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 Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:44 pm
July 6, 2005 Something... rather strange happened today. I'm not quite sure how to explain anything that came to be, just that it happened and now I'm afraid I'm in an odd situation in which I'm not sure if I can handle. I'm nothing like Neko in many ways, and while I enjoy the family that we have, I feel that sometimes it's perhaps too large and crowded for my tastes. If we end up moving into that house I bought several months ago, it would STILL be crowded and unbearable, and I'm not completely sure as to what to do about it. Neko has been looking, but I fear for what she might decide on. Nevertheless, while I tried to keep Neko from adopting more and more children, I failed somewhere. This time, it's my own fault, but I can't turn back now. I had received a strange letter in the mail a few days ago, inviting people to visit a library I don't recall hearing about before. This wasn't an ordinary library, mind you... This library contains hundreds of books of all sorts, most of them seeming to be tomes, fantasy stories, and thousands of fairy tales. All of these books, however... or rather, most of them... were enchanted. Of course, I didn't know this at first and decided to visit anyway. I supposed I'd hoped to find new knowledge of water magic, but alas, I had no idea what I was getting into. After gazing at several of the books for a long while, I was drawn to a loose page resting upon a desk near the back of the library. I'm not sure why... There was something about the torn, tattered paper that intrigued me, and I wanted to learn more about the faded words on the page. "Once upon a time...small girl...happily lived away fr...sland, rules by mag..." That's all that can be made out, and all that I know. It seemed like nothing more than a story to me, until the librarian came out and started to speak with me. It was as if I'd just been suckered into picking up the page... As if he KNEW I would be coming that day, and knew I would be curious. When he told me that he knew I'd be a wonderful guardian for her, I knew I was suddenly in trouble. I, myself, had been drawn into what Neko found to be a weakness, and accidentally "adopted" a new member into the family. After speaking with the old man further, I just couldn't neglect the poor page. I suppose I'm weaker than I thought... Not that I ever took pride in being able to turn down adoption offers. I especially couldn't turn back after finding out the page would become a little girl. Neko hides it very well, but I know deep down that she's a little disappointed in how few women there are in the house. The majority of the family is male, and even though we have Tea and Mocha running around, the tahnee children all stay mostly together than with me or Neko. I know full well how badly Neko's been wanting a daughter... Perhaps fate simply helped me in finding her one. I just hope that Manior and Demare will understand... I brought the page home as told, and shall be keeping a close eye on her. I'm keeping her a bit of a secret from Neko for now until I figure out what she'll be like, so I can hopefully explain more to her than what I was told. I spent most of this evening searching through books, finding all of the fairy tales that I could, and I felt it was only right for me to read to her. Since the page itself has the word 'magic' faded onto it, I thought perhaps she might be interested in such. I read her the story of Beauty and the Beast. I hope that one was okay... Fairy tales can be quite sad sometimes, as many of the endings lead to some sort of death. Perhaps I should look into some of those altered versions, with the happier endings.
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:46 pm
July 16, 2005 Perhaps I'm seeing things lately. Maybe I'm not getting enough sleep. I'm not sure what's going on, but I think I'm growing delusional for some reason. For the past few days, I swear I see the page moving every so often when I'm in the room. The corners would roll up a little bit, as if it were reacting to my very presence, and when I was reading last night, it almost seemed to... move. Maybe it was just the air, but it went from the middle of the desk to the edge within 5 seconds. I don't understand at all... Then again, maybe someone's playing tricks on me. Demare can move through shadows... perhaps he's playing a game with me. An... odd game. All I know is that I'm trying very hard to keep this page a secret from Neko, and the more these things happen, the more I wish to tell her about it to see if I'm just going crazy or not. I hope I'm not going crazy... What kind of a guardian would I be if I were insane?
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Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2005 11:54 pm
July 19, 2005 Something is terribly wrong. So very very wrong!! I went to check on the page this morning, and she was GONE! I... I don't understand... She was there last night. I made SURE she was there before heading to bed. How could she just... disappear?? Demare claims to know nothing of this, and Manior seems clueless... Mocha, Sora, Lola, and Juubei haven't seen it, either. I tried to get Peanut to sniff her out, but Neko started getting suspicious. I can't tell her anything... Not yet. I looked all day, and nothing has turned up. I'm worried... What if she gets torn to shreds by one of the domos? What if the pixas got a hold of her, and are holding her hostage for some reason? What if... she's gone forever...? I'm hoping she'll turn up in the morning. Perhaps my mind will be clearer then, and I'll be able to concentrate more. ...Though, my eyes have been bothering me a little bit. All day long, I thought I saw a strange little shadow on the walls, but every time I looked back to check again, it was gone. Maybe... I am going crazy after all.
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 10:10 pm
August 3, 2005 It has been... two weeks... since she disappeared. I have slept maybe a total of 24 hours within the past 16 days, and I regret worrying the others so much. I can't help it, however... None of this makes sense. Where could the page have gone?? It's not like she grew legs and walked away... A paper with feet would be quite noticeable. Perhaps I did something to anger her, and she found me to be unfit to be her guardian. Or, perhaps I scared her when I read The Little Mermaid those two weeks ago. I just... I... I feel so... utterly helpless. That... shadow is still there. It follows me everywhere... It's like it's mocking me, waiting for that moment that I'll break so it can swallow me up whole and make ME disappear. That small form of darkness... taunting me... playing tricks on me... stalking me wherever I go... ...I wonder if the shadow has anything to do with her disappearance. Maybe... Maybe I should go back to that library........ Perhaps that old man might know something about this.
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 9:51 am
August 03, 2005: Me and My Shadow Domonic yawned as quietly as possible, holding a bandaged hand over his mouth to cover up most of the sound. He was extremely tired from not sleeping much, and walking here didn't help in the matter. It was a wonder he even made it, his pale blue eyes sleepily staring down at the handle of the door. Now to simply find out what he wanted, and hope to make it home.
Lifting a hand, he carefully wrapped bare fingers around the cool metal of the handle, pausing for a moment as he took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. All the while he was on his way here, he had the feeling he was being followed, but whenever he looked back, he could only see darkness. Turning his head enough to glance over his shoulder, there was still nothing behind him, and the tall man could only feel a slight relief at this. There was something lurking in the shadows, he knew. Something that had been tormenting his mind for two weeks straight, and not even letting up as he left the house.
It was driving him mad.
Pushing downward on the handle slowly, he listened for the small click of the lock before pushing the door open, peering into the dimly lit room and searching for some form of life. A rush of air brushed along his sleeve as if something had passed him, but he couldn't see anything as he looked around, and finally stepped into the building. Pulling the door closed behind himself, Domonic cautiously stepped away from the large enterance, staring down the main aisleway curiously.
"Hello?" he called out, breaking the disturbing silence, aside from the soft footsteps he made as he walked. "Is anyone here?"The only person nearby was asleep in one of the library's many mismatched chairs, an overstuffed leather armchair with a matching footrest. It was Eriol's favorite haunt in the main library, and he could often be found there, playing a video game or scribbling in his journal. This time, he was fast asleep, a large book open on his lap.
Then the door closed, and he awoke abruptly. The book slid off his lap and fell closed on the floor with a loud slam. Muttering angrily to himself, he picked it up and staggered to his feet, and then towards the door.
"Who's there?" he called before he got there, shielding his eyes against a nearby lamp.Domonic stopped as he heard something fall to the floor, a bit worried that perhaps he had startled someone. As the voice piped up, however, he grew a bit curious. The voice didn't belong to the old man from before... This one was much too young. As the teenage boy made his way into view, he somehow felt a little at ease, lifting a hand to rub at the back of his neck.
"Forgive me... I didn't mean to intrude," he said a bit quietly, but quickly remembered proper mannors. He lifted his other hand toward the young man, offering a handshake. "My name is Domonic. I, uh... thought I could find someone to help me here."As sleep interruptors went, this guy didn't seem too bad. A little quiet, but okay. Eriol studied him for a moment before accepting the hand and shaking it. "Eriol. Who're ya lookin for? Mom went home ta look fer somethin, and FG's in the back somewhere." He stopped, thinking. Yep that was everyone. There hadn't been any vistors in a while from what he'd heard.
"Or I could try ta help, if ya like," he offered, "but I'm not sure what I could do for ya."Eriol? That name sounded very familiar... It would come to him later, more than likely.
"Well... you see I..." he started, thinking about how to word it exactly. The boy would think him to be crazy if he just came out and said it, but how else could he put it? "I'm... I'm kind of missing a..."
He stopped then, the corner of his eyes catching a glimpse of movement off to the right. As he looked, he spotted the shadow along a nearby bookcase, moving slowly as if it were browsing through the titles of the books.
"Oh for goodness sake..." he muttered, sighing lightly as he hung his head in defeat. "It's followed me HERE, too.""Er?" Eriol's eyebrows shot up. Perhaps he'd misjudged the visitor, he was apparently nuts. But being nuts didn't mean he could be rude, so he took a breath and shook it off.
"Should I, uh, know what it is what followed ya?"
There. A bit of insinuation without actually calling the guy looney tunes.Domonic simply lifted a hand and pointed toward the bookcase, not bothering to say a word.The shadow, knowing full well it had been seen, paused for a long moment. As if happy to have been seen, it began to wave excitedly. ... or not.
Waving back, more curious than nervous, Eriol jerked his other thumb towards the back of the library. "He's probly in the back room. Can't miss it, 's the only one there. Should be open.""Thank you," he said quietly, not even lifting his head as he began to step past the young man, making his way toward the back of the library.The shadow, however, stayed put for once. It was surprised the boy had waved back, and the shadow twirled happily, skipping along the bookcase to move closer. It stopped at the end of the bookcase, folding its arms behind its back and began to rock back and forth on it heels. The shadow, now closer, appeared to be very short, as if it belongs to a small child. Long hair could also be seen as the dark figured moved from side to side, interested in the new boy. Peering back for a moment, Domonic almost felt disappointed that the shadow hadn't followed him this time. However, it was probably for the better... Looking back in front, he stopped as he reached the door to the back room, his tired eyes merely staring at it for a long moment. Eriol had referred to the man as "FG" before... What did that stand for?
Raising a hand, he rapted his knuckle against the door a few times, hoping he wouldn't be disturbing him.A few seconds of shuffling could be heard, and just as it ended, a man opened the door. He seemed tired, but calmly brushed a piece of silvery hair out of his eyes. The office behind him looked neat and well-kept, but any view was shortly cut off when the man stepped out of the room and shut the door behind him.
"Can I help you?" He held out his hand, smiling a little. "Or have you just come to browse?"It was some sort of ghost kid! That had to be it, he couldn't think of anything else. But it was still neat. Definitely different. Probably more interesting than anything he'd dig up around the dusty old library on a normal day.
Eriol waved again, not sure what else to do. "Uh... who are you anyway?"Domonic blinked a few times, a little out of it from being so tired. Shaking his head a little bit to switch back to reality, he took hold of the man's hand and shook it once firmly.
"Ah, actually... I was here about a month ago," he informed him, now tried hard to keep hold of consciousness as he felt his eyes grow heavier and heavier with each passing moment. "You see, I... Oh, how can I put this exactly... T-the page I got from here has been missing for the past two weeks. I... I don't know what happened..."The shadow gave thought to that for a moment before turning to the side, opening its mouth, and then tapping at its throat, as if to say it couldn't speak. Thinking again for a moment, it pointed down the aisleway, then began to wave its hand again as it twirled happily, as if to say that it knew the man at the back of the library. "Oh, so yer his ghost?" He'd read a book about a man who was haunted by a ghost. Except that was the ghost of his dead girlfriend, and this ghost looked too little to be anyone's girlfriend. Then again, he couldn't really tell.
The excitement at finding a ghost was starting to drain away, and Eriol sat down in the nearest chair, still eyeing the ghost. "How come yer hauntin him?"The smile quickly drained from FG's face, replaced with a worrying frown. "Yes, of course... I'm sorry, I've been terribly preoccupied. But what's this you say of a disappearance? I can't imagine why... there's been only one case of a page disappearing before, and in that case it was taken by a family pet... are you certain it's vanished? You didn't misplace it, or perhaps it was moved by a member of your family?""I've... I've looked everywhere, sir," he explained sadly, looking down toward the floor. "No one has seen it, I've checked every inch of the house, around the house, around the blocks... It's like she completely vanished. Though... There's this shadow that has been following me around ever since that day. It's... it's here, too."
Domonic glanced over his shoulder, noticing the boy interacting with it. "Eriol seems to be... having a talk with it. I'm just glad it wasn't all part of my imagination."The shadow swayed back and forth a little bit before moving its arms to wrap around itself, as if giving itself a big hug. It then turned a little bit and blew a kiss toward the back, seeming to giggle a little bit, then looking quite proud. The frown deepened, wrinkling FG's forehead. "A shadow? Curious... come, let's see what it has to say." He seemed convinced the two were connected, though really he was just grasping at straws. Still, it couldn't hurt to see what the shadow was like. His step quickened, and he rushed towards the front, beckoning for Domonic to follow.Eriol laughed. He must really have been bored, because he was having more fun than he had in weeks with an oversized shadow puppet.Domonic reluctantly followed, not quite sure if it was a good or bad thing that the shadow could actually be seen now. Though, perhaps the librarian could figure out what exactly was going on.
"I'm... not quite sure if it talks," he said, realizing just now that he'd never heard any sounds coming from the dark figure. "As far as I could tell, it's just a shadow."The shadow threw its hands up into the air with glee, happy to know that Eriol seemed happy. As the two men grew closer, it turned its head toward them, and began to wave a hello, wondering if they would be playing with it as well. Eriol also saw their approach, and joined the waving. "Yo.""Yes, I see..." Pattering to a stop a few feet from the shadow, FG frowned even more if it was possible, then suddenly smiled. "How impatient. You should have just waited; it wasn't going to be much longer. And you've worried Mr. Domonic here sick."
He knew he was probably confusing the others, but he'd sort it out soon enough. For the time being he held out his hand to the shadow. "If you come here, I'll sort you out."The shadow seemed... excited. It twirled with its arms up in the air, and if the shadow had a face, there would have been the largest grin on it. It stopped, as if preparing itself for something, and reached out small hand to grasp onto the man's. Domonic, fighting sleep back as best as he could, could only watch as the librarian seemed to know what was going on. Waited? Impatient...?? Worried him sick???
Wait. He didn't mean that the shadow was....? Was it her all along?FG reached forward, onto- no, into, the shadow's body. His arm sank into her shoulder, brushing away a bit of shadow, and revealing the corner of a ripped up storybook page. Once his suspicions were completely confirmed, he stepped back again, letting the magic begin.The page sank back into the shadow again, but something was different this time. The shadow shivered, trembled, and started to solidify. Color spread from the floor up, tinting each bit so it was no longer a shadow anymore- but a flash of light made it briefly impossible to see just what it had become... "You're not mad, are ya?" The girl shuffled her bare feet a little, though the mischevious glint in her eye was impossible to hide. "I didn't mean anything by it, really..." Domonic was simply in awe. He could do nothing but stare at the child, amazed at how such a being could come from a torn up page. The long, purple hair... The brilliant blue eyes... Her robes reminded him of what the women wore in his hometown. The silver circlet around her head made him curious, and just before he could speak, something different happened.
The tall, blonde man, completely exhausted from the past two weeks, slumped over onto the floor as he could no longer fight back sleep.Layla couldn't help but giggle a little bit, brushing a little bit of her long hair away from her face.
"Oh my... I musta gave him a fright just now."
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Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2005 11:39 pm
[Journal: August 12]
Layla a bit attached to Neko, causing trouble around the house. Likes pestering Demare the most, adores Manny and Mocha. Given a book for journal keeping, but hasn't used it yet. [Magic book] Thinking about finding other guardians to see how she would react to other pages.
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Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2005 11:17 am
March 28, 2006
Written by Neko You may have been wondering where the hell I might have been for the past several months. That's expected... I had completely forgotten to write in you, after all, since my return from visiting Rhia-chan. I really need to stop doing that... Finding you and dusting you off after about 8 months is a pain in the a**. I'm sure you don't like it much either, do you? So! It's about damn time I get you caught up with things, ne? Now, how to explain... The last time anyone wrote in this thing was when I was gone? Well, damn... a lot's happened since then. For starters, things were a mess when I finally got home. Demare had, somehow, managed to split himself from his body into the two cat plushies I'd given him for his birthday. Domonic had no idea what to do with the two, and quite frankly, neither did I. It took me about a month to figure out that the reason my spells weren't working on them was because I needed to... "exorcize" the other soul from the body before putting them back in it. God, I hate this... necromancy stuff. I don't know why I kept the books around, but I'm kinda glad I did. These spells can be pretty dangerous if misused, or if they fell into the wrong hands. Anyway, I managed to get that done and Demare was finally whole again. ...Well, as whole as a boy with two souls can be. As for the brat I took out of their body, I sealed him in an amulet Domonic had brought with him during our last travel to his home town. I don't know what to do with it right now... The kid was bothersome, and a bit on the creepy side. Maybe Demare could ask that friend of his what can be done about it. What else happened... Well, Manny's been wanting to get outside a lot more. At first it was fine because the weather was okay, but around the time it started getting colder, he got very sick because he felt it was necessary to play in the rain. He was okay, but he got very restless having to stay indoors and in bed all day. Demare and Layla kept him company during most of that time as I had gotten sick myself from trying to take care of him, but what worried me was that he didn't seem to be able to handle the cold very well. It was strange... For a few days, he had a very high fever, was very congested, and could hardly sleep at all. When I had a doctor check up on him, he'd told me it was just a simply cold. Even he didn't understand the violent trait it had given, and thought it might have something to do with his immune system. Once Manny was better, however, he ran some tests to follow up on that theory. ...Manny is completely healthy. His body is fine. Maybe it's just because he's a toddler... I suppose we'll find out when he grows up a little more, ne? I love Layla to pieces. She's so precious and adorable, even if she can be a tricky little brat. Finally, at long last, I gained a daughter... I don't care if she's a prankster. She annoys Demare, and that's good enough for me! It's funny, really... watching the two of them together. Layla isn't intimidated by him at all, even when he tries to threaten her with his dagger. The second person ever to not fear him, in fact. Well, at least of those that live under this roof. I remember one thing she managed to pull off wonderfully. While he was asleep, Layla drew pictures all over Demare's face with a permanent marker. It was childish, I know, but it was so darling and it wouldn't come off for days. All of that just because he told her that she acted like a dog. Gotta love child immaturity... Needless to say, he's left her alone since then. Christmas was wonderful. Domonic tried, once again, to propose to me, and after a lot of thought, I finally gave in. I normally don't care much for human traditions, as I feel that for us... marriage isn't exactly necessary. As demons, we don't have any special rituals to be bond to someone; we simply give our vows to one another and that's the end of it. However, Domonic was raised to be human his entire life, while I had only been partially raised that way. This wedding thing is more important to him than it is for me, so... I decided that for him, I'll do it. Because I love him enough to do such a thing, and I'm willing to try anything at least once. Anything to make him happy, ya know? The first of the year started out pretty bad, however. Shadow came to the house again... Luckily, Domonic and I were nearby this time and we stopped him from trying to take Manior away. I don't understand... I think he was going to finally leave me alone. Had we not gotten there in time, there isn't a doubt in my mind Manny would have gone with him. Demare, however... I was very upset with him. It was as if he tried to get Manny to go on purpose. He didn't do anything to stop Shadow, and had simply ignored the presence of the demon. I didn't understand... I thought he cared about his brother. I mean... I really don't care what Demare's past was like. That was... the past. This is the present. I wish he could see that... I wish he could see that we're just trying to be his family. It would be nice if he would call me... mom... However, I don't expect him to. So long as he accepts the fact that I love him like I do any of the other children, I'd be fine with him just calling me Neko. That boy... One day I'll understand him completely. So now we're up to around... earlier this month. My feien finally came home after being gone for about a year. Merri isn't talking to me, Raylan is worried about being a bother, Tahki's causing trouble, and Ares is trying to seek out her friends. It's good to have them home again... I missed them so much. I just hope I don't get the feeling that I want to kill them again. Not long after they arrived, two more decided to show up, so now I have six of them. Well... ******** great. I'll have to figure out how to work this out, because there is no way in hell I'm going to take care of SIX of them. Especially not after the dreams I've been having... Before I mention the dreams, I want to say that I feel like I've been a terrible mother. Even though I try very hard for them and give them as much love as I possibly can, I still feel as if I'm ignoring them somehow. Manny doesn't have any friends aside from whoever lives within the house, and he doesn't have anyone close to his age to play with. Layla has been wanting to visit the library for quite some time now, but neither Domonic or I have had the time to show her how to get there. Demare's mostly been locked up in his room, reading some of the old tomes I've collected. I mean, for Pete's sake... Johanna arrived not too long ago, and it was Layla who had retrieved her. I feel like a horrible guardian! I'm not making time to take them out to do anything. I haven't done anything fun with them in... well, MONTHS. I'll need to try to change this soon... I don't want to leave them with a bad impression of me in their minds. Now I'm back to the dreams again. You see, I have reason to believe that I may be dying. Night has become a welcome mat for nightmares, my dreams growing more and more vivid as the days go by. I dream of death... dying in several different ways as if it can't choose which way is perfect for me. At first, things were merely simple. I would dream of getting a fatal wound, I would grow scared, and I would awaken. However, as the dreams grow more gruesome and I become more and more frightened, I wake up later and in pain. It's as if my dreams are starting to become more real as the day grows nearer... As if I were to die by my dreams. Just the other night, when I woke up, I had begun to cough up blood. The next morning, Domonic examined my body, and found that one of my ribs had been broken, and it nearly punctured a hole in my left lung. I fear that Death is on my doorstep, and has begun to knock on my door. Eventually, I'm going to have to open it, otherwise it could break down the walls itself. I just pray that I still have more time...
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