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 Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:18 pm
In Need of an Escape
Reyna flees from the house to avoid confrontation.The silver haired woman visibly twitched as Athan moved to sit at the dining room table with her to eat dinner. The past couple of days had been incredibly stressful to say the least, but the other man finally seemed to be gaining his health back. She was thankful for that since the sooner he was better the sooner he could leave, but he was acting terribly withdrawn. He'd always been quiet and reserved, particularly when they had first met, but now it felt strange for him to simply.. slip back into the old routine of things so to speak.
What's more, that damn wisp was always hovering about his shoulders -- and he'd talk to it. Out loud. She grumbled as she shoved a spoonful of food into her mouth and swallowed it down mechanically as she listened to Athan's side of the conversation with the gem that he'd dubbed 'Smokey.'
"Mmm.. she's not so mean. Not really. She just acts that way," he said as he brushed a few stray lockes of his dreaded hair out of his face between mouthfuls of food. He hummed a low noise in his throat before chuckling quietly at something amusing. "I don't think she'd appreciate that."
Reyna squinted irritably over at the other man and tapped her fingernails restlessly against the metal table top while Mystic hovered anxiously near her side. He could feel her anger rising and her control slipping around the edges. It was a strange, unnerving feeling, but he wasn't too sure there was much of anything he could do to calm her down.
"She is pretty despite the attitude. You're right about that," Athan murmured thoughtfully before wincing when the pretty girl in question hurled her spoon at his head, effectively stopping their conversation as the wisp darted to hide behind his back and food splattered across his face.
"That," he hissed as he wiped at his face with his napkin, "Was rude and disgusting.."
"Rude? RUDE? You were talking about me right in front of me! I'm sitting right here, Athan! This is my house!" she yelled as she stood from her chair and slammed her hands on top of the table. The noise startled the little wisp and sent it skittering down to hide beneath the table in the shadows there. "Have you lost your mind?!" she all but screeched before sitting back down in her chair with a huffy sigh as she pressed her hands to her temples.
She grumbled when Athan tried to retort back with something that.. simply didn't make any sense, though it very well could have been that she had simply stopped listening to whatever it was he was rambling about. She pushed away from her chair once more and stalked off angrily towards her room.
Mystic trailed after her, half afraid to say anything lest he managed to spark her temper as well. He paused outside her bedroom door before drifting through it to catch sight of her pacing restlessly about the room. 'Reyna?' he called tentatively.
"What?" she managed without too much venom in her voice as she sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She grumbled under her breath and sank down into the chair at her desk to hold her head in her hands. She wanted to help Athan but he was driving her up the wall, and she desperately wanted to just.. escape from it all.
'Maybe you should..'
"Should what?" she murmured faintly as she glanced up to see Mystic hovering there in front of her.
His cool hands reached out towards her and tugged her to her feet and into a hug. Her eyes widened faintly at that sweet gesture before she reluctantly returned it. 'You should escape. Go somewhere else for a while. I can take care of Athan for you.'
She mumbled something in consent and leaned there into his arms. It was strangely comforting. He knew how to read her and seemingly what to say at the right time, though she knew that was all because of their bond. It was nice though, having someone like that in her life. Before Mystic, she'd had no one at all, really.
"Alright," she spoke up, "But are you sure you'll be okay by yourself with him?" She kept pestering him with similar questions and thoughts before the Shadow all but shoved her outside the front door and then locked it behind her. She smiled faintly and shook her head before heading towards town to see about finding something to occupy her attention long enough to distract her from the stress she was having to deal with.
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Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 12:44 pm
Forgotten But Not Lost
Reyna returns home with a child.She fumbled with her keys as she struggled to find the right one and keep a good hold of the little girl that was squirming restlessly in her arms at the same time. Just as she had found the right key she heard the bolts slide and unlock to reveal Mystic standing there in the doorway. He looked as though he were about to start grilling her about why she had block him out of her mind, but he remained silent as he gazed curiously at the child in her arms.
'Who.. is that?' he asked as he stood there gazing wide-eyed at the baby who gurgled in delight and made grabby hands at the Shadow.
"Uh.. haven't come up with a name yet," Reyna replied before sighing as Mystic filled her head with a barrage of questions, few of which she actually held the answers to. "Long story short. The kid came from a book I opened," she said simply as she tiredly made her way towards her room after dropping her keys on the kitchen counter.
Instead of explaining exactly what happened she simply opened her mind to him and allowed him to see for himself. After that the Shadow was quiet for quite some time as he trailed after his Guardian. He sat on the bed next to where his Guardian had left the baby to loll about while she disappeared to change out of her still soggy clothes. She was thankful she wasn't nearly so susceptiable to sickness as most people were and didn't have to worry about getting a cold.
She poked her head out of the bathroom after she had changed and peered at the baby curiously. She seemed healthy. Thankfully the storm had stopped after she had left the Library at Pippin's house. She smirked faintly at that thought. She truly had become a 'victim' of the Library so to speak. The storm had appeared suddenly, forcing her to find some sort of shelter. The circumstances were quite strange, but she decided not to question them. Stranger things had happened to her, though she had to admit almost all of them had occurred after she moved to Gaia.
"Any ideas for a name?" she asked Mystic who simply shook his head and continued to stare at the baby as though it were the most interesting, complicated puzzle he'd ever been faced with in his entire young life. "Me neither," she murmured as she moved to sit on the bed opposite side of the Shadow so that the baby was in between the two of them and in no danger of crawling off the bed.
"I don't know what I'm going to do with her.. man.. I don't even have a baby crib or anything for her to sleep in," Reyna lamented before rising to her feet to move towards her desk to fumble for a pen and some paper. She'd have to go to the store the very next day to get things she'd need for the child. "Erm.. what exactly do babies need?" she asked out loud even though she was more or less talking to herself.
Maybe she ought to call Wren and bug him. He had kids. She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. She was not meant to raise children. She wasn't even sure she was capable of having children. Hell, she couldn't even remember ever being a child. Her childhood was nonexistent. She just sort of.. existed.
The sound of a child's giggling laughter pulled her attention away from her barely formed list just in time to see Mystic toss the little girl high up into the air and dash up and catch her. Her visible eye widened and she made a sort of choked noise when the Shadow did it again, much to the delight of the little girl.
"Don't.. DO that.. you'll.. break her or something!" Reyna yelled, hands on her hips with an anxious, worried sort of look on her face.
'I wouldn't drop her. She's fine,' Mystic replied, fairly beaming as the little one gurgled something he couldn't understand against his cheek and tangled her little fingers in his hair while he hovered midair. Fragments flew about the Shadow, seemingly checking him out to make sure he was okay, but his Forgotten seemed to be just fine. He settled down to nestle in a invisible nest in the air next to Mystic and contented itself to simply hover as well.
"She might be fine, but I'm not! You damn near gave me a heart attack!" Reyna scowled before tearing one hand back through her hair as she gazed up at Mystic.
The Fiend floated back down to the floor to stand on his solid feet before handing his Guardian the baby. 'Here.. hold her for a second,' he murmured as he handed the baby over towards her that whimpered in protest. She was having fun floating through the air with him. She didn't want to go to the silver haired woman.
Reyna held her stiffly away from her body and squinted at her blearily, much to the child's discontent. She whimpered unhappily before those whimpers turned to louder cries. "Noo.. please be quiet? Don't cry! Mystic is coming back.. he's always around.. hey.. hey..!" Reyna pleaded with the baby to no avail because, well, she was a baby after all. Reasoning did not work on a child so young. "She won't stop crying!" the silver haired woman announced when Mystic came back into the room.
The Shadow snickered inside her head and folded his arms over his chest in a bemused sort of fashion. 'Maybe you should try holding her,' he teased.
"I am holding it, but it won't stop!" Reyna cried out over the child's wailing before her eyes widened when Mystic moved towards her and pressed the baby closer towards her. It forced her to adjust her hold on the child and cradle her against her chest, something that seemed to soothe the baby some until her crying had subsided to soft hiccups.
'See..' Mystic murmured, 'She just wanted to be held..'
"Oh," was Reyna's reply as she frowned and glanced down at the baby that had curled one tiny fist in her shirt while the other was shoved mostly into her mouth. She looked tired, but then it was rather late at night.
The silver haired woman moved to sit on the bed with the child still firmly cradled against her chest as though she were afraid if she moved her she'd become upset again. She simply sat there with her back against the headboard and watched the child slowly fall asleep there in her arms. Her dark frown faded slowly and the corner of her mouth quirked in a hint of a smile. The baby looked.. sweet. Innocent. It made her want to hug her close and protect her. It was strange, warm feeling that she truly wasn't used to and couldn't exactly remember having experienced before.
She sighed and moved to put the child down with some visible reluctance before frowning when the baby stirred and began to cry. "Oh come on.. don't be upset.. I need to go check on Athan," she murmured as she tried to soothe her by petting at her soft brown hair.
'Athan... isn't here, actually. He went home,' Mystic replied as he moved to sit next to the sleepy child. He put a purple colored panda plushie down in front of the baby that he'd removed from a shelf in his room. He'd never played with it as a child, but he remembered wanting it because it was roughly the same color as he was.
Tiny hands reached out towards the plushie and Reyna watched as the baby snuggled up against it as best she could. Her sleepy green eyes sifted closed and she fell to sleep once more while Mystic and his Guardian both stayed up to keep a watchful eye on her. Fragments stayed awake as long as he could, but after a while of suspiciously eyeing the two other people in the room he nestled down against his Forgotten's side and slept as well.
"Well," she murmured in a soft whisper as though to avoid waking the child again, "Good. He was driving me up the bloody wall." She frowned and moved to pull her chair closer to the bed to watch the baby sleep. She sat curled there with one leg pulled up against her chest while resting her chin atop her hands that were neatly folded on top of her knee.
"Samara," she smiled faintly, interupting the lull of silence that had filled the room.
'A name for her?'
"Yeah.. it was my grandmother's," Reyna replied with a smirk before chuckling quietly behind one hand when Mystic went wide-eyed at that statement.
'I thought you didn't have any family,' he remarked as he gazed over at his Guardian suspiciously.
"I don't," she replied simply before falling quiet once more.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 7:54 pm
Shopping Fun
Reyna goes shopping for baby supplies and Athan pays a quick visit!Reyna sat in the middle of the living room floor watching Samara crawl around on the blanket she'd laid out for her. She figured the comforter she'd laid out would be a bit more forgiving on the girl's hands and knees than her hardwood floors would be. She contemplated the thought of getting carpet, but decided that it'd end up too costly and that carpeting would simply soak up any accidental spills -- not to mention the stains all her art supplies would leave.
She pulled a face at that thought before simply deciding to invest in a few area rugs instead. It certainly wouldn't interfere with her rather interesting decor if she bought some that were in solid colors. She was rather fond of her mural paintings, as was Mystic. Idly she wondered what sort of colors Samara would approve of and hoped she didn't want something too obscenely bright colored. She wasn't too sure if she could stomach a pastel pink room...
"Come on, little one," Reyna murmured as she reached to pick the child up who in turn held her arms up towards the silver haired woman expectantly. The sight of Samara reaching for her was something that she found pleased her in a strange way she couldn't quite put a name to. It left her grinning stupidly and cuddling the girl against her chest the way Mystic had all but forced her to do the evening before to put an end to the baby's crying.
She pulled herself up to her feet and swayed slightly in a rocking motion that seemed to lull the little girl into leaning her cheek against her shoulder. Mystic appeared before them with a sort of bemused expression on his face but didn't dare comment on how motherly and sweet his Guardian appeared -- it would surely ruin the moment if he were to point it out, something he had quickly learned when he'd commented on how the woman had stayed up all night just to watch the baby sleep.
'We're still going to the store, right?' he asked instead as he floated midair, something that seemed to amuse Samara and her daemon that was flittering about.
"Yeah.. we need to get her some food, too. No need for her to starve," she replied simply before moving towards the kitchen table to pick up her wallet and keys. She headed outside, fully expecting Mystic to simply appear near her side after he'd locked the door from the inside and drifted through the door.
"Let's go to Barton first.. stuff is usually less expensive there. If they don't have anything we can use well.. we'll take a bus to Durem," she said out loud before smirking faintly when Samara gurgled a noise in response as though approving of Reyna's plan. It indeed was a good plan until the woman realized that the reason why she didn't go shopping more often was because she hated it.
Her temper flared on more than one occasion while they were out and she was fairly certain she ended up getting one or two employees in some serious trouble. Truly, it wasn't the shopping that bothered her -- it was having to deal with all the people that were lurking about within the stores. Places like malls and stores seemed to leave a residual stain of life inside them so to speak, so even when there wasn't that many people there it felt as though there were. It was something she felt to be rather suffocating at times, and was all too thankful when they had come to the conclusion they had bought everything they had come for and then some.
Reyna grumbled under her breath as she dropped a diaper bag full of various things and nessecary items that she had bought gracelessly to the floor. She glanced over towards the little girl that was giggling and patting her hands happily against Mystic's cheeks. Amusement bubbled over through the bond they shared and it eased her overall crankiness. A small smile tugged at her lips when the Fiend handed Samara over towards her.
"And of all the new toys and things you now have you want Mystic's panda plushie," she teased as the little girl flailed the plushie through the air with one tiny fist clutching its arm. She squirmed and kicked her legs, giggling in amusement as she managed to bash the silver haired woman upside the head with the toy.
"Alright now.. enough of that," Reyna murmured, careful to keep her tone light and soft as to not upset the child. Growling apparently didn't seem to intimidate children into behaving -- it scared them.
She carried the little girl to her room where Mystic was, already unpacking Sam's new things and setting them out for her. They managed to find a nice, plush area rug for her room that covered the vast majority of the floor. Reyna sat her down on the floor to play with her plushie and some toy blocks that she'd reached for insistently when they'd ventured into the toy store. She watched her play for a little while before moving to help her Shadow assemble the baby crib.
It was a task that proved infinately more irritating than any other project she'd undertaken. Reyna ended up sprawled in the middle of the floor with Sam curled up against her chest to nap while Mystic tried to make sense of the directions after his bonded had all but given up.
"I think we should have bought one pre-assembled. Those directions don't even make sense and I think there are parts missing," she announced irritably. Sam stirred somewhat but simply clutched her plushie closer while Fragments darted inside the box that had once contained all the parts and pieces that were strewn messily across the floor. "Screw it... she'll just sleep with me to--"
"Tsk tsk.. since when have you resorted to stealing babies, Reyna?" came a mocking voice from the doorway.
Reyna sat up with Sam cradled in her arms and glared stonily at Athan. "I didn't steal her, she's mine. Learn how to knock," she hissed in a low voice as she idly toyed with a few strands of Samara's hair as though to remind her she was holding a little girl in her arms and couldn't jump up and start a fight with the man. "She came from a book I opened, so now I have to take care of her."
Fragments darted out of the box he'd been exploring and swirled around Athan's shoulders as though sizing him up before moving to hover near his Forgotten's side just in case. He did look rather suspicious with his glowing green eyes and dark robes. The little daemon tensed as though ready to spring on the man when he bent to kneel down next to Reyna and the child, but he relaxed somewhat when the man pushed back the hood to his cloak. He didn't look nearly so intimidating that way..
"What's her name?" Athan asked with a smile, something that seemed to stun Reyna slightly. Since when did he smile like that?
"Samara. I call her Sam, most of the time," she murmured quietly as she squinted at Athan suspiciously. Last she'd seen him he'd been having something akin to a nervous breakdown and was suffering from the after effects of a massive explosion of magic that had been aimed at him. He seemed normal enough -- as normal as Athan ever was.
"Sam. That's cute," he replied as he reached for the sleepy little girl and plucked her up out of Reyna's arms. The silver haired woman opened her mouth to protest but decided against it. Instead, she pulled herself to her feet and crossed her arms over her chest. "I can honestly say I've never thought of you as a motherly sort of figure," Athan teased before chuckling low under his breath when Sam gurgled up at him sweetly as though to confirm the fact that she was cute.
"What's all this mess all over her floor? Is this her room?" Athan laughed as he shifted his grip on Sam so that she was propped up against one hip and he had one arm free. He whispered a few low words under his breath in a language Reyna couldn't understand and outstretched his free hand towards the pieces of wood and metal. The mess that covered the floor floated up off the ground and pieced itself together. Fragments whirled through the floating objects before settling on the assembled bed with a look of approval as he bounced around on the mattress excitedly.
Reyna stood with her hands on her hips and remained quiet as she scowled irritably at the bed. 'I so could have done that...' She pulled her attention away from the bed and back towards Sam who was giggling and awake now. She clapped her hands, giddy and excited after watching all the pieces of her bed float through the air. She squealed as Fragments floated over towards her before settling on Athan's shoulder so that he could watch and see if the man did anything else that was entertaining.
"So," she murmured as she tried to keep the irritation she felt out of her voice as she reached for Sam, "Why are you here?" She eyed Athan warily as she tried to calm the little girl in her arms that was flailing out towards the bed where her panda plushie lay. He hadn't ever visited her home but once when they had first met, and then once more when they were readying a spell against Doran. This was unexpected and she wasn't sure what to expect from him.
"I wanted to make sure your wards were back in place since it's mostly my fault they were torn down by Doran," he replied simply, "But it seems you've already put them back into place."
The silver haired woman shot him an odd look at that statement. It was true that the wards that protected her home and kept her well hidden from the world had been all but shredded apart, but she hadn't had time to fix them. "I.. it must have been Izzy. I haven't had the patience or the time really to do such a thing," she answered with a sort of half confused look on her face.
Athan frowned as well but refrained from commenting further on the subject. He glanced idly towards Mystic who was hovering near the baby crib, occassionally poking at it to make sure it was sturdy enough to safely hold the little girl that he had quickly adopted as his baby sister. "Well... that's all I came here for. Oh, and to grab the journal I left in your guest room," he stated, "I shall surely see you soon. I have business to take care of for the time being. I'll likely stop by the shop here in a couple of days."
Reyna nodded in response as she idly rocked the little girl in her arms and walked Athan towards the door. She smirked faintly when the man paused briefly to pat Samara on the head affectionately before all but disappearing from view.
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Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2005 8:11 pm
Remembrance
Mystic reflects on his feelings towards Sam.Upon first meeting the little girl that had come into his Guardian's care he wasn't entirely sure what to think about her. She was small, noisy, and giggled a lot whenever he held her, but he felt drawn towards her. He wanted to take care of her, and somehow he knew just what he needed to do to make her smile and laugh whenever she was upset despite having never been around a human child. Her daemon seemed rather at ease with him as well, and he figured it was because of the ghost-like quality he could take on that gave them a little common ground.
He had to admit that intially the thought of having to share Reyna's attentions with someone else wasn't exactly a pleasant one, but he easily shoved those thoughts aside. Sam was to be his little sister -- even if he didn't see Reyna as a mother figure, at least not really. She was more of a friend, and occassionally a mentor. Samara was special, though. Whenever she reached up towards him and smiled that sweet way she did he couldn't help but melt and give in to any sort of whim her young mind managed to concoct.
So far her thoughts were consumed mostly with the most basic of a child's needs -- the desire to eat, sleep, play, and be held. Occassionally she'd think of how she liked it best when Misty held her up high in the air and twirled her around as though she were flying like Frags. He didn't bother to correct their names since she likely wouldn't understand and very well might be frightened to have him whisper against her mind the way he did when he spoke. Either way, he found her simple thoughts and sweet intentions endearing.
It also made him think, and occassionally when he was daydreaming he felt as though he'd remember something. He wasn't entirely sure what it was he thought he was remembering of if maybe it was just some strange feeling he was siphoning off of Reyna as he sometimes did on accident. It was an odd feeling. It was like a severe case of deja vu, but he didn't know why he felt that way and it left him feeling sort of confused.
Things only became more complicated when he caught himself daydreaming. Sleep wasn't something he actually had to give in to like most people did. He was a Shadow afterall and sleep to a creature like him was meaningless. Reyna sometimes woke in the middle of the night from nightmares (though she wasn't aware he knew about them), but he didn't know he could dream. It was a sensation that was as strange as his feelings of deja vu in reguards to taking care of Sam.
Athan had mentioned a couple of times when he had been discussing Doran with Reyna that Shadow Fiends, like himself, were created from souls that were trapped within precious gems. He also said it would be impossible to fully know or become who he once was, and that left him wondering. Were his daydreams and strange feelings resurfacing memories, mere glimpses of his past that he'd never be able to comprehend? It was frustrating to think that his life had been stolen by someone like Doran, and he'd never know if his feelings about Sam were because he had a little sister once, or maybe even a daughter.
It was hard to tell. All he knew was that even if he did have a family once long ago, Reyna and Sam were his family now -- and he'd do anything within his power to protect them.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:48 pm
Smoke Covered Mirrors
In which true darkness shows through."By the gods!" Reyna exclaimed, "Children should come with off buttons!"
Mystic resisted the urge to snicker at his Guardian's declaration as he moved to scoop up the crying little girl from her crib. Being in his arms as he floated and twirled through the air calmed her some, but her sniffling hiccups persisted. He rubbed her back in soothing circles as she buried her little face against his neck and clung to him for dear life.
Samara had been cranky since she woke in the middle of the night, disturbing Reyna with her wailing. She found Fragments pawing frantically at her bedroom door when she stumbled bleary-eyed out of her room. Thinking the absolute worst, she dashed down the hallway to the little girl's room to see what was the matter.
She found her standing upright as best she could in her crib, gripping the railing with tiny fists to keep herself up while she cried. The only thing she found wrong with the child was that the front of her lower gums were a bit swollen. Mystic had declared that she was probably teething -- he'd read about such things in a baby book that he'd insisted she buy while they had been out shopping the other day.
Since then Samara had remained cranky and irritable. Her bad mood worsened as night turned to day and she went without any rest at all. Fragments hovered worriedly about his Forgotten and Reyna mirrored Sam's foul mood while Mystic tried to soothe his adopted little sister.
He'd suggested that perhaps Reyna should try to ease her pain with a healing spell or at least put her to sleep the way she had done Athan when he had been under her care. She'd considered the idea for only a moment before paling visibly. Her magic only worked correctly half the time, which left the distinct possibility it could do more harm than good. She didn't want to risk tainting the child's aura with her slightly warped magic. She wasn't even certain that it would work on her. She didn't exactly have a whole lot of experience with humans or at least ones of a more normal variety -- then again, the child did have a daemon flittering about it near constantly. She was fairly certain that wasn't exactly normal, but she hardly had room to talk or really even room for comparison when it came to terms of 'normal.'
What's more, Athan she knew could handle her magic, even if it was tainted. He was a well practiced magic-user and she wasn't all that concerned with his well-being anyway, just so long as he didn't up and die on her any time soon. Samara she felt responsible for, and part of her was swiftly growing quite attached to her.
Despite her developing soft spot for the girl she was rapidly losing her patience. She was hardly a stranger to insomnia, but she was feeling quite drained after staying up all night with her. She truly hadn't rested well since she'd brought Sam home from the Library. She was paranoid that somehow the child would end up hurt by accident or something simply awful would happen and the babe would be torn from her arms. She couldn't explain that fear or why it was there gnawing at the back of her mind, but it was there none the less.
"Nnnh.. think clove oil will work to numb the pain or something?" Reyna pondered out loud, "Or maybe we should give her some medicine... wait. Can babies take medicine?"
Mystic simply shrugged in response. His knowledge was about as limited as Reyna's, and he hadn't gotten that far into his book just yet.
"Dammit! I was never meant to have children! I don't know if I'm even physically capable of such a thing!" she lamented as she tore her hands back through her short hair out of sheer frustration before falling absolutely still as a thought struck her.
"Wren has kids! He and his wife have an entire herd of them. I'll call him!" Reyna announced as she scrambled out of the child's room and all but ran to the phone that was perched atop the bar that was attached to the kitchen.
She skidded to a stop in front of the device and quickly punched in his number from memory despite the fact that she had the number on speed-dial. "Pick up, pick up," she murmured as she anxiously fidgeted while pacing back and forth as she listened to the dial-tone.
The phone rang at least three times before it was finally picked up. "Concord residence," the voice on the other end spoke, obviously very distracted, "souls devoured, destroyed, and repossessed, all for free! What can I do for you?"
"For starters you could give me advice as to how to silence a wailing child in the most humane way possible," Reyna replied, biting back a few giggles of laughter at the bit about souls while she continued to pace back and forth in her living room. "I've.. got a kid now," she went on, "And.. Mystic says she's teething and I haven't slept in a while so excuse me if I'm a bit delirious.."
There was more silence for a moment ( Wren blankly staring at the computer screen in front of him and trying to digest the information said ), before the demon spoke again. Seriously this time. "Ah, well ... All the ways that immediately come to mind aren't exactly humane, but the first question that comes to mind is what the hell are you doing with a kid?" And did she realize how surreal it sounded. "But, um, have you tried giving her something to chew on, while she's teething? There's also some stuff you can apply to their teeth and it'll help too ..." He was rambling all most, a shocked expression on his face. Reyna. With a kid. Scary.
"Yeeeaah.. see.. I went into this house to get out of a storm and me and another girl went down into this library --"
"You discovered babies come from books!"
"Uh.. yeah. I did," she spoke up as she idly ran a hand back through his hair, "So now I'm stuck with her. And.. you know me.. I know me. I was not made to have a kid and I'm.. so damn tired. I mean, I got rid of Athan and now I've got a kid.." She rambled on endlessly for a moment or so before sighing when she realized that she was simply talking in circles. "Anyway.. I'll.. buy her some chew toys or something.. I don't have anything to put on her teeth except maybe some clove oil, but I was afraid it'd.. make her sick or something.."
"Brilliant." Wren murmured, not really meaning to let it out. He shut off the computer monitor, so he wasn't distracted by the urge to write and not give his friend some advice. "There's these little ring type things that you can buy for her. You can put them in the freezer for a bit and pull them out and give them to her to chew on. Also, consider some popsicles, but it might be a bit too cold for her." He paused again, somehow amused that after everything, another set of children were born from the library. "And, ah, clove oil shouldn't do anything to her. Just use a cotton ball to apply it to her teeth. If you go to the store, they likely have some other stuff you can use too ..."
"Okay.. that sounds good. I'm about done with the constant crankiness and crying. Hopefully this will fix things," she murmured before sighing when Mystic trailed into the room with the sniffling baby in his arms with Fragments following shortly behind. "She's kinda .. cute when she's not screaming her little head off," Reyna went on before snickering faintly under her breath.
"I'm sure, my dear, that the same was said about you at some point in time," Wren teased lightly, before chuckling quietly. "It's likely just the teething that has her out of sorts, besides the fact that you're not use to babies and she's probably not quite use to you yet." And even a baby would need time to adjust and particularly Reyna, they needed to adjust to the behavior of each other. "... and, um, if you're having trouble getting her to sleep, have you considered letting her rest on your chest, with her ear towards your heart beat? And find her something to chew on until you get her something proper, too." The last bit was an absent thought.
"Uh.. no.. haven't tried that," she answered as she frowned, looking a bit frazzled. There was so much she didn't know! It was frustrating to no end. Her life was organized in a certain way, and she went about her daily life in what could be considered a ritualistic pattern. Everything was now completely strewn apart and putting the pieces back together seemed to be more difficult than it truly ought to be. "I think.. I've got some popsicles in the fridge.. we might have something to suffice as a teething ring. I damn near bought out a store the other day for just.. stuff for her."
There was another quiet set of chuckles, and Wren smothered the yawn that threatened to escape, if only because of the hour. "Try it, sometimes it's soothing for a baby." And other small baby animals, but he'd leave that line out. He had to learn the hard way with his kids, as it was, helping Reyna out would be a good thing -- for both new mother and child. "Well, don't worry, you'll likely buy out an entire store by the time you're finished, trust me. As is, if you want, I've got some books on babies and the like, if you want them. From when I first got Mael." As if he knew how to take care of kids, then. Considering his parents, it was likely a good thing he read up instead of practicing what he learned and sharing that knowledge with everyone else.
"Yeah.. I will. Mystic got a book while we were out," she said in a rather tired voice as she pressed a hand to her face and ceased her pacing as she settled on the couch while she watched Mystic play with the little girl in an effort to distract her from the pain of her teeth cutting through gums. "Man.. I'm so not fit to be a parent," she lamented quietly as she leaned her head back and gazed up at the ceiling, "How the hell have you managed to pull off having kids running about?"
"... you do realize I'm not entirely sane," he deadpanned, "have you ever wondered what finally made me snap?"
"True," Reyna snickered with bemused grin plastered across her face that faltered slightly when Mystic's entertainment value seemed to wear off and Samara's sniffling turned into wailing cries once more. "Well," she sighed, "I've gotta get back to the shop in the next couple of days or so.. check up on things before Athan has a cow. Want to stop by and meet the kid?"
"Sure. I suppose I could bring Mael with me, even if ..." Wren trailed off, shaking his head. "I'm sure Athan would love to see me." He added in, with a devious glint to his eye, an amused expression on his face. "And I wouldn't mind meeting the new girl, probably cute as can be." And he had a soft spot for cute things, which did include children. "What's her name?"
"Athan can kiss my a**," she replied as she sprawled out over on her side with one arm dangling off the edge of the sofa carelessly, "The kid's name is Samara. I usually just call her Sam. And she's got this funny ghost looking thing named Fragments that flutters about after her. It kinda reminds me of Mystic when he was a wisp."
"I'm sure your a** is high on Athan's list of things to kiss," he snickered as he pushed his keyboard aside, his forehead now pressed to the monitor and eyes shut. "But that is a cute name, Sam, though I don't recall a daemon quite like that before. Kind of ... unique." Particularly the way that he was imagining it in his mind's eye.
Wren's comment merited a few giggles from Reyna as she lolled about on the couch. "Oh. I'm sure of it," she snickered, "Yeah.. so.. whenever you get a chance. Stop on by. From tomorrow onward I should have resumed my normal schedule if all goes well." She trailed off on a soft sigh before sitting upright to trail off towards the kitchen where she could hear Mystic rummaging about. "Anyway.. thanks for the advice. I appreciate it. I gotta go see what my Shadow is doing with my child in the kitchen.."
"Probably looking about for a popsicle or something to for the kid to chew on, considering you know ... your shadow's ability to know your thoughts." Wren ignored the subtle tug from Hawk's Eye in the back of his mind, as the child actually came through into the room to check in on him -- or torment, as it was the same thing. "But I'll stop by, in the next day or so. Not sure when, but I'll definitely be by. You're welcome for the advice, too ..." Wren trailed off, suddenly, actually having to listen to Hawk as he bombarded him with something. "And, uh. Hawk says for Mystic to watch out."
"Yeeah.. true, true. I'll let you get back to writ--"
A loud crash interrupted her mid-sentence. Samara's crying ceased and she began giggling in amused fashion. In her upset she'd managed to make every loose item in the kitchen float. Upon seeing the stuff fly through the air she clapped her hands and laughed in approval, effectively causing everything to come crashing down.
"Uh.. I gotta go. I'll talk to you later, Wren," Reyna murmured as she peered around the corner into the kitchen with a faint wince at the mess that was strewn across the floor. Mystic shot her a rather pathetic look as he was covered in what appeared to be flour, making him look just as ghostly as Fragments.
"All right," Wren murmured, only hearing faint bits of the crashing through his end of the line. He held back the chuckles and merely glared over his shoulder towards Hawk who looked rather amused. "I'll catch you later, Reyna. See you soon and get some rest, after ... cleaning up what's probably a mess." This time, he did chuckle, but he was all ready moving to hang up the phone and turn his monitor back on so he could write.
'I am not amused,' Mystic grumbled as he handed off Sam to Reyna before disappearing to go and clean himself off. He was dusted in a fine layer of flour after Samara had made a mess of the kitchen with her telekinesis. He hadn't seen the girl use her powers before and had only seen what Reyna had showed her in his mind. When she began throwing her little temper tantrum he hadn't seen it coming at all.
Needless to say, he wasn't pleased. He avoided simply phasing through the walls as he normally did to keep from getting the flour all over the place. Instead, he padded quietly down the hallway with human feet towards his room. He locked the door behind him, deciding he'd appreciate some time alone to ease his nerves some before disappearing into the bathroom to clean himself off.
He had to say that it was probably the first time that the sink or even the shower had ever come in handy. He was still tempted to just go transparent and allow the mess of flour to drift off of him, but in the end, he realized, he'd just be creating a mess for him to clean up.
Dark hands reached to twist the knobs of the shower to turn on the water. He watched with a strange sort of fascination as the water went straight through his hands before he took on a solid form. The feeling of droplets hitting his skin was a strange sensation he recalled feeling before, but where he'd felt it he couldn't quite place. He'd never been caught in the rain outside, nor had he ever found it nessecary to bathe before.
He inwardly frowned at that thought before simply stepping beneath the spray of water as his jewel-tinted eyes sifted closed. He felt strange. Annoyed. Angry. Confused. An array of emotions welled up inside him as he sagged against the corner of the shower and just sort of lolled there. He hardly noticed when his form went transparent and the water was no longer touching him.
His eyes opened and he watched the mist swirl and dance around him the way shadows did when he manipulated them. He tilted his head to the side and watched the light filter through the cloud of moisture before turning off the water of the shower. His shoulders were stiff and tense despite the warmth of the small room and he still felt horribly irritated over the mess in the kitchen with Sam and with his own feelings he didn't understand. It was frustrating.
He reached out with one solid hand to wipe away the moisture that had collected on the mirror before jumping back, startled by his own reflection. He blinked rapidly before leaning forward again to peer at himself. For a brief moment he thought he'd seen someone else other than him. Someone with dark hair and equally dark eyes. It wasn't so much the person's appearance that disturbed him as it was the fierce anger that was written across the person's face.
He reached with a shakey hand to touch the reflective glass as words he'd heard not too long ago echoed through his mind in a foreboding sort of way that made him feel slightly faint with worry.
'... you have darkness within you.'
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:49 pm
The Beginning of Dreams
Nothing but lucid dreaming.Sleep was an unnecessary thing for him, though as of late he couldn't help but feel increasingly drained. What the reason was for that, he wasn't entirely sure, though on more than one occasion he found himself drifting off into a dream-like state. It was a strange feeling that left him fidgeting nervously whenever he woke back up again.
He was more used to spending the nights in Reyna's library reading than sleeping. Though lately he'd taken to hovering silently near Sam's crib to ensure that he was there to soothe her when she woke in the middle of the night. His Guardian was quite exhausted, and he knew she needed rest. Having to wake up at the crack of dawn to the child's wailing didn't exactly lend to getting a good night's sleep.
Despite his original intentions, Mystic abandoned his post at Sam's bedside and drifted off to his own room to read the books he'd stowed away in there. Instead of reading as he normally did, he fell into a deep sleep. He dreamnt of darkness, something that seemed utterly natural to him considering that it's what he was. What struck him as odd was that he realized with a sudden clarity that he was dreaming.
It was like being awake, and yet he knew he was asleep. He moved of his own accord though somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware that he wasn't really moving. It was simply a projected image of himself moving around inside of his mind.
Tentatively he drifted through the walls of the house that fell together like puzzle peices as he moved. His mind was constructing the background as he explored and his eyes widened suddenly when he saw Sam toddle around a corner. That was strange. She was only a baby, and from what he had seen from his adopted little sister, there was no way she could be walking along like that.
He drifted after her before stopping midair when someone else ran past him at break neck speed. He caught a flash of cropped silver hair and quickly came to the realization that it was Reyna. A look of confusion furrowed his brow as he sought to go after them. He cut through several of the walls and came upon the garden in the center of the house.
Strange. He didn't remember the garden being there. He knew the layout of the house inside and out -- quite literally. Sam smiled up at him as she toddled in through the open door and reached up towards him. His expression softened and he reached for the girl in turn with every intention of picking her up and carrying her around as he always did.
What caught him off guard was when Reyna appeared in the doorway and screamed at him. The look of utter terror on her face was an expression he'd never seen on the woman's features. It was so surreal. His brow furrowed in worried lines once more as he tried to comfort her and call out to her until things clicked into place and he realized he was still dreaming.
He felt swept up in a sudden wave of dizziness. He blinked once. Twice. And then opened his eyes. Sam was in his arms, giggling happily as she patted at his cheeks and pulled at his hair. The room spun for a moment and it felt as though everything had suddenly been skewed at a weird angle that left him feeling horribly disoriented.
He glanced down at his feet and noticed that Reyna was asleep in the middle of the living room floor. 'REYNA!' he called when he realized she seemed to be trapped in some sort of nightmare. She darted upright at the sound of his voice echoing inside her mind and for a brief moment that same look of terror was written across her face that he'd seen in his own dream.
"Uh.. I'm.. gonna go take a shower. Watch the kid for a while, kay?" Reyna murmured fuzzily as she retreated out of the living room and towards her own room to leave Mystic staring after her curiously.
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 8:50 pm
Tick-Tock
Sam has an "off" day.Sam woke up screaming.
It was a blood curdling scream that sent shivers down Reyna's spine when she darted up out of bed. It sounded as if someone was murdering her child. It was the only way she could describe it. She rushed in a panic down the hallway towards Samara's room to see what was the matter, movements jittery from lack of sleep and the sudden surge of adrenaline that thrilled through her.
Upon barging into the room, she fully expected someone or something to be there tormenting her child. She was surprised to find that nothing from what she could tell was wrong with her. Mystic was already there, hovering worriedly about the girl's crib. Even Fragments seemed to be acting strangely. His brow was furrowed in what seemed to be angry lines and if he could have, he likely would have snapped at Reyna's fingers when she moved to pick up her wailing child.
"Shh.. Sam.. dear Sam," she breathed as she cradled the little girl to her chest and idly smoothed one hand up and down her back in a soothing motion. "Child what is wrong with you? Still teething?" she murmured as she tried to look at her gums but the girl twisted her head away and shrieked at the top of her little lungs as she kicked her hands and feet in attempt to pull away from Reyna.
She looked down at the writhing child in alarm before carrying her off towards the kitchen to rummage through one of the drawers for a thermometer. Maybe she had a fever and was sick! That would certainly explain her behavior, or so Reyna thought. It was the only logical explanation she could come up with.
She tried to put the instrument in the girl's ear the way the instructions said to. Samara simply wailed in protest before physically fighting against her mother. She flailed her little arms in a sudden violence, sending the device all but flying out of Reyna's hands to skitter across the floor.
Mystic's eyes widened when he reached to pick up the thermometer to find that the digital face was cracked in several places. 'Something is definately wrong here,' came his soft reply against Reyna's mind.
"Yeeah.. no kidding," Reyna murmured as she tried to hold Sam and cradle her close once more. Normally that was something that calmed her, but it definately wasn't helping this time. Her kicking and screaming ensued and she actually bit at her mother's shoulder while pummeling her with tiny, angry fists.
"Samara!" the silver haired woman yelled over the child's screaming as she held her away from her body the way she had done when she'd first brought her home and hadn't known how to properly hold her. "What the hell is your problem, kid?"
Sam simply screamed louder at that, tears streaming down her face as her entire body seemed to shake with the force of her sobs. Reyna opened her mouth to say something else but at that moment everything in the kitchen decided to rattle and shake before floating midair. Her eyes widened and she ducked down with the girl cradled against her chest as a set of kitchen knives went flying through the air.
"Mystic!" she yelled as she glanced up just in time to see her Shadow go transparent and wisp-like as the knives passed right through him to stick in the wall behind him. Reyna felt a rush of fear and panic filter through their bond that mirrored her own emotions. If Mystic had still been in his solid form he would have been hideously wounded by the knives.
She stood suddenly and took off running with Samara cradled protectively against her chest. Everything they went by shook with the tremors of her telekinesis that was seemingly out of control. The only place in the house that Reyna knew would be somewhat safe from her now destructive powers would be the child's bedroom. There was barely anything in it for her to float through the air.
She put the child back into her crib while Fragments pawed frantically at her legs as though trying to tell her something, but it was no use. He couldn't speak and even if he could, Reyna likely wouldn't be able to understand him. She took a step back from the crib as it began to rattle and shake and was tempted to pluck the screaming girl out of it for fear that it would come apart.
'She's safer there. Athan spelled it, remember? It's least likely she'll hurt herself in here,' Mystic murmured as he reached to grab Reyna by the arm and haul her away from the child for fear that somehow his Guardian would end up hurt the way he almost was with the knives. 'Leave her be..'
"But," Reyna protested before Mystic bodily through her down to the floor when the rocks that Samara had appeared with in the Library came flying out of the treasure chest box that they had been safely stored away in. One of the larger rocks flew into the wall that Reyna had been standing in front of moments before while another smashed through the glass window on the opposite wall.
'Stay down,' Mystic breathed as he ducked down over Reyna and huddled close to her as though to shield her from the onslaught of Samara's temper tantrum. They stayed huddled there in a corner of the room for what seemed to be hours on end, afraid to leave the child there alone and afraid that one of them would end up hurt by the swirling rocks that banged violently into the walls, leaving considerable damage in their wake.
Both Mystic and Reyna ended up curled on the floor behind a small table that had been knocked over. Surprisingly it was one of the few things aside from the crib that wasn't floating about the room. It was something that Athan had donated to help spruce up the room, so that was likely the reason for that. Either way, it made for a fairly good sheild against everything that Sam threw at them.
Reyna occassionally peeked up over the edge of the table to see what Sam was doing when she fell quiet, but whenever the child spotted her mother looking at her, her wailing would resume, as would the bombardment of rocks swirling about the room. It didn't end until sometime late in the evening when Samara finally exhausted herself. She laid in her crib curled on her side with Fragments, sobbing into the panda plushie that Mystic had given her.
The silver haired woman desperately wanted to go over to her and comfort her, but she was afraid that by moving from her and Mystic's hiding spot that somehow she'd end up upsetting her. Just as she was about to give into that temptation and try to see if her child was okay, the door to the bedroom swung open.
Athan snorted faintly in a bemused fashion as he took in the appearence of the room. The curtains were half torn off the window that was smashed in, rocks were scattered across the floor and inbedded in the walls, and Reyna and Mystic were huddled behind an overturned table. That last part was what proved to be the most comical. "Do I even want to know?" he snickered as he pushed back the hood to his cloak before reaching to haul Reyna up off the floor with one arm, eyes widening slightly when she stumbled.
"Er.. sorry.. legs went numb," she explained tiredly before pulling away from him to move towards the crib to check on the sleeping little girl.
"... how long were you two in the floor?" he asked slowly with a bemused smirk on his face as he idly tried to pry one of the rocks free from the wall.
"I have no idea. Sam went nuts with her telekinesis and we couldn't get anywhere near her," she replied softly as she bent to carefully brush the girl's brown hair out of her face. She was sound asleep, cheeks slightly pink from exertion and lashes a dark, damp smudge against pale skin.
"She's a telekenetic? You failed to mention that," Athan replied smoothly as he managed to jerk free the rock from the wall that left a large hole where the rock once was. He studied the dark stone for a moment before squinting at it curiously in as he held it up to the light. His head tilted to the side as he stared at the stone, seemingly transfixed by it. "Did you know that there are crystals of some sort inside these stones?" he murmured as he picked up another and examined it as well.
The one from the wall was cracked and he could easily see the sparkling crystals within it, though none of the other's seemed to be as damaged as that first. "Very interesting.." he mused out loud before moving to push Samara's dresser upright before setting the cracked stone on top of the piece of furniture as though to add a simple, decorative touch to the thoroughly trashed room.
Reyna simply rolled her eyes at the man before ushering him out of the room forcibly by one arm to keep from waking Sam or Fragments, both of which were sleeping soundly for once. "What are you doing here anyway?" she asked as they trailed towards the kitchen that Reyna soon discovered, was just as demolished as it had been a couple of nights ago when Sam had been throwing a temper tantrum. She could easily foresee that dealing with with the child when she was older and was a bit more in control of her powers was not going to be easy or pleasant.
"You were supposed to be at the shop today," Athan replied before smiling when Reyna looked slightly startled and opened her mouth to explain why she hadn't been there to take care of the shop. "It's not a problem. I figured something was wrong and came over to check on you. And I'll have you know that I knocked," he went on, smirking broadly in a way that unnerved the woman slightly, "And you were not there to answer the door."
"Right. Well. I was a bit preoccupied," Reyna grumbled as she scowled over at the man and motioned to the mess that was supposed to be her kitchen. She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She was utterly exhausted, and from what she could guess, she probably looked it. That was the only reason she could come up with as to why Athan was being so.. nice.
She sat and chatted with him idly for a while about shop matters and briefly about Sam, but truly she was too exhausted to focus on any sort of legitimate conversation. She was mentally physically drained and felt as though she could easily sleep for several days if she could get away with such a thing.
There was also this nagging worry eating away at the back of her mind. She didn't quite understand why it was Samara had acted the way she did. The only thing she could think of to do was to possibly stop by the place she was born to see if there were any answers there. "Athan.. I don't think I'll be at the shop tomorrow, either," she murmured tiredly, "Sam.. I need to see about Sam."
"Yes.. and I think you ought to see about yourself first and get some sleep," Athan admonished in a fatherly sort of way that made Reyna growl and bare her teeth in irritation. The man paid her no mind and simply hauled her off towards her room despite how she fought and hissed like some wildcat.
Mystic simply watched as he peeked his head out of Samara's room, vaugely amused. Reyna's behavior reminded him of how the little girl had fought against either of them trying to hold or console her. 'Strangely fitting.'
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Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2005 6:38 am
Back to Work
Reyna returns to the shop.The way to work was a path she knew all too well. She went the same way nearly every day, but admittedly it had been weeks since she had gone to open up shop. The last time she'd been at the store had been the evening of their battle with Athan's old comrade he'd previously thought to be dead -- or so he said. There were too many details around the situation that were a bit fuzzy for her liking, but she decided not to press the issue. What was important was that it was all done and over with and the b*****d had been locked away.. mostly.
She sighed as she adjusted her hold on the squirming baby in her arms as she fumbled with her keys to unlock the door. Just as she had found the correct key Athan appeared in the doorway and unlocked it for her from the inside. Her eyes widened slightly at that. It was hideously early. What the hell was he doing there at that time of day? Truly it wasn't even nessecary for her to be awake and there so early, but she preferred to avoid the crowds of people that gathered in the mornings.
"Morning," Athan replied before smiling faintly at the sight of Samara when the little girl gurgled a hello of sorts of her own.
"What are you doing here?" she asked. She seemed to be asking him that quite frequently as of late. Then again, he always seemed to be popping up unexpectantly.
"I didn't think you'd be showing up. You seemed a bit out of sorts last I saw you, I do believe," he informed her before locking the door behind her once she shuffled inside with Sam and her diaper bag.
"Thanks for the reminder," she grumbled before biting back a yawn as she headed towards the back room to settle her little girl in. She was surprised to find a play pen already set up and an assortment of brightly colored toys. Reyna laughed quietly under her breath before glancing towards Athan who was leaning in the doorway arms crossed over his chest. "Just happen to have a baby pen lying about your house, huh?"
"I could have. You don't know."
She snorted and arched a brow at that. "Don't tell me. You've got a wife and six kids at home," she teased as she sat Sam down into the pen to explore all the new shiny things that had been bestowed upon her.
"It's possible."
She stopped midmovement and simply allowed the diaper bag to slide off her shoulder limply before she burst into a fit of giggles. "Riiiiight," she snickered, "I'm so not buying that one. I won't even rent it." She sighed, a small smile still toying at her lips as she dug through her messenger bag for the cookies she'd made the day before. Cookies were an excellent breakfast -- or so she tried to convince Mystic when she'd packed them in a small container and stuffed them in her bag for later.
"Want one?" she asked around a mouthful of sugar cookie as she held the container out towards Athan when she noticed he was still hovering there in the doorway. She frowned when he simply eyed her a bit suspiciously. "What? It's not like I poisoned them or anything. I made them for Sam.. mostly. Do you really think I'd give my kid a poisoned cookie?"
Her gaze narrowed and she brushed past him with a huff when he remained silent and stared at her pointedly. He grabbed up the container when she walked past and stole a cookie for himself. Reyna simply smirked and decided after a moment that she was curious as to how he managed to eat the damn thing and not get any crumbs all over his impeccable all black wardrobe. 'Likely spelled his clothes. I think he's neurotic enough to do such a thing..'
'Most likely,' Mystic replied quietly inside her mind as she perched herself atop the stool behind the counter in the main room of the shop. She frowned when he didn't immediately appear near her side as he always did. A light chuckle interupted her worried thoughts. 'I'm playing with Sam..'
"Oh," she murmured out loud without realizing it. She hadn't noticed that Mystic hadn't been hovering close by until she'd heard his voice echo against her mind softly. She frowned quietly at this and idly pondered over what would have caused him to not linger in her shadow as he always did.
Athan appeared a few moments later, another cookie in hand and an extra stool in the other. He pulled it to the opposite side of the counter so that he was facing Reyna. She arched a brow curiously when he propped his elbows up on the counter and peered over at her. "Mystic is getting older," he stated, unconsciously answering the woman's thoughts about her Shadow, "Hadn't you discussed studying magic with him?"
"Uh.. yeah," she replied as she dug around in one of the drawers to the desk for the sketchbook she stored away there, "Just haven't gotten around to it yet. The little sneak found his way to my erm.. personal library and has been reading up on the subject, I do believe."
"I'd like to tutor him."
"That right?" she answered, curious as to what brought the subject of teaching Mystic up in Athan's mind. She didn't bother pressing for answers, though. He was a secretive man, and she wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. She was talented when it came to magic simply because of her nature, but Athan was more than well versed in the arts. He'd be an infinately better teacher because of that fact alone, nevermind he was more patient than she.
"Yes," Athan said slowly as though he were in the middle of a thought. "Out of curiosity.. has he been acting strangely to you?"
"Not that I've really noticed."
He made a faint noise and leaned his chin into one hand as he fell quiet while Reyna busied herself with her sketchbook. He opened his mouth as though to say something else but promptly shut it when Mystic came through door that adjoined the main shop area to the back room with Sam wriggling in his arms.
She squealed in delight when he floated through the air and went up high towards the ceiling before diving down to hover just over the sparkling cases of jewels and fine jewelry that the shop sold. Fragments followed suit just behind the Shadow, a sight that was rather comical, but not something that was really all that uncommon to Reyna. They did that often enough at home.
"Hey.. not in this part of the shop," she admonished, but the stern look on her face was replaced with a smile when Sam yelled something loudly in her gibberish language.
Athan smiled as well, something that lit his face up briefly before it faded suddenly. "I'll be back later. I have business I need to take care of," he spoke up a bit cryptically before disappearing from view in a way that still creeped Reyna out some. She never really got into the entire teleportation thing. She'd rather walk to wherever it was she needed to be.
'What was that all about?' Mystic asked curiously as he nudged around the edges of Reyna's mind as though trying to peek into the conversation she'd had with Athan.
"I'm not sure, really," she told him as she leaned over the desk as she flipped her sketchbook to a blank page, "You've got someone to teach you magic now. Other than me."
Mystic blinked in momentary confusion at that. 'Who?'
"Athan, of course," Reyna clarified before shaking her head when Sam tugged sharply on the Shadow's hair, making him wince as he tried to pry her little hands free from the grip she had on him.
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:42 am
Big Brother
Mystic contemplates Sam.Samara gurgled happily as Mystic set her in her high chair. She did so love him! He was shiny and purple and could zip through the air just like Fragments! At that thought the little ghost-like daemon appeared and settled himself on the child's tray, tail wagging expectantly as though waiting for his breakfast as well.
Mystic batted the creature away before chuckling quietly when Fragments thought that an invitation to play. Sam squealed loudly and threw her hands into the air as though to join in which simply added to the daemon's enthusiasm.
'Hey! It's time for you to eat breakfast, not play,' he insisted in a soft whisper against the girl's mind. Sam's green eyes widened and her delighted cries ceased for a moment as she stared up at the Shadow. Mystic's brow furrowed in worried lines. He had forgotten about how Sam might be frightened by his telepathic speech. He internally cursed himself with a few vibrant adjectives he'd picked up from his bonded.
Tentatively he reached out to nudge against her mind to see how bad the damage was. Rather than finding the mess of confusion he simply knew would be there, he found simple curiosity. She was also comparing him to Fragments. Apparently he spoke to her in a similar way, so she wasn't so much shocked and confused as she was mildly surprised.
She giggled happily and banged her hands on the tray as though the demand the bowl of warm, chocolate cereal Mystic was holding in her dark hands. She was hungry and her tummy told her it was time to eat!
'Right,' he murmured as he pulled up a chair to Sam's and offered her a spoonful of the cereal. She accepted the first bite greatfully while humming under her breath in what Mystic assumed was approval. His mind wandered as he continued to feed the child her breakfast, idly wondering what sort of connection Sam had with Fragments.
Reyna had said that they had appeared together from a book. It sounded strange to him, but he hardly had room to talk when it came to being strange. He had manifested from a small gem surrounded in shadows. Sam was at least more normal in the sense that she appeared and acted more human and had the basic needs of any human child as far as he could tell.
He just barely had a physical, solid form and eating wasn't something he could do seeing as he had no internal organs or even a mouth. His gaze narrowed in a tic of irritation at that thought. He wanted to be more like that. More human. He idly pushed a hand back through his hair after cleaning up Sam's face with a wet rag.
'You're lucky,' he told her as he hefted the small child from her seat. She merely gurgled cheerfully as she fisted one tiny hand in his hair as he drifted lazily down the hallway with Fragments nipping at his heels.
To be human. He wondered if that was even a possibility for him. He realized he was technically still growing. He had once been a tiny wisp, and now he was physically a teenager. He felt somewhat trapped, though -- and for reasons he didn't quite comprehend. He simply felt.. strange. Out of place. It wasn't something he'd really noticed before but now it was suddenly glaringly obvious.
He supposed that the observation came about when Sam entered his life. The only other people he'd ever been around for an extended period of time were his guardian and Athan. It didn't exactly make for a very good comparison when he was thinking about himself. There was Hawk, but the little Seer creeped him out for some reason.
He frowned faintly as he carried Sam off into her room to change her into some clean clothes before taking her out into the garden to play some with Fragments. There was just so much he felt he didn't understand, but at the same time he knew quite a bit. It was another odd feeling he hadn't quite sorted out.
'At least you don't have to worry about things like that,' he stated quietly as Sam giggled when he idly tickled her sides and then her feet as he put little socks and shoes on her. After that he took her out into the garden and decided to brush his worried thoughts aside for the time being and simply watch Sam enjoy the warm sunshine.
Sam laid on her back and gazed happily up at the sky. It was warm and bright. She reached up towards the sky with her tiny hands and gurgled some nonsensical gibberish. Her view of the brilliant blue sky was slightly ruined when Fragments got in the way. She batted at him and kicked her legs in frustration before managing to roll herself over onto her tummy.
From there her world tilted and her perspective on things changed slightly. Forget the sky! There were all sorts of things on the ground to explore. Fragments agreed with this train of thought and decided to hunker down in the grass and roll and play. The sight of him doing that was something that tickled Samara to no end.
She clapped her little hands and laughed as she watched before teetering over on her side as she lost her balance. She hadn't quite gotten the hand of sitting upright or crawling just yet, but she was working on it! Mystic watched this with a look of amusement on his face as he shifted slightly to hide within the shadow of the tall tree that was there in the center of the garden.
He disliked sunlight and generally being in any sort of light, but it was good for Sam, and she definitely seemed to be enjoying herself.
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Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:44 am
Solace From the Sun
Chandra visits the shop and chats with Reyna.Reyna sat behind the large desk, pencil idly tapping against the smooth surface as she gazed down at her sketch. She forgot just how boring tending to the shop could be, or perhaps it was simply because she felt as though she ought to be doing something else. She'd been going nonstop from one crisis to another for what seemed to be weeks on end. The sudden lack of general mayhem and mass chaos was like being splashed with a bucket of ice water.
She frowned and rested her chin in one hand as she fidgeted restlessly. Mystic had volunteered to stay at home with Sam so she wouldn't have to drag the baby into work with her. Being there by herself made the shop feel utterly empty, and she had to admit it felt a little strange to not have her Shadow at her side at all times anymore. He was slowly distancing himself from her, though Athan assured her it was to be expected. He was a teenager afterall, and was growing up quite quickly.
Wandering around town with a backpack of heavy books wasn't Chandra's idea of a fabulous day. In fact, what little strength she had was fading quickly in the sunlight. She didn't get hot, but something about daylight seemed to really sap her strength.
Looking for a place to rest, she spotted the fiend store and veered in that direction.
"I need shade and a place to rest," she told Marx, who was sitting in the shade under the hood of her cloak. The fairy didn't respond, but privately felt this was a bit of an inconvenience since he couldn't read until they got home.
The Black Pearl hadn't been active since the previous evening, but likely would appreciate shade - since it seemed to share Chandra's aversion to daylight.
"Hello," Chandra said wearily as she entered the shop.
She looked up from her sketchbook at the faint chime that sounded when someone opened the door. She offered the young woman a small smile as she continued to idly play with her pencil rather than putting it to good use. "Hey there," she replied. The girl looked familiar. Hadn't she seen her before..?
Yes! It had been when Athan had been spazzing over his old buddy making his presence known. She shuddered at the thought of him and was quite thankful that Doran had been dealt with accordingly without too much trouble -- at least mostly. "You look a bit tired. There are drinks and stuff in the backroom if you'd like," she offered as she pointed towards the door that was off to the side against the back wall, "It stays cooler back there, too, since it's relatively dark."
"That sounds perfect," Chandra said, removing her hood. This had the dual effect of probably making her more recognizable and exposing Marx to plain sight. "I do not know if we have met," she continued, approaching Reyna's desk.
And then introductions became a bit superfluous as the Black Pearl chose that moment to skitter back up Chandra's cloak and hover somewhere below her left ear - as if imitating an earring.
"I am Chandra," the Legend said, trying to look at the Pearl out of the corner of her eye. "and the fairy on my shoulder is Marx."
"I believe we did briefly, but we weren't properly introduced," the silver haired woman replied, "I'm Reyna." She smiled faintly when Pearl floated into view. She definately remembered her. She was one of the first handful of wisps she'd seen. She could still remember Mystic's reaction to how small she was.
She stood from the desk and moved to head back towards the back room. "This part of the shop is always available to guardians," she explained, "It's a safe place." Athan had spelled and warded it more tightly than even she did her own house -- which said something. She could only assume it was due to his own paranoia concerning old comrades of his.
"Thank you," Chandra said, heading for the door. She already felt better being in out of the sun, but the heavy backpack was stil weighing on her. The minute she could put it down, she would.
The Black Pearl followed behind her, maintaining its perch. It apparently also found this building to be a safe spot, as it didn't usually exhibit so much activity.
Marx gave the back room a disgruntled look before saying, to no one in particular.
"No one will mind if I read, will they? I had hoped to get home with my books before this. Or that Chandra wouldn't have to trouble herself to go to the library, but when one doesn't have a library at home - one has to look elsewhere."
"If I can sit and draw in here most of the day, you can surely read," she answered the little fairy as she hovered near the sink and bar area before taking down a couple of glasses, "The lighting isn't the best for such things, but it's not too awful." She'd curled up on the couch and read a book or two when she was taking a break from monitoring the front end of the shop.
"Anything in particular you'd prefer to drink?" she asked as she rummaged through the small mini-fridge that was cleverly disguised as a cabinet.
"It is satisfactory," Max said, hopping down as Chandra knelt to place thebackpack on the couch. He had already begun tugging at the rope by the time she stood back up and would likley have the bag open in a couple minutes.
Chandra also removed her cloak, resting it over the chair of the couch. "Water would be fine," she said to Reyna. "I do not like anything sweet."
She broke up some ice cubes to put in one of the glasses before filling it with water. She handed it to the girl with a small smile before moving to sit down on the couch as well after glancing at her watch. She could afford to abandon her post up front for the time being. It generally wasn't until later in the evening that she had any customers if at all.
Generally she wasn't much of a conversationalist, but she was quite bored seeing as she hadn't had her own Shadow to keep her company throughout the day, nor had she had Sam to worry over. It made her work day rather long and tedious, really.
Chandra took the glass and then sat on the arm of the couch she had draped her cloak on. Taking a small sip of the water, she looked around at the back room. The Black Pearl, probably influenced by the previous evening, clinked against the edge of the glass a couple times. This reminded Chandra of the night before, which probably made for a decent conversation topic.
"Last night I saw Athan catching another fiend," she said. "It seemed very mischevious."
Marx, who had pulled open the top to the backpack, was inside - probably trying to figure out how to pull out a novel when he was barely over 3 inches tall.
Reyna's visible red eye widened slightly at that admission. "Oh really," she murmured with a broad smirk, "He was trying to catch it?" She snickered behind one hand before running her fingers through her short silver hair. The image that immediately sprang to mind was more than just a little comical. She'd definately be giving him a hard time about it next she saw him. "Do go on," she urged as she scooted forward a bit to rest her arms on her knees.
Chandra wasn't sure why Reyna found that piece of information amusing, but she was used to not understanding the humor others seemed to find so easily. Blinking a couple times, she took another sip of the water - while the Black Pearl still seemed to be trying to find a way into the glass.
"I was visiting the feien headquarters." Chandra stopped. "Marx is my feien and I had just received him earlier in the day."
She took that moment to reach down and pull the mouth of the backpack open wider. Marx poked his head out and sighed.
"I didn't want to trouble you, but I can't seem to get the book out on my own. If you'd thought about it, you'd have probably realized that earlier."
Chandra nodded peacefully and pulled a book out of the backpack at random. Marx gave it and her a look, but held his tongue. Good enough. He began trying to get it open.
"While I was at the headquarters Athan came in. He was in search of a wisp that had escaped him. He said he had been trying to catch it all night."
"Ahh.. I wish I could've seen that," she grinned as she leaned back against the cushions with a rather pleased look on her face. Oh how she did enjoy torturing that man! He had his moments where he was quite the gentlemen, but his buttons were rather fun to push. She decided that she very well might call Wren when she got home to inform him of Athan's losing a wisp.
On that thought she broke her moment of silence, "He did catch it, though.. right?" She didn't really want to think about the mayhem a wayward wisp could cause if it decided to bond to some unsuspecting victim without anyone there to explain what was going on.
"Yes," Chandra murmured, absently flipping the book open for Marx. "Dr. M asked if it wanted some coffee and while the wisp was hovering around the coffee cup, Athan was able to grab it."
The Black Pearl had given up on the cup of water now and was back to hiding by Chandra's ear.
Reyna couldn't stifle the giggle that escaped her. "Coffee? A guy offered a wisp coffee?" she replied, voice cracking with her amusement. My goodness. That was perhaps more comical than envisioning Athan chasing down a Fiend with his robes flying about him. She sighed faintly and reached for her own glass of water and sipped at it idly.
Silence filled the room for a long moment before Reyna squinted over at the little wisp that was hiding about Chandra's shoulder. "Has she given you any trouble yet?" she asked curiously as she idly pointed towards Black Pearl.
"Dr. M is a bit different." Chandra admitted. "And no," she said mildly. "The Pearl tends to be very shy and spends the majority of her time hiding. She occasionally sends me emotions when she feels stressed, but largely is dormant."
Chandra drank some more of her water, looking down to where Marx was still reading the first page of his book.
"Sometimes I dream," Chandra said. "The dreams are not the same quality as my own, so I think they might come from the Pearl."
"I've been having strange dreams here recently, though I don't believe they're Mystic's fault," she replied as she idly pondered the strange, almost lucid dream she'd had the other night. "Sometimes Fiends display powers early on. Perhaps that could be what it is? Or maybe suppressed memories.." Her own memories liked to crop up every once in a while in dreams. It always left her rather flustered once she woke.
"Either way, it's quite possible that they belong to her and not you," she went on, "A friend of mine has a Fiend who's a Seer. Occassionally they both see visions."
"I have not decided whether the dreams depict real events or not. But I am almost certain that they form a complete story if pieced together in the correct order."
It felt good to discuss this, to get it out. Of course, knowing it was the topic of discussion, the Pearl had buried itself into the feathered decoration of one of Chandra's gloves. The Legend avoided the subject of seers however, still not comfortable mentioning her own experience with them. Her mother was still mostly absent from her life.
Marx grumbled and turned the page.
"Dreams are interesting things. Funny how they reveal things to you occassionally. Things your mind has hidden away," she replied thoughtfully as she crossed one leg over the other and casually leaned back against one of the pillows.
"Perhaps the events aren't real, but are only a representation of something that was real.. if that makes any sense. Like a metaphor or something of the like," she offered up as her fingertips idly toyed with the edge of her eyepatch in an unconscious sort of way. Most of the time she forgot that it was there unless she happened to see her reflection.
"Possibly," Chandra said. "But the more I see, the more I believe it's real. But warped. I do not know from whose point of view the whole thing is told, but I am curious."
Dreams had always been dangerous for Chandra, giving her an all too easy portal to Death. The ones she attributed to the Black Pearl were a welcome escape.
"Athan has mentioned that it's possible for Fiends to recall memories of their past lives.. before they were trapped inside stones and gems," she stated softly as she mulled over her own thoughts, silence spanning for a brief moment, "Maybe that's what's going on."
She reached for her glass of water and took a sip of it before smiling faintly when she felt a faint tug on her bond to Mystic. He nudged against the edges of her mind, simply checking up on her in a mother hen-esque way that was quite typical of him. "You might want to ask Athan about it," she suggested, "He might know something that could be helpful to you."
"I will," Chandra said, looking down as Marx abruptly shut his book with a sigh. "I believe that is my cue to continue home."
She finished the water in her glass and then stood, placing the now empty glass on the counter. She picked up her cloak and shrugged it back on while Marx waited patiently. When the book had been replaced and the backpack closed, Chandra scopped Marx up and placed him on her shoulder.
"Thank you for the hospitality."
"Not a problem. As I said, guardians are always welcome here," Reyna replied with a small smile. Chandra seemed like a nice girl, and she rarely thought anyone to be all that nice. Most people came across to her as overbearing or simply downright annoying.
"Take care," she murmured as she followed her back towards the front of the shop to resume her post perched behind her desk.
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Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 5:41 am
Magic Lessons
Athan's lessons with Mystic begin.Athan plopped down a rather large, dusty book before the Fiend that was sitting quietly in his seat while peering curiously at the paper strewn table. For now he would tolerate the mess, but he quickly decided that before the day was out he was going to ask Reyna if it were okay to organize her study. He knew better than to tamper with another magic-user's personal affects -- nevermind a demon's. To do such a thing was not only rude, it was akin to madness and quite dangerous at that.
Besides, he was in no mood to incite the woman's anger. Today. Perhaps another time when he was feeling more spiteful.
"Before we begin, let me explain a few basic things to you," he replied as he stonily gazed over towards Mystic. "First off, we will study what is commonly referred to as the 'dark arts.' This, as you know, is a vauge generalization for most spells that contain the potential to maim, kill, destroy, and generally unleash chaos and mayhem."
He paused for a moment to take a deep breath and to allow his statment to sink in. He walked around the table and forcibly turned Mystic's chair (with him still in it) towards him in an abrupt movement that startled the poor Fiend.
"That having been said I want to make something abundantly clear," he went on with a faint smirk twitching at his lips, "If I think for even a split second that you are caving to the temptation of darkness I will not hesitate for even one moment to seal you back into the stone from which you came."
Mystic stared up at the man looming before him for a long moment, jewel-tinted eyes wide and unseeing for a fearful moment before he simply nodded in a mechanical fashion. He wanted to learn magic out of simple curiosity, but he was beginning to think that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. He hadn't expected Athan to threaten him outright on the first day of lessons.
He fidgeted nervously for a moment before pulling his chair back towards the table when Athan stopped staring him down and moved to resume his place opposite of him. He felt suddenly unsure of himself and was tempted to ask if he may simply not learn anything whatsoever so he could leave. That, he realized, wouldn't help him any. He'd simply be scolded by Reyna and.. well.. he didn't want to think about Athan's potential response to his cowardice.
"Let's get started, shall we?" Athan spoke up, interrupting the Fiend's thoughts. He opened the book and flipped through the first couple of pages before stopping on the first passage of chapter one. He turned the book around and pushed it across the table towards the Shadow. "Read and copy this chapter by hand verbatum. No mistakes. If you mess up, start over. There can be no room for error when dealing with magic. Such things typically lead to insanity, the loss of one's soul, or death. All of which are rather unpleasant," the man smiled, something that served to unnerve Mystic even more than his earlier threat.
With that Athan stood from his chair and left Mystic sitting there in Reyna's private study. He turned to glance back towards his retreating back with a look of confusion, but didn't dare say anything aloud or voice his concerns. He idly guessed that Athan's presence wasn't all that nessecary if he were merely copying text.
His chest rose and fell as though he heaved a heavy sigh as he scanned over the passage he was about to copy. The introduction wasn't too awful. It stated basically what Athan had briskly told him minus the death threat. It didn't begin to get weird until the book began listing the general side effects of dabbling with the darker arts and the potential dangers it held.
He already had a general idea of what those dangers were, so he didn't find it all that disturbing. Nor was the topic of demons one that bothered him too greatly. Afterall, he knew that Reyna was a demon of sorts. He had first hand knowledge of her kind from both her and her friend Wren, even if that knowledge was somewhat limited. Few people could claim that they safely lived with a demon, that much he was sure of.
It was when he came upon the first spell that he felt a bit queasy. As he read through the gruesome details and step by step illustrations and diagrams, he felt as though his skin were crawling. His hands shook and he had to stop writing to keep from messing up his work. He hardly wanted to endure through starting over.
He shuddered and closed his eyes as though to block the images out, but they burnt against his eyelids. The things in the book lying so innocently before him were far more hideous than he had ever imagined. What truly made him feel sick was the fact that the scenes laid out in black and white sketches were achingly familiar to him -- like he'd been there and witnessed it all first hand.
"How's the progress coming?"
Mystic's face flushed with color and he nearly jumped out of his seat. He upset his ink well in the process and just barely snatched up the book and his papers out of the way in time. '.. uhm.. fine. Just fine,' he replied as he attempted to quell the panic he felt well up inside of him.
Athan merely smiled and nodded. "Good."
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:05 pm
Another Lesson
The lessons continue, and Mystic's anxiety increases.Mystic sat quietly at the desk, pencil tapping against the surface. It was a nervous habit he had no doubt absorbed from Reyna. He'd seen her doing it more times than he could count, but he stopped and set the pencil down when he realized exactly what it was he was doing.
Athan sat across from him reading from a rather large, dusty book. It seemed that all of the books the man read from or brought him to study from were just that -- large and dusty. The paper was yellowed and brittle which made the faded writing terribly hard to read, and yet somehow Athan managed to be able to read and interpret almost every passage he had trouble with as though he were the person who had written it.
He tentatively asked him out of curiosity if he had written one of the books. The man simply smiled and shook his head no. He hadn't written those books. It was irritating how Athan supplied him with vauge answers like that and simply hinted at knowing something else. Why couldn't he just spit it out and flat out tell him? It was infuriating!
He scowled faintly down at his notes and continued sketching out the various different basic circles that were nessecary to cast certain spells. At least circles of protection only required runes rather than some warped sort of sacrifice. A few spells called for a few drops of his own blood, but he wasn't entirely certain he could bleed. That was another question Athan dodged with a faint smirk rather than a straight answer.
Phantom muscles in his jaw twitched and ached as though he were gritting his teeth at that very thought. He was truly beginning to loathe his lessons with Athan. He was also beginning to loathe Athan himself. He'd always felt rather uncomfortable around him, the lessons were definately not helping with that bit of anxiety.
The man came down hard on him whenever he made mistakes. He could understand why, easily enough. Magic could be dangerous and to meddle in it and not have the proper knowledge of what he was doing it was likely he'd end up causing harm to both himself and potentially his bonded as well through their link. That was probably the only reason why he bothered to keep with the lessons. He wanted knowledge and he didn't want to end up hurting Reyna on accident.
His brow furrowed in worried lines and he absently picked up his pencil and commenced tapping it on the table top once more in that unconscious sort of way. His mind was far away from the little study he was cooped up in with Athan. If it weren't for the fact that he was surrounded by things that reminded him of his guardian, and therefore comforted him, he'd feel terribly stifled in that little room.
His gaze drifted across the paintings on the walls and the shelves of books before he realized that Athan was watching him. His hands were clasped in front of him and his chin rested atop them as he peered over at him intently with those piercing green eyes.
Mystic's eyes widened slightly before he looked away, unnerved. 'I... finished drawing the circles,' he spoke up, thinking maybe his sitting there idle in his studies led Athan to believe he was slacking off.
"I noticed," Athan answered in a low, quiet voice that almost seemed to echo off the walls of the small room.
The Fiend fidgeted nervously, not at all pleased with having Athan so intently focused on him. The man continued to stare reguardless of how it was obvious that he was making the Shadow uncomfortable. In his mind it was high time for Mystic to grow up a little. He always ran and hid behind his guardian whenever something bothered him or something proved to be too challenging. It was time for that to change. That was why his lessons were strict and he was utterly unyeilding in his teachings.
If he wanted to become a decent magic-user he'd have to be able to cope with such things. If he couldn't, well, he had no business dabbling in magic. Magic requires an inner strength that cannot be shaken, and in his opinion, Mystic was too easily rattled.
"I suppose we're done for today," Athan went on after he had deemed he'd shaken the Fiend enough for the time being. "Continue copying those circles. They must be perfect. You know why."
Mystic simply nodded his head and stared down at the floor, gaze not lifting until Athan had drifted out the invisible door and into the hallway just beyond that would lead him into the main part of the house. He shuddered and closed his eyes. He didn't understand why he had such a hard time dealing with him. He honestly didn't. There was no logical explanation that he could come up with.
His eyes opened when he felt a faint tug on his bond. He tugged back before relaxing somewhat when Reyna's voice filtered through his senses in a comforting sort of way.
'Learn anything interesting today?' she asked.
'Not particularly,' he replied as he stood and floated through the spelled door to find his guardian idly padding down the hallway towards the study to fetch him.
"Nothing at all? Come on. He's got to have you doing something interesting by now," Reyna went on as she paused in front of the door to Sam's room to peer over at Mystic curiously. He looked oddly pale. It was as though someone had drained some of the color out of him. It made him look even more transparent and ghost-like. "You alright?" she asked with a small frown.
'I'm fine,' he reassured her as he moved to hide in her shadow while she checked on Sam, 'I'm.. just a little tired. That's all.'
Reyna squinted over at him suspiciously for a moment. She wasn't quite buying that lame excuse -- particularly since Mystic had all but locked down his mind and had his thoughts completely hidden from her. He'd been doing that a lot lately and it had her worried. It wasn't like him. He never felt the need to hide things from her before.
"If you say so," she murmured as she bent to wake her sleeping child. Sam woke with a yawn and a bright smile. She was always rather pleasant after having woken up from a nap. "Come on, little one," she smiled, temporarily brushing aside her concern for her Shadow, "Let's get you some lunch, hm?"
Mystic drifted away from Reyna and Sam rather than following them into the kitchen. Instead, he retreated to his own room and locked the door behind him. It was unlikely that it would stop Reyna from barging in if she truly wanted, but she wasn't really the sort to invade his privacy. They had unspoken rules about that sort of thing. He left her alone when she needed time to herself, and she let him be for the most part when he went into hiding.
When he'd done such a thing in the past, though, it was usually just to read in quiet. This time he just needed time to think about things. He had questions that needed answered, but the problem was he didn't even know how to give voice to his concerns. He felt somewhat trapped, and there was more to it than just his being intimidated by Athan.
"Hey Mystic?" Reyna called through the door as she knocked on the surface lightly. She leaned there outside, hovering a bit anxiously. "I was thinking about us going out shopping for Sam. Kid always needs more stuff, you know."
There was a pause of silence from the Fiend as he gazed over at the door steadily. If he closed his eyes he was almost certain he could see her standing there on the other side, one hand on her hip, and a slightly worried look on her face. 'I don't really feel up to going shopping,' he murmured in an apologetic way when he realized the woman was pacing outside his door, waiting for a response, 'I'm tired. Still have work to finish, too.'
Reyna frowned at the door and crossed her arms over her chest. That wasn't the answer she expected nor wanted to hear. "Well.. alright," she murmured before hesitantly tugging on their bond and allowing a bit of her own energy to flow through in an attempt to comfort him, "I'll bring you back a new book or something to read."
'Alright,' he answered as he curled up in his bed and idly gazed up at the painted walls, 'Be careful. He thought he heard a faint grumble on the other side of the door as she walked off to fetch Sam and Fragments, but he said nothing more. He closed his eyes and focused on their bond and felt it fade and dim somewhat as they were seperated by distance. It was a strange feeling, but unlike everything else that had him in turmoil, it was a feeling he could understand.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:07 pm
A Favor
Reyna calls upon Athan for a favor.Reyna had a plan. It was a plan she knew would work, it was just a matter of implementing it. In order to get Mystic to spill on whatever it was that was eating him from the inside out, she'd have to corner him away from Sam -- and to get him away from his beloved little sister she'd have to find a babysitter.
"I need a favor."
Athan glanced up from the stack of papers on the desk before him. His mouth twitched faintly as though he wanted to frown. He knew quite well he was indebted to Reyna, but another part of him cringed at the thought of owing favors to a demon. Typically, that sort of thing led to the loss of one's soul, and he preferred to hold on to what was left of his as tattered as it may be.
"And what would this favor entail, exactly?" he asked slowly as he put down the document he was reading over and peered over at the silver haired woman suspiciously.
Reyna smirked slowly, something that distinctively reminded Athan of an overly pleased cat. It was plainly obvious she was enjoying holding impending doom over his head. Her smirk faded somewhat as she leaned her elbows on top of the desk and rested her chin in her hands.
"Could you babysit Sam for a while?" she requested, "Only for a little while tomorrow. I've got some errands to run and toting her along makes things difficult." Difficult wasn't quite the word for it. It was more like it unleashed mass chaos. Plus, she was bound and damned determined to figure out what was bugging Mystic.
"Sure," he found himself replying before he could say no or otherwise think of something rude to say in response. He let out a breath of air he hadn't realized he'd been holding and offered the woman a faint, barely there smile.
"Great!" she beamed with a bright smile which unnerved Athan to no end, "I'll meet you here at the shop tomorrow morning around eight or so. That alright with you?"
"Yeah," he replied as he continued to eye the woman suspiciously as though there was some sort of catch, "That's fine by me." It left him with plenty of time to have enough coffee in the morning to ensure he was conscious enough to take care of Sam. As for everything else, well, he'd simply have to play it by ear. As much as it pained him to admit, he had about as much experience with children as Reyna did. His only advantage over the woman was that he could actually remember being a child at one point.
The babysitter having been found, all that was left for Reyna to do was to pack up a bag of things for Sam when she got home and to find out what had her Shadow so down and out. So far, her plan was going off without a hitch. Now it was just a matter of coaxing Mystic out of his room.
She had fully expected to come across some sort of resistence when it came to that, but luckily for her, Mystic's curiosity got the best of him when he realized the next morning that his little sister was strangely missing and he emerged from his dark little cave all on his own. It definately saved her quite a bit of trouble, because in all honesty how was she supposed to pull a nearly full grown Fiend out of hiding? He could easily blend into the darkness and hide for as long as he needed to. It wasn't a test of wills she really wanted to engage in.
'Where's Sam?' Mystic asked as he watched Reyna rummage through various containers and storage bins of art supplies with a small notepad in hand.
The silver haired woman glanced up briefly to meet his gaze and offered him a faint smile. "She's spending the day with Athan," she replied simply before chuckling under her breath at the look of sheer horror that flashed across the Shadow's face. "She's safe with him. The only thing she's in danger of is being spoiled rotten," she went on, "Besides, do you really think I'd hand her over to someone I don't trust?"
'Well... no,' he answered nervously as he fidgeted with his hands, 'But... Athan... unsettles me.'
"Is that what's got you out of sorts here lately?" Reyna asked with a concerned frown. The expression washed away quickly enough as she switched the subject back to Sam before Mystic could reply or make up an excuse. The look that had flashed across his face was answer enough for the time being. "Anyway, I think Athan has developed a soft spot for her," she went on conversationally as she jotted down that she was in need of another tube of cadmium red hue acrylic paint.
'That's... surprising.'
"What do you mean by that exactly?" Reyna questioned as she studied the Shadow's face intently before moving to see just how many of her prismacolor pencils she'd used up. Hopefully not that many. They got pretty pricey at a dollar each.
'It's just surprising, that's all. He doesn't come across as a loving sort of guy that could possibly develop.. a soft spot for someone,' Mystic answered as he trailed after his guardian in an unconsciously familiar way as she left the room and moved to pick up her messenger bag. 'Where are you going?' he asked curiously as he continued to hover within her shadow.
"Gotta go to the art store. Want to come along?" she asked before grinning when the Fiend simply nodded and followed suit. She remained quiet for some time as they walked along before hopping onto a bus in Barton. She smirked faintly as she settled into her seat. It wasn't but a night or two ago that she'd gone out with Sam and taken the very sam bus route. Thankfully Mystic was grown enough that she didn't have to worry about him mostly demolishing the toy department. She snickered faintly at that before settling her gaze on the passing scenery.
'What's so funny?' he asked before his eyes widened in a rather comical way when she shared with him exactly what his little sister had done. 'I.. think I almost feel sorry for, Athan,' he said softly, but inwardly he was gloating over the fact that Sam was almost as mischievous as he had been as a child. Perhaps she'd cause trouble for the disgruntled magic-user.
They hopped off the bus once Reyna had declared they'd reached their stop and she couldn't help but smile at the rather smug look on Mystic's face. Perhaps he just needed to get out of the house some. He'd taken to babysitting Sam for her while she was at work rather than tagging along, and then on top of that he was taking magic lessons from Athan.
She squinted over at him for a moment, noting that he was mostly transparent within the bright sunlight, and idly wondered if that was what was bothering him. The comments he'd made about the man taking care of Samara were enough to lead her to that sort of conclusion.
She shoved that thought aside briefly as they stepped into her favorite art store to begin hunting down all the supplies she needed to replenish her stock of paints, pencils, and various other mediums. She idly waved to the little old man behind the desk that recognized her on sight -- she'd been shopping there for a good year now periodically.
'Hey.. what are these little tubes for? You'd need an awful lot of them to finish one of your huge paintings,' the Fiend commented as he eyed a row of paints that were hanging up on little pegs.
"Those are watercolors, but these come in tubes rather than the little color pallettes that are hard, you know? You dilute them with water, so really you don't use that much of the pigment," Reyna explained quietly as she stood just behind Mystic to peer over his shoulder, "Grab the canary yellow and yellow ochre for me."
The Fiend handed her both small tubes of paint before going still. His head tilted to the side and his eyes narrowed in concentration. It felt like there was another of his kind there in the store. He shot Reyna an unreadable look before drifting through one of the aisles as he followed that small, familiar feeling.
"Hey.. where are you off to?" she asked as she swerved around one of the end caps before stumbling over something, or someone rather, that had been crouched down low in the aisle. "Er.. I'm sorry! I didn't see..." she trailed off, visible eye widened as she caught sight of what it was Mystic had been trying to find.
It was a wisp! A little shiny red gem glittered brightly in the light before skittering to hide between the man's feet that she'd clumsily tripped over.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:10 pm
Casting Circles
No more copying text word by word! He managed to survive Athan's lessons so far and the endless hours of copying text. He wasn't certain on whether or not be relieved that they were moving on to actually casting spells or frightened. Currently, he was feeling a combination thereof among a mixture of other emotions he couldn't quite explain. He was at least thankful that he wouldn't be made to cast any of the rather gruesome spells he'd come across.
Athan apparently wasn't that cruel.
He rolled his eyes at that thought as he crouched down on his hands and knees and carefully mapped out a small circle that was about two feet in diameter. He was going to try something simple, and if he was successful Athan said that he would help him learn how to cast a bigger circle. He thought it might be useful to learn how to cast a circle of protection or how to seal something off, so he decided to comply with his instructions.
He neatly drew out the circle itself on the slate floor with a piece of white chalk, careful not to miss a single detail. Athan was a stickler about that sort of thing. His brow furrowed in lines as he put all his concentration into his work before sitting back with a rather pleased look when he was done with the small drawing.
'Let's see if this works,' he murmured quietly to himself as he placed a small round disk of silver in the middle of the circle. Several swirling designs and runes were laid into the coin. The silver remained cool to the touch and he found the design itself to be quite aesthetically pleasing. If all went well, he'd end up with a cloak of sorts. Athan's description of it was a bit vauge but that was something he came to expect from the man.
He took on a solid form and stood about a foot away from the small circle with his hands outstretched slightly and his palms facing towards the circle itself. His eyes sifted half closed as he focused on filling the chalked lines with energy. The lines took on a strange, unearthly sort of glow to them. It flickered the way the flame of a candle would, except the color was a smokey black that was tinged with little flares of red.
He thought that a bit strange, but he wasn't too surprised. The books he had read had claimed that the color was simply a reflection of his own aura. It still looked a little odd to him. He was expecting it to be simply one solid color. He hadn't read anything about two colors being intermixed within a circle.
He frowned faintly at that but didn't allow that thought to plague him too much. He had to focus. He had no vocal voice so murmuring incantations was out of the question. Instead he drew out runes within the air that shimmered and glowed with a bright light before they settled in a circular pattern around the silver disk.
One by one the runes were absorbed by the silver. Carefully he closed the circle and then warily eyed the glowing disk of silver. He was pretty sure that's how it worked, but he was still rather uncertain, something he knew Athan would dissapprove of. There was no room for mistakes, errors, or uncertainty when casting spells -- or so he said, over and over again. The man's voice was like a constant droning noise inside his head that wouldn't go away.
With a faint, exasperated sort of noise he bent to examine the disk. His dark fingers ghosted across the surface and he noted that now the silver was warm to the touch rather than chillingly cold. The runes he'd called forth also lit up in little shimmering marks that crawled across the surface in a way that reminded him of water running across rocks in a stream. Why his mind conjured up that comparison, he wasn't certain, but he was more interested in seeing if the spell had truly worked.
Hesitantly he picked the silver up and brought it towards his chest. Immediately wisps of black began to expand from the disk, lashing out towards him in a way that made him start with a jolt of fright. Surely that's not what was supposed to happen! The wisps began to manifest themselves into a more solid form that Mystic quickly realized was some sort of fabric.
Okay.
So maybe that was supposed to happen.
He let go of the disk once he realized it was no longer nessecary to keep a death grip on it. 'I did it!' he cheered to himself as he idly toyed with the fabric. It was cool and dark. The deep black color seemed to suck up the light in the room, something he found to be rather comforting in an odd way.
'You did what?' came Reyna's voice as she padded down the hallway to see what it was her Shadow was so excited about. He'd been lurking about lately, muttering to himself about magic lessons and spells. Curiosity was eating away at her.
'Uh.. nothing!' he replied as he snatched at the disk and watched in avid fascination as the material seemed to dissolve back into the silver as though it had never even existed. He glanced up when Reyna opened the door and held the disk tightly within one clenched fist to keep it hidden. He wasn't certain why he felt the need to hide it from her, but he just felt that he should. It was his.
"Doesn't quite look like nothing, Mystic," Reyna teased as she pointed towards the scrawled out circle on the floor that he hadn't cleaned up just yet. She gazed over at the Fiend curiously before turning away on a faint sigh when she realized he wasn't going to tell her what sort of spell he was casting. "Be sure to clean that up. You don't want to leave an open circle lying about," she warned quietly before trudging back off to return to the painting she had been working on before she'd been interrupted by Mystic's sudden declaration.
He simply nodded in response before moving to wipe the slate clean once Reyna was out of sight. He almost felt bad for not talking to her as he always had. He knew deep down that keeping secrets from her probably wasn't the best thing to do, particularly since she had been obviously trying to figure out what had been bothering him as of late. The only problem was he wasn't absolutely certain was was wrong, so he couldn't exactly explain, and he wasn't about to inflict his confused emotions upon his guardian to try and show her that way.
"Congratulations."
Mystic glanced up, startled from where he was crouched on the slate floor. Athan was hovering in the door way with a sort of unreadable look on his face. He remained quiet, a bit unsure of what to say until the man held out his palm. Without questioning what it was he wanted he handed him the small disk of silver without thinking.
"Not too difficult of a spell, was it?" Athan asked as he eyed the small trinket with a critical eye, searching for any visible mistakes.
'No. Not too difficult.'
"Good," Athan replied smoothly as he handed the frazzled looking Fiend the disk back. He resisted the urge to snicker when Mystic grabbed it up and held it close as though to protect it. "Tomorrow morning I'll show you how to cast a bigger circle, then," he went on as he turned his back to the Shadow and made as though to leave before pausing after he took one step, "And how to travel through dimensions."
Mystic's eyes widened at that last part but he said nothing in response and merely stared after the man's retreating back. His anxiety and worry from before seemed to increase tenfold in a mere fifteen seconds.
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