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December 16th

Dear Journal,

Matilda sent me on an expedition in the jungles of India to find a wand. So I had to leave Coailiann with her. Needless to say, I fretted the entire time due to the fact that Matty has absolutely no experiance with children.

Perhaps she was a midwife in another lifetime, but not in THIS one damnit! It makes me nervous...especially when she was in another realm...Anyway...

I got bit by a cobra and lost the use of my left arm. Thankfully, I'm right handed or I wouldn't be able to write. Matty says I'll be able to use the other arm in about a month, but until then, she has Coailiann since I can't take care of her.

Hopefully no other wands are found. I doubt I could swing from the trees in Albania or something with only one arm.

It's so lonely, though. Coailiann was giving me something to do at least, and now I'm just...alone.

I should go nap now.

-Ianna

December 23rd

Dear Journal,

Does my life get any easier? Truely, any at all? Matilda sent me to egypt to find a new wand in the middle of the night, and I was there for literal hours. Coailiann had been left alone (Much to my displeasure).

When I got back, the sun was already rising and the little Sidhe was bawling so loudly I thought my head would explode. Apparently, she does NOT like being left alone. I don't quite understand why, as here is probably the safest she'll ever be...being in Matilda's realm but...Well, to each their own I suppose.

Right now, I'm sitting here staring at this fiery wand and cradling my daughter in my arms as I write. She's happily sucking on her thumb and making little baby noises that just make me so happy.

It almost is enough to have me forgive Matty. Almost.

Oh crap, Coailiann just kind of spit up...I should go clean her up and take her for her daily stroll in the gardens. She's getting bigger and has started to pull flowers out of their beds, however....I'm going to have a handful when she gets older!

-Ianna

December 26th

Dear Journal,

Coailiann said her FIRST WORD TODAY! It was so amazing to hear my little girl speak! Albeit, the word she said wasn't the best to hear your daughter say for the first time..."No".

But it was still great!

Patrick brought Lahela, his new daughter over, and they seemed to get along pretty well. It was nice to see her interact with someone other than myself or Matilda. She needs more time with kids her age..I don't exactly want her to be anti-social.

It turns out she's pretty possessive over things she owns too...which is good. She'll take care of her things better...then again, she may also have a hard time sharing, which isn't a good thing.

I missed out on all this with Matilda, I honestly have no clue on how to handle this. I'll figure it out, I'm sure. Maybe I'll ask Patrick...eh...She just woke up and is crying to go outside.

Maybe she'll start walking soon!...Wait...that may not be a good thing.

-Ianna

Ianna Umbridge had had a tiring Christmas. Four children - Iamel, Akuti, Coailiann, Matilda (Yes, her ancient daughter was sill considered a child to her), and a crap load of presents, made for a very busy day.

She had also gone the conventional route and made dinner from scratch, something she didn't do very often with the magic mini fridge in the headquarters lobby. That had gone over better than expected, but she was tired

The young woman was leaning against the desk in the dusty old wand shoppe, reading over her paperwork and through The Book of Life and Death which was ever-present. When she would have to pick up and go again was a mystery to her, but she hoped it was sometime after new years. She couldn't stand another trip so soon.


Coailiann, the little sidhe baby, was sitting up in her playpen beside her mother's desk, playing with the little teddy bear she had been given and singing a song in baby jibberish happily. Her little hands were clapping along as she bounced on the soft blankets that padded the bottom. She didn't know Why her mother wasn't giving her any attention, and she wanted it...but the little girl somehow sensed that her mother was busy and just remained entertaining herself.

And when the singing and clapping and bear got old, she occupied her time by staring at the dust that was floating throughout the entire room and being illuminated by the light shining through the higher window.

She was a kind of quiet, solemn person. Anyone who consciously described her that way must have met her before, because from the rumors floating around her old world, Stray was a cheerful, hyperactive girl, never quiet or solemn. The stranger thing was that she didn't look cheerful or hyperactive. She just looked dark.

As Stray stood in the main room of an old shop she'd found, she was trying her very best to not be conspicuous as she looked at the items displayed, attention usurped by music in her head. When a rythmical clapping noise stopped, she turned slightly towards the desk and stared blankly at a child in a playpen, blinking her wide black eyes slowly. "Hello." she said finally, not certain she would hear a reply.

Ianna jumped slightly, keen silvery eyes immediately moving to the figure who had stood in the middle of the room so quietly. "Urm, Hello." she blinked quickly and stood up.

There were no new wands...And rarely did people come into the shop without recieving a wand. Something pulled them in...But...Well, she couldn't dwell on that.

"Matilda, is there something you're not telling me?" she spoke, seemingly to herself since there was nobody else in the room except the little girl, and obvious she couldn't talk.

"No, mother. She, in all logic, shouldn't be here." came the voice in her head, one only Ianna could hear.

"Strange, very..Well, anyway." her eyes remained locked on the woman. "Welcome to Ghosts of the Past..I..Uh...Guess." confusion showed clearly on her features.

Coailiann's green eyes turned on the woman who was so obviously flustering her mother. "Agubah!" she sang cheerfully and clapped her hands again. Anything that flustered her mother was good in her book.

Of course. If there was a child, there was to be a mother nearby. "Hello, madame." Stray managed a slight bow before having to straighten again, her head aching. She pressed fingertips to her temples, hissing slightly. Was she hungover?... no. She hadn't gone out last night. "I'm sorry for intruding. I am called Stray, if it pleases you." Her voice was polite, calm, and almost blank. "I just noticed this shop and came in to see what was here."

She looked down at Coailiann, black eyes like emotionless tunnels into darkness. "Agubah indeed."

Ianna chuckled softly. "No..no intrusion, just...not used to...uh..um..." she scratched her head lightly, brushing her messy silver hair from her face. Her hair was nearly always frazzled and frizzy and wild...well, yours would be too if you had to go what she did.

"I'm Ianna, and the babe there is Coailiann...Kay for short." She looked around the room. "The wands here are all De...I mean, for sale." she said and then sat herself back down. "If you wish to look."

Her shop was incredibly dusty, as if it hadn't been lived in or touched for a very long time. The boxes were positively COVERED in dust...but then again, the only thing not dusty was the playpen and the desk.

Inside the boxes, however, the wands and artifacts and 'shinies' as she called them, were in perfect condition.


Coailiann looked at Stray quizzically. Did she understand her? "Abugala! Kizu!" her little baby speech was excited. Maybe she could finally tell someone she was HUNGRY without screeching like a maniac.

"I think your daughter's hungry." Stray said after a moment, blinking. "She is yours, right?" She absentmindedly rubbed her left hand. The sphere set in it was starting to ache... she really needed to find a Rune Crest before life really started to act up. The black-clad girl walked over to the playpen and crouched down to be at Coailiann's eye level, returning the quizzical look. "She can't possibly be a human child." she decided, still rubbing the blue crystal. "She's one of those... Not-beings." Stray had seen Fa'e and other humanoid beings wandering about, and was reminded with a shiver of the Lifeless Beings.

She was hesitant to apply the term she used for Fa'e and Doushikai to Kay-Coailiann. She was too small, too cute, to be a Lifeless Being.

Ianna's eyes moved to Coailiann and she smiled. "Probably...I should probably get some rice cereal for her, or something.." she blinked. "Though, It's not exactly safe for her to eat here..I'd have to go the main lobby, if you'd care to join me? It's nice, and I can offer you something to eat, drink, and a comfy couch to sit on."

She wasn't exactly describing the headquarters properly, she supposed, but it was nice. Really nice. "I'd rather not get her cereal all over the wands...She tends to throw things around."

That's because it's nasty, thought Coailiann as she reached out for Stray happilly. She DID understand her, it seemed! That made her happy and she giggled, clapping her hands again and grasping at a lock of Stray's hair, instantly putting it into her mouth which had only a few teeth in it. "Numnum!"

"Ow!" Stray yelped when Coailiann pulled her hair. It wasn't that long, really, and it hurt when pulled. With eyes watering, she looked up at Ianna. "Madame, might I suggest something other than rice cereal? I don't think she likes it." The damned crystal ached a little worse now, but her hair was distracting her at the moment. You're not lifeless at all, are you? Stray thought distantly. I don't know why I understand you... maybe it's the Crystal. Thrice-bedamned sun-cursed moon-belittled son of a salset goat that the Cruxis Crystal was, it wasn't like she could take it off. It would turn her into a monster. It was her parasite and a part of her, now. She'd made it what it was, desired it to be more than just any other Exsphere. And now it was. And do I ever regret it.

"I'll come with you- may I carry- Coailiann, you said her name was?"

Ianna raised a brow as Coailiann put the woman's hair in her mouth and then shook her head. "No, Kay, you don't do that." she looked apologetically at the woman. "I'm sorry, she tends to think everything is hers....." a pause.

"Well, she's JUST getting started on solids and..." she looked a little nervous. "I don't quite know what's good for her or not...And.." then suddenly remembering an earlier comment. "No, she's not human, and yes, you may carry her."

She stood up from her stool and opened the door to the side of the desk and started to step in. "Just be careful she doesn't decide to eat your hair all up." she murmured and waited for the woman to pick her daughter up.

Coailiann, sensing she was being taken out of the god awful pen, squeeled in glee. When she was picked up, she simply lay her head sleepily on the woman's shoulder and closed her green eyes. She liked this lady! Why couldn't She be her guardian! Or...at least A guardian? The chances of her seeing the woman again after this were slim to none. She didn't like those odds.

"Gublah." she said sleepily and stuck her thumb in her mouth, waiting to be carried to the lobby and face her doom of rice cereal.

What Ianna said made sense, but Stray didn't have it in her anymore to make others, even babies, do what they didn't want to. So she combed her mind for an alternative, any alternative, before lighting on something. When she was small, instead of rice cereal, she used to have-- "Apples... if you dice them quite small. My mother fed that to me... and all my siblings." A twinge of hurt in Stray's heart, then she inaudibly sighed. "I will dice them, if you like. I know my way around a kitchen..." At least fruit. She resettled the child slightly on the shoulder away from her brooch, shrugging slightly to move her jacket to make room for Coailiann's head before following Ianna.

Ianna stepped through the door, and quite literally, into another realm. The ceilings were high and edged with gold. Large chandeiliers were dripping with crystals, the floors were made of smooth white tile and covered with beautifully colored and woven rugs, and the walls were dotted with lovely paintings.

To the left, a recreation room with a large television, mini-fridge, comfy looking plush couches and chairs, video games, books, a basket of toys, crayons, dolls, cards...anything a little kid could possibly want, and not want...noting the playpens and walkers that caged little ones in.

To the right, a large and elaborate counter that only Ianna, Matilda and now Coailiann, could get behind. There was a large roster book laying on the top of it, and what appeared to be an appointment book.

A long hall seemed to stretch for a while, holding what seemed to be hundreds of doors, ending at last with a very VERY large ornate one...which lead to the gardens.

Ianna moved to the counter, pulled up a high chair that was sitting there, and placed it just outside the counter so Stray could place Coailiann in the contraption. She knew Kay hated it but...Eh, it was better than her painting the walls with her fingers.

"Apples sound fine...You can find whatever you need in the little refrigerator over there..." she pointed to the recreation "Room". The fridge was always full..and you could get whatever you even thought of from it.

Coailiann giggled gleefully as something other than rice ceral was heaven to her. And she had a feeling she'd like these...these apples that were mentioned. Apples...she liked the sound of that, and the lady who could understand her mentioned them so she had to like them...right? Right.

"Apple!" she said, her third word in two days.

Stray gently set in Kay, buckling her in quickly. "I'll be right back with your apples, okay?" she asked the little one, just like she'd say to her mother, or to Ianna. She ran a hand through her headful of red hair as she moved over to the minifridge, opening it and pulling out... a container of diced apples. "Do you have a boggart around here?" she asked, her tone marveling as she walked back over to Kay and placed the apples in front of her. "This reminds me of a house with a boggart that I once lived in."

Ianna shook her head. "Not that I know of, no. We're in a different realm now, nothing gets in without Matilda's and my permission..and soon enough, Coailiann's...but she won't be old enough for...at least a few years...I hope." she blinked. She didn't know exactly how the new spell worked.

Coailiann looked at the apples and grabbed at them, taking them and putting them in her mouth, which only had three or four teeth in it so far. "Numnum!" she said, even though half of them missed her mouth and bounced off the high-chair table and to the floor. She giggled gleefully once more and started to smack her little mouth around them, chewing best she could before swollowing and repeating the process.

SO much better than rice cereal.

Stray crouched down to sweep up the fallen peices of apple into one hand, turning her back to Ianna and Kay for a moment, praying to Efreet. Fire consumed her hands for hte barest moment, and the fallen apple peices collapsed to ash between her fingers and were absorbed. She turned back around when the black ash-marks were gone entirely. "So... what is a Ghost of the Past? I'm assuming they're like Coailiann... correct?"

Ianna nodded as she carefully penned in something in the roster, noting that Patrick's wand had wisped. She was dreadfully behind. "Yes, They're like Coailiann..." she had never told anyone other than a wand owner what they really were so she wondered how much she should really say.

Matilda mentally prodded her and she sighed. "But she's so helpful, and nice and..." another prod. "Well screw you too, miss high and mighty." she grumbled and straightened herself up, taking a small fan and fanning the ink to make it dry faster. "I can't really say more than that, or Matilda will...Well she won't be happy.

Coailiann made a face. She wanted her mommy to tell the woman what they were! What she was! A small dissatisfied whine came from the little Sidhe as she stuffed apples in her mouth again. Maybe SHE would tell...

"Aguhbah blahg kitka!" she burbled happily with the apples.

"I'm a Sidhe." was her basic message. She didn't know much of anything else. All she knew was she wasn't human, but the other had already guessed that. Either way, she did have the satisfaction of rebelling against her mother's wishes...somewhat.

"A sidhe?" Stray asked Coailiann. "Well, we might be friends then, Coailiann. I'm a Lifeless Being- I suppose you could call me an angel, but that's not right." She shrugged, pulling on an earlobe as she thought. Sidhe, in Tethe'alla and then the new world created after, were a kind of farm sprite. Did that mean that Coailiann would one day be able to make things grow like the Sidhe in the Gaoracchia Forest? I hope not.

Ianna sighed. "Well, Kay, you always find a way to do the opposite of what I want." she grumbled and then closed the roster, having updated what she needed to do. She knew that her little girl was rebellious, but jeeze...did she ever get a break?

Coailiann giggled softly. Another person like her? Lovely. She gnawed on some more apples. "Nuubah."

Neat!

Stray nodded. "Madame... would it be a problem if I came back sometimes? Just to the shop, I mean. It would be..." She looked for an appropriate word, one that wouldn't make it sound like she was watching Kay as a medical doctor watches a surgery. "...very nice... if I could. I'd like to watch Coailiann grow... if possible."

She didn't know what Ghosts of the Past were, but she wanted to help Ianna and Coailiann. She was new to this world. Stray wanted to make friends- away from her old world, the one she couldn't help protect.

Ianna shook her head. "I don't mind." she murmured, watching her interact with Coailiann. Her daughter seemed to like the woman, and she was pleasant enough. If it made Kay happy then..well...So be it. "And please, call me Ianna."

Coailiann perked up immediately. "GOOBLAHNU!" she screeched happily and offered the woman one of her now coveted apples, which was something big...Kay did NOT like to share, at all.

Stray took the apple cheerfully, smiling at Kay. "Thank you, Coailiann." She shifted the apple peice to her free hand, wondering blankly what to do with it. If she ate, she'd throw up. If she burned it, Kay would wonder why she didn't eat it. If she put it in her pocket for "later", it would still be suspicious...

If she just ate it, she could head off to the bathroom quite quickly. No need for them to know that she didn't... need to eat. Couldn't was a better word. "Excuse me." she said finally, turning her back to Coailiann and Ianna again, though she didn't quite make sure Ianna couldn't see the fire sheath her hands and the ashes, which should have drifted to the floor, absorbed.

Stray still felt sick. She had lied to a little, little one.

Ianna did indeed see it...and found it a little strange, but she didn't say anything. Coailiann didn't need to know that her offering had been burned to a crisp because she looked so darn cute and happy.

Coailiann smiled sweetly at the woman and gnawed on her apples once more, though several more pieces fell off the high chair and onto the floor, causing Kay to screech in displeasure.

"APPLE!!APPLE APPLE APPPLLLLE!" she screamed, tears welling in her cute green eyes.

She knelt to pick up the apples, murmuring 'three-second rule', but turning to Ianna. "Do you have a sink somewhere nearby so I can wash these off?" she inquired, gently ruffling Coailiann's hair. "I'd like to make sure Coailiann doesn't get sick, madame." she explained, blatantly ignoring Ianna's earlier comment about calling her by her first name.


Ianna smiled a bit. "There's a kitchen in...the...third door to the left in the hall." she said, pointing down the large grand hall with the hundreds of rooms. "There's a sink there."

Coailiann was too busy watching her apples being dropped and then picked up to understand what was being said, whimpering and whining that her last apples had been dropped and she couldn't eat them.

Stray dipped her head in a nod, following Ianna's instructions with a quick, "I'll give them back in a moment, Coailiann. They might make you sick if I give them back now," before trotting off to the kitchen she had been directed to.

Barely a minute later, Stray was trotting back out, placing the clean peices of apple, not minus one, in front of Kay again. "Madame? Who is Matilda? Should I not ask that?"

Coailiann smiled sweetly as she grabbed one of the apples and put it in her mouth, chewing quietly and contently to let the adults talk. It wasn't as if she could jump in and converse with them.

Ianna shrugged. "Matilda is the creator of Ghosts of the Past, she's my eldest daughter...she's...like Coailiann, though she's not a Sidhe. She's..it's hard to explain." she smiled a little bit, fondly. "She grew up too quickly for my liking, and is on her own now, though we talk telepathically."

Stray shivered slightly. "...I should be going." she said after a moment, rubbing her hands together. "If it is fine with you... I will return tomorrow." While waiting for a response, she shivered again. Created. People still create life here- do they take it, too? Do they make exspheres from the bodies of humans- A more horrifying thought occured. Is Cruxis here? Are there Desians? Creating life- oh Efreet, oh Undine, oh Slyph oh Celsius oh Volt-

Ianna nodded her head. "All right..." she murmured, giving a small smile. "I'd like for you to come see Coailiann again, she loves you already I can tell. She doesn't like people easily." she chuckled.

Coailiann sensed the woman was going to go and whimpered, banging her hands on the highchair. "Byebye!" she whined, gnawing on another piece of apple.


Stray nodded and bowed, ruffling Coailiann's hair and muttering a quick goodbye before heading out, head bowed.

Ianna sat quietly behind the desk in the Wand Shoppe, head in her hands, elbows resting on the smooth surface of the wood. Her silver eyes were closed, trying to get rid of the headache which pounded through her.

Thankfully her arm was completely healed, or it would have been rather hard to get into the position she was.

The shop was more dusty than usual, and was tickling her daughter's nose, causing a multitude of sneezes to fill the room. "Coailiann, stop disturbing the boxes and the dust won't be in the air, and you won't sneeze."

Coailiann was having too much fun crawling around the room and playing with the wand boxes. Her cooing and sneezing mixing together to make a mixture of sounds that made her head pound worse. "Please be quiet, Kay..."

Lucian blew into the shop like a firestorm, not bothering to look at the sign on the door to even see if it was open. He held a baby at arm's length though, and wore an expression of unmistakable horror, so it wasn't too hard to guess what was going on.

"Jesus CHRIST I'm never feeding you again if this is all you do!"

The child, meanwhile, looked smug.

Ianna blinked as the door flew open, the bells normally light jingling going crazy from the jolt.

"Ah God damn...." she blinked yet again and stared at the man and baby. "Where's the fire?" she asked, rubbing at her head, silvery hair becoming even more a mess than usual. Ianna was NOT used to people storming into her shop, especially people who did not OWN A WAND.

Coailiann looked up with her emerald green eyes to see a man and another baby. A baby! YAY! Less adults...well, not really, but she'd actually MAYBE get a chance to interact with a child. "Aguhbah! BABY!" she screeched happily, clapping her hands...something she had taken to doing a lot lately.

Ianna just glared.

Lucian's ears flattened, followed by Michael's. It would've been a cute moment, had there not been a wretched stench permanating the store. It was creeping in slowly now, taking over without warning. Baby geurilla warfare. Evil.

"Bathroom."

Gray eyes flicked over to the other child in the room. Grudging thoughts. That one probably didn't interrupt an after Christmas shopping spree with a stink bomb detonation. Why'd he get stuck with the evil baby?

Oh yeah.... he was evil.

Ianna sighed. "You'll have to...go into the headquarters for a bathroom, there's none in the immediate shop." she stood up and walked over to Coailiann, picking her up in her arms. She didn't seem bothered by the smell...after two kids of her own, she was used to it.

"Follow me." Ianna turned and walked towards the door beside the desk, opening it and walking through. It did, of course, lead to a very very large place. 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.

"The bathroom is third door to the left." she murmured, setting Coailiann in the playpen, much to the child's displeasure.


Coailiann's nose scrunched up, almost as if she were going to have a hissy fit. She HATED the playpen! It closed her in and kept her from crawling around and moving. She despised it! She LOATHED it...And so, she began to squeel and cry. Maybe THAT would get the message across, darnit!

Michael peered around curiously as he was carried through the rooms and hallways. Everything shined and sparkled and glowed under the bright lights. There were matching colors and what looked like breakable things on the shelves. The anthro-kitten was in awe. Look at all the mischief he could get into here!

Then he saw the cage.

The woman put the other child in the cage and he frowned. So that's what they did nowadays... How medieval. Then he smiled toothily. At this point, he didn't smell too 20th century, himself.

Lucian followed wordlessly, slowly defrosting. He had sort of busted in... He'd have to thank her later.

Ianna hissed when Coailiann started to screech and picked the infant up, setting her on the floor so she could crawl around. She had been getting much too curious for Ianna's liking, but right now her head hurt too much for her to worry about that. She just wanted it ti stop.

"Again..bathroom...that way." she pointed down the hall. "Third on left." she managed as she sat on the couch, once more holding her head. "And I swear to god, if you can get that girl to stop crying, I'll be your slave."

Coailiann immediately stopped her squeeling and crawled to her mother, gnawing on her toes with her half-toothless mouth.

Lucian chuckled, then gurgled. Opening his mouth was a mistake....

A few minutes of fiddling later, ("HolyHELLhowdoesthatwork?" "NOIjustcleanedthat!" "AHHHHH!") father and son reappeared. The former still did not look pleased, but the latter was grinning from furry ear to furry ear, his stub of a tail wriggling happily.

Lucian deposited his devil child on the floor and wiped his hand on this pant legs. "Ah, yes. Thank you for that... I'm sorry for barging in..."

Ianna shook her head. "It's fine...Just not used to people other than gua--I mean...Nevermind." she lifted her head and offered a smile. "Cute kid..." her silver eyes looked to Michael, of whom Coailiann was observing.

Coailiann reached out and poked Michael's ear, a small smile on her cute face. "Babyyyy!" she cooed, tugging on the ear very softly. She was a sweatheart, really, when she wasn't trying to drive her mother crazy.

Michael looked up at his father, aghast. This girl had just dared touch him! Had his father seen that? What was wrong with the world when a perfect stranger could-- Tug. She'd tugged on his EAR!

Lucian laughed, seeing the kitten's mouth fall open in mute rage. "Oh, shut up and let her have her fun. You tried to pull that one little girl's wings off, remember? Be glad she's playing nice."

The kitten's eyes narrowed. Well, since he'd done it, it was an obvious exception. This was not. But he sat there, grudgingly, and examined the girl as she messed up his fur. If she had a weakness, he'd find it.

"He doesn't talk," Lucian explained. "But he still manages to be a pain in the a**. I think he actually knows how, but he's just holding out to annoy us." He shook his head, smiling, then extended a hand. "Hi, I'm Lucian. And the stinkpot is my son, Michael."

Ianna chuckled softly, now that everything had calmed down, her headache was waning into a very dull ache rather than the sharp pain. Her delicate white hand lifted and gave Lucian's a small squeeze. "Ianna, and the little sidhe babe over there is Coailiann, but we call her Kay. She's just learning to talk...and crawl..and levitate things. She bonked me with an apple and a spoon in the head yesterday."

Coailiann looked to Michael curiously and offered him a little smile, her green eyes glittering. He was very different than the bird-girl she had met..she was loud and trilled and had FEATHERS and was very very very colorful. This little thing...had kitty ears! "Kitty." she said and then pet his ear softly. "Kitty kitty kitty."

"Levitation? Wow... I think I'd go crazy if he learned how to do that..."

Michael's ears perked. If he learned what? What could this girl teach him about being annoying? Patpatpat. Beyond the obvious of course.

Slowly he reached out a finger and placed it on Kay's nose. Then pushed her backward.

"Yeah...She lives to drive me crazy." a soft little sigh. Ianna loved her daughters dearly, but she had a feeling both were trying to kill her in their own indirect way.

Coailiann giggled softly, levitating about half an inch in the air. "FWEEEEEEEE" she couldn't levitate herself much yet, but she could get toys. And right now, she wanted Michael.

He was a toy to her...at least at the moment. Concentrating, the little boy rose about half a foot in the air and was promptly dropped in her lap. "KITTTTYY!"

Michael struggled and mewled at the sudden feeling of weightlessness. He pawed plaintively at the air and tumbled head over feet before toppling into the little girl's lap.

And he looked up, horrified, into her smiling face. Had she done this? She had, hadn't she?? This girl was evil! Tossing him about like a puppet... Michael's eyes narrowed. No one made him do things he didn't want to. He was a free spirit, baby, yeah. A loner. Roaming from town to town on his motorcy-- well, maybe not, but still. The idea was still there. He couldn't have people thinking he could just be picked up and plopped in their lap any old time! HE WAS NOT A LAP KITTY!

Tiny feline fangs gleamed in the light as the kitten boy smiled.

Lucian caught sight of that look. "Michael! No!" He rushed forward, but it was too late.

A warm wetness spread across Kay's lap thanks to Lucian's incompetent diapering.



Coailiann's face scrunched up as she was peed on and SCREAMED. A shrill, loud scream that would have broken glass had Ianna not shoved a teething ring in her mouth to shut her up.

Coailiann spat out the teething ring and glared at the little boy, tugging at his ear. Hard. "NO BAD KITTY!" she said, green eyes seeming to light up. Nobody pee'd on HER! SHE was in charge in THIS place.

Ianna may THINK she was, but Coailiann knew better. All she had to do was bat her sweet little eyelashes and she got what she wanted. "BAD BAD KITTY!"

Great. Now she smelled like pee.

Michael hissed and spat, shaking his head violently to wrench the girl's hand from his ear. He batted at her and scrambled from her lap fleeing to the safety of his father's legs. He clung to the gray sweatpants and glared at the girl. It was a draw this time.

Lucian was mortified. "I am so sorry... I... I am terrible sorry..."

Coailiann crawled to her mother and clung to her as well, furiously suckling at her thumb and smelling of the kitty's urine. She was pissed. And wanted a bath. But mostly, she was pissed.

Ianna was having a hard time NOT laughing. "No no, she shouldn't have done what she did, I'm sorry..." she reached down and stroked her fingers through the white hair of her daughter. "She thinks she's queen of the world, but she's not.

"Too!" piped up Kay's little voice.

Lucian coughed, picking up his son gingerly and realizing he'd need to be cleaned yet again. "Yes, well, still... He obviously isn't in the most patient of moods today."

He paused. What would Brina say if she were here? Oh yes... "Maybe they could have a playdate sometime to get used to each other. Michael can't keep thinking that he's fine without friends or he'll become an overlord or something."

Can so, Michael huffed in his father's less than loving embrace.

"Coailiann isn't. She's going through 'the change'. Going into a toddler, she is, and it's actually quite scary. I'm not used to it..Matilda, my other daughter, well she was easy. She was FAST. She grew up in about two months." A pause. "But, I think a play date would be nice."

Coailiann glared at the little boy as she sucked her thumb and listened to their parents. No way in HELL she was going to play with that little boy now. Not after he WET himself on her.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure he'll ever grow up... though he does act better around his mother, though I'm not sure if it's out of fear or awe. I'll make her bring him round next time." Lucian chuckled at the idea of sticking Brina with Michael for the day. It turned out to be ironic naming him the same as an angel.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Miss, and I hope to see you again soon under better... ah... circumstances... but I suppose we'd better get this taken care of."

The kitty-boy had to agree. Things were starting to get cold and clammy.

Ianna gave a nod of her head, and laughed at Coailianns squeel. "Apparently, Kay agrees...It was nice meeting you two." she said softly and looked down at her daughter. "And next time you be nice."

She indicated to the door. "The way out is there, and if you could lock the shop door on your way out...it'd mean a lot."

Coailiann sat quietly in her playpen, as she usually did, gnawing on apples. Her mother had gone to find yet another wand the previous day, and was napping on the couch, one of her magazines flopped over her face to shield her closed eyes from the light coming through the windows.

And for once, Coailiann understood that her mother needed rest. She longed to scream and yell and make a lot of noise...but no, she would be a good girl.

Good girls got to see friends and eat apples and stay away from that god awful rice pudding! So, a good girl is what she would be.

Amparo sighed as she was led by two men into the Wand Shoppe. Of course, until they realized they didn't know how to get into the Headquarters.

Smugly, Amparo led the way, and looked around as she entered, frowning. "Ia--" She stopped her yell when she saw the sleeping form, and looked amused. Her wand was in a belt loop, held securely there by a piece of string.

Antonio looked around curiously, frowning. "It's so big." He muttered, walking out towards the middle of the room. He stopped when he saw a play pen, and curiously moved forward.

He saw a baby. Antonio made a face and stepped away from the play pen, shaking his head. "There's a baby in there." He mumbled at Amparo and Jonathan's curious glance.

Jonathan snorted. "You're not afraid of babies, are you?"

"Do you want to change the diapers?"

"... Right then!" He turned to Amparo. Amparo rolled her eyes at the boys, and walked to the play pen, smiling.

"It's Coailiann." She replied, rolling her eyes at the boys. "Honestly."

As always, Patrick came to visit. Here he came, this time, with the little wand fluttering above his shoulder and Lahela strapped to his chest like usual.

And...there were new people? Eyebrows arched as he saw two - no, three - other people enter the Wand Shoppe. How odd.

So the lanky,dark man followed them inside, grinning a little as he heard their discussion about babies. Lahela, hearing Coailianns name, waved her hands and gave a sharp squeak.

"Kay lah! KAAAAAY! GYAAAAAH! ********!" She squealed, wriggling happily. Patrick winced and rubbed his temples, glancing to the playpen, lips pursed. Damn.

The man still wasn't sure what to do with it. A wand. Take care of a wand - he could do that, he really could. D was good at taking care of things, it was something he'd been told he'd excelled at.

Perhaps it was his typical gentle nature, or the fact that he didn't have much of a spine. Whatever the case, the man with the pink hair, his business suit, and briefcase (as well as his free hand holding the wand) made his way into the little shop.

Upon entrance, he did pause to look up, his eyebrows arching over his glasses. It seemed that this place was quite the popular hot spot for, well, many types of people. He knew none of them, and had only wanted to stop in on his lunch break to (perhaps) have a word with Ianna.

He saw a crib, and a few folks scattered around it. There were a variety of folks - and some even had wands of their own! Well, at least he wasn't the only one here, that made him feel a bit better. Everyone at the office wondered why he was bringing a staff in - but then, everyone at the office thought him rather strange anyway, so taking care of a staff was (by all means) nothing short of surprising.

Making his way over to a corner (he didn't want to disturb anything or anyone) he did blanch when he heard something - someone - another baby? scream <********>. Who would teach their child something like that, D didn't know, but heaven forbid he stand on a pedestal and preach.

It wasn't like he was a father. Yet.



Ianna had only been sleeping for a good ten minutes before she heard the quiet voices of Amparo and two males she didn't recognize. She figured, since they were quiet, they were respecting her rest. Thus, she did not stir.

Not until the screeching parrot anthro made her jump about a foot in the air and roll off the couch, hitting her head on the coffee table. "********!" she cried out, rubbing her head as she sat herself up. Three of the guardians were now in the headquarters. At the same time. Was something wrong? "Urm...Hi guys.." she murmured sleepily. "Something up?"

Sleep-disoriented eyes moved from Amparo, to the two males with her, to Patrick, and to D. And then to Coailiann.

Lahela was here, meaning the silence would end and Coailiann would start up her screeching...and the profanity she had learned from the parrot.

Unfortunately, she was right.


It seemed she was getting better at the baby babble.

Amparo glanced up when she heard someone come in, and arched an eyebrow slightly at the man with the bird-child. She looked faintly amused, but kept her mouth quiet as she watched.

Soon enough, another man with pink hair entered. Antonio arched an eyebrow. "Well this is a regular hot spot, isn't it." He muttered, looking around calmly at all the people now standing in the Headquarters.

"They all have wands?" Antonio looked over at Amparo, who shrugged.

"I dunno." She replied, rubbing her neck sheepishly. When she heard the parrot child screech '********!', she couldn't help her amusement. Antonio coughed, trying not to laugh, and covered his mouth hard.

Amparo turned when she heard Ianna, and smiled sheepishly. "Hello, Miss Ianna." She greeted. "Uh, the boys just wanted to see the Headquarters." She rubbed her neck sheepishly.

Jonathan waved from the spot behind Amparo, and Antonio moved up in front, waving sheepishly. "Hello." They both echoed in unison.

"I--sorry, Ianna." His voice was a mutter, unhooking the squealing, screeching little parrot-anthro. If his skin was light enough to see a blush, it would've been dark with embaressment. As it was, his head merely ducked to hide it.

"Only so many can be baby-sat at once and you know she adores Coailiann.." A sheepish smile before putting Lahela down into the pen. The baby-ghost hovered about his shoulder before fluttering over to Ianna, the black and blue cloud of baby fox nesting on Iannas hair momentarily.

"New people. Oh Hello too." A faint grin.

Lahela crawled over to Coailiann quickly, squealing loudly once more. "******** style="font-size: 9px">D continued to watch the procedings quietly, still a bit taken aback. He clutched a little tighter at the wand in his hand, part of him feeling foolish for even bothering to enter.

Maybe his questions should have waited? But, at the same time, they couldn't wait! He was going to be a father - He, himself - a father. He'd have to take care of a child who was supposedly going to come from this wand, and part of him wasn't sure he was ready for it.

Oh, he wouldn't trade it for the world, not now - but he was a bit worried. Pre-paternal panic, really. He'd never expected to have children so soon, much less a child that would come from a wand!

But, stranger things had happened.

Like babies, screaming "********", and a little floating blue spirit. "Oh, don't mind me," he hastily explained, kind of holding up his briefcase, as if that explained everything. "I can always come back later!" Just in case she was busy.

He hadn't expected quite a crowd.



"Really, it's no problem guys." she said sleepily. "I just didn't get a whole lot of rest, found another wand last night and..." her eyes stopped on D. "And the new guardian has decided to grace us with his presence." she gave a yawn and wiped at her silver eyes, standing up and walking to the mini-fridge. Damned be magic, she needed coffee.

"Patrick, you know damn well you and your spawn are allowed here any time..and that goes for all of you." she yawned yet again, pulling a piping hot cup of mocha blend from the fridge and closing the door, bringing it to her lips and instantly sipping at it.

She sputtered and whined. Damn, she forgot how hot it was.

"You're welcome to stay, D. I know you have questions, and Patrick being the most experianced with wand-dom could probably help you out."


Coailiann instantly hugged her little anthro friend and gave a little coo of pleasure. "La!" she said gleefully, "********!" she said again, earning her a glare from her mother. "Oops." she murmured, looking down. "Sos!"

Her way of saying sorry.

Antonio eyed the babies with curiosity, moving closer to the pen cautiously. "... They're so tiny." He mumbled, frowning. "Are they always that obscene?" He looked over at Patrick curiously, arching an eyebrow.

Amparo rolled her eyes. "You could introduce yourself, 'Tony." She pointed out, jabbing him lightly in the side with her finger. Antonio wiggled away from the offending digit and glared at his mother.

"I'm Antonio." He greeted, holding out his hand to Patrick. "It's nice to meet you." He smiled at him, and then looked at the babies again. "... They're still really tiny."

Jonathan snorted and ruffled Antonio's hair. "They're babies. They're supposed to be tiny." Antonio glared at his uncle and fixed his hair cheekily, grumbling.

Amparo sighed and pinched her nose, shaking her head at the boys. She looked over at D and smiled. "You're a new guardian too, then?"

Ianna lay on one of the large hammocks hanging between two of the largest trees in the garden. It was -her- spot. Nobody, not even Matilda, dared go near that spot...unless they were sure that Ianna wouldn't know. That was, at least, her sanctuary.

When she was in that spot, her little family knew not to bother her. New people, however, probably wouldn't know that. Currently, on her face, were her dark-rimmed glasses, and her eyes were busily scanning the text of a small paper back. A romance novel, no less.

She was tired of reading that damned book of life and death.


Kinky.

Patrick was just meandering with his little wand - this is where they came to escape things such as life. Mordread was at home with Akuti, and Iamel was showing Akilah video games (He didn't want to KNOW how that would go) But...times like these were his vacations.

A short ******** vacation - an hour or two at most.
"Right, foxboy?"

His thoughts, as usual, were disjointed and not altogether normal...Yashima didn't mean to mind. Patrick just shrugged, pausing when he saw Ianna. To say hi? Or to - s**t. Foxboy was floating over to her, and he had settled in the crevice of her open book.

Ianna blinked, wondering if her glasses had fogged since she could no longer see the words. Then she realized the color that was blocking the text was not the normal hazy white and took her glasses off, blinking yet again. "Baby ghostling?" she asked.

That would mean she had visitors. Lovely. Patrick was here. That usually meant the screaming little parrot-girl. On her vacation. "Coailiann's not he--" Silver eyes turned to look at Patrick, noticing he was parrot free and sighed. Good.

"Hello, Patrick. I see you left the brood at home today?" she offered a smile and carefully closed the book, away from the baby ghost.


"I need a vacation too!" His voice was a soft laugh on the wind, holding his hand out lightly. The ghost, used to such beconings, slide over, away from Ianna with a small tail-wriggle, and onto Patricks hand.

"Lahela is learning to walk and it's very scary. I try to stay away." A faint smile, fingers moving to 'pet' at the little baby ghost. It churred, quietly, in his head, stretching out and arching its little ghost self happily. "What about you? No kay?"

"I suppose we all do. I'm on one right now. Set Coailiann loose on Matilda, who is overjoyed, I'm sure. She adores that little girl and she never cries for her." The woman rolled her eyes and leaned comfortably in her hammock.

"I don't mind, I guess. It's nice to be alone without the screaming...Coailiann's slowly beginning to walk, too. I shudder to think how she will be once she's fully mobile." the woman narrowed her eyes. "And what kind of trouble will Lahela and Kay get into together?" A shudder. "Dear god, save us all."

"Two cute bundles of pain in the a** - one who can snap at your fingers and the other who can toss apples at your face." He paused, eyes widening themselves before narrowing into slits.

"Ianna...I fear the future." Patricks voice was a sigh, fingers still petting at the hovering bundle of black and blue energy, nose wrinkling a little, "Sad thing is this little guy seems saner then he rest of us."

"Oh dear god, Patrick. We'll need those baby leashes that I've seen people walking around with!" she laughed at that. She was kidding, but it would be nice to do that. For her, not for Kay.

Her eyes went to the baby ghost and she stood up, moving towards them and giving a soft caress of the smoke. "Hey there lil' guy. You know what an insane family you're going into?" she giggled.


"I think he likes the thought of our psycho household." Patrick joked quietly, watching how the woman interacted with the small wiff of smoke.

it wriggled, a little, puffing up just a bit more then normal. The small spikes of its 'ears' (at least...he thought they were. It WAS a fox, right?) flickered a few times. Its diminutive frame shifted from patrick to Ianna easily enough, crooning in patricks head and rubbing up against her as much as it could without falling apart.

"I figure he WILL be a guy, though..I get that feel from him anyway. I'm probably wrong."

Ianna chuckled softly. "Then it's a little insane itself, isn't it?" she smiled and stroked at the blue and black smoke, tenderly. Matilda's stage had lasted a day or two.

"If you feel it will be a boy, you are the only one who would really know. He is bonded to you, he is yours. IF you feel it in your heart, your heart is most likely correct." she looked to Patrick, silver eyes shining slightly. It was so easy to tell she was a mortal, she was no different from him.

And she risked her life every day to help her daughter. "So we should start calling him Yashima, no?"

"Well...I could be wrong." He laughed quietly, shoulders rising into a careless shrug, watching as the woman petted at the rather affectionate little floating ball of smoke. "It could be the blue smoke that's making me think that it's a boy - stereotypes ands hit, y'anno?"

One more shrug, smiling still at her, "I've already begun calling him Yashima, actually... He responds to it." He paused, lips pursing a little, nose wrinkling up. "I think he likes it, anyway? I can never be sure. The ghost...bit...just wriggles and winds around my fingers when I do. I like to assume that's a good thing, 'cause he does that a lot."

A wry smile. "You've grown attatched, Patrick." Ianna's head turned, letting her pale lips kiss the smoke, which had solidified just a bit more than it had previously. "And the child knows it. It will be here soon, Patrick. I feel them solidifying. If you haven't done so already, I'd secure a space for him."

She paused. "And get bottles. And diapers. And other things you need...Specifically for him. I only ask that you bring him in to see me when he's finally here, completely. Can you do that?"

"Mordread went nuts baby shopping - we have color coded bottles and binkies and s**t." He grinned a bit further in rememberance, "Akuti is green, Akilah is red and little Yashima is dark blue - he has his own little half of the room with the psycho little meerkat. Own bed and s**t too...That's where the wand sleeps at night."

He pauses, head shaking, "It used to stay in my room but...With Mordread... it felt kinda...weird to have a...wisp thing there when we...y'know." His cheeks went red and the little fox wisp trembled a bit - he could hear little gigglish noises. "..stop laughing, fox." Grumble.

"Made the non-existant babies?" she asked, raising a brow. "I'm sure that was a good idea, to move him. May give him ideas in the future I'm sure you won't want to deal with." a smirk touched her lips.

"And I wouldn't expect anything less of Mordread than that. Are you sure he's male?" She watched the interactions and couldn't help but shake her head. "Cute."

"Well, fox boy IS gonna grow up and IS gonna have sex...eventually... I think... Doesn't mean I have to help urge it along, y'know?" He grinned a bit more, moving slowly to lean on the tree near Ianna, huffing still at the trembling/laughing puff of smoke.

"Oh yes. Completely sure that mOrdread is male. Very male. Very. Very male. Trust me on that one."

She smirked at Patrick's insistance. "I meant on the inside, lovely. I'm sure he's very much so a male on the outside, but sounds like a girl to me." a soft little giggle.

Ianna was now in a rather childish mood.

His nose wrinkled slightly, head shaking a bit. "...I hope not. I don't LIKE girls - no offense, ianna. It'd mean I fell for a girl." Another shiver, nose wrinkling all the more and he glanced down at his watch, eyes widening. "And s**t. I ******** promised to take the kiddlets off his hands - I left him there with all of them except Yashima."

Ianna winced. "All four? Are you trying to kill the poor man?" she said nothing about his comment for women. She was a woman, but then again, she didn't much act like it. Half the time, anyway. "Go then, Patrick, and take your fluff ball with you."

Since the smoke was still snuggled with her. She smiled at it fondly.

"Oi, he said he wouldn't mind!" Patrick laughed and reached over, fingers making wriggling motions to the small puff of smoke. It chirruped and wriggled away from Ianna, twisting up his arm again with a little coo inside of his head.

"Thanks, Ianna! I'll bring him back when he solidifies - promise." A faint smile and he was off! Off to...be mischevious. And stuff.