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December 27th, 2004. Sunday.

Everything's been passing in such a blur... Yeine's arrived from... well, wherever she was from. Eriol finally came home. And on Christmas... someone else came. I'm hiding him in the attic for now (did I even know we HAD an attic?), but someone's bound to find him soon. I hope Aunt Olivia can take care of him before that happens.

Did I mention our house moved? We didn't, the house did. As in, it's not where it was. Apparently, we now live in a town called Port Gino. Where lots of other people seem to live. I'll have to explore more soon.

Anyway, it was an eventful holiday, but a peaceful one too. Karan seems to be pretty popular. He got a fishbowl from Keita and Aureli, with two adorable black and white marbled fish inside. And the box from Demare actually had a squirrel in it! Which I'm not letting near Karan until I take it to a vet. I'm calling it Dusk for now... it's curious though. The eyes remind me of Karan's and Demare's. He also got a pendant from Huni-san (the letter K), and two cute plushies from Santa, one of which he gave to Eriol.

And another thing- a strange looking mirror. I don't know where it came from either. I didn't give it to him, and no one knows who did. But he seems pretty attatched to it. How strange.

I STILL need to buy him a crib.

~DS

"What's the squirt got?" Eriol looked at Karan's hands in surprise, as they made their way home from the HQ.

It was a box, gold with a purple ribbon that Karan was chewing on. It was sparkly, and he liked it!

"Perhaps someone at the headquarters gave it to him," Ying offered as they made their way home.

Eriol nodded. "Mebbe. He should open it, I guess. Don't think anyone'd wan'it back after he's gone'n chewed it." He shifted the Legend in his arms so he could use his free hand to help the gift open.

Karan blinked as he pulled out a sparkly green crystal. It was shiny. Very shiny. But not too shiny. He tried to chew it, but stopped nearly immediately. Yuck!

"Looks like he's not too fond of it," Eriol smirked as he reached for the shiny rock.

Just because it didn't taste good didn't mean he didn't want it! Karan hugged the crystal to his chest tightly. HIS.

With a shrug, the older boy continued walking. "Whatever. It's yours okay?"

Yes, it was his... how he knew he wasn't sure, but it was his. Even if it did poke him a little.

It was nearly morning, and the light that glowed dimly from outside at night was growing stronger and stronger. Time for sleep, Karan decided. It had been a good day- he'd finally gotten to touch the soft fuzzy thing on the back of the big boy. But then he'd made such a funny noise, and gotten mad, so that wasn't too good. But still, a good day all in all. Pleased with himself, he hooked one arm around his bright dragon plush, and squeezed the charm he'd gotten from Chandra in the other hand. Now he needed sleep.

After a few moments in this comfortable position, he frowned. Why wasn't the sleep coming? He'd never had trouble going to sleep when the light was coming before. Maybe it was too bright.

"There's no such thing, my boy."

Karan flinched. Even though the voice sounded friendly, its booming sound echoed in the Legend's mind painfully. Was there someone in the room again? He uncurled himself from his sleeping pose and with his free hand, pulled himself up to look over the edge of the box.

And instantly regretted it.

A column of light was in front of the window. Not nice light like the lady's had been, but hard, hot, fiery light. It seemed to burn everything it touched, even though it was consolidated into one sole cylinder.

Out of the light stepped a person. A person wearing polished golden armor. Every inch of it gleamed as brightly as the light it was born from, and it was covered with intricate designs and patterns. Despite the fact that the metal curved and bent, creating grooves and niches, it bore no sign of shadows, nor did the figure of the being itself. It was impossible to tell the gender of the person until they removed the magnificent golden helmet they wore. A man's face looked down at the boy, his bronzed skin shining every bit as brightly as the armor he wore. Copper colored hair adorned both his head and face, but was cropped neatly, not a hair out of place. He was truly an awe-inspiring visage.

Karan hated it.

He wasn't sure if it was the light, or the man, or the fact that he was there without asking, or the fact that he was tired and wanted to sleep. All he knew is that something was very wrong, and that any reason the man had to be there wasn't good.

"You needn't be afraid of the light, my boy." The man smiled, revealing pearly teeth that shone as brightly as the rest of him, but there was no trace of joy or pleasure in his face. "It reveals everything for what it is. It wasn't meant for illusion, which is why you look the way you do now. I knew it wouldn't last for long... deception is best left to those who deal in shadows. In false hope." Gauntleted hands clenched into fists, and thick reddish eyebrows furrowed in anger which the man didn't bother hiding.

That didn't sound right. Karan liked shadows. He liked light too, but he didn't like too much of it.

"Nonsense. There is no such thing!" His voice grew even louder and more grating against Karan's ears. "Do not trust the shadows. They only want to trick you by offering artificial truth. The light, the sun, those reveal the tricksters for what they really are."

It was almost like the man was talking about the shiny lady. Their visits were kind of the same. Except she was nice and didn't yell at him.

The man's eyes widened, and Karan noticed that they were the same shade of gold as his own left eye. "She has seen you. Did she say anything? Did you believe it?"

The legend started to shiver, despite the growing heat in the room. Why did the man want to know about the shiny lady? He wasn't going to hurt her, was he? She was nice, she gave him a pretty thing and made him feel happy.

"You aren't to trust her. Give it to me." The man's lips pressed together firmly, and he thrust one of his hands towards the boy.

What was Karan supposed to give the man? And why? He liked his shinies, and he wasn't going to give them to the yelling man.

Armor clattered audibly as the man started to shake, but not from fear. "My patience is wearing thin, boy. Give me whatever it was that the moon gave to you!"

Karan sat himself on his bottom, folded his arms, and shook his head, a picture of childish stubbornness if one discounted his shivering.

"I won't ask you again!" This time his hand dropped onto the edge of the box, jostling it and its contents. He waited for a response, but recieved none. "You are foolish to trust her! She cares nothing for anyone but herself!" Nothing. "She will destroy you!" With every exclamation he shook the box harder, but to no avail.

It took every bit of Karan's minute strength to keep himself in the box. Once everything settled, and the man paused to catch his breath, he looked up and stared him down, giving a cold, loathing look.

It startled the man enough to make him back away, but he quickly recovered. "You will be sorry for this choice. And you have not seen the last of me, boy!" His face twisted into something between a frown and a smile as he stepped backwards into the light. "You will learn to love the light!"

The man vanished, but the light, if anything, grew more intense. The room lit up as the glow of the pillar spread over the whole room, searing everything it touched.

Karan's eyes, his skin, everything burned. All he could see was whiteness, a white that was blindingly bright. It was unbearable; he longed to shut his eyes, but he couldn't. Even if he could, the damage was already done. All he could do was scream.

The door of the room was flung open and DS ran inside, one hand on her head, the other outstretched towards the box. "It's okay, it's okay..."

The light had died down a little, but it was still white-hot in his mind. Where was the voice coming from? Karan looked around, but all he could see was light.

DS reached into the box and picked up the scared Legend, wiping nearly dry tears away from his face. "It's okay... everything is okay" She reached down again and retrieved the pendant from Chandra, dangling it in front of his face. "See? It's okay..."

There was no reaction from Karan, other than to stare blankly back up at the ceiling and cling to the woman more tightly.

"Karan?" DS frowned and touched the tip of the charm to the boy's face lightly, letting him feel the cool metal before lifting it up again.

What was that? His arms extended upwards, trying to reach whatever it was that had touched him with its refreshing cold.

After watching him flail, his arms waving uselessly several inches from where the charm was dangling, it dawned on her.

"He... he can't see it..."

Karan opened his eyes. It was becoming easier to see, though most things still looked a bit blurry or hazy to him. But he was definitely in his box, that much he could tell, and he let out a soft squeal of delight.

When everything first vanished, the tall lady- had Xue called him Des?- had taken him out of his box, and put him in some kind of fluffy prison. It was flat, and didn't have any walls, and he'd nearly fallen off it the first time he was put there. After that, she actually held onto him when he was asleep. How creepy.

But now he was back in HIS box. His space, to do what he wanted to do, and go where he wanted to go. With all his stuff-

A horrifying thought occured to Karan. What if someone moved his stuff while he was gone? It would be a good reason to make the Des lady move him for a while. The thief would have more than enough time to take his stuff and hide it somewhere before he was the wiser about it.

There was only one thing to do- take inventory.

His plushies were quite obviously there. He could feel both their heads, and see the base forms of them brush against eachother, black with yellow. They were the first things he ever had, except his scarves and his charm, and the weird looking clear bowl. That had always intrigued him, but the Des lady wouldn't let him hold it. He would have to find it sometime soon, to make sure the thief didn't get it.

His hand brushed a round object that gave slightly when he squeezed it. The ball. Des lady gave it to him on the day that the big tree was up. It had lots of other little balls in it, unmoving, yet he could feel their motion nonetheless. He scratched the rubber with his finger to make sure it was the right thing, and rolled it across the box. It hit the plusheis, but not without some effort on Karan's part to push it over all the pillows that lined the box. At least his stuff was together.

He knew he couldn't check on the other stuff, like the ringly bell and the star lantern and the clear bowl and the silver stick. Not without Des lady anyway. That would have to wait. Dusk would have to wait too, since he slept in a big clear box across the room. That would have to be changed too, once he could figure out how to get there.

Now he had to make sure his super-special secret shinies were still there.

Well, maybe they weren't so secret. Des lady and the big boy knew about a couple of them. But not all. And they were his, not theirs, so he would get to know their secrets, not them.

The first thing Karan decided to look for was the swirly pendant from the moon girl. He had shoved it behind the really big fuzzy pillow. At least, he thought he had. But when he reached a hand behind the pillow, all he could feel was the cool cardboard of the box.

PANIC! What if the theif had taken it? Would the moon girl get mad? Would she not give him any more shinies? Would he never find his swirly shinie again?

Fretting terribly, Karan's hand groped at his left side for his special sparkly charm. It poked his hand a little, snagging on the bandage that Des lady had wrapped around his cut, so he shifted his grip on it, and another metallic object bapped his wrist.

Oh yeah... Des lady had put them together. Right. He knew that. Of course. No one could deny it, since no one had seen him panic. Because he hadn't panicked. Right.

Where was the round shiny?

He found his next special shiny without incident (hidden inside a paisley pillow that was torn in the back), and held it out. He couldn't tell if it was him not seeing right or not, but the shiny round thing didn't look too round anymore Or shiny. It was still mostly round, but more than half of the circle was a dark gray color, and didn't shine like the rest did.

Dismissing it as his eyes being annoying, he located his last special shiny (underneath two velvet pillows). He still wasn't sure if he liked it. It didn't taste good. Not that his other shinies tasted good, but still. It poked him. And it wasn't silvery. Or goldy. It was a weird greeny color that reminded him of the smushy peas Des lady had tried to give him for dinner.

But it did make the light very pretty, he'd discovered. And that was worth it.

DS watched from the doorway, hidden by the opened door, a soft smile on her face. She had been watching for a couple of minutes, and it brought joy to her heart to see how much better the boy was doing.

Karan held the crystal up above the rim of the box, a feat which involved him standing up while keeping a firm grip both on the crystal on the box. Once he'd done that, he put his hand in front of him, and watched in awe as a stray afternoon sunbeam hit the crystal. It illuminated, seemingly from the inside, and cast bits of light all over the room, even onto Karan himself. He nearly dropped the prickly shiny onto the bed, but regained control of it, biting the inside of his lip as one spike jabbed him where the bandage was. That hurt!

But it had been worth it, he decided.

January 21st, 2005. Friday.

Aye aye aye. I never thought I'd miss the dour, sulky baby I had a few weeks back, but I nearly do. It's exhausting trying to keep up with him, and keep him entertained. He's practically giddy, all night. Yes, night. He's still pretty much nocturnal, and it's driving me nuts. I can't sleep at night, I can't sleep during the day... I can barely squeeze a couple hours in at dawn.

Lionel's got himself into a mess too. Ended up with an exchange student from another planet. An empath. Who hates Gaia. Don't know why. Eriol's taken her to the Academy, I brought her with me when I took Karan to the HQ... boy, did she clash with Pink there.

Karan had fun though. He saw Guinie, and seemed genuinely pleased. Dusk wasn't as happy, since Guin had some pet of her own there that talked, surprising both Dusk and Karan. We had to go pretty soon after, but I'm glad that at least he got to play. Maybe I can take him in again tonight. I hope he calms down some, at least.

~DS