael squinted as he struggled with drawing a smaller square. However, the graphite was too thick, and did not work very well for drawing small things, creating something like a thick square smudge on the paper. He folded the paper over and began drawing on the other side.
Though he was occupied on the drawing, something about the feien he had detected bothered him. He knew that different feien "felt" different when you sensed them, though he didn't know why. This one had a strange feeling about it that he wasn't familiar with, and it made him slightly uncomfortable.
Frustrated with his drawing, Raphael gave up on drawing small squares and stuck the graphite back in his ear. He folded the paper and, after hesitating a few moments, resolved himself to relieve his curiousity. He'd just look - and hopefully they wouldn't notice him.
Nodding to himself, Raphael flew quietly into the lounge, sticking close to the wall as he did so. The first person he noticed was Gunn, who he stared at with wide eyes, but he said nothing. He felt like he was intruding.

"I know," said Gunn quietly. "We have one feien inquisitor in IS so far. Is there anywhere else you've been where you meet feien? Have you met any feien who have been on Gaia a long time?" He released the rubber band, letting it unwind itself and fall onto his finger. He noticed Raphael's movement over by the entrance to the lounge, but kept the majority of his attention on Munich.

"One, mmm...Well, it certainly sounds like a job I'd enjoy," she commented, hoping to leave some sort of good impression on the Inquisitor, just in case she decided she'd like to get into investigating.

It was then that she felt the presence of a feien. It wasn't in the room with them, but it was close. Instead of seeking out the other feien though, she answered Gunn's questions politely.

"Um, I've actually only met other feien here...But then again, I haven't been here long, so who's to say they don't meet elsewhere." She shrugged. "I think the last time I was here, I met an older feien. He was really tall, so he might be an adult...he's probably been around for awhile. I think he said his name was Silva..."

"I'm aware of him," said Gunn, and then addressed the hovering form of Raphael over by the entryway. If he found the sight of an adult Gaian feien interesting or potentially useful, he hid it well. "Come in if you like."

So much for being helpful, Munich thought, as Gunn's attention turned to the feien around the corner. She turned to take a closer look at the one who had been hiding, finding him quite brightly colored, like the sun!

"Hello," she called out to him in her small voice. "What's your name?"

Raphael immediately tightened his shoulders at being addressed. He had hoped that he wouldn't be noticed.
Looking down shyly, since it was impolite to stare, Raphael flew into the room proper. He had wanted to fly away, but figured it would be impolite to do so. He wasn't sure.
"Th...thank you," he said to him, for no particular reason. The sight of a big human unnerved him. As for Munich, the "feeling" around her made him slightly uncomfortable. He looked at Munich's feet when she talked.
"Raphael," he replied. "Nice to meet you, umm..." he paused and blushed slightly.

"I'm Inquisitor Gunn," said Gunn, and noting the hesitant nature of the feien in question, added, "You can call me Billy." His size was intimidating, his quiet voice was not.

Raphael turned to look at Gunn's nose.
"It's nice to meet you," he told it with as much politeness as he could muster.

Gunn's voice seemed gentler when he addressed Raphael, as if he understood the feien's nervousness. Then again, since he never made eye contact with anyone, there was a good chance he actually did understand to some degree. "Raphael, would you mind if I asked you some questions? You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

Munich smiled slyly at the new arrival into the room. "Lovely to meet you Raphael," she purred. "How are you this lovely day? The Inquisitor and I were just talking," she added, giving the feien a nod.

Billy. She couldn't help but giggle to herself. She supposed she didn't come off as a casual person upon first meeting.

Not one to like making anyone angry, though Billy did not seem like an angry person, Raphael nodded to him.
"I can answer questions," he said.
He stopped tightening his shoulders, as it was a bit straining on him, and offered Munich's feet a shy smile.
"I'm doing well," he told her automatically, "how are you?"

"I'm quite well," she said with a cheshire grin, amused with the adult Feien's rosy cheeks. He sure was shy, she thought, and it made her slightly glad to see him feeling so awkward. "I hope you can help our dear Mr. Gunn here. There are bad things afoot from the looks of it."

Watching the Inquisitor and Raphael interact, Munich suddenly got a jolt to her brain. And then, there was the familiar voice of her bonded, jangling in her skull.

Munich, are you there? It's time to go. We're done shopping. Why don't you come down...it's a long trip home.

Damn her and her telepathy!!

"Excuse me gentlemen, but I must take my leave. It seems my bonded is downstairs...and I wouldn't want to keep her waiting." She gave them a curtsey. "It was lovely meeting you both though. We'll have to meet again sometime Raphael. Inquisitor, I wish you luck with your investigation. And if you ever need another feien in IS, please, look me up."

Gunn nodded after Munich. "I'll remember that. Have a nice day." Hopefully she would turn out to be as useful as she was seemingly helpful.

Returning his attention to Raphael, Gunn asked, "You've been on Gaia a long time, haven't you?" He still played with the rubber band in his fingers, careful not to make any sudden movements, keeping his motions slow and predictable. So long as he was doing something with his fingers it did not matter what or how fast.

With that, Munich took to the air, and gave a last wave to the Inquisitor and Raphael, who, if he would have looked, would have seen her give him an added wink as she flew away down the hallway.

((Bav and Trinityblue visit!

In progress here: http://www.gaiaonline.com/guilds/viewtopic.php?t=3151131))

The Angry Little Psion Discovers Yet Another Power

The Marvel household had been calm recently. Kappa had moved out and into his own place, and he was now taking care of a daughter of his own. Rhea and Munich seemed to be getting along as well as they could, considering Munich’s— How can one say it nicely? Considering Munich’s bad attitude. Labbie was as quiet as ever, carefully watching over the household and entertaining herself by harassing the Furies that stayed around the house. Elysia was glad her children were finally finding their own ways in life. She’d been raising kids for quite a long time now, and she was looking forward to having fewer infants around the house. It was about time everyone grew up a bit, even if they were only to become children. Diaper changing wasn’t at the top of Elysia’s list of fun things to do.

This particular day held no special event or holiday, and in fact, it was as unremarkable a day as most others. Well, except for the fact that on this day, someone would see Rhea become an entirely different person. Unfortunately for that person, this would also be the day when the little psion discovered another of her powers.

…

Rhea woke up earlier than usual that morning. She wasn’t sure why she woke with the sun, but regardless, she thought she’d make the best of her day. She didn’t bother waking Munich, who probably would have bitten her if she had. The faerie was an angry little creature! She was always angry when Rhea tried to talk to her. She didn’t want to be bonded to anyone, let alone a little girl. It seemed like it was almost an insult to her.

Rhea rebuffed her as well as she could, making light of the situation. Elysia thought that they would have matched Rhea with a Feien that was more similar to her—there were personality tests involved and everything. Perhaps it was a sign of things to come. It was possible that Munich could turn out like Rhea. Or, Rhea could turn out like Munich. The latter was not what Elysia hoped for though. She wasn’t ready for another anger-filled person around the house. Munich was bad enough!

Rhea headed downstairs to have breakfast, rubbing sleep from her eyes. No one was in the kitchen, so she helped herself to a plastic bowl (placed in a low cabinet so that she could reach it) and spoon, and then pulled out a box of Cheerioes from the same cabinet. Elysia always made sure the important stuff was within Rhea’s reach. The milk was on a higher shelf in the fridge, but Rhea managed to reach it, standing on her tip-toes and pulling it down. She made herself a bowl of cereal and sat down at the table to scarf it down before deciding what she wanted to do for the day.

The newspaper was lying on the table, and she pulled out the comics section, immersing herself in Calvin & Hobbes. She was so involved in the comic that she didn’t hear Munich come up behind her. She felt a sharp tug on a few strands of her hair in the back and she spun around to confront the attacker.

“Hey! What’d you do that for?! You’re mean Munich!” She swatted at the faerie, trying to bring her down.

The Feien giggled uncontrollably, practically rolling over as she flitted around the kitchen, avoiding Rhea’s swatting hands. “You’ve got to be on the ball alllllll the time around me,” she said, teasing the little girl. “Never know when I just might fly by!”

With that, she swooped down again, grabbing a few strands of long brown hair before soaring up into the air again, tugging on the few strands until they broke.

“Ouch! STOP IT!!!” Rhea yelled, spinning around again to find Munich. She wouldn’t take this torture. Not today. Rhea had been feeling easily irritated in the past week or two, and soon, something would push her past the point of patience.

Munich easily moved out of Rhea’s reach, flying over her head and taunting her. “I’m just too fast for you,” the faerie said with a smirk on her face. “That just goes to show just how much better I am than you.”

“Oh really?” Rhea was pissed. “You don’t talk to me like that Munich. You’re my familiar. I’m NOT yours!” With that, she was ready to go off. She wanted to hurt Munich. Enough was enough. She’d hurt Rhea so many times—she deserved it.

Glancing at a pile of pencils that were lying on the desk on the opposite side of the kitchen, Rhea wished that she could throw them at the faerie…or something! She was thinking so hard about how she’d use them that they began to shake on the desktop, and after a few seconds of uneasy lifting, they hovered above the table, ready to strike.

Rhea’s eyes flashed and seemed to glow an eerie red color as she swiveled to face her attacker. “Well, we’ll see who’s really in charge now.” Her voice was calm and paced, and she wanted Munich to feel fear through her tone.

“Ha! Never!” The fae divebombed Rhea, aiming for her face. Her fingers were extended and ready to pinch the soft tissue of her cheek. As she approached, she saw the pencils, flying in attack formation, seemingly aimed right at her.

Rhea ducked so they’d miss her, shooting over her head and toward Munich, who tried to avoid them. Instead, the eraser-end of a pencil got her in the stomach, and it sent her into a tailspin as she dove toward the tiled floor.

“Yeah, don’t speak so soon,” Rhea said with an eerie calm, watching as the Feien fell to the tile floor. She could see that she wasn’t very hurt, just stunned by the attack. Normally, Rhea would have rushed to help the faerie. Even if they didn’t like each other, Rhea still cared if she was okay. She’d never hurt Munich intentionally like the fae did her. The psion’s eyes were still glowing and she kept a smirk on her face as she watched Munich pick herself up off of the floor, clutching her stomach. “You’ve probably made me bleed internally!” she shouted, wincing in pain as she breathed. “You could have killed me! What if you would have hit me with the sharp end!?”

“Don’t dish out what you can’t take,” Rhea said coolly, picking up her bowl and spoon and taking it to the sink. “I’m tired of you picking on me!” As she spoke the last sentence, her eyes faded from a glowing red to the more dull crimson shade they usually took on. She shook her head as if shaking off a strange feeling she had, and then, looked at Munich in confusion. “Wait, are you okay?”

“You’re asking that now? God Rhea, what’s your problem!? You tried to kill me!” The faerie zipped around her head angrily, temped to pull her hair again. She didn’t want to incite any more of Rhea’s anger though, and instead, she flew toward the doorway. “I don’t know how you did it, but that pencil trick was amazing. Now I need a shield.” With that, the Feien turned and flew back upstairs, to the safety of her shoebox home.