Welcome to Gaia! ::

It was the second time she had seated herself upon the stone bench located in the garden of the HQ. Still, she was drawn in and absorbed by the vast expanse of it- so much so that she wouldn't notice how two of the children at her side -two boys- slipped off into the foliage. In the crook of this young woman's arm lay something that couldn't quite be classified as a child. It was corporeal and very, very purple. Looking at it from the side... holy s**t. Was it some kind of squid?! What the hell was it?

The woman seemed to be ignorant to this fact and ran her fingers delicately over the fringes of the creature, perhaps a bit absently. At her side, scanning the garden with mismatched green and red eyes, sat a green-skinned teenager. Her head was tilted upwards slightly as a sign of superiority, and the way she held herself with her leg crossed delicately over the other suggested she thought of herself as nothing less than regal. Every now and then her stare might slide to the dark-haired woman beside her and the babe craddled in her arms. And every time she did, a sort of smug sneer crossed her face. Kyo was going to have one ugly baby was what she predicted. And she would still retain her place as the most beautiful in the house.

The baby ghost seemed to be ignoring all the people around it save for the one that was currently holding it. Its tiny arms embraced its morbidly-crafted wand possessively, and leaned into Kyo in the same manner. Those little urchins skittering around was of no real interest to it. It had already fed on their mental frequencies. None of which were poweful enough to give a response.

Ari carried Artemis in her carrier back through the portal of HQ and down the long hall way to the gardens. She wanted a nice place that made Artemis calm for her to be able to practice crawling.As well as her secret hope that there would be other children about for Artemis to play with. A child with no friends was a sad one indeed. So far Artemis had played with ghost-lings, wisps of existences tied to the wands they were born from. One had made a good impression on Artemis, but Ari had wished for Artemis to meet other children, whom she could touch.

The gardens were great and beautiful as they had been the time before when she had visited. In a strange nostalgia Ari had made her way over to the river side where she had met Neph. She was about to stop when Artemis gave up a cheerful shout and started to wave her hands towards a stone bench a little way�s off. There were children. Ari smiled and made her way over.�Hello there!� she called and waved, a smile on her face.

Kyo perked at the greeting, turning a lazy sort of stare towards Ari. She'd seen this woman before, but she could not recall where it was they had met. Had they met? She didn't think they had. Then again, her memory wasn't always reliable. Why else would the other wave at her in such a friendly manner? Maybe she was just friendly? Letting the thought go, she simply raised a hand in reply and attempted to push her features into a smile. "Good afternoon!"

Beside her, Noelle gave a soft snort before offering the woman a sweet smile. In her oppinion, this baby wasn't a real looker either. This made her feel all the more better about herself. Was this place a nursery for ugly babies? "Oh! What a cute baby!" She cooed, studying Artemis from afar. Was it a boy or a girl?

"Oy." With a small blurr of emerald, a boy would step himself into Ari's path. A devilish grin cracked across the child's face -he couldn't be more than ten or eleven- as he stared up at her and the child. "You look like a smart, comely young woman! How would you feel about investing a few dollars on a future celebrity?" A small hand reached out to her, expectantly. Upon his back a pair of green wings quivered at the sound of money, curling their leathery material even closer to his shoulderblades to still the motion.

There appeared to be many children, which explained the exhausted look on the woman�s face. Ari smiled at the girl who complimented Artemis then looked down at the boy. She considered how to deal with the boy who had already learned how to swindle common folk for their worth, and got struck with an idea. She gestured for the boy to follow her over to the bench, where she pulled out Artemis�s blanket and sat the baby girl on it. Artemis began to crawl around as Ari faced the boy. �I have something better then money for you.� She put on a big grin, hoping to gain the boy�s attention, and curiosity. �Now movie stars have everything done for them right? Well that seems like a great waste of such talent, as yours. Might I suggest business as a goal? You get all the power, wealth, and control of a star, but you don�t have to wake up early or memorize lines, in fact most of your work would be done for you. What do you think?� Ari picked up Artemis and bounced her on her knees. Since Artemis had started crawling she had begun to enjoy such movement, and Ari, who wanted Artemis�s muscles to develop as they should, had no objections. Ari enjoyed playing with Artemis as she waited on the boy to decide his fate.

The boy cocked a brow at her as the woman began to spout words at him about business. Business? His nose scrunched in response to that. Still, he followed after her, making a gesture to the flowers behind him as he did. "I think I'd rather have the money at the moment, ma'am. Even a business needs money to get off the ground!"

"Avarice, you should leave the lady alone." Advised another boy, who had slipped from the flowers that had been previously gestured to. "She just came to sit in the garden. She probably didn't plan on spending anything." This boy was about the same age, if not older. He himself gave a warm smile to Ari and Artemis, golden eyes sparking with some hidden excitement.

"What is her name?" Interjected Kyo, giving Avarice a very steady look. In the meantime, the little ghostling in her arms wriggled, turning its squid-like head towards the more solid child of the wand. Someone new to feed on? An experimental psyonic wave was sent towards the moon-child, which might cause a small twinge of pain or woosiness if her mind wasn't suited for it. If it was, there would be a small flash of purple haze. Hopefully it didn't get lost along the way. This was the only way the little thing could communicate besides reaching out for the new minds, which it was doing now.

Ari chuckled, and winked at the older boy. She knew what she was doing. �Of course, and do you know how Businesses get money?� She said to the younger, �They make it, through effort. Of course asking is a big part, but why don�t you do something to gain that money instead of asking innocent people for it?� She hoped the boy would gain a good lesson from this. The woman seemed to call to one of the boys, so Ari simply ignored it as screams of bloody murder; loud enough to make you want to cover your ears came from Artemis as she quickly vanished.

�Artemis what�s wrong with you?� She turned Artemis around so that the baby would be facing Ari. That is, if you could see her. Ari used her touch, and her memory from when Artemis had done this before to cradle the child against her chest and rock her gently. �Shhh, there there Artemis I�m here, don�t cry��Before coming to the Garden Artemis had eaten, her diaper changed and was fully rested, Ari had no idea what in the world had gotten into her, or what was wrong, and this scared her.

The child had snorted to the comment, knowing exactly what she was playing at. He wasn't exactly /that/ stupid, after all. He wanted money, and her avoiding him with what he believed to be stupid reasoning was just pissing him off, though he kept a clever smile in place. He would have responded, but as soon as he opened his mouth, the kid the woman had in her arms started to squall.

Kyo blinked slightly at Artemis... or the lack of her, rather. What was wrong with her? As if knowing, she lowered her gaze to the babe in her arms, who wriggled again. It was dissapointed- or so its aura read.

"Do you have something that she could focus on? Like a pacifier?" The woman offered, urging her voice to become a bit louder so that it might reach the distraught parent. The children she had brought flinched, the greedy child snagging his brother by the wrist and yanking him off. The teenaged girl clasped her hands over her ears. The woman figured she might be able to help with the headache with her own powers, but wasn't about to exert them unless it was absolutely necessary. Maybe if Artemis just had something to distract her, she might calm down. The ghost wasn't very powerful, after all. The headache should pass after a short time.

�I do but while she�s invisible and crying she doesn�t like things going into her mouth, I might place the pacifier in her eye for all I know.� She rocked Artemis as she thought over the suggestion, something to focus on. She pulled out the stuffed wolf from the basket and waved it in front of Artemis as she carefully held the baby with one arm, her head well supported. �Lupus wants to play with Artemis; does Artemis want to play with Lupus?� The crying continued. Ari wrapped Artemis in her blanket but to no avail, except that she could better see the child. Ari finally pulled out what could be a silver rattle, but was in reality the baby�s wand. She found Artemis�s hand and gently placed the wand into the baby�s hand, Artemis begun to shake it hard as she cried, and cried, and cried. Ari had no idea what to do�.

The woman gave a soft sound of acknowledgement at the reply, watching as the poor child's aura flailed and shook the wand. She herself could actually see the outline of the baby, ringed in a sort of yellow light that signalled her fear. A soft sigh rippled from her as attempts to console the child failed. Gently, she extended a soothing, mental link that wouldn't even be felt as it slid into the girl's mind. Invisible fingers brushed at the offended spot in her mind, dissolving the message the ghost had sent. Then it too dissolved, leaving the girl only to her fit. The headache should no longer exist, nor throb with lasting power. She didn't try and put the girl to sleep, though she probably could have easily arranged it. That was exerting too much power. If the girl continued to scream, there was really nothing she could do.

Ari was amazed at how Artemis calmed down so fast, the wand surely must have a strong connection to her to calm her down. Artemis slowly reappeared. The wand seemed to be the ticket, but somehow Ari still felt that wasn�t all that was going on. �Thank you.� She said to the lady, for her advice, and something else Ari couldn�t figure out. �My name is Ariel; this is Artemis, how do you do.� She set the newly calm baby on the ground and she immediately began to craw around. Ari raised her hand and extended it to the lady.

"I didn't really help..." Kyo replied softly, though a small smile of relief quirked at the corners of her lips. The little girl was okay- that was good. "You're the one who knew what to give her. My name is Kyo. This one here is... well, it may be a little early to name him, but I've decided to call him Xerksis." The ghost seemed to perk, as if hearing its name and responding. "This young lady at my side is Noelle. The dark green-haired boy is Avarice, and his brother is Dionaea. They're my grandchildren." Grandchildren? She only looked twenty herself.

"Pleasure to meet you." Kyo agreed, then slowly eyed the hand. A pale palm extended in response, the colorless fingers gripped the other's hand in response, followed by a metallic rattle issued from the silver shackle on her wrist.

"I suppose I'm feeling a little better now that I'm out of the house. I didn't expect to meet someone else today... though it is a plus. Is Artemis also from this place?" Her hand made to slide away.

�Yes, she is.� Ari smiled; giving a nod to all the children she had just been introduced to. �Xerksis is an interesting name.� She mused as Artemis came back up to her and balanced her hands on Ari�s lap, giggling and babbling to be picked up. Ari did just that, and Artemis began to bounce up and down on her knees. �Is he from here?� Ari figured that the question was fair game.

"There aren't a lot of common names in our family." Kyo admitted, petting at the little ghost, who only seemed to shift into the attention. "I.. well, I was experimenting with sounds for names. 'Xerksis' was the only name he responded to." Again, the purple, squid-looking baby moved its head expectantly, what looked like tentacles extending from its chin slowly curling upon themselves. "He is from here, yes. He has his wand." She nodded to the oddly-shaped thing with the impaled skull at the top. "Artemis... a moon child, then?" She was familiar with mythology along many things.

�Clever and yes, but I didn�t name her, her previous guardian did.� Artemis continued to bounce hurriedly up and down on Ari�s knees. �What connection does your little Xerksis have?� She knew the question was awkward, but it got the curiosity said. Ari, who was normally good with words, found that she was getting worse as time went on with Artemis, maybe she was just getting out of practice.Artemis wanted down and crawled, slowly, but surely over to Noelle and laid her hands on her lap, slapping her knees.

"She... Oh. I'm sorry?" She offered slightly, glancing to the little girl quietly, face a blank slate. So someone hadn't wanted her or taken proper care of her? Hmm... "Xerksis is psionic. He's from the Underdark." She informed the other openly, feeling no real need to hide the fact from her. It wasn't as if she included that he was indeed a brain-eating squid, after all. Coallian was psionic too, and she was cute as a button. Not that she had really met Coallian or even knew her.

Noelle blinked at the little girl, though smiled and reached out slowly to pet her hairless head. Ew. Kyo was watching her, though, and she knew she'd have to be nice or risk getting smacked into the wall by her father on their return. Talis didn't fool around when it was Kyo she had embarrassed- all of three of the children knew this but some like Avarice had forgot. Then the smarter ones like Dionaea would keep him in check. "Hey there, sweetie. You want to sit up here?" She patted her lap invitingly, cooing at the child softly. Noelle was a brilliant actor when she needed to be.

Artemis climbed up onto Noelle�s lap; she was pretty and wanted to be pretty too. Artemis leaned against the girl and began to giggle merrily while kicking her legs.Ari smiled at the little girl, �Those seem like interesting details. I don�t know what Artemis is capable of quite yet, except that she can turn invisible when scared.� She explained to the lady.

Well, okay. This kid seemed pretty charming. She had a good cutesy act so far, Noelle decided, even though she wasn't the prettiest baby. And she was much better than the bratty brothers she usually had to put up with. Experimentally, she flexed the muscle in her thigh in an attempt to bounce her. She seemed to have liked that when she was with Ari.

Avarice began to approach again with Dionaea at his side, cocking a brow at Noelle as a sort of signal before smiling smugly. He liked kids himself if they weren't screaming their heads off, and Dion was even more of a sap for them, he knew.

"She's so little!" Dion whispered to his brother while digging into his pocket. "Hey, Artemis, wanna see a frog?" From this pocket in his jeans he produced a small amphibian, colored a bright shade of blue and dotted with black. A poisonous dart frog- what was this kid doing with one? And why wasn't he dead? He had other frogs with him, but this one was the obvious pride of his collection and was the only one who didn't try and run from him. A soft chirrup issued from the frog as it looked at the company around it.

"Dion, don't let her touch it." Kyo warned softly. "Why don't you show her Earnest instead?" And then she turned her attention to Ari, nodding a bit. "I'm not sure of his capabilities yet, but yours certainly seems like a handful... Is she often scared?"

�Very,� Ari replied, �She is spooked by a lot of things, but for the most part she does alright.� She took a glance over at what it was the lady didn�t want her grandchild showing her baby, and nearly screamed.�Get that away from her,� she called, �Artemis liked to grab anything put in front of her.� True to the work Artemis had indeed reached her hands out while slightly bouncing on the girls knees.

"The frog doesn't emmit any poison unless its scared, but it still wouldn't be best to touch it." Kyo frowned toward Dionaea, who jumped slightly and immeadiatly pocketed the frog. "That child is immune to poison. He's from a garden much larger than this one- from a venus flytrap, if I recall properly. I apologize- he's not really aware he's different in that respect."

'Earnest' happened to be a rather large, green bullfrog. This one Dionaea held out for Artemis with a renewed smile. "His skin is smooth. Careful. No squeezing." The frog gave a healthy ribbit, squirming a little.

"I think Xerksis is a bit cautious of her after the outburst." Kyo confessed, glancing down to him. "The only thing I know for sure about him is that he likes to be near others." Xerk seemed to realize the other woman's presence and reached out for her with a wispy hand.

Ari smiled, �Maybe one day he will come to realize how special he is and help out others, I mean that�s a pretty unique talent, being immune to poison.� She looked at the ghost-ling who had stretched out some of its corporeal form at her, �I�m not much of a judge of ghostly cuteness but I bet this little one will grow up healthy if he enjoys company.� Ari held out her hand so that the ghost could touch it. Artemis meanwhile was bouncing on Noelle�s knee and reaching out to pat the bull frog as she went up and down giggling up a storm.
�Artemis seems really happy with your grand children.� Ari commented merrily at the result of the attention her daughter was receiving.

"His father says he can do quite a few other things, too. He's a sweet child, Dion. He told me he wants to be a doctor or a scientist when he grows up, but I know Talis won't agree when he finally tells him..." She sighed softly, but smiled as well as she could watching them play. A feathery, cold feeling would announce the ghost's little hand, curling around one of the fingers while its other arm held the wand to it. "I certainly hope he grows up healthy. I'll do my best to take care of him until he feels ready to be on his own." And now she turned her dark blue eyes towards Artemis. "Even though she may be easily frightened in this early stage, I can sense a serenity within yours. Indeed a child of the moon."

The frog wriggled in her touch, giving another croak. Dionaea laughed softly, fluttering the glistening fly-like wings upon his back. "He likes you."

"I don't think they mind her either. She's very charming." Kyo smiled.

Ari took a moment to contemplate the boy who wanted to be a doctor, �He�d make a good doctor, plus if it�s his dream, he should go after it.� The boy was very careful and kind around Artemis, there was no doubt in her mind that he had the patience for being a doctor, not to mention a great gift he could bring to it. The children played and a small cool feeling came about her finger as the little ghost-ling held her finger �Hello there little one.� She said softly, smiling at the little guy before looking up at her own daughter.

Ari just smiled, �Serene huh?� She watched as Artemis continued to pat the frogs head, she even started to babble a little in her cute little baby way. She wanted to grab the frog but soon found she couldn�t and became bored. So Artemis turned around and held herself against Noelle and began to make more baby noises, grinning up at the girl. Ari giggled, yes this is exactly what Artemis needed, other people to interact with.

"I think so, too, but it'll take some coaxing to get his father to accept it. Bad experiences." She wasn't going to emphasize if asked. She quietly stared at the children, who seemed to be having great fun with one another. It wasn't often she saw them all get along with someone simultaneously.

The wisp turned a little closer to the new mind, moving its head so it seemed to be looking at her. Huh, this one seemed to have some rather pleasent thoughts. The same message was shoved at Ari's mind experimentally. Kyo merely nodded to the woman, glancing to the girl.

Noelle smiled pleasently at the little girl, then glanced to her brothers. "Does she know any words yet?" She adressed Ari, glancing between her and the little girl. She made a small gesture, trying to push the frog away from them. "Maybe she'd like the flowers...?" This place was nice enough, after all.

�I know how that is.� Ari muttered and then called to Noelle, �No she doesn�t.� Though secretly Ari hoped Artemis learned some words soon. She noticed how well Noelle and the boys were doing with her, almost as if Artemis had known them her entire life. She almost didn�t want to break them up, but her watch, which kept buzzing at her, told her there was little choice in the matter. Ari stood up and walked over to the group of kids, reaching down and picking up Artemis who had reached up and shouted gleefully at the sight of her.
�I�m sorry but we really should be going, we�ve been here for longer then I wanted.� She held Artemis on her thigh as she handed a small piece of paper to the group, �If you guys want to see her again just give me a call, I�m sure I could use a baby sitter or two at some point.�She brought Artemis over to her carrier and settled her in before walking over to the lady and holding out her hand, �It was lovely to meet you and your grandchildren and Xerk,� she let the little ghost take her hand once more before they left, �Hopefully I will see you around again? It was nice meeting you all.�

Babysitter? Well, it would get her out of the house. And maybe it'd give her another little worshipper or -maybe- friend. Noelle looked over the paper and smiled at the woman, keeping the plotting glisten of light from her eyes. "Will do." She replied.

"I'm glad we could meet." Kyo told her, lifting Xerk up so he could nab at her hand one last time. "Hopefully the next time we meet, he will be fleshy enough to play with her. I know he'll need some friends when he comes fully into being." She waved as the woman left, and the shouts of the boys' good-byes could also be heard before they scampered off to cause whatever mischief in the garden they had originally been planning.