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 Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:45 pm
Coailiann started to fuss, her cute little face scrunching up as she let out a loud, piercing cry. All the loudness and action when she had just woken up. Especially when she could feel the wand spirit's fear.
If the wand snapped, the soul would be sent into Death. And the river of Death wasn't exactly a pleasant thing for a child's soul. OR anyone's soul, at that.
Ianna sent a glare over to Danny, simply sitting down carefully to try and calm her daughter down. Her daughter was the highest priority to her - not the wand, not Danny.
Her daughter.
Coailiann's little fists clung to Ianna as she stroked her back soothingly, "Shhh, little love, it's all right...It's okay..." her voice was soft, sweet, and surprisingly gentle.
Who could be dangerous when they doted on a child like that?
Coailiann seemed to calm down a little bit and hiccuped.
"That's a good girl..." Ianna's head lifted to look at the girl, "You happy now? Scaring a toddler, shame on you. There are no speakers, that's my daughter, Matilda. And if you were just a bit less hysterical and tried to take into account the fact that I haven't tried to hurt you, maybe you'd see that despite it being out there - It's not dangerous, I don't mean you harm, and it's TRUE."
The woman stood then, making rocking motions to keep the Sidhe calm, "Don't you think if I meant you harm you'd already be a goner? You've been in here a while, the door's locked, and this place is sound proofed. Kind of has to be, considering how loud Coailiann is when she's upset."
Ianna looked slightly frustrated - definitely not dangerous.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 2:55 pm
So, now the crazy lady was trying to tell her logic. Wonderful.
"Look, I don't know what the hell you're thinking-" Her voice was too harsh, even to her own ears. Glancing at the toddler, Danny softened her tone to a more gentle, "the hell you're thinking, but this is frickin' crazy and you ought to know it!" Her words filled up with the firmness of One Who Knows, that amazing tool wielded by politicians, scientists, and anyone else who thinks that they should know something, therefore, they do.
"I don't know how you convinced whatever-their-names were, but I'm not stupid. That sort of stuff isn't real, and this-" she shook the wand pointedly in one hand, "is just a stick. You get that, don't you?"
Danny ought to know, after all. She was One Who Knows.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:00 pm
Ianna's eyes flashed silver a moment -definitely NOT normal, "It's not crazy. And I'm going to prove it to you."
The woman walked to Danny and before she could protest, shoved her hand onto the piece of paper she was currently holding. The moment that they both touched the piece of parchment, the entire room seemed to melt away, swirling in a voided vortex until they landed in the Headquarters - alittle dizzy, but still on their feet.
As they entered the main lobby the first thing Danny would notice is the vast...largeness...of it. The high ceilings, edged with gold, the large chandeliers dripping with crystals, the smooth white tile-floors, colorful rugs, and beautiful paintings.
To the left was a large recreational area complete with a large flat-screen television, several rows of various games, movies, video game systems and books. There was a basket of toys in the corner, full of plushies, dolls, cards and various other objects which would appeal to most ages. Included in the area were several comfy looking couches and plush chairs just made for sitting, lounging or bouncing in. It seemed to be heaven on a fluffy carpet. It even had a foos-ball table and an air-hockey table....and for the slightly more food-minded GoTP, a mini fridge always full.
To the right was a large elaborate counter, which seemed to have a force-field of some sort around it, keeping anyone who was not Ianna or Matilda from going behind it. On the counter lay a roster with the names of all the Ghostly children and their guardians, and an appointment book.
From there, it branched off into halls with rows and rows of rooms. Some were storage, some were guest rooms, some were bathrooms, and one very large and ornate door to the end of the hall led to the gardens. "Welcome to Headquarters, Danny. I'd normally say you were welcome here at any time, and you are, but I doubt you'll take me up on that."
She gave the woman a look that simply said "Do you believe me YET?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:11 pm
Well, techincally, the first thing she noticed wasn't the largeness. It wasn't the lavishness of the place, or the neat things in it.
The first thing she noticed was that something <********> weird had just happened, and she didn't know what, and dear ******** god was she going crazy, too?!
On that note. Ianna would probably want to take a few seconds to pry Danny's hand off of her arm, because the wide-eyed girl's grip was threatening to cut off the blood supply.
"Wh... wh... wh... wh...." Danny swallowed, trying to get her heart out of her throat so that she could start thinking rationally again. Rationally? How did you rationalize teleportation?! Her heart started pounding all over again, trying to make some sense of it. Maybe... maybe... drugs? It didn't seem too unbelievable at the moment....
Or maybe it's real. The thought buzzed around her head and, despite her numerous attempts to hit it with a flyswatter of logic, she couldn't quite get rid of it.
Well... even if it wasn't real, it was obvious that there was something that Danny just couldn't explain going on here. And if it was real- if she pretended that it was real, if just for a moment....
"... I'm... supposed to be a mother for a stick?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:16 pm
Ianna did, indeed, do that. She pulled her hand away and moved behind the counter, setting the now-settled Coailiann to sit on the surface. If Danny attempted to follow - she'd be locked out by the invisible barrier.
"No. The soul inside of it. If you come by the headquarters later - which can actually be accessed through a DOOR but I didn't think you'd appriciate me dragging you through it. And I don't think I could have with Coailiann in my arms - well, you'll see the other guardians. Some have wands, some have wisps, some have baby ghosts and some have children."
A nod of her head, "They emerge as tiny spirit wisps, grow bigger, and then become flesh-and-blood children. Gives you time to get used to it.
Coailiann looked to the mini fridge and giggled, "Apple!" the door opened and she levitated herself an apple, instantly biting into it, "APPLE!"
Ianna smiled fondly at her toddler, "Yes, love, Apple."
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:23 pm
"... And... it's a real child, then? A real one?" Somehow, equating 'stick' with 'child' seemed to be a great task for Danny; staring at the wooden thing, she seemed as if she wasn't sure whether to run screaming or play fetch with it.
A baby was supposed to come out of this thing. She was supposed to take care of a baby.
"... I'm a college student. I have a low-pay job. I'm supposed to take care of a baby?!" This realization seemed to cause even more panic than the doors locking had- thankfully, it was the quiet, desperate sort of panic that rarely resulted in anything worse than a nervous breakdown. "I-I'm not the mother sort! This is... I mean...."
Crazy. Right back to the crazy thing. This whole thing was crazy.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:27 pm
"Yes. You are. We take care of you, though, if you can't yourself. You can even stay here, if you wanted. We have extra rooms and the fridge there," she indicated to the little one that Coailiann had opened, "All you have to do is tell it what you want and it comes out. Hot, cold, medium, cooked, not...Doesn't matter. There's a large garden, as well."
Ianna gave a small shrug, "Or I can offer you a monthly alotment gold. I don't have much need for it, since this is my house. And all my needs are taken care of. Not to mention I'm sure some of the guardians wouldn't mind watching the child when it arrives. We're a very large family, here."
She thought a moment, "Or I can simply pay for a baby sitter."
Well, Ianna certainly was generous.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:35 pm
How... how much was this going to change things around, anyway? I mean, Ianna was talking about moving in so that she could take care of the kid? Hell no. But... a kid....
At least Mom'll be happy. She'll have her grandkid. Though how I'm gonna explain it to her....
What the hell was Danny thinking?! There couldn't really be a kid in that stick, there just couldn't. It wasn't logical!
... But... if there was....
"... I... I guess...." There wasn't really a kid- but if there was, she could manage. Ianna said she'd help, there was no way that Danny couldn't manage if someone lent her a hand. Not, I mean, that there would be anything to lend a hand with... but....
"... Is... uh... is there anything else you need to tell me... or can I go home now...?" Danny rather thought that the rest of her day off was going to be spent trying to convince herself that the world was still a sane and reasonable place, maybe finding a little solstice in a pint of ice cream. Whatever worked.
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:37 pm
Ianna shook her head, "No, there's nothing else. The door to my left should take you back to the shoppe and the door should be unlocked. I really am sorry about that, I'm not used to people being so difficult and...Well Matilda goes overboard."
She laughed softly, "Just keep the wand close to you. It needs you to accept it, Danny...."
Coailiann looked cutely at the girl and babbled happily, taking another bite of her apple. She was still a bit wary of her but...She had an APPLE!
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Posted: Thu Mar 30, 2006 3:45 pm
Taking a look at the apple-eating girl just made Danny's perplexity worse. Coailiann was a wand-baby, right? She'd have something like that someday... right?
This was all happening too fast... things had to make sense somewhere else. This place was just not straight somehow. It was confusing. If she left, she'd figure things out. That was all logic would tell her right now.
The wand held loosely in her fingers, Danny nodded a couple times to Ianna as she took a backwards step towards the door; her foot not balancing perfectly, she took a stumbled half-step before turning around and walking with unusual calmness for the door. Out the shop, down the sidewalk, to her car--
Home. Home would be good. Durem was a noisy city, full of snobs and annoyances and crappy jobs, but at least it wasn't this confusing. Setting the wand on her dashboard, she did her best to avoid looking directly at it as she turned the ignition and started the engine. Home would be good.
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