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Power Practice & Pets
Diary/Narrative 8

Rhea sat staring at her collection of plushies, her brow furrowed in deep thought. What was normally the happy face of a child now looked simply angry! Stella the Bear and Barney the Pig were none too pleased with their master’s stare-down. She was intimidating looking, but she’d rarely succeed at her goal. After all, plushies have a hard time responding to telepathy. She never quite knew if she was successful or not.

“Ugh!” she exclaimed aloud, irritated that she didn’t have anyone to communicate with. She got up quickly, giving poor Barney a kick as she did so. The stuffed animal soared through the air and landed beside her bed, legs in the air, looking helpless. “I need someone to practice on!” She stomped downstairs and into the kitchen, where Elysia was cooking spaghetti & meatballs for dinner.

“Hey Rhea, what’s up?” She held out a spoon to her daughter with a chunk of meatball in it. “You should tell me what you think. New recipe.” She waited for her daughter to take the spoon, and meanwhile noticed the angry expression on her face. “Why the long face kiddo?”

Rhea took the spoon and bit into the meatball chunk, savoring the flavor. “Yum. Good meatball Mom.” She paused and chewed, then swallowed. “Well, I’m mad. I can’t head-talk with anyone—well, at least my plushies,” she said a frown returning to her face. “You’re always busy doing stuff—taking care of everyone and doing all the work you do. I’d like a pet. A pet that can talk to me.”

Elysia wasn’t really surprised. She knew Rhea loved her duck, but Rhea wanted companionship as well. A familiar would definitely be a good pet for the inquisitive little girl. And Elysia had a great idea for what kind of creature to get her. She knew of a place that homed faeries from an intergalactic military. It was odd, yes, but she’d actually met a few of these fae, and many had interesting personalities. Perhaps they could find a fae similar to Rhea.

“A pet that can talk eh?” she asked with a grin on her face. “I’ll bet we can work that out. You just have to promise to take care of it, okay?”

Okay! I really, really will! The child’s face went from sad to exuberant in a matter of minutes, and her voice was crisp and clear in Elysia’s head.

“Good. That’s what I like to hear,” she replied with a laugh. “I’ll see what I can do. Now wash your hands. It’s time for dinner.”

Metaplot: Dreamland
Diary/Narrative 9

The young psion's eyelids twitched, REM sleep taking over her dreams...
The sheets had been practically removed from the bed, and were now wrapped around her legs haphazardly. She clutched the snowy owl plushie that Elysia had given her for Christmas, squeezing it's body tightly. Occasionally, she'd make a noise---but it was only small peep--nothing that anyone would be able to recognize. The iridescent jewel on her forehead flickered with a faint light, as if something was activating within it. Lines crossed her purple blanket as the moon shone brightly through the blinds. It was eerily silent in the room, aside from the noises coming from the little girl. There was the faint whir of the overhead fan, but besides that, nothing. But her dreams would have filled the room with noise had they been real...

All she could hear was the sound of the crowd, roaring in her ears. She was vaguely aware of a helmet on her head, making the noise echo into her brain. It was extraordinarily intense, and the psion felt a bit shaky. not quite sure where she hand ended up this time. Rhea had always had vivid dreams--even lucid dreams. She'd begun to be able to control them, her psychic abilities increasing the ease of lucid dreaming. Most of the time she adventured, meeting new people and seeing sights that could only be real in Dreamland.

"Wha?" she asked out loud, to herself quietly, shifting her weight, curious about the gravity of the place. One had to get used to moving themselves around Dreamland, as every place was different. She took a step forward, opening her eyes. It was then that she saw she was in an arena, and all around her, she was surrounded by tiers of people, cheering. It was a coliseum, like those of the ancient Greeks. But it was more modern, and in fact, it looked fairly new.

Suddenly, a voice came over the arena's loudspeakers, booming out into the crowd.

"Welcome everyone, to the Psionic Invention Convention! Today, we are here to see some of the most technologically advanced inventions in today's world. I hope you enjoy them!" A cheer rose up from the crowd, and Rhea looked around her, searching for anyone who might know what was happening. Obviously, she had something to do with the inventions...but she wasn't sure quite what. Across the arena floor stood another person, a helmet on their head as well. This person's was made of steel, and it shone brightly in the afternoon sun.

"First!" the voice boomed again, stirring up the crowd. "We have the newest in armor technology--hardsuits. These you'll see today are worn by their inventors, Rhea Arshan-Marvel and Thyzol Dorsett. We'll be watching a demonstration of these suits in a rather feasible situation -- battle." Again, a foofaraw (you know you wanna look it up!) rose up from the crowd. They were here to see the fight.

Rhea swallowed hard. It wasn't that she minded a good battle, but more that she felt unprepared for anything of the sort. She wasn't even used to this part of Dreamland yet, and already they were making her battle? Geez. Oh well, with her control of Dreamland, it should be a piece of cake, she thought.

"To activate the suits, each psion touches their psicrystal, causing the transformation to begin. Watch..." The voice hinted that she should do something. Watching the other person in the same situation that she was, she saw them remove their helmet. A young man stood there, smiling at her. She knew him immediately. He was important to her, she knew. He nodded, and she followed suit, removing her helmet as well, her long, wavy, chestnut hair swinging down around her middle back. The man seemed to be slightly older than Rhea, and he had a commanding presence. Strong but lean, he was a perfect specimen of a male. Rhea was impressed, but baffled. How did she know him?

The man, who she assumed was Thyzol, summoned his psicrystal, which naturally hovered over his left shoulder. It swung around to his front, facing him. The man reached up and touched it, and it began to glow, and the brighness grew, enveloping Thyzol. When the light faded, he was hovering about five feet off the ground, now enveloped in a suit of light armor that seemed to have more function than normal armor. "Ready?" he called to her, winking. She could see it from across the arena...the sparkle in his eye was that obvious. Was he flirting with her?

She laughed and held a hand up to her face, gently brushing her fingertips across her forehead psicrystal. It began to glow a bright purple, and the glow surrounded her as it had Thyzol. Once the brightness had faded, Rhea hovered off of the ground as well, wearing a hardsuit crafted in shades of black and purple. The helmet she'd been wearing earlier had now changed to match the suit, and she slid it onto her head and Thyzol did the same. Squeezing her hand into a fist inside of the hard suit's glove, Rhea summoned the weapon that the suit was meant to create, her fist enveloped in a ball of light. Looking down at what had been procured, she was again disappointed. Instead of a sword, like she thought, a handgun appeared. Squeezing the other fist, a second gun popped up, and Rhea pushed up, flying up into the air.

Looking across the arena, she could see the man, helmet on as well, hovering with a long halberd in his hand, the blade shining from the reflection of the sun. He cocked his head to the left and stood at ready. Gripping the pistols, Rhea cocked them, her fingers hovering over the triggers. Before she could act, he bolted at her, halberd ready to swing. The long blade arced to her right side, in an attempt to take her down. The psion shot up into the air to avoid him, and she aimed down, pointing the guns at him. Obviously he was taking this fight seriously...there was no fun and games here. Finding her target, she pulled both triggers in succession, two loud popping noises filling the air. She flipped backward, checking on the enemy, still hovering mid-air. As she came around to a full rotation, she saw only the faceplate of his helmet, staring into hers.

Rhea gasped, and pulled back, stunned. She could hear the crowd cheering around her---smooth move, she thought, cocking the hammers on her pistols once again, and quickly scanning the horizon for Thyzol, who was in fact, directly behind her. Rhea's suit suddenly got hot---a sure sign there was something on her tail. She bolted away from him as he chased her, hoping she could buy some time. She could feel his psychic pressure on her mind--he was trying to psych her out. She resisted his pressure and pushed her own thoughts onto him. "How dare you! I thought this was an exhibition! Can't you just relax a bit? Geez!" But the guy didn't seem to feel like leaving her alone. He remained behind her, halberd readied. Sweating inside her suit, Rhea few up toward the sky---toward the brightness. "You're so mean!" she exclaimed, pushing out to him.

"I know. But it's good for you," he telepathed back, a bit of joy in his voice. He always enjoyed a good chase...especially a good chase behind a pretty girl... *wink*

Rhea continued to run--Dreamland was no longer letting her run things. "But I don't want to lose!" she shouted out loud, feeling the man at her back, but determined to catch him. He'd always brought out the competitive spirit in her.

And then suddenly, everything was gone. The world pixelated, and shattered, and everything went white.

The Tale shuddered, and her hands found her head, grasping it tightly. Oh, the pain...

Reaching for the bottle she kept next to her bed, Rhea removed one of the tablets, and popped it into her mouth, re-covering her head with her arms.

That was the consequence of her control over Dreamland--she was drained--mentally, not physically, and now her brain had to rest. Her body laid still as she drifted off again, this time, into a deep and dreamless slumber.

Off to the music store...
Group RP 3: Rhea/Tiwaz/Angelus

"Where are we going now?" the violet-haired Feien snapped as she sat on Rhea's shoulder, arms crossed defensively over one another. "We have been outside for-ev-er. I'm tired of the sunlight. Can't we find somewhere shady to go?"

Munich had been fairly unhappy since meeting her bond. She wasn't sure that the little girl was interesting at all. She was still just a child after all, the Feien thought bitterly.

"You just never stop complaining do you!" Rhea said, sighing. "Do you want to fly instead? I mean, you can do it yourself if you're so upset about it. But if you fly, it's almost certain that you're going to get hot and sweaty and gross. I know you don't like that," she said, finally finding a spot to sit on a bench that was shaded by a large oak tree. "Anything else you need to get off your chest?" Rhea asked Munich, turning to face the little fairy. She scowled at her, and proceeded to look out over Barton Square, hoping she'd see someone she knew...It was about time...Munich was starting to get to her.

Tiwaz just grinned �Mom says that sometimes stores on Gaia move around so maybe it just appeared." It didn't occur to Tiwaz that a music store shouldn't have a reason to move. As she started to follow Angelus, Tiwaz continued to look around at stuff and in her peripheral vision spotted Rhea � Rhea hey rhea, Just a sec �Tiwaz called to Angelus as she raced towards her friend forcing the crows to move around her. " Rhea guess what I made you"


Angelus nodded in agreement. "Barton is one finicky town. You think you see something at one moment and in another moment, it's gone. Weird." He stated. Angelus sniffed the air and a familiar scent caught his attention. Tiwaz called his name and his eyes spotted the girl that Tiwaz was headed towards. Rhea!

He quickly weaved in and out of the crowd to his friend on the bench. He gave her a soft smiled and his wings rustled in excitement. "Hey! It's good to see you again." He opened his arms for a hug, not remembering that the last time Rhea saw him was when he was only knee high tall.


Looking to her left, she heard someone shout her name, and as she met the person's eyes, she saw it was Tiwaz. "Tiwaz!" she said, standing up to greet her friend, almost tempted to give her a hug, but deciding against it at the last minute. The last time they'd met, it'd been a bit...tense. But they'd quickly resolved their problems had Rhea had decided that she'd found a true friend in the little girl. "So good to see you again! You made me something?" she asked, blushing. "You didn't need to do that!" she exclaimed, standing up.


And then, she saw him. Angleus.

He was---

Big.

Though she wanted to talk to Tiwaz more, she had to greet her first friend. Would it be wierd now that he was older? "Is that really you?" she asked Angelus, admiring him from head to toe. "You're so big now, I hardly recognized you!" She jumped up and flung her arms around his waist, happy to see him, regardless of his new age.

"Watch out!" Munich scathingly reprimanded her bonded. "Someone's gonna get hurt here, and it's probably going to be me!" The Feien fluttered off to perch on the bench, avoiding the hugs coming from all directions. She scowled at the little psion and her friends, wondering what to do with herself. This would probably take awhile.

Tiwaz watched her two friends hug and smiled, it was good that they were all getting along and knew each other. While she waited for the two to separate she slug into her back pocket and pulled out the bracelet she�d been carrying around for the past few days. It was made of beads of purple clay with painted violet swirls she�d done herself. The beads had been hard and were not all uniform but hey it was the thought that counted. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v290/ladyumbra/rheabrac.jpg

Clutching the bracelet in one hand and her orb in the other she grinned �Now we can all go music shopping together.

"Who else do you think it would be?" As Rhea ran into his arms, his wings wrapped around the girl as he gave her a hug. Her scent didn't change, it was still the same. He opened his wings from their embrace and looked down at her with a smile. "It's good to see you again Rhea. I didn't know you knew Tiwaz." He looked to the other red eyed female and nodded.

"That's a good idea. Do you want to come along?" It was nice to hang out with such a dear friend like Rhea.

His eyes went to the little fairy thing that flew to the bench. "Is that yours?" he asked Rhea.

"Well, you hardly look like yourself anymore," she said, looking up up up into his deep brown eyes. "I mean, I knew it was you of course, but you're so much bigger! I'm glad you got to grow up though...I just hope I'm not too far behind," she said, blushing. It sure was nice with his wings wrapped around her...She felt entirely comfortable there.

As she stepped away from him, and his wings dropped from around them, and she turned to face both of them at once, suddenly tempted to grab Angleus' hand and squeeze it tight. Again, she resisted temptation. "Yeah, Tiwaz and I are friends! I met her last time I went to the Shop with Mom. We had a slight...um, altercation, but I think I know her boundaries now, right?" she said, looking over at the other crimson-eyed girl, smiling.

She looked down at the bracelet, and her eyes lit up. "Thank you sooo much Ti! It's soooo pretty!" Immediately she put the bracelet on, admiring it in the sunlight. "I love it! You know just what I like." She winked at the other little girl. "Now I'm gonna make you something!"

"Of course I'll come with you guys...I do like music. Mom listens to it all the time! I didn't know there were many music shops around here. I've never been in one, so it should be exciting."

She paused, not quite sure how to explain Munich to the others. Finally looking at Angelus, she replied with a shrug. "Yeah, that's Munich. She's a Feien, and I guess she's now bonded to me...or something." She looked over and scowled back at the fairy.

"Obviously, we're not the best of friends," Munich twittered from the top of the bench. "She's just a kid, and I don't have much respect for her." Munich sure was good at telling it like it was.


Angelus smiled down at the girl and laid his hand on her shoulder, looking deep into her eyes. "I'm sure you'll grow up soon. No worries, right?" he chucked her gently under her chin with his free friend and gave her a wink.

His eyes looked to Tiwaz and Rhea as Rhea explained their introduction. "I bet it was a misunderstanding, which is why it was easily put aside." he nodded. His eyes looked at the bracelet that Tiwaz made.

"I didn't know you were artistic Tiwaz." He complimented the girls item. It matched Rhea's dress quite nicely. Brown eyes turned to Rhea and chuckled.

"We didn't know there were any here either, but we think it magically appeared somehow. Tiwaz and I have concluded that the shops move around." He nodded in confidence. Who knew how the town shops really were like.

Angelus raised an eyebrow at the tactless Feien. "Child or not, she deserves some respect. I'm sure you would want to be respected, right?" he responded to the height challenged pixie thing.

Angelus agree with Tiwaz and grabbed Rhea's hand. "Come on. Let's get in there before it moves again." He smiled, following Tiwaz to the store.

Munich almost thought of making vomiting noises as she watched her bond react to this strange boy--this Angelus guy. She obviously liked him, and had a little girl crush on him. Though, he did look cool, she figured. But how did her bond find such a nice lookin' kid? She was a practically a baby! Laughing heartily to herself as she watched Tiwaz and Angelus stare her down, the little fairy tumbled backward and fell off the bench, catching herself just before she would have landed face-first in the dirt. Flying up to the top of the bench again, she dusted herself off and put her hands on her hips and smirked. "Of course I would want to be respected!" she huffed. "I dunno. I guess I just expected someone more experienced...older. More like you," she said, pointing at Angelus and giving him a sly smile. Tricky fairy.

"I like to make stuff though Ti. I'd love to make you something. It's going to be super cool, just you wait! Is it okay if I call you Ti...I keep calling you that, but I'm not sure you like it...And yes, no more messing with Chaos. She looked ready to kill me, and since you're a good friend, I wouldn't want it to be you that takes my life, even if it is something else taking over your body."

She smiled up at Angelus, looking rather gleeful. "Nope, no worries. Soon enough I guess...I just want my body to match up with my mind, you know? I feel much older than I am..." her voice trailed off shyly.

"The store magically appears? That's pretty neat," she said to both of them. "I wonder what kind of magic does that?" Squeezing Angelus' hand as he grabbed it, she followed them toward the store, grinning.

Munich just watched as the three kids walked toward the music store. "I'll be out here!" she shouted. Rhea turned around and waved to her, indicating that it was fine. "Thank heavens! I didn't want to watch her get mushy anymore." She sat down on the bench and waited, hoping that the shadow would stay there. It was much to hot in the sun for a Hate Feien.

Ignoring the cute handholding going on behind her Tiwaz nodded �Sure Ti is fine it�s a neat nickname. I don�t think we�re going to make Chaos mad but we�d better not test that theory.� turning and weakling backwards she grinned� don�t worry about anyone else killing you though cause I wont let them� her eyes glowed and she shifted her wings � you�re my friend which means they have to go through me and enigma first.� Tiwaz wasn�t sure why she was so fiercely protective of her friends she simply knew that because Rhea cared for her she�d do anything protect her. Maybe she was possessive like chaos, it didn�t matter though because as far as she was concerned there was no threat that she and She couldn�t face after all they had friendship,l oyalty and unending courage on thier side.


Angelus watched the fairy with utmost curiosity. He covered his mouth to stifle his laugh as she nearly fell off the bench. " Are you ok?" he really did worry about the little fairy, regardless if she had an attitude. "Well, you can't judge a book by its cover and Rhea is definately the epitome of that saying. You should be nicer to you and I'm sure she'll treat you the same way. Experienced?" He raised an eyebrow at the statement.

His eyes fell back upon Rhea and he nodded. "Don't be in too much of a rush. Enjoy being your age. I got away with a lot of things when I was younger than I do now." He grumbled under his breath. Why did that mean he had to dishes at home? It wasn't fair.

His head nodded in affirmation as they made their way to the store. "Finicky little buggers these stores. Who knows what will pop up or dissapear next." He chuckled.

He looked behind him, back to the fairy and waved at her. "We won't be long, I'm sure! Don't worry!" he yelled.

Brown eyes looked back to Tiwaz. "What do you mean Chaos?" he was a bit confused as to the conversation the two girls were having. He grabbed Tiwaz's hand as well and nearly sprinted to the shop. "You both are much too slow!" He laughed.

It was turning out to be an interesting day after all.


Rhea just giggled as Munich made a stand for herself and practically tumbled to her death. She'd have to get along with her soon enough, she figured, so why not try to make friends.

"Good, I'm glad you're okay with the nickname," she said, smiling at her friend. "I'm not sure there's much you can do to shorten my name though." She nodded vehemently at her newfound friend. "Thanks Ti. I won't let anyone hurt you either! I've always got your back, okay?" Her eyes flashed with determination before they settled back to normal once again. "I want to meet Enigma," she replied, curious about Tiwaz's pet. "Can I sometime?"

"I guess you're right," she sighed, nodding to Angelus. "I should enjoy childhood while I've got it...I don't need any major responsibilities just yet! Now you've probably got to get a job or something, right? Do you have to do more now that you're all BIG?"

Suddenly, she felt herself being pulled along as Angelus ran toward the shop. "Whoa! I wasn't expecting that!" Running along, trying to catch up to him, she came to a halt in front of the shop. "Well, maybe because our legs aren't as long as yours mister!" She giggled, and pulled the door open for both of them. "After you guys..." she said with a little bow.

Tiwaz smiled and skipped inside �thank you rhea� she said as she entered the store and looked around in wonder. From the racks and shelves and bins and things on the wall Tiwaz had feeling it could take hours to properly cover the store. Turning to look at Chaos she gave a soft sigh �Chaos is my owner, not my guardian that�s my mom. mom says that she made a mistake when she answered the Tome and it allowed this entity called chaos which is really old and powerful to have control of me and it sorts of make me it�s property. it tried to hurt Rhea but Ame got in it�s way and then it decided to just warn her and go away.� it wasn�t her favourite topic of discussion but Tiwaz knew that any friends of her should be warned of the darkness that could lurk within her.

Holding up her sphere she grinned "Mom says this ball represents Order which balances out chaos it�s my good side my conscience and soul without it I�d be me but with morals or stuff� she shrugged she wasn�t really concerned about Order after all it wasn�t dangerous to her in any way.

Rhea just nodded as Tiwaz told Angelus the story of their first meeting. It had been quite an experience, and it had given Rhea an instant respect for Tiwaz. With something so powerful inside a person, one couldn't be too careful.

"Yeah, Ti, we'll have to take good care of that orb...I think it's good to have it around," she said, following the other two into the store. She was awed to see the sheer amount of instruments and racks of albums. This could be a cool place, she thought to herself as the door swung shut behind her.

"Dishes?" she asked, trying to look shocked, but her face broke into a smile instead. "That doesn't sound so bad. I guess I don't have to do much at home yet, but I know one day I'll have to do something...The Furies listen to mom, surprisingly. They do a lot of the chores."

Angelus rolled his eyes at Rhea. "It's horrible when you have to do dishes for, about, twenty people. Then it gets bad." He shivered at the thought of having to go back home to the piling rack of plates, bowls, cups, and eating utensils.

"You mean those impish furies you were telling me about before? Wow. Maybe your mom really knows how to set them straight." he chuckled.

Angelus looked to Tiwaz and nodded. "You are here and that's what matters." He replied.

Brown curious eyes scanned the walls, but before he needed a guitar, he needed the books that went with it. And maybe a beginners CD so he could play along with. He joined Tiwaz at the racks of CD's. A few familiar names shot out at him as she rattled off names. "I know Puddle of Mudd, from mom though. She has the oddest taste in music." He shook his head. He shrugged his shoulders at the question. "Don't they have those scanner things to let you scan the CD and hear a few songs?" he inquired out loud.

His glittering brown eyes looked to Rhea and then to Tiwaz. "What do you guys like to listen to?" he asked.

" Mom says I'm random when it comes to music I like certain classical peices and hate others I'll sing whiskey lullaby but no other country and I'll dance to sandstorm but otherwise techno makes me agigtated." She looked thoughtful for a moment then simply smiled " I think I'm picky I like songs, not bands or types of music just certian songs, sort of like how I like watchiing the weather and sports but not the news."

For Tiwaz music was thing to be enjoyed but mostly on her terms. certian things cuaghter her attention and other things didn't no matter how closely related they were. Though each day her tastes shifted and grew encompassing more things.

"Well, it sounds like we all like different types of music. I'm always interested in hearing new things," Rhea said, looking to both Angelus and Tiwaz.

"I guess you're right. There are a lot of people in our house to feed too...No wonder you're doing so many dishes. If your mom is anything like mine, you've got a huge housefull too." Though there were more than a few family members at the beachhouse, many of Elysia's older children had already moved out, or lived in their own worlds, and only came to Gaia to visit every now and then. "I'm glad most of my brothers and sisters are out of the house...Otherwise, it'd be just too much!"

She continued to search through the albums, knowing full well that she had no money to buy anything, even if she wanted to. She could at least look around, she thought. Glancing up at the wall of guitars, she looked over to Angelus to answer his question. "Yeah, I really like orchestral music. It's really pretty most of the time. I'd like to learn to play a stringed instrument I think," she said, actually thinking about this for the first time.

"Well, it's good to be eclectic I think! You'll get a lot of variety that way," she replied, grinning at him.

Turning to Tiwaz, she looked ready to ask more questions. "Hey Ti, what kind of instrument do you think you'd like to play?"