Welcome to Gaia! ::

DS sank into a chair in the locked kitchen, now her only sanctuary. The children were busy unwrapping gifts under the Christmas tree, and the strange man was still in her room, which gave her enough time to read the letter once again.



The letter had been given to her by a pitch black bird mere moments after DS had appeared at the door. She had only gotten a chance to skim it then, and make up some flimsy excuse to give the children. Her Aunt Olivia always did use long complicated phrases. She supposed being one of the most powerful sorceresses in the realm might have something to do with that.

So she would have to keep that annoying person... what was his name? Oh yes, Lionel. She would have to keep him for a while. At least she had the space, but what would the kids say?

"I hope Aunt Olivia comes home soon..."

"Have we got everything sweets?"

"Yes mom," Eriol replied for the seventeenth time. "Can we go if we're goin?"

"Yes. Kemuri, thank you so much for watching the house this weekend." It was really a lifesaving offer, as Kiyu was insisting on coming too. DS was actually thankful for that- having someone there to confide in would be good. She bouced Karan a little, while Eriol got the duffel that had their combined belongings.

Kemuri shook his head dismissively. "It isn't a problem." In fact, it was a blessing, giving him an excuse to get out of Vi'domi, and away from Rahanim. Without Kiyu there to moderate, it was sure to be explosive.

"We're ready, Mom."

"Yes, I suppose we are..." The sun was just barely rising, in the perfect position. Carefully DS extracted a large polished black stone from her pocket and held it above her head. It crackled with energy, and just as the lightning that raced over the stone reached its highest intensity she dropped it on the grass. The lightning stayed in place, and drew a line in the air made of sparkling blue light.

"Gentlemen first, sweets."

She watched Eriol go through the slit in space, then turned back to Kemuri. "You sure you'll manage?"

"I could ask the same of you. You look worried still."

"I'll... be fine." Hopefully this would be one of those self-fufilling prophecies she'd been told about so much as a child. "Really."

"Then go ahead. We'll be fine here." Kemuri gave what he hoped was an encouraging smile. "It should be nice seeing your family again."

DS chuckled. "Yeah... nice." Still amused by the irony of that statement, she ducked through the portal, her laughter echoing after both she and the light had vanished.

"The weather is surprisingly sunny for this time of year, don't you think dear?"

"I heard this is Olivia's seventieth birthday, would you believe? She doesn't look a day over thirty..."

"... managed to buy a pint for the cost of a cup, the deal was fantastic! You can't buy Mistral Elixir that cheap anywhere..."

"May I take your luggage, sir?"

The last comment came from a tall, young man standing just inside the door, his arms outstretched to take whatever someone happened to drape on them. A servant by the looks of it, though well dressed. His tailcoat was certainly attractive with his dark eyes and oddly pointed ears. Nonetheless, he gave Eriol the creeps. What was he, a living coatrack?

"No thanks, mister. I'd rather keep this wit' me."

"As you wish, young master..."

The man trailed off, waiting to be supplied a name. Eriol wasn't in the mood to comply, so he nodded curtly and kept moving. One thing he'd learned by watching the rich bastards in Durem was that as long as someone was dressed sort of decently and they acted like they belonged, there wouldn't be trouble. He'd struck out on the first one, coming dressed in his usual ratty jeans and jacket, but he'd make sure to hit a home run for the second ball.

"What a darling child!"

Eri started, about to insist that he was definitely not a child, but the older woman who had spoken held one jeweled finger out to Karan. "Albino, is he? Still, he's the first babe to come in here and not start crying about all the noise. Is he yours, dear?"

As if he knew that he was being talked about, Karan gurgled happily and pulled at one of the rings the woman was wearing, a large diamond one. He would have tried to bite it had Eriol not hurried to pull him back.

"Uh, no." HELL NO, he wanted to scream, his mind smarting from the indignity. Him, a father? Hardly. "He's my, eh, brother."

"Is that right? Remarkable, you look so different. And age too. Still, with the world the way it is I'd be surprised if anything surprised me anymore. Experience, dear." And she did seem to have a lot of that, judging by her hair (black, though the gray at the roots implied it was dyed) and her wrinkled hands.

"He's adopted," Eriol replied. It was hard to tell what was too much information, but it was pretty obvious unless his mother had hooked up with some ghost guy without telling him.

"Isn't that nice?" The woman patted Karan's head, but was starting to lose interest. "Well, you are good boys. Hopefully you'll see your cousin Mildred at dinner, wouldn't that be nice? Oh, Ernest!" She waved to something in the distance Eriol couldn't quite make out. "I'll see you later then, dearie," she cooed before rushing off.

That, Eriol decided while letting his breath go, was close. He had to find somewhere that wasn't quite so crowded, and soon.

"Sir, a moment please."

It was the doorman from before. Cursing at his luck, the teen rated his performance with the woman a two and swore to do better. "Yes?"

"Just a bit of protocol, but might I have your name?"

"What on earth d'ya need that for?"

The doorman frowned. "As I just explained sir, it's protocol. For everyone's safety. If you're not on the guest list I must kindly ask you to leave."

A thin hand planted itself firmly on Eriol's shoulder, nearly blasting him through the roof. "Don't worry, he's with me."

Both young men stuttered. The doorman collected himself first. "Ki-chan?"

Kiyu blushed, something Eriol had never seen her do before. "Am I on that guest list of yours, Devin?"

"O-of course you are. Is this your bond?" Devin brushed imaginary soot off his coat, barely pausing before slicking back his hair.

"You know perfectly well who I'm bonded to, Devin. I'm here representing Devi-sama. These are two of her wards, Karan-" She gestured to the younger one first, who was boredly chewing one of his tattered plushies. "And Eriol James," she finished, as Eriol bent his head in acknowledgement. It seemed like the thing to do.

"Can I talk to you before you leave?" Still eager to impress, Devin grabbed Kiyu's hand and held it between his own gloved ones.

"Possibly. We're arriving later than instructed, and we both have duties. Now then, let me show you around, Eriol-sama."

Eriol let himself be guided away. "Yer that friend of Mom's, right? I mean, ya've helped her out a lot, and ya were at that really huge house, but I never asked yer name." And it was a pity he hadn't. The lady who'd saved him was quite attractive, wearing a flowered kimono, her hair put up stylishly, and attractive features. She too had pointed ears, something he hadn't noticed before, as was the accent she spoke with. It was vaguely foreign, but he didn't recognize it at all.

"I'm a little more than a friend," she chuckled. "Call me an aid to your family, I guess. Better yet, call me Kiyu. It's shorter."

Pretty, smart, and funny. It was hard to keep his grin from emerging. "Anythin ya say, Kiyu."

"In that case, I say I should show you a place you won't be bothered too much before I go find Devi-sama." She took a left down another seemingly endless hallway, the third they'd encountered. How anyone navigated the labrynth of a house was remarkable.

"Is this Devi-san... is that my Mom? I thought she said to call her Diviny or somethin... And- hey, how d'ya know yer way around here?"

"Devi-sama is indeed your mother. Divinity is a more proper form of her name, though not the most proper one. And I know my way around here because along with your mother, I spent several years in this house."

Several years? With his mother? "What, when ya were little?"

"We were... oh, young teenagers at the time perhaps?

Eriol's shoulders drooped. "Yer as old as Mom?"

"Oh, a tad older I'd say."

Hell. A pretty, smart, funny girl- who was older than his mother. So much for dreams. He had been liking her too.

"Anything else? We've arrived."

So they had, Eriol noted once he had finished his sulk. He had been so engaged in their conversation that he never noticed where they were going. Hopefully that wouldn't be a problem later. For now, he was relieved. The room they were in front of was small, but not cramped, with a plush couch, a couple delicate looking chairs, an elegant coffee table, and a changing screen off to one side.

Karan looked around and clapped in approval. It was colorful, and it looked soft! And it wasn't so noisy either.

"You may have to share it with a couple other people, but hopefully no one so intimidating. Before dinner you can change behind the screen. Enjoy!"

"Wait, I-"

Kiyu paused and turned to face the room once more. "Yes, Eriol-sama?"

That was it. He was going to be alone- with the exception of the squirt- for hours. Not that Kiyu would spend time with him anyway. And even if she did, it would be because she was paid to, or pitied him, or something. "Nothin."

"Then please, have fun, and enjoy your stay at the Satourne Manor."

Luckily Eriol had brought a new book, as he would have to wait quite a while. The book had been long finished, and Eriol had joined Karan in a nap, so neither of them heard the knock at the door until it was already open.

It was a young woman, appearing to be in her mid-twenties. Her brown hair was cut attractively short, and brushed back to show hazel eyes. A sleeping baby gripped the strap of its carrier with one chubby hand, worming between fabric and its mother's skin. The woman blushed, raising one wide sleeve to cover her mouth daintily. "I'm sorry, I didn't know anyone was in here."

Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Eriol shook his head. "S'okay," he mumbled, scooting to the end of the long couch. Karan whined at the movement, it was too early to be awake, but the teen paid him no mind. "Ya can come in if ya like." Not like it was his room, and really, it would be nice to have someone to chat with.

"Thank you." Head bowed, the woman pattered in, sitting cross-legged on the floor. Her long skirts parted to reveal tight leggings underneath, but only the briefest glimpse was possible before she placed the baby in her lap. After rummaging through a pocket on the side she started to fiddle with a wooden rattle, still not daring to meet the eyes of her roommates.

It was up to him, Eriol supposed. "My name's Eriol," he ventured, "And this's Karan. We're, eh, brothers I guess."

That gained a smirk. "You guess?" The woman smothered a giggle. "I'm Cerise, and this is my daughter Lisial. It's a pleasure, Eriol, Karan. If you don't mind my saying so-" she looked down again "- you don't look like brothers."

"He's adopted. Actually, we both are."

"You must get tired of answering that," Cerise apologized. "Still, you must have a very loving family, to adopt two children."

If only it was just two. Still, having a big family wasn't terrible. It was rarely boring. Someone was always there to play with, or to to talk to, or just to be around. Karan was the quiet child, Xue the playful one, Yeine the serious one, Ying the helpful one, Linnea the painfully shy one, and Melete the stubborn one. Meer was the curious one, he supposed, though he still didn't know her or her guardian well. And him? The oldest, smartest, handsomest, toughest, bestest big-brother around. Or so he hoped. At least, no one had ever argued. And they wouldn't if they knew what was good for them.

"It is," he finally answered.

"I hope we can have one like that. Milire is always so busy with work, I fear that we'll never be as close as we should be. It would be awful for Lisial to look back and feel that she only had one parent."

Milire must be her husband, Eriol decided. But she didn't have it all right there. "Act'ally," he interjected, "it's just me an mom an my brothers an sisters. But I think we do okay. Sure, it gets annoyin to hafta watch them all th'time, and it gets crowderd, but so far we all get along real well. Never lonely. An... well, the love's there."

Impressed, Cerise nodded. "You're absolutely right. But still, I want us all to be a family. And I'm afraid that's never going to happen."

As if sensing her mother's distress, the baby woke up and immediately started to wail. Karan, annoyed at yet another interruption, whined again and tried to cover his ears, finally burying his head in a particularly fluffy pillow. "I'm sorry... she must be hungry."

"S'alright," Eriol replied, though Karan let out another whimper of disagreement. "I've got some applesauce for Karan in the bag, yer're welcome to some."

Seemingly ignoring the offer, Cerise was fiddling with her blouse, or specifically the buttons. Her body had turned, facing mostly away from the others in the room, and she was blushing when she shifted her daughter in her lap. "Lisial isn't quite old enough to eat applesauce, but I thank you for your kind offer."

Oh. Now considerably uncomfortable and more than a bit embarrased, Eriol averted his gaze. Curiosity, however, soon got the better of him. After a minute had passed he chanced a look in front of him.

He'd never seen a woman naked before. The closest thing would probably be when he'd helped Linnea get into her pajamas, when his mother was sick. But she was so little, and Cerise was so... not. Even from the back he could tell. She was rocking a little, so every few seconds he could see part of her front, and he liked what he saw.

Karan, feeling ignored and annoyed, bit Eriol's hand in protest. It didn't hurt too much- not enough to yell and lose his calm appearance anyway- but he did hiss and turn away. The timing was in fact perfect, as Cerise chose to turn around, mostly buttoned up. If Eriol had been caught peeking... well, he didn't want to think about it.

"Thanks for waiting," Cerise smiled shyly.

"No prob."

[More Family Reunion goes here, omglate]

[More Family Reunion goes here, omglate]

Bands of white flashed brightly, then glowed various colors across several dimentions. Rings, pendants, bracelets, and anklets, all of varying sizes but of the same shape, twinkled softly in whatever light reached them. No two were the same; each piece of jewelry was studded with different gemstones, but the mother-of-pearl inlay was the same, and the light coating it soon spread to the wearers. Dozens of people, all different but with one common trait, tossed and turned in their sleep. Even the most docile sleepers were restless, itchy with some unknown feeling that unconsciously plague their dreams and their bodies.

And when they woke up, each and every one screamed.


{This marks the beginning of a miniplot that spans the lives of characters in two households. Relevant entries will be posted in individual journals, but the entire plot will be here, and all journals will be linked. For reference, those affected so far are DS, Eriol, and Raven. biggrin }

Bands of white flashed brightly, then glowed various colors across several dimentions. Rings, pendants, bracelets, and anklets, all of varying sizes but of the same shape, twinkled softly in whatever light reached them. No two were the same; each piece of jewelry was studded with different gemstones, but the mother-of-pearl inlay was the same, and the light coating it soon spread to the wearers. Dozens of people, all different but with one common trait, tossed and turned in their sleep. Even the most docile sleepers were restless, itchy with some unknown feeling that unconsciously plague their dreams and their bodies.

And when they woke up, each and every one screamed.

Eriol should have noticed that something was wrong as soon as he woke up. His feet were too small for the large fluffy bear slippers his sisters had forced on him at Christmas. They were overly cute for his tastes, but they were a gift, and they did keep his feet warm and off the cold tile in the kitchen.

His boxers were also small, slipping around his hips, but they stayed on at least so he assumed the elastic broke and thought of other things. The first thing he did was take check on Viviana, as he did every morning. The babe's cradle had been moved into his room, so he simply crossed to the window and looked in on her.

For a change, she was awake. Outcry opened one black eye cautiously, then lashed out with his tail. Startled, Viviana tried to wiggle out of the way. She cheeped out a bit of nonsense softly, as if trying to soothe her daemon, but the whale would not be calmed.

"Stop that." What was wrong with his voice? Had he caught a cold? Probably, considering that he continued to sleep in nothing but his shorts despite his mother's constant prodding to wear the flannel pajamas she purchased. Shrugging yet another odd event off, he reached into the crib, ignoring the pink paint that graced his fingernails. One of his sisters had probably done that on a dare. Once they had put his hair in pigtail braids, an he had failed to notice until someone on the street pointed it out.

Viviana looked up at Eriol, gray eyes wide. Her gibberish became louder, more urgent. After a few seconds of listening to it- at least, Eriol thought he was listening- Outcry stilled, choosing instead to curl himself around Viviana protectively. It was difficult to reach the baby around his bulk. In response, Viviana rested her arms on him sulkily, still waiting to be picked up, whale or no.

As Outcry reluctantly rested himself, Eriol was able to pluck Viviana from her sleeping place. He hadn't a clue what had gotten into either of them. The fact that they were awake was a surprise in itself, but usually when they did wake both were grouchy and unsociable. Furthermore, they refused to be separated. Had they disagreed on something? Was that even possible?

Unaware of the thoughts running through her "father's" head, Viviana placed her own onto his chest. Her hands wiggled, looking for something to hold, and finally clenched a strange protrustion on Eriol's chest.

"OUCH!" Wait, what?

Confused, Eriol finally looked down, an froze. His limbs shook, and soon he realized it wouldn't be safe to hold Viviana much longer. He hurried to put her back in her crib as the shaking got worse. Hands helf in front of him, he scrutinized the limbs, fear building. They were thinner, with what was definitely nail polish, and a gold band around his right ring finger. He was thinner, with slightly wider hips, and what was definitely a bulge at his chest. His tail had changed as well, becoming fluffier and red, with a creamy white tip. In addition, his boxers weren't boxers at all, but a red tartan... skirt? A kilt, perhaps, that rode low on his hips and hung to his knees. A thin band of white covered his chest, and a golden locket was clasped around his neck.

Something was very, very wrong.

He couldn't take it anymore. He had to know what was going on. It took all of Eriol's courage to approach the mirror mounted inside his closet. Opening the door with eyes clenched shut, he counted to three, then opened.

He was a girl.

Not just any girl though. He looked older, maybe even older than his mother. In addition to the new tail he sported matching ears, red touched with white, that sat pointed atop his head. Thich drown dreadlocks were replaced with fine purple locks that flowed to his shoulders, and his eerily glowing green-red eyes were now clear gray, almost like Viviana's. The one familiar aspect of his new appearance was his skin, which returned to the color it had been before Halloween. In that respect he looked normal. The rest was not only alien, it was feminine, and that was worse.

Eriol stared at his reflection for five solid minutes. He cocked his head, tried to out-move it, tapped the glass, and even tested to see if a film had been placed on the surface. The mirror seemed to be un-tampered with. It was his body that was altered, and he did not like that one bit. He liked girls, but he didn't want to be one.

As the realization truly sank in, he did the only thing he thought of. He screamed. The sound was high pitched and painful to hear, but he didn't care. It was something to do, and if he worried about the noise he didn't have to worry about the other stuff.

Yeine was the first to reach his room. Still clad in her nightgown and clutching Nyan, she had awoken a short time ago after a frightening nightmare, and feared Ying had done the same. But on her way to the Jumi's room, she paused. The noise wasn't coming from Ying's room. It was coming from Eriol's.

Pausing, she placed her hand on the doorknob. "Eriol-niisan?" No answer, only more screaming. "Eriol-niisan, I'm coming in!"

Everything looked like it should. Viviana was in her crib. The bed was a mess, but that was nothing new. A purse that looked to be made like a heart-shaped chocolate box was falling off one side. The closet door was open, and a young woman stepped out from behind it as the screaming came to an abrupt halt. In some ways, the silence was eerier than the screams.

"Yeine?"

Instinctively stepping back, Yeine growled softly. Whoever that person was, she had no right to be in Eriol's bedroom. She was most certainly not an invited guest, she knew that much. If she was a burglar, she didn't look the part, but what burglar would want to?

The stranger sighed. "Yer gonna drop Nyan if yer not car'ful."

The growls quickly changed to a startled meep. "E-Eriol-niisan?"

Oh, fantastic. She didn't even recognize him! By now Eriol had thought he had been seen almost anything, and that nothing would take him by surprise again. Viviana's arrival had proven him wrong, and months later, he had been proven wrong yet again. Maybe that thought was a curse.

Eriol dropped to his knees and moaned. "Wha'd I do ta deserve THIS?"

"It- just stay calm." The fact that Yeine was calm startled her. She was scared of course, but somehow kept her head in the game. "I'll go find Miss DS."

Great, she could do that. And he could sit there and be a girl. "No wonder th'whale got freaked," he muttered to himself. "I'm freaked."

Voices from the hallway trickled in. Yeine spoke first. "Where's Miss DS?"

Ying answered nervously, "She's in the living room, but she's not letting anyone in. Why?"

"Eriol-niisan's... not himself." Yeine chose her words carefully, that much was evident even without being there.

"He's not the only one."