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Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:52 pm

// Introducing Izzy //
A "friend" of Reyna's stops by...

"My, my, my," Izzy purred as she draped her arms around Mystic's neck and leaned in through the door way despite how the Shadow attempted to shut the door on her, "Look who's gone and grown up!"

Mystic scowled darkly and tried to pry himself free of the woman's arms a bit unsuccessfully.

"And so handsome, too!" she declared as she gripped his chin and resisted the urge to pinch his cheeks. He looked about ready to blow a blood vessel.

'Reyna isn't here. She's at work,' he muttered as he allowed himself to go transparent enough that he slipped out of the woman's grip to leave her holding nothing but air for a few brief moments.

"Aww. That's a shame. Guess I'll have to just wait for her!"

Mystic's bright violet eyes narrowed in a tick of irritation. Stupid cat-woman-changeling-thing. He huffed when she attempted to latch onto him again in insistance that he ought to keep her company while Reyna was away. 'I think not. She should be home soon. You said you're going to wait for her, so wait.'

"Feisty little thing aren't you!" she grinned with her hands on her hips, "Got that from Reyna-dear no doubt!"

He sighed and pressed his hand to his face before simply disappearing from view so that he could skitter off to his room without Isabella following. It unnerved him a bit that despite that her eyes followed him as though to make a point that she could see him or at least sense his presence. Her behavior always irritated him. She was to in-your-face for his tastes. That, and he had this nagging feeling that it was all an act, which made him suspicious.

Either way, he was thankful she didn't follow and he locked himself within his room. It would only be thirty minutes until Reyna was home anyway. He idly reached out to his bonded to warn her of their unexpected guest before busying himself with a book she'd picked up for him.

Thirty minutes, however, left a lot of time for a certain cat to get into trouble left unattended. She grinned at that and decided to go snooping through Reyna's room, though she paused just as she reached for the doorknob when she heard a faint rustling sound. It wasn't quite a noise Mystic made. He was always very nearly silent when he moved. Her ears perked at the noise once more and she followed it down the hall to slip soundlessly into the room she was fairly certain the rustling was coming from.

Her eyes widened and her face lit with a bright smile. "You are just the most adorable thing ever!" Isabella declared as she lifted Sam up and out of her crib. The babe cooed sweetly as she scrubbed at her eyes. She'd just woken up from a wonderful nap! She didn't know who the pretty dark haired woman was that was hold her but she smelled nice and had fuzzy, kitty ears. She supposed she didn't mind being pulled from her warm blankets by the woman if only because she was interesting.

"And what's this?" the woman went on as Fragments floated into view and did a few circles around her to make sure she wasn't a threat. Satisfied, he perched himself on the woman's shoulder. "Aren't you an interesting creature. Seems your mum keeps bringing home strays!"

She laughed quietly at that and tossed her glossy blakc curls over her shoulder before moving to sit in the rocking chair in the corner. "Such a sweet girl," Izzy murmured as she stroked the child's hair and smiled as Fragments nestled in her lap. "One has to wonder what the fates had in mind when they dropped you into the lap of a woman like Reyna," she said softly as she rocked the child back into a lulled, sleepy state.

Isabella stayed there for quite some time, talking softly to the child as she petted her hair and stroked her back. She was there for more than just thirty minutes before the child's mother discovered her presence.

Reyna flicked on the lights to Sam's room before frowning when she was not immediately greeted by Fragments. her gaze flickered from the empty crib to ... "Izzy!"

"Shhh... she's asleep. No need to wak her from perfectly good dreams!" Izzy replied in a hushed whisper.

Reyna scowled darkly at the woman, fangs bared as she growled low in her throat in warning. She was not at all pleased. It was one thing to have the changeling barge into her home -- it was another to have her sneak in and mess with her child.

The dark haired woman merely smirked as she stood to place the sleeping child back into her crib. She could physically feel Reyna's anger radiate off of her. Even without the projection of her emotions she had always been terribly good at reading her. It helped her keep the upper hand when the demon decided to bear her claws and show her true colors.

"No harm done," Izzy murmured softly, "See? Safe and sound."

Reyna didn't look convinced. She grabbed the woman by the arm with a bruising force and hauled her out of the room. It took visible effort for her to not slam the door behind her. Even so, she dragged Isabella down the hall into her own room before she dared to raise her voice lest she disturb her peacefully slumbering child.

"What is it this time?!" the silver haired woman demanded with a growl. Izzy's presence always meant one thing: trouble. Seeing her with Sam put her on edge. That was her baby, and she'd be damned before anyone caused her harm.

"What? I can't come see an old friend?" Izzy replied smoothly as she idly poked through the small trinkets laid out atop Reyna's dresser. She idly toyed with a tube of red lipstick before pulling a face. Definately not her color, but the shade no doubt looked lovely on the other woman. She grinned at that thought as Reyna continued to rant and rave about how she knew better. Normally, she'd agree with her, but she was being honest this time around. She was just dropping by to pay a visit. Mostly.

"Are you even ******** listening to me?!" Reyna all but shrieked at the top of her lungs as she tore one hand through her hair in an exasperation.

"Of course, dear," Isabella answered as she opened up a small jewelry box, eyes going wide and slightly unfocused at the sight of a very shiny red egg. It was just big enough to sit comfortably in the palm of her hand and had tiny black horns poking through the top. "How cute!" she all but squealed before stepping out of the way when Reyna snarled and lunged towards her.

"NO! Don't touch that it's mine!" Reyna growled out in a rush of words as her visible red eye seemed to dilate at the very sight of the egg.

"What's this? Catnip for demons?" she chuckled

"Give it BACK!"

Izzy merely smirked broadly with her tail flicking behind her playfully. "If you want it, Reyna-love," she purred as she took a few steps back and away from the seething demon, "You'll have to come and get it."

The silver haired woman growled and lunged towards the changeling who swerved out of the way at the last possible moment. Izzy laughed as she darted out of the way and managed to break free of the room all together. She ran down the hall giggling with the egg still in her hands.

Reyna's gaze narrowed as she stalked out of the room with a low growl. The cat stood at the end of the hallway, dangling the small red egg tauntingly before her. The moment the changeling turned to run the demon ran froward with a sudden jolt of speed and tackled her to the floor.

They wrestled there in the living room, overturning furniture and knocking pictures off the wall in their wake. The chaos didn't stop until Izzy managed to pin the raging woman to the floor. They both fell still when the changeling lost her grip on the egg as she struggled with Reyna. It rolled a few inches away and cracked open when it came to a stop.

"You BROKE IT!" Reyna all but roared as she continued to struggle to free herself. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done considering that Isabella was deceptively strong and was sitting atop her chest.

"Mmmm... not quite," the cat replied as she bent slightly to snatch up a small pendant that was shimmering faintly within the remnants of the egg's broken shell. She held it up to the light and watched it swing back and forth like a pendalum just out of Reyna's reach.

The demon she was perched on went still, gaze focused intently on the swinging red jewel. Izzy laughed when Reyna growled and swatted at it as though to tear it away from her. Really, which one of them was supposed to be a cat?

"Like I said -- catnip for demons," she murmured as she bent down low so that they were nearly nose to nose. "It's more your color than mine, anyway," she whispered with a smirk as she clasped it about the other woman's neck, "But do be careful where you where this, hm? I'm sure others of your kind will be drawn to it, as well."

'I don't even want to know.'

Both women looked up to find Mystic standing a little ways away with Sam in his arms. The living room was thoroughly trashed and in the middle of it all was his guardian and Izzy who was still perched atop her chest, tail flicking about lazily.

Reyna shoved Izzy away and scrambled to her feet with a hand clasped over the pendant. She glared fiercly at the other woman, baring sharp teeth before stalking off to her bedroom to slam the door the way she had wanted to do to Sam's earlier.

Mystic knew from personal experience that meant stay away. He laid one hand on Izzy's shoulder when she moved to pursue the demon. 'I'd... stop while you're ahead. I hardly know much about what goes on between you two, but... I don't think whatever it is you have holding over her head will save you forever.'

Izzy stopped and smiled. "Honey, that I know all too well, but... I suppose I can find it in my heart to leave her be for now." She paused for a moment and with a wicked little smirk she launched herself at Mystic's side and kissed him on the cheek. "You're sweet! Take care of her for me!" she called over her shoulder as she dashed away with a broad smirk, pausing only for a moment to ruffle Sam's hair.

The child waved with a sleepy smile and a faint gurgle as Mystic shook his head and strapped her into her high chair so she could have dinner.

'Crazy woman,' he muttered while he went about fixing Sam's food.

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:58 pm

// A Little Better Aquainted //
Sam has a playdate with Nisha!

Reyna turned the small card Aki had originally given her over and over again in one hand in a slightly nervous gesture as she walked towards the park they had agreed to meet at. The edges of the card looked a bit worn, though it could very well have been because it had been previously stored away inside the pocket of her hoodie she'd been wearing the fateful night Sam came into her charge. Truly, being social wasn't one of her most treasured past times, but she came to the conclusion that just because she was antisocial didn't mean she needed to make her adopted daughter a recluse via proxy.

She glanced up on a faint sigh when the child in question managed to grab a fistful of her long silver hair and tugged. That same small hand went up to her ear to tug on the dangling red gem that was attached to a silver hoop a moment later once she had shooed her away from her hair. It was something that had been an ongoing cycle since Athan had force changed her.

Really, it was no different than before when her hair had been cropped and short and her ears looked like an average human's. The only change was that her eyepatch was no longer a source of fascination. Actually, she was rather glad the attention had shifted to something else.

"Saaaam," Reyna grumbled as she shifted her hold on the girl so that she was balanced on her other hip, "That's painful, kiddo. Leave mommy's hair and ears alone."

Samara merely gurgled happily, utterly unphased by the woman's mild scolding. Her focus changed quickly though, when Reyna laid out a small blanket in a grassy spot and set her down. It was time to explore! She loved being outside. There were so many things to see!

Fragments was careful to herd her onto the blanket to keep her from crawling away. It wasn't that he felt Reyna was incompetent to keep her from doing so, but he took pride in the fact that he took care of his girl.

"Spaz," Reyna muttered with a faint quirk of a grin on her face as she watched the ghost-dog fly about in dizzying circles. She shook her head and simply smiled before resuming her fidgeting with the small business card as they waited for Aki and Nisha to appear.

Aki stumbled over the change in terrain, pushing the stroller from sidewalk to grass. "Desperate! Please!" Hustling after the Daemon, ignoring the startled looks from families scattered around the park, Aki tried to veer and head him off at the pass.

"They're just pigeons!" Desperate didn't seem to be listening. Hooting in alarm as he spotted another bunch of the bobbing, pecking puffballs, the Daemon changed course and fled across the grass.

Nisha laughed shortly as Aki whumped the stroller over the border to the hedges, the bells upon the carriage canopy chiming softly. She watched her Daemon bumble and scatter, amused at his frantic avoidance of the equally startled birds. "Abah! Baaah!"

Sighing as Desperate finally ambled to a halt, out of breath, Aki caught up and shook her head. "Wear yourself out? Now I have no idea where to meet...

"Reyna!" Aki blinked across the green, raising one hand in relieved greeting. What luck!

Getting a bit of a grump face once the stroller stopped, Nisha pushed herself to the edge...the barrettes holding her hair back from her face catching the sun upon gemmed butterfly wings. Staring towards those they'd come to meet, she squished up one eye...trying to figure out just who they were.

Hadn't she seem them before?

Brushing her blouse into place, Aki ducked out from under the strap of her bag and draped it over the handle of the carriage...grinning at her companion in past adventure. "It's so good to see you all! You look beautiful!"

"Uh.. you look good too?" Reyna replied as she offered the other woman a faint, fanged grin. She nervously ran a hand back through her hair in an unconscious gesture. Compliments weren't something she recieved often, but then again, she didn't get out much and work so did not count. She had to admit, to herself at least, that she probably did look a bit better than she had the last time they had met.

Drenched rat wasn't a very flattering look on much of anyone.

She shoved those thoughts aside and gave the woman another half-smile as she scooted over on the blanket to make room for her, Nisha, and Desperate. She eyed the other child's daemon as she plucked Sam up and sat her in her lap. It was definately a good thing she brought a rather large blanket.

Fragments made his presence known by zipping through the air excitedly before finally settling near Sam's feet after a grand show of aerobatics. His tail wagged, reflecting his excitement as he pawed at the ground as though too antsy to really stay still for very long.

Sam seemed just as upbeat as her daemon despite how she groaned and grumbled in protest of the firm hold her mother had on her. She wanted to get down and crawl in the grass and meet the new (and yet strangely familiar) people!

Grinning in response, Aki plucked Nisha out of the carriage and settled her down on the blanket....pausing for a moment to point to each corner silently and wave her hand over the acceptable play area. Nisha watched stoically before glancing away...crawling a bit awkwardly towards Fragments and the mother daughter pair.

Whumping back in her bottom, bootied feet wiggling, she pointed one chubby finger at the Daemon. "Dah?"

Desperate didn't seem as keen on approaching the ghostly creature. Tucking the end of his snout up in a curl, he waved his ears cautiously...still not stepping foot on the blanket.

"It's okay, Desperate, you can join us!" Aki didn't spend any more time convincing him...she simply settled down herself and pulled the bag down with her. "Did we keep you waiting long? Ah, you probably saw the Great Pigeon Caper. I don't know what it is with him and birds..."

Leaning forward a bit, casting a shadow over Nisha, Aki ducked her head to be closer to Sam's level and offered her a smile and a finger wiggle. She was such a lovely girl, she'd grown since Aki had seen her last!

"I didn't so much see as I heard a bit of trumpeting," Reyna snickered as she glanced back towards Desperate, "But no.. we haven't been waiting very long." She loosened her grip on Sam as she spoke to allow her to crawl a bit closer to Nisha and Aki.

Her little face lit up in a bright smile that boasted the very first of her baby teeth. She lifted one hand to wave back at Aki. It was something she had picked up rather recently, and Reyna had this suspicious feeling the child knew just how adorable she was when she did such things. Though really it was just her way of reasoning why those squishy feelings welled up inside of her at the sight of Sam doing something adorable.

The child really hadn't been around anyone else her age before except for the one time in the library. She'd met Mael, but Nisha seemed a little more like her and was definately more her size.

She clapped her hands together in excitement. They could play together!

"Oh good! Well, I brought fruit and sandwiches....veggie, roast beef, or crustless PB and J! Nisha ate an hour ago or so, but I'm starving. Can I offer you one?" Holding open the bag for Reyna's inspection, Aki rummaged about and pulled a bottle of juice from the depths.

Nisha eyed the bottle for a moment before turning back to the pair...hands raising as Samara clapped. She smacked her own hands together in imitation, almost missing, and grunted in frustration. What game was this?!

Her curiosity about the strange Daemon still hadn't been satisfied. giving up on clapping, she stared at Fragments for a moment instead...flapping one hand in a rather japanese 'come here' motion. It certainly didn't look like a tempting gesture to Desperate, but then, he was used to it.

"Sure," Reyna replied. Food was always good. She had a nasty habit of forgetting meals anyway. Mystic usually countered that habit by making food for her though. She nabbed herself a sandwhich and watched the children interact. Despite the fact that she'd never really been all that fond of children in general, since Sam came into her care she realized they were fascinating in an odd way.

Fragments skittered forward towards Nisha and rubbed against her side like a cat. He appreciated attention for just about everyone, but he only ever spoke to Sam. That quiet, barely there voice was silent to everyone else.

He floated up into the air so he was about eye level with Nisha. He reguarded her with a quiet intensity as he peered at the other child with wide, unblinking gray eyes.

Sam flailed out towards Fragments with one hand as though to call him back. The movement nearly sent her teetering over onto her side, but her mother caught her with one hand before she lost her balance entirely.

"So.." Reyna started after swallowing down her first couple bites of the sandwhich she'd snagged, "How have you been?"

Setting aside a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for Nisha, and tossing an apple to Desperate to get his mind off the off Daemon, Aki gave Reyna a shrug. "Business as usual, though I did just get in a new shipment!" Leaning forward, she showed the generous and flawlessly cut blue topaz resting against her chest...locked into a simple setting on a delicate chain.

"I have no hand with jewelry, myself, but I love a pretty rock. I hope that doesn't sound shallow." She smiled a bit, making no attempt at snobbery. Appreciation of a fine cut just wasn't a bad thing.

Trying and failing to coax Nisha into a bite, Aki sighed and nibbled at the sandwich herself. "How about you? Is Sam talking, yet?"

Nisha glanced up at the sound of another name on Aki's lips...little hand pausing. she had been about to reach for Fragments, but found herself distracted. Who was aki speaking of? Turning her solemn eyes back to Samara, she gurgled a question. Maybe she knew?

Reyna's visible eye widened slightly as she leaned forward to admire the pendant. "That is lovely," she murmured quietly before drawing away with a small smile, "There's a pendant with a cut similar to that one on display in the shop I work at, though I think it's some sort of sapphire though. I prefer topaz myself."

She couldn't help but smirk faintly at that. Yup. Definately grown attached to that particular stone, if only because she was endeared to her Shadow as she was to Samara. It was rather ironic how things had turned out that way.

"I've been.. good, I suppose. Can't complain too much," she replied thoughtfully as she idly brushed her hair out of her face, "Sam isn't talking just yet, though she has cut in a couple of teeth." She chuckled quietly when the child in question turned towards her at the sound of her name and smiled, showing off said bottom teeth.

Samara turned back towards Nisha and instant later and offered her the same smile before scooting forward on her bum to get closer to both her and Fragments, a bit more careful this time so that she didn't loose her balance.

"Mmmm!" Aki waved a bit of her sandwich in interest, smiling as she chewed. "I'd still love to see your shop...maybe I'll pop over in a day or two!" Glancing down at Nisha, who leaned back suspicously as Sam crawled forward, Aki waited until her daughter's mouth opened slightly in questioning before sneaking in a bite of food.

Nisha grimaced, but chewed nonetheless. Wasting food simply wasn't her way....unless of course she was throwing it. Smacking her little lips, she forgot her trepidation about the approaching girl and leaned forward as well.

Desperate hooted in warning, but it was too late. Nisha lifted one hand...and reached forward to pet Samara right atop her head. "Haah!"

"Erm, Nisha...friends aren't for petting."

Reyna leaned back for a moment and rummaged through her bag to retrieve a small business card. It was silver in color and reflected in a shimmering sort of way in the light. In the demon's hand it looked blank, but once handed to Aki ink seemed to rise to the surface to display the shop's logo and information.

"If you really want to drop by, the address is on the back," the silver haired woman offered before eating the last bit of her sandwhich, "It's in Durem. Not too hard to find. I'm certain my business partner would love to have a look at that pendant as well."

She watched in amusement as Sam giggled when Nisha petted her head. She reached to pet the other girl's head as well. Turnabout was fair play, afterall!

Aki accepted the card with both hands, looking it over respectfully before nodding. "Thanks! I'll be there!" Sliding her hand into her sling bag, she felt about for a bit before pulling forth her wallet...and securing the card inside. "Lovely design! I'll leave Nisha with her sitter, if it's all the same, though...fussy babies and delicate stores aren't much of a mix."

Fussy, indeed! Her joy at petting faded as Sam pet her in return...eyes going wide in shock. She wasn't pettable, she was Nisha!! Staring at Desperate as though searching for answers, Nisha narrowed her eyes and sighed. Her Daemon was far too busy ushering butterflies towards Fragments to care.

Turning back to Samara, Nisha reached out for her dress....giving the pretty material a tug. She wanted a pretty dress as well...maybe Samara would share if she was nice. That's what Aki taught her...bieng nice went a long way.

"Boboh." Leaning forward, she relaxed against Sam as though she was too tired to find a space of her own. In Nisha language, that was a hug.

"Mm.. quite true. Sam usually stays at him with her.. erm.. older brother," Reyna replied. Yes, that was a good term for Mystic without having to delve into the mechanics of what he truly was. Plus, it was true. He did act as her older brother and they adored each other.

Sam's green eyes widened when Nisha tugged at her dress. She didn't really get what it was Nisha wanted, but she grinned and patted the girl's back in a hug the way her mum did her. Hugs were all well and good in her book!

Fragments watched the girls with a look of amusement before he launched himself up into the sky to chase after the butterflies before pausing before the elephant daemon that was so much larger than himself. He went a bit cross-eyed for a brief moment as a butterfly landed on his face.

He shooed it away with one paw as he scrubbed at his face and sent the bug skittering up and away from the little ghost-dog to flitter about Desperate.

Desperate let his trunk curl and his ears droop...worried the little fluttering thing might find a way in. Fragments, he decided, wasn't a threat....but the little butterfly would tickle if it flew up his nose! Losing interest, Desperate turned his attention back to the other Daemon...watching with wide eyes as it zipped and hovered.

He wanted to fly too! Pushing up in a half jump, Desperate whumped back down to earth. Flapping his ears, he tried again...front legs raising till he was perched upon his bottom like a circus elephant. Almost!!

Nisha burbled, face partially hidden against Sam. Desperate was having fun, she knew that...for some reason, that made her grouchy. She was supposed to be having the fun! Pushing away, she tumbled to her side...one foot waving as she arched to peer at her Daemon. He was even doing tricks! Narrowing her eyes, Nisha began to work up a temper...until something caught her eye.

Butterflies.

Maybe they weren't butterflies, maybe they were cabbage moths, or some other such bug...but they were pretty to her, and they fluttered just like her dreams did. Reaching one grabby hand toward them, Nisha flopped back against Samara and stared upward with wide pale eyes.

Aki paused to watch the girls, ignoring Desperate's show. She'd never seen Nisha at peace with other her age...it was constant frustration for the babe when she tried to play with Declan. Sharing a smile with Reyna, Aki took a sip of her juice and reached out to tug Nisha's dress into place. They were both so cute!

Fragments flew in a small circle about the other daemon before settling atop his head to peer down up at him from his new vantage point. His large gray eyes danced with mirth as he tilted his head to the side. Desperate was certainly interesting, and he most definately could not fly, though he'd give him credit for the half-jump he'd attempted.

Sam giggled quietly at both daemons' antics, quite enjoying the show they were putting on. She smiled over at Nisha before following her gaze towards the fluttering butterflies. How pretty! She watched, entranced along with the other child.

Reyna smirked faintly at the sight of them and idly reached to smooth out Samara's bangs before drawing away so she wouldn't disturb the two of them. She was glad that being stuck in a house with only her and Mystic hadn't ... well... ruined her. She wanted her to be able to be a little girl and not have to worry or fret over anything and to have friends her own age.

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 8:59 pm

// Party at the Library //
Reyna reluctantly heads to the masquerade party...

Reyna sighed as she stood on the sidewalk a little ways away from the mansion. She was definately in the right place, she just wasn't entirely certain she wanted to go in. Social situations weren't exactly her cup of tea. It wasn't that she was frightened of people or crowds, she just preferred to avoid them when she could. She frowned as she mulled over her thoughts before flinching visibly when Sam grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked. Hard. She definatley missed her short hair.

The child in her arms squealed loudly in excitement as they walked a little further and the house came into her line of sight. She kicked her little legs and squirmed so that Reyna had to adjust her grip on her so that she wouldn't fall from her arms in her attempt to get a better view of things.

Fragments, was already gone it seemed. He dashed up ahead of them, zipping through the air in dizzying little circles to wait impatiently near the door, tail wagging all the while. He remembered this place!

She paused once more to adjust Sam's onesie so that the hood was up over her head -- she was quite cute dressed up as a panda. It made Reyna want to squish her (in a good, cuddly sort of way) but she wasn't about to admit that was why she bought that particular outfit. Her costume, and Sam's, were left over from Halloween. She hadn't the time or patience to figure out new outfits for the both of them. Besides, the pirate attire suited her, and her eyepatch blended in with the costume nicely.

With one final sigh as she carefully carried the wriggling child in her arms, she entered the house with Fragments playfully nipping at her heels.

As the last of the guests spill into the house, the door slams itself shut. Itchy in his King Kong costume, Pippin anxiously glances at it from the corner of his eye, but decides against paying attention to a little detail like that. It probably isn't anything to worry about, he decides.

"Welcome, welcome!" he pipes up instead, clapping together his monstrous plastic gorilla hands. "I'm very glad all of you could make it to my costume party!"

Counting the heads of his guests, or at least the ones he could manage to spot between the movement, Pip counts a total of seven guardians. Seven guardians means seven Forgotten, and, of course, seven daemons.. somewhere. He swings his large costume with extravagance and, finding that the front hallway is too crowded for a costume as bulky as his, steps up onto the staircase with help from the railing.

"We'll just relocate to the living room!" he announces loudly, trying to raise his voice over the murmurs of various voices.

Outside the weather is fair - cloudy, but not windy, and the temperature is mild for the season. But cutting off the final word of Pippin's voice is an overwhelming crack. It is as loud as lightning striking the top of the house, and from the following effects it might as well have been lightning. All lights surge and falter. Most of the windows are boarded up, but even the cracks and the uncovered windows provide no source of light either. It can be simply compared to being knocked unconscious, though it is far more than just a cheap attack..

Nonetheless, no one sees it coming, and no one is prepared for what happens next.

Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 1:33 pm

// A Hallway in Hell //
Sam's miniquest...

Samara is lucky to have woken up in a soft place... on the carpet. All around her is a mist, or perhaps an unexplainable fog. It is far too warm for a baby to enjoy comfortably, and her surroundings, bleak and washed out as they already are, bring no joy. It is an impossibly long hallway; Samara is at one end of it, while Fragments is at the other. The walls are lined with portrait artwork of grim, uninviting people. The only doors are at opposing ends of the hallways, and they are both too high to open and extremely hot to the touch.

A small whimper came from the child as she slowly woke from her slumber. The first thing that she noticed was that she was not in a place that was familiar to her; the second was that the room was much too stuffy and hot and her panda outfit was not helping whatsoever. The fluffy material of her onesie clung to her skin in an unpleasant way, and she could feel beads of sweat trickle down her hairline.

She whined and sniffled faintly, wanting very much for her mother or Mystic to come along and pick her up and put her back in her normal clothes. The whine turned into an all out wail when she realized that neither of them were there. They ought to be! They were always there watching over her. Why weren't they there now? She had just been in her mother's arms!

Her cries became even louder and echoed off of the bleak walls while all the dark portraits scowled down upon her, frowning at her emotional outburst. Fragments stirred at the other end of the dreary hallway when he felt the waves of upset that accompanied the piercing cries of his child. He zipped up into the air, but it seemed the heat was even worse when he was up off the ground. For the first time since he could remember, his ever constant energy seemed somewhat lacking and his movements were a bit sluggish.

He spun a bit dizzily before settling on simply walking. Heat rose, after all, and it was a bit too warm for his tastes. He needed to get to Samara and he very well couldn't do that if he was entirely drained of his energy from heat exhaustion. He could see her there, a small huddled figure on the floor amidst the fog, but the hallway was so very long!

His pale form seemed almost transparent from the heat and blended in with the strange mist that covered the ground. Samara could feel his presence but she couldn't see him, so whatever comfort knowing he was there might have lent her was lost in the fog with him.

Fragments slowly moved ever closer to his Forgotten. He called out to her softly, but her mind was far too focused on her own upset to take any comfort from his reassuring words. He huffed a bit and paused for a moment to sit. Normally he did more floating around than walking, and he was feeling a bit burnt out.

If he had a mouth he'd surely be panting by now. The little ghost-dog glanced behind him to see how much progress he had made, and was a bit irritated to find that he only seemed to be halfway there. How frustrating! It seemed like he'd been walking for far longer than that. How long was this stupid hallway anyway?

With another huff he began walking again. Samara was still crying loudly, her little voice beginning to grow hoarse and tired from the near constant strain. Her upset seemed to be reaching its peak as her voice shrilly rose and fell on the deaf ears of the painted portraits that rattled with the first signs of her telekinesis.

Fragments wasn't that surprised by that faint tremor that reverbated through the air, but he was worried. What if one of the paintings should fall upon her by accident? At that thought he felt a sudden surge of energy blast through him, and he took to the air. He remained relatively low to the ground, hovering just above the sea of fog as he darted off towards Samara.

The child continued to shriek in protest in an all out fit as she hurled herself to the ground while kicking her feet and pounding her hands on the ground. All it did was make her grow even more upset with every minute that passed. It was also slowly exhausting her.

She was trapped in her stuffy panda suit even though she'd managed to pull the hood back. Her little hands weren't yet deft enough to pull and tug away the offending clothing so that she might make a feeble attempt at keeping cool in the terrible heat of the hallway. Her daemon was suffering from the affects of the heat as well and he seemed so terribly far away.

Despite the progress Fragments thought he had made, when he glance back behind him again, it looked as though he'd gotten no where at all -- if not farther away from Sam. He tumbled to the ground, diving under the fog as he all but skidded to a halt. He felt a sharp jab of pain in his side, a terrible ache that had seemingly come out of no where.

At the very same moment Samara gave out a piercing wail, louder than all her other cries of protest. It was a cry of pain. The pain Fragments felt, she felt too, and she couldn't make it stop. She sobbed and hiccuped loudly while scrubbing at her face with one hand as she lay there in the miserable heat, seperated from both her mother and her daemon.

"OI! Brat! Stop 'urting my 'ead wit' yur noise!"

A man with a pointed chin and flaming orange hair turns his head within his painting's frame. He brings up a hand and twirls his mustache in an annoyed way, staring down his nose at her. He is still a 2D painting, or at least he doesn't show signs of poking off the canvas.

"Oh, Wallard, don't be so unkind to our tiny guest," the next painting retorts softly. She has the twisted look of a wretched old woman, but her voice defies her exterior with her voice of concern for Sam. Or is it amusement..? "She has no one to guide her anymore. They all left her.. alone."

The woman's mouth twists into a smile and she moves to the corner of her canvas to get a better look at Samara. The half of her face that had not been painted, or at least facing the front of the canvas, is now revealed. The flesh has melted away and blackened, a most gruesome sight to witness. [Probably why the original artist had the subject to pose with it hidden, but regular paintings do not talk and move..]

Sam hiccuped softly as her tears subsided somewhat. The pain that ached within her chest didn't stop but she couldn't help but stare up at the now talking paintings that were up so very high on the walls. She sniffled and gingerly propped herself up even though it made her feel a little dizzy to sit up right.

Wide eyes stared up at the painting of the man and then turned to the gruesome looking woman. Tears pricked at her eyes once more. They were both scary looking! Especially that one of the woman who's face was so horribly distorted. At least they were up on the wall rather than down on the floor with her.

The child whined faintly, flailing one hand out into the mist. She wanted her mother desperately. She also wanted Fragments to be there next to her, to zip around in circles through the air to distract her from the terrible place she was in and the feverish ache that filled her small body.

Despite that horrible feeling she willed herself to move. She could at least make an attempt to explore her surroundings. Crying obviously wasn't working. No one was coming for her, but maybe if she found Fragments wherever he was in the fog, he could help her.

She crawled on her hands and knees, slowly fumbling along the carpet. Between the heat and the fog obscuring her vision, she didn't make it very far before she stopped and simply lay on her tummy against the floor, all but hidden beneath the strange mist. What with the pain she felt from being seperated from her daemon, the heat, and the strain of the situation she'd woken to find herself in she was rapidly beginning to feel terribly drained.

Fragments felt about the same way. He'd gone from flying back to walking, and now barely moving at all. Every once in a while he'd take a few steps before pausing to rest. He was tired and he felt a little jittery, and not in a way that lent him any sort of energy. It was a feeling that left him weak and tired.

Her dark lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she struggled to stay awake. Faintly she heard the paintings talk to her again, but she didn't really understand what it was they were saying. Their accents sounded funny to her, and she was only a babe after all.

She murmured a faint noise of protest before drawing herself up reluctantly to pout over at the paintings as though that would make them be quiet or help her or something of that sort. Sam turned her back on them and settled on crawling a bit further. She could still feel Fragments up ahead, but it hardly felt like she was getting any where at all.

Her eyes drooped half closed. It was horribly tempting to give in to the exhaustion and physical pain she felt and just sleep, but she wanted Fragments first. She wanted him to be near her again. With that thought in mind she continued to crawl head ducked beneath the strange mist.

The child paused for a moment, irritated because of the heat and that her onsie would twist and tangle in an unpleasant way when she crawled along the floor. When she glanced up though, her green eyes widened and she gave out a delighted cry that was far sweeter than the sheer noise she had made earlier in her upset.

She could see Fragments!

He was still horribly far away but he was there, curled up in a little circle the way he always did when he was sleeping. "Abhahh!" she called out, gurgling a bit as she lifted one hand out towards his general direction before whining faintly when the little ghost-dog didn't move or give much of a response aside from a faint, mental acknowledgement of her presence.

She paused and sat up, head poking up above the fog briefly as she called for Fragments again loudly, hands flailing out above her head. The movement sent her teetering over onto her side and she landed with a faint grunt before pushing herself back up again.

She whimpered faintly and reached out towards him, unconsciously calling him in another way that had nothing to do with her physical voice. Gray eyes blinked open to meet her vivid green and the child smiled brightly as the little daemon slowly drew himself up and padded towards her with his head hunkered down below the mist so that he might keep an eye on her.

That awful, throbbing pain seemed to ease somewhat the closer he ventured, but it was still there. The heat was still oppressive, the paintings were still sneering at them, and there was definately no one there to save them from the hellish hallway they seemed to be trapped in, but they at least had each other once more.

Sam gave a faint sigh as Fragments curled tightly against her where she lay on the floor. One hand went out towards him to pet him and keep him close while the other went to her mouth to suck on her fingers since she had no pacifier or teething ring as she was accustomed to.

Sleep tempted them both.

The temperature continues to steadily rise.

"Bloody 'ell," the man in the painting shouts, fanning himself with a gloved hand. "Would someone turn down the blasted 'eat already?!"

The old man rolls her eyes, leaning out of her frame. Wait, out of it? She reaches a hand into the complaining painting and flicks the man's nose before stretching back.

"OI!!" he cries, thrusting forwards in a response attack.

A few other paintings, unable to continue ignoring the commotion, start chattering complaints amongst themselves.

"Stupid bloke."

"Zee woman ees stewpeed, naught 'im!"

"I say the both of them should stop runnin' their mouths, and SOMEBODY TAKE CARE OF THE HEAT."

With a pause, three paintings clatter against the wall in a "nod" of agreement.

"Oh yes, what a splendid idea."

"Of course, but how to do it?"

All eyes fall on the sleepy Forgotten and daemon.

Sam's little face was fully flushed from the heat as though she had spent too much time in the sun and was now burnt. She could feel the increase in the heat and she hiccuped faintly in protest as she tugged futilely at her clothing. There would be no rest for her or her daemon in the heat. Fragments' form looked rather hazy, as though he were simply evaporating into the mist that still surrounded them.

Unable to truly sleep or get any sort of rest in the blistering heat, Sam stirred from where she lay and peered up at the paintings that continued to make noise and talk to one another in loud, strangely accented voices.

Too hot.

The child gurgled a noise in agreement with her daemon as she sat up and glanced around. There were two doors, one on either end, but they seemed terribly far away. She crawled instead towards one of the walls with Fragments floating near her side, but she paused a foot or two short and instead stared up at the painting. She didn't really want to go near it. They were scary.

Fragments nudged her a bit playfully to reassure her. He was there. He would protect her.

With that bit of encouragement Sam crawled onwards and reached out with one hand to touch the wall. Gingerly she managed to pull herself up the way she did when she was in her crib or playpen by holding onto the sides. Her legs wobbled a bit seeing as she didn't really have much to grip on, but it at least allowed her a better vantage point to look around without the interference of the fog.

Gingerly her hands patted along the wall, but when she went to take a step she lost her balance and fell forward. She landed hard on her hands and began to whimper and cry out of frustration. Crawling, really, was the best she could do. How was she supposed to get back to her mother?

Fragments felt another fit of crying well up within the girl. He butted her softly with his forehead and rubbed against her the way a cat would. She was okay. Frustrated and tired, yes, but she didn't need to let a couple of scrapes on her hands stop her from moving forward.

Determination renewed, Sam sat up and knuckled her eyes with both hands to dry her tears despite how she was still sniffling. Fragments was right. They needed to find a way out of the scorching heat before they both succombed entirely to the exhaustion they felt.

"Now now, child. Off so soon?"

The hideous woman steps straight off her canvas and onto the carpetted hallway floor. She shakes the wrinkles out of her long and ugly dress. What's worse is that not just her face, but the entire half of her body is horribly mutilated and disfigured.

Whispers frantically rush up and down the paintings.

She cracks a sideways grin, crouching somewhat close to Sam. "Would you be a dear and turn off the heat, love?" she requests, as if Sam knew exactly what she is talking about.

A rumble begins to originate from where Fragments awoke, sending deeply rooted vibrations through the ground.

The child's eyes widened in absolute horror and she gave out a terrorfied scream despite how hoarse her voice was from her earlier wailing. The woman before her looked like an absolute monster. Despite her best efforts, tears pricked at her eyes once more. She didn't understand what was going on or how the scary woman managed to come down off of the painting. People weren't supposed to come off paintings! They never came off the ones her mother painted!

She scooted away from the woman to try and put some distance between them as she began to cry. Fragments darted in front of Samara as though to fend the woman off if she decided to cause her any harm. His skin seemed to quake somewhat, wisps of white floating up off of his body and blending with the mist all around them as he stared fixedly at the gruesome being before him and his Forgotten.

The rumbling noise and vibrations through the floor cracked through his composure though, and took him off guard, if only because it was something he hadn't anticipated -- normally when things began to quake it was caused by Samara, and despite the fear radiating off of her he knew the tremors weren't caused by her.

Oddly enough, Sam wasn't at all unperturbed by the sudden rumbling in the floor. It distracted her attention from the hideously disfigured woman as one of her hands patted along the floor as though to feel where the vibrations were coming from. She turned her back to the ghastly woman and crawled towards where she thought it was coming from.

Curiosity had replaced her fear.

Samara hummed quietly as though mimicking the rumbling noise as she curled down on the floor and pressed one cheek against the carpeting. How strange! She wasn't the one making things rumble. Sometimes she could, but it wasn't something she could really control. In fact, when she made things quake it was typically because she had lost control of whatever situation she might've been in.

She pushed herself back up and blinked up over at Fragments and then the hideous woman. Her fear from before creeped back up upon her and she gave out a faint whine and sniffled before turning away. She hiccuped as she crawled away, quietly willing her daemon to come along with her to inspect where the tremors had started.

The little ghost-dog did so slowly. He backed away from the woman as he continued to stare her down before zipping up into the air and over to where his Forgotten was. Sam's movements were slow enough, though, that he could turn and watch the woman without losing track of the child. The last thing he wanted to do was become seperated from her again, seeing as neither of them had really recovered fully from their being seperated the first time.

He still felt terribly weak, as did Sam, but he was steadfast in his determination to guard Samara.

The painted man laughs at the reaction. "You scared her witless!" he roars, throwing his head back.

The old woman ignores him, if only for now, grinding her crooked teeth into a creepy grin. "Oh, now look what you've done, child. This is a fine mess you've gotten yourself into."

A murmur of frightened whispers spill from the paintings. This heat, this earthquake, caused by the girl? Oh no, no, this cannot do. This.. will not do.

Stretching a bony, impossibly long finger at Samara, the woman takes the baby's wrist with her gruesome hand. On contact, as if the woman leaked acid, Samara's skin burns horribly under the woman's fingers.

Samara screamed. Pain jolted through her arm from the woman's firery touch and seered through her little wrist in an agonizing way. The woman was forced to let go as she was hit with an invisible force and the hallway began to rumble and shake once more, but this time the child truly was the cause.

The white hot pain in her blistered little arm was as fierce as the pain that had wracked through her from being seperated from her daemon. That and her fear triggered her telekinesis into action as she wailed even louder than before while clutching her little arm to her chest. She sobbed and hiccuped loudly, seemingly unaware of the chaos she was creating around her.

The only thing in the room unaffected by the heavy vibrations that emanated from Sam (other than herself) was Fragments who was hovering protectively over her. He hadn't been able to stop the woman from touching her, but it didn't mean he was about to let down his guard and idly watch the mayhem around them unfold. His thoughts were as dark and poisonous as the woman's touch -- he'd find a way to cause serious harm to anyone else who attempted to hurt Sam.

Paintings fall off their places on the walls and crash the floor. Screams and shouts frm the people in them match the noise of the rumbling and the chaos Sam creates.

The woman seems unaffected by anything. She merely smiles and leans back on her heels. "Run, child," she advises in a normal tone.

At the far end of the hallway, the floor sinks as if it was deflated. Moments later, it rises in a grand explosion, debris flying every which way. Fire shoots down the hallway, like an animal charging at Sam and Fragments. The door behind them is their only escape!

"RUN!" the woman shrieks, stumbling backwards and falling directly into the fire's path. She is eaten by it without hesitation, as are all the paintings.

The door flies open to allow the escape, if they can reach it before the fire reaches them.

Her little legs aren't yet strong enough to support her so that she might run, and she watches in wide-eyed horror as the flames erupt out of the floor. Fragments nudged her insistantly. They needed to move! NOW.

Sam's voice rose in volume as she quaked with fear and the scorching heat in the room rose to unbearable levels as the monstrous flames raged towards them. She didn't know what to do! She was confused and hurt, but Fragments urged her onward as they made an attempt to flee towards the door that had flown open. It was their only way out of the hell they had found themselves in.

The child shrieked again in fear as she crawled along despite the pain in her arm as the fire swiftly approached the both of them. A sudden jolt of her telekinesis was her saving grace as it propelled her forwards to the door and safely through.

She collapsed in a crumpled heap where ever it was she managed to land after making it out of the hallway. Her entire body ached, and there was still a throbbing, burning pain in her arm from where the woman had touched her. Her wrist suffered the most damage, though it only appeared as a severe sunburn that had begun to blister slightly.

Her skin was still warm to the touch, leaving her looking flushed and feverish. Fragments looked equally frazzled though the only visible way to tell that he was hurting or at all injured was the faint, transparent quality he had taken on. That, and he was terribly drowsy and teetered drunkenly about when he attempted to fly rather than walk.

Both child and daemon were exhausted.

This room is cooler than the last, but not by much. They can rest here, but now the last doorway is locked and the only path is straight ahead. A curved hole in the wall, a tunnel of sorts only big enough for a baby to crawl through, is the only exit visible. They will need their rest to travel it, for who knows how long it goes for?

Sam's lashes fluttered against her cheeks as she went still. Her breathing evened out and she fell into a feverish dream-like state. It was as close to sleep and rest as her overwhelmed little body would allow her. Fragments rested as well, but for how long the duo remained that way was difficult to say.

The child woke with a faint, keening cry of what seemed to be a mixture of pain and fear. She whimpered and scrubbed at his face as she gingerly pushed herself up. She was still terribly hot and uncomfortable in her panda suit. She tugged futilely at the garment and let out a loud, squeal of frustration before Fragments caught her attention.

His calm gray eyes peered at her intently before he turned to glance towards the tunnel. It was a way out. He floated towards it, but without his normal gusto. He just sort of drifted and teetered every once in a while a bit dizzily.

Samara followed suit after giving another loud cry, but this one sounded less of pain and frustration and more of excitement. A way out! They could escape and then go home and sleep in their bed where it would be nice and cool and dark. That very prospect gave her a shiny little bit of hope as she crawled into the dark, curved hole in the wall with Fragments just a foot or two ahead of her.

The end! The end has finally come!

.. Hasn't it?

On the other side of the tunnel, the child and daemon can see feet. Familiar feet! They resemble their guardian Reyna's feet! Though.. there are far too many of them..

.. too many Reynas. It is a circular room with a pit of molten lava swishing and swirling down below. It's very far down in the hole, though the room is as warm as the one they'd left. Around the edge of the circular pit is a ledge full of Reyna look alikes. Each has their own differing quality, some obvious [like the one with the neon pink hair.. or maybe the one sporting a daisy print sundress..] and some not so obvious.

What is this, a huge game of Where's Waldo gone wrong? Which one is the real Reyna?!

Sam glanced around her as she came to an end of the small tunnel she and Fragments had traveled through. The little ghost-dog waited for her at the opening, tail wagging in excitement as he danced about in little circles with far more energy than he truly felt. Reyna was there! She could take them home.

The child scooted forward a bit faster as Fragments shared that thought with her. Her mum was there? Her little heart fluttered in her chest with excitement. She wanted nothing more than to be picked up and held by her mother who would keep her safe and make everything better. When she finally made it out though, that hope was somewhat embittered by the sight of so many... copies of her mother that were running about.

She didn't quite understand it! Who were all these... people? She might not have grasped the situation she was in, but she was quite certain that her mum wouldn't dare wear something as ugly as a daisy print sundress or would ruin her beautiful silver hair with neon pink die. She sniffled faintly in frustration before squealing loudly in hopes that would attract the attention of the "real" Reyna.

Her lower lip trembled and tears sprang to her eyes when that didn't quite seem to work. Fine! She'd figure out who was who! She crawled towards the ledge where all the look-alikes stood. It couldn't be that hard. All she needed to do was find the one that had an eyepatch and one visible red, red eye. She had to have graphite and paint stains on her hands and clothes. She had to smell faintly of linseed oil, and a light, airy sort of perfume. Those were attributes that were distinctive of her mother.

She whined quietly as those thoughts left her close to tears. She wanted her mum desperately, and she definately wasn't any of those stupid copies wearing brightly colored clothes! She wore dark, jewel tones and cool blacks and blues, and was pale and beautiful! She yelled a loud, angry sort of noise at the lot of them. How dare they try to copy her mum!

One nearby "Reyna" turns around at the sound of Sam's cries, as do a few other Reyna clones. Each one is subtly [or even not so subtly] different.

"What's the matter, Samara?" this one speaks in a voice not unlike the real Reyna's, but not identical to it either. She opens up her arms and kneels down to Sam's eye level. "Did you miss your mother?"

Inside the pit, the lava rises and bubbles more furiously. The temperature grows hotter.

Sam's growing upset rises just as the lava and the heat of the room does. Yes! She missesd her mother terribly and she couldn't tell who was the right one! The woman before her seemed close but.. not quite her. She pushed the woman away feebly with one hand, which nearly sent herself teetering over onto her side.

She managed to keep her balance, but she finally began crying in earnest. What sort of cruel game was this? She wanted the real Reyna and she wanted her now! She'd even settle for Mystic, but the Shadow was no where to be seen. Instead, she was surrounded by people who looked like her mother but clearly weren't.

Fragments glanced from his child to the crowd of women. He dashed through them, though quite careful not to stray too far away from Sam, hunting for the one he thought might be the real one. There was a faint chance he'd be able to spot her better than Sam could, and hadn't he always been the one to go and wake her and paw at her door when Sam so obviously needed her?

He paused briefly before one woman who seemed the most accurate out of the bunch, but her face was slightly obscured by her hair. Her clothes looked normal, as did her hair. Tentatively he reached to paw at her pants leg to get her attention as he hoped desperately that she was indeed the right one so they could go home.

Reyna Crelos
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Reyna Crelos
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Posted: Thu Dec 08, 2005 11:21 pm

// Third Degree Burns & Angry Demons //
...the aftermath of the miniquest.

Deep below ground, in a Library whose stale air is warmed by its self-sustaining candles, stranded guardians wait, torn from their Forgotten by cruel fate. How long they had been here in prolonged agony, one cannot tell, for the day's light does not reach down here.

Pippin has his head resting in his folded arms, and he snores softly. A sudden noise jerks him upright, and gains the attention of everyone else simultaneously, though the sound is a different pitch for everyone in their own right.

Samara tugs the pant leg of the woman she suspects to be her mother- the REAL Reyna. She quivers a little as the woman turns, and her eyes are forced shut, for as the woman moves, the overhead light is revealed directly down on the baby Forgotten. She feels Fragments close by her ankles, but just as she raises her hand to block the light from her face..

The atmosphere changes. No longer is there a sweltering heat; it's a comforting heat, less violent as the one she was experiencing previously. She opens her eyes, finally, letting the cooler air kiss her face..

Another tug on her pant leg made Reyna's eyelids flutter slightly. She'd been unconscious for quite some time. Ever since Wren hit her with the vase and then that spell. That little b*****d! She was so going to get him back...! She growled faintly under her breath as she battled against a wave of dizziness and the darkness that seemed to have clouded her mind and forced her unconscious.

Her visible eye creaked open as her hands scrabbled across the floor to try and get some bearing so she might lift herself up. She froze and took in a startled breath as she peered over at her supposedly lost child.

"S-sam?" her voice croaked, whether from emotion or strain it was rather unclear.

With a surge of renewed energy she bolted up off the floor and snatched up the little girl into her arms who buried her face against her mother's neck with a faint sniffle. She was safe in her mother's arms.

Reyna took off running, bolting through the library and the house like an animal that had just been loosed from its cage. Instinct and sheer panic took control of her, guiding her through the house and finally through the doors which had led her into the hell hole in the first place. She burst free of the house, running down the steps tow and three at a time and down the cracked concrete with Sam still in her arms.

She didn't stop or dare look back behind her until she came to the bus stop that would take them to Durem. She fidgeted nervously and couldn't stay still long enough to sit down and catch her breath. She had her baby. She had Sam and she was going to take her home where it was safe. That's what they needed. They needed to be somewhere safe.

She jumped onto the bus with a sort of reckless abandon when it pulled to a stop, pushing her way past a few other passengers before all but diving into one the seats to huddle there with her child in her arms. She hugged the babe close and with one shaking hand reached to pet at her hair to soothe the both of them.

Samara peered up at her mother with her large green eyes, tears brimming the edges. She babbled something softly and held up her arm where the woman out of the painting had grabbed her. Her panda suit was slightly charred around the edges and panic seized in Reyna's chest when she noticed it.

She choked back a fierce sounding sort of growl as she inspected the damage done with trembling hands. A sort of blind rage spread through her dizzyingly before she forced herself to breathe slowly and evenly. She couldn't save her if she completely lost whatever shreds of control she had left. She'd be useless to her daughter if she did that.

Swallowing thickly she gingerly peeled back the sleeve of the costume. Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. There was no wound. Just an odd shaped scar that was shiny and new, as though it had just recently healed. Her brow furrowed in worried lines as she cupped Sam's face in her hands.

“What happened to you, little one?” she managed with a slight rasp.

Sam gurgled her response and reached to place one little hand against her mother's face, mirroring her actions, as she told Reyna in her own little way just what had happened.

The demon made a sort of choked noise and cradled Sam close. Motherhood was definitely a challenge, that much she had swiftly come to realize, but suddenly being bereft of her child was not something she had anticipated. Despite her best efforts a few stray tears trickled down her face, streaking what was left of her make-up from her costume. She never thought she could handle having a child, but now she knew she definitely couldn't handle being without her Sam.

She calmed slowly, far enough away from the Library to feel mildly at ease. The child in her arms nestled close and slowly drifted off to sleep, though she squirmed restlessly. Fragments seemed fidgety as well, but he finally managed to settle himself near Reyna's side on the seat. She didn't dare move or disturb them until the bus finally reached their stop.

Sam whined in protest when she was woken from her brief nap as her mother carried her off the bus. Waiting for her there were both Athan and Mystic. The shadow looked more than a little ruffled and he was glaring over at the other man stonily.

'I told you she'd be here.'

“And I told you she wasn't dead.”

Reyna scowled. She had a headache from hell. She didn't need the two of them making it worse. “And I'm telling you both. I want to go home. NOW.”

Sam squirmed in her mother's arms and whined faintly before scrubbing at her face with tiny fists. She waved one hand at Mystic and her uncle. Stupid boys! Couldn't they see they needed to take them both home? She was tired, cranky, and didn't feel well. All she wanted to do was curl up in her bed and sleep where she knew she was safe.

Mystic stepped forward as though to try and take the girl into his own arms, but Reyna growled and took a step back to keep him away. She was not letting go of her child. Not until they were home.

“Come along,” Athan murmured quietly, a concerned look on his face, “Let's get you all home, hm?” He reached out with one hand to open a portal before motioning the group to head on through. He trailed after them so that he might close it when they reached the other side.

Wordlessly Reyna drifted into the house after Mystic unlocked it and padded directly towards her room to collapse into bed with one arm curled protectively about both child and daemon.

Mystic stood in the door way before all but jumping when Athan laid a hand on his shoulder.

“Let them rest. They obviously need it.”

He nodded but said nothing as Athan walked away. He simply stayed there to watch over them as they slept.

Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:19 pm

// Small Comforts //
Uncles have a way of fixing things.

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

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Reyna Crelos
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Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2006 1:22 pm

// An Arboreum, And The Strange Creatures //
Samara meets Anemone!

Leon Aristipossos had eventually reached his wit's end where water was concerned, and knew with dread in his heart that the day would soon come where he and Cressida had to move to the heart of suburbia with a swimming-pool and a garden. For one thing, Courage was not always going to stay cub-sized, being a lion; he had his own doubts about Terror; and Anemone hated any place that wasn't submerged underwater. Generally, he took her to the beach, but somehow that afternoon he couldn't face any more sand: she got put in the stroller as Cressida took Quixana shopping, and both went for a long walk as he pondered whether or not to become a chronic alcoholic.

So he found himself at the arboreum. He sat on a bench. There wasn't anything else he could do: Annie had started making the fsssss noise that he had taken to interpret as you are a detriment to my happiness! and had parked himself as close to a fish pond as he could. There were magnolias and azaleas and bluebells and everything else to delight one's allergies. Leon turned to the business section as Annie dropped Terror in the pond, and just prayed that he wouldn't eat the goldfish.

Stress, was not something Reyna handled well. It wasn't so much detrimental to her own health as it was to those around her. She decided it was in her best interest to call in to work and just take a day to relax. Plus, Samara had become even more difficult to contain since she was now discovering the joys of walking and talking back when scolded.

The arboreum provided a nice escape. She could sit and draw, and Sam could toddle about with Fragments all she wanted and not really do much harm to anything except perhaps smash a few flowers. So long as it wasn't another antique vase, she didn't mind the smashing at all.

"Hey, missy," she called out as she glanced up from her sketchbook, "Not so close to the water. You're not quite old enough to swim just yet."

Sam flailed and squealed a bit before falling quiet as she watched the koi dance just beneath the surface of the water. They were pretty!

It seemed not only Samara thought they were pretty; after a couple of minutes (which was more than long enough for Leon to get absorbed in the newspaper, and therefore more than long enough for Annie to tip herself in headfirst after Terror with barely a ripple) what seemed to be an extra-large koi made its way towards Sam. Underneath the smaller speckled fish, something big gleamed - a hint of fin here and there.

It seemed to be getting closer to her. A couple of bubbles rose to the top of the pond, and the waterlilies swayed a little.

Sam waved out one hand out towards the water which prompted Reyna to wrap an arm about her waist to keep her from diving in. She sighed and sat near the edge of the pool along with the child. So much for working on sketches. Perhaps later when Samara had worn herself out and was ready for a nap.

Right. Because that happened in real life.

She sighed again before taking notice of Fragments. He was unusually still. That in itself was shocking. He was hovering just over the edge of the pond, face mere inches from the water, and big grey eyes intently focused on something just beneath the calm ripples. Odd. Maybe he was intent on catching a fish?

A frown crossed her features. Fragments catch something? That was as realistic as Sam taking a nap in the middle of the day when there was plenty of havoc to be wrought!

There was another movement in the water-patch that Fragments was staring so intently at: and then, quite suddenly, a green lizardy object with far too many eyes for taxonomical comfort crawled up on a gently sinking lily leaf. It was about the size of a ferret, and bright vicious green. This was interesting in itself, but then the creature spat a thin stream of water right between Fragments' big staring eyes.

"Fssssss," said the creature, and disappeared under the water again.

Sam gave a shriek of delight as the sudden appearence of the rather odd creature startled her mother enough that she jumped up and back away from the water. Fragments, on the other hand, exploded into a frenzy of movement. No doubt if he were capable of speech in any form he would have been barking and protesting like a pomeranian attack dog that had just been set loose upon an unsuspecting mail man.

"The hell was that," Reyna muttered to herself as she stared at the spot where the lizard-like creature had just been.

"Hull~!" Samara squealed.

Reyna paled. She was a terrible influence upon her own daughter. "Forget I ever said that, kid. Particularly around your.. uncle." She could already hear him chanting I-told-you-so in her head.

Obviously, it was a delightful day as Sam learnt her first swearword: more bubbles broke to the surface of the goldfish pond, and then the huge koi that Samara had seen earlier showed itself to the world. The wet head of a very small girl popped up above the water, ear-deep, blowing bubbles in the murky water much like any good child would given a straw and a soda.

"Fsssss," she said at both Samara, Fragments and Reyna, seeming rather smug and self-satisfied that she was inhabiting the koi pond. The little lizard-monster from before clambered up to precariously half-sit on her head, slipping off, as the child said again: "Fsss."

Then she spat out half a goldfish, which is never nice.

The expression that passed across Reyna's face wasn't something that could be easily put into words. It was more or less a combination of shock and amusement. She wasn't certain whether to be utterly disgusted or to just burst out laughing.

She settled on neither and instead glanced for a moment away from the child in the water. Surely she had a... owner or guardian or... keeper of some sort. The only other person around was a man sitting on a bench reading a newspaper. Next to him was an empty baby stroller.

"Uhh.. " she began with a small pause before raising her voice slightly, "... I think your kid is in the pond." She fell silent once more as she glanced back towards the child and the floating half of a goldfish. "And I think it's also eating the fish. Mostly."

Sam saw no reason at all to be concerned over the other girl. She gurgled happily and waved over towards her with a bright, cheerful expression. Fragments and her mum were just silly.

The man on the bench dropped the newspaper like a hot potato, turned a slight unhealthy ashen colour underneath his tan, and darted towards the pond. The little girl was lifted out (complete with soaking wet Carebears t-shirt, with holes for her fins) and burbling loudly, Terror clinging to her leg.

"We are not telling your mother about this," said the man warningly, as if the child had the ability. "God. I took my eyes off you for how long? And..."

He stared at the half-a-goldfish floating in the pond, looked as though he was inclined to hold the baby upside down until the rest of the fish came out. Then he sighed deeply and set her down, peeling off her t-shirt and wringing it free of the weedy water. It was then that he turned back to Reyna.

"Thank you," he said. "She... we call her the escape artist."

The Escape Artist was deeply pleased at being free of the Carebears t-shirt: she burbled at Samara, and generously put a portion of waterweed from her hair on the other girl's foot. Terror went fssssss at Fragments again, and hid behind Anemone.

Reyna just sort of stared, slightly bewildered by the fact that there had not just been a child in the pond -- but a baby. Her gaze traveled from the child to the clinging lizard creature before things seemed to slowly click together.

"Did she happen to escape from a book, as well?" she asked lightly, a bit of amusement detectable in her tone.

Sam's attention turned to her bare foot. She wiggled her toes and made a face at the weeds before plopping down on her bottom to clumsily reach for the oozing mess. One little hand clasped about the green glob before she tossed it back towards Anemone. Her aim was a bit off, so instead of landing on the other girl, it hit Leon's knee and then slid the rest of tthe way down to settle atop his foot.

She laughed merrily, Fragments did a little dance midair, and Reyna frowned.

"Sorry.. she's.. well.. a mess," she explained as best she could. Surely he would understand given his own daughter was.. well.. also a mess, so to speak.

A sort-of-understanding seemed to blossom, and the stranger nodded curtly: "Yeah. Both she and Terror... and Quixana and Courage, back home. All of them. I'm Leon, by the way. This is Anemone."

He scraped off the water-weed with the carelessness of a man who has been pelted back with water-weed before, and dumped it on Annie's head. She shrieked wildly and patted it clumsily - not having quite the motor skills - on one of Fragments' flailing feet. Leon dug around in the stroller before picking another t-shirt.

"I've never known mine not to be in a mess," he said gloomily. "She keeps on eating sh... stuff."

"Fsssss," said Annie. She seemed to like the way Fragments was mid-air very much. She stared at him with her beady red eyes.

"So did Samara and Fragments," Reyna spoke up, small smile on her face as she patted the girl in question atop her head affectionately. "I usually just call her Sam," she went on before finally introducing herself, "And I'm Reyna."

She chuckled quietly at the mention of Anemone eating things. "Well. Mine has a charming way of making things rattle and shake," she stated with a bit of exasperation that well matched Leon's gloom, "Usually only happens when she's upset or throwing a fit, but at least that doesn't happen to often."

Fragments edged away from his own child to inspect Annie a bit closer as the two adults spoke. If she was going to stare it was so allowed! He floated his way over towards her before doing a circle about her head, pausing only momentarily to tickle her tummy with barely-there white feet.

"Annie just... she sleeps in a bucket," the man said bleakly. "And now she just ate a goldfish. She throws tantrums if she can't get to the water. One of these days... her mother says she'll probably swim to China, unless we watch closely." (Unbeknownst to Reyna, this was one of the longest speeches Leon had ever given.)

He turned his head as Annie screeched like a harpy, rolled onto her back and giggled, and turned back when it was obvious she wasn't eating anything else. She gave peals of burbly laughter: it was probably unfortunate at this point that Terror jumped on Fragments and thumped his tail wildly.

"Fsssssss," said Annie to Sam, which was probably in the realm of 'ha ha, delightful!'.

Fragments skittered away from Terror, a gleeful bounce to his step as he flew high up into the are out of the lizard's reach. His little acrobatic dance clearly meant, 'Na na na na na.. you can't get meee!'

Sam clapped her hands, clearly enjoying the two daemons' rumble. They were entertaining, and Annie was interesting, too! She pointed at the other child and said, "Beebee?" She turned and glanced up at her mum with an expression of someone looking for confirmation in what they had stated. Annie was a baby, right?

Reyna smiled and patted Sam atop her head affectionately. "Children in general are chaotic, but you grow fond of them reguardless," she stated before sighing softly, "Or so I've discovered over time." That in itself was a great step forward for the demon. She'd never once thought of herself as a mother-figure, but Sam had definitely changed things.

Leon crossed his arms and watched as Terror hopped in vain to get to Fragments: he could jump with surprising speed and height, but the white daemon was out of reach. Eventually, Terror just crawled back on top of Annie's curly little head and hissed at Fragments from there. "Surprisingly fast," he said. "I suppose it's inbuilt in people, to look after children... some brain mechanism."

Anemone was now reaching out for Samara, her little hands opening and closing until she managed to fall-move towards one of the toddler's hands: she grabbed her arm and gummed Sam's fingers, obviously testing to see how the other girl tasted. Leon made a face. "No," he said sternly. "Not nice."

The fish-girl scrunched up her face at her father. It was frustrating not to be able to do fun things with Sam, like show her how to eat the goldfish with Fragments.

Sam giggled at Anemone before scooting over towards her to pet her gently on the cheek (since Terror was on her head). She had a new friend! She couldn't be more excited! She beamed brightly and babbled quietly in her own little garbled language. She was no doubt telling Annie very important things.

Goldfish eating, while it might not fly with Leon, was something the two could probably manage with Reyna. Afterall, if she could eat humans (and their souls) who was she to tell two kids they couldn't eat a fish?

Reyna bent down next to Sam, small smile on her face as she got a better look at Annie and her daemon. "Yes," she said, "It must be so. I couldn't imagine having a child prior to Sam, but at the same time I can't think of what life would be like without her."

Terror made his engaging fssss noises at Reyna while Anemone burbled back at Sam, even more garbled than the toddler, garbling away in her sing-song lilt and obviously telling hew new friend equally important and exciting things. Having passed Anemone's test, Annie was now very affectionate, and patted Samara's shoe with every sign of interest and fondness as they had their intellectual conversation. At this, Leon couldn't help but crack a smile.

"Yeah," he said, after a few moments. "It's hard to think of them out of your life. ... Though I'd probably have a lot more quiet time."

Reyna smiled as well, particularly when Sam nodded when Annie spoke as though she understood her perfectly. If she were a lesser woman, or perhaps just less of a demon, she likely would have squealed over how cute they were. Instead, she stood back up and dug through her pocket.

She produced a silver business card that shimmered slightly in the light. It appeared as though it were completely blank, but as she handed it over to Leon, black ink seemed to rise to the surface to bear the name 'Twilight Designs,' complete with address and phone number. Sure, she had a home phone number and the like, but the chances of anyone reaching her there was slim.

"That's where I work," she explained, "So if you'd ever like to drop by and bring Anemone, feel free. Samara seems fond of her."

Leon pulled out his wallet to slip in the card; he produced one of his own, a lot plainer than Reyna's, a simple white piece of embossed card with black print. It had his name - Leontas Aristipossos - and somebody called 'Cressida de Rotrou', which was in all probability the partner he had mentioned. There were cellphone numbers for both of them rather than a home phone number, and a Barton address.

"Same here," he said. "Anemone can be... difficult. Sam seems to calm her." (In fact, Sam just seemed to make Annie excited, because she was currently attempting to headbutt her shoulder and give her a hug, but no-tantrum was no-tantrum.) "I'd like to drop by. Thanks."

Sam beamed brightly and very gingerly gave the babe a hug. She decided that she very much liked Anemone. Really, she liked most people but she spent a great deal of time at home with her family. It was neat seeing and playing with people that were her size!

Reyna smiled and accepted the card with a nod. "Awesome. I'll definitely be giving you a call, then," she replied as she slipped the card in one of her pockets. She picked Sam up and moved to turn away before pausing briefly, "Uh.. but just so you know, the shop is closed on Sundays."

The girl in her arms squirmed and protested at being drawn away from her newfound partner in crime. They had so much to do! They couldn't just leave!

Annie also started to make piteous noises which were picking up in volume as her father picked her up. With a sigh, Leontas half-held her out towards Sam; the baby gave Samara a gooshy kiss on one cheek before her father put her back in her pram and tucked Terror in with her. There was still some small amount of fussing, but it wasn't as pitiful as before. More just pissed off.

"No Sabbath day calls, then," Leon said mildly. "Okay. Look, I'll probably see you again sometime soon; I'll introduce you to my partner... Anemone, you will shhh. - And, uh. We can talk more then."

Samara squealed at the kiss on her cheek and reached out towards the other girl with both hands to give her another quick hug. She still whined in protest when her mother didn't set her back down so that they might play a bit longer, but she was beginning to become cranky in general. It was time for lunch and then a nap!

Fragments perched himself on Reyna's shoulder, tail wagging as he pointedly stared down at Terror. Until next time..!

Reyna sighed, mildly irritated with Fragments. He was such a spaz, and it was obvious he was just trying to be antagonistic. "Sounds good," she spoke up as she offered Leon a small smile, "I'm sure Sam would appreciate a visit."

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:30 pm

// A Masquerade //
An entertaining second Halloween!

Summary and sketch go here!

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:32 pm

// Let Them Eat Cake //
Sam and Fragments get their own breakfast.

Just a little cuteness.

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:33 pm

// Nightmare Before Christmas //
SF shop RP with ShortGreen!

"Man, I hate peak season. I'll be damn glad when the madness ends," Reyna muttered with a grumble after the last customer of the day shuffled out the door. She smirked as she locked the door firmly. No more last-minute-shopping-idiots for her! The demon turned to heads towards her desk to start cleaning up before she was interrupted by a soft cry.

"Aww... Sam sweetheart, did you wake from your nap?" she murmured sweetly as the source of the sniffling came toddling in through the door with one tiny hand clutched in Mystic's cloak.

'She had a bad dream.'

Reyna frowned at that as she scooped the little girl up into her arms to cradle her closely. "Poor baby-love. It's okay, sweetness. Bad dreams can't hurt you."

Kova looked up from where she was applying Windex to glass and smiled at the little girl in her boss' arms. Without a second thought, she abandoned her task to skip over to the little family group. "Bad dreams are afraid of the light," she offered cheerfully as she fished in the extra-deep pockets of her gaudy, blue jacket. "They're also afraid of silly faces and..." Her angular face lit with an even brighter smile as her hand closed on something and she drew out a small ragdoll to hand over to Samara. "And dolls that are as brave as the little girls who own 'em."

Sam ceased in her sniffling for a moment as Kova handed over the ragdoll. Normally she carried around her panda plush with her, but this would do nicely. She took it quietly and snuggled up against it while clinging to her mother.

"Now, now... what do you say?" Reyna murmured with a small smile that spoke of pride.

"S'anks."

Reyna all but beamed before trailing off with the babe in her arms and a certain daemon perched on her should to the backroom to get her settled so that they might finish closing up shop. It was late, and Christmas Eve to boot. She didn't celebrate the holiday, but she was all for an excuse to not have to come into work the next day.

"Mystic, could you help Kova finish cleaning up?" she asked over her shoulder in passing as she retreated into the next room.

'Sure. Why not,' he replied in his typical, quiet manner.

At his agreement, Kova shared her smile with Mystic. "Thanks," she said before returning to her Windex and glass. "There's not much to do really, though. It's always the fingerprints, see?" An almost-elegant gesture of one long-fingered hand took in all of the glass cases. She laughed softly and bent back over the case she had been working on. Being as tall as she was, it was always bending but she didn't mind. Twilight Dreams was very nearly heaven to her mind. She absently scrubbed at a print. "Everyone wants to touch everything and that just marks up the cases. Oh, and sometimes we get nose prints but those are just the little kids and..."

Kova suddenly paused, staring at her vague reflection in the glass. Then she giggled. "Sorry. I'm probably boring you. I just don't like quiet if I'm not alone," she explained sheepishly.

'Doesn't bother me,' Mystic replied, a vauge look of amusement written across his features, 'Just don't be too upset with me if I'm not as chatty.' He moved to help clean the cases on the other side of the room before pausing when the lights flickered in a rapid-fire succession before going out.

Everything was still. Quiet. The darkness almost suffocating even to a creature made of darkness.

Kova's voice suddenly chirped up just above his head, almost startling him. "Well... That's not supposed to happen, right? I mean, Mr. Athan pays his electric bills. I can't imagine him not. He's -him- and..." She trailed off as the darkness began to feel heavy even to her amazingly sunshiney nature. If she could have, she would have reached for Mystic's hand and squeezed. As it was, she dropped her voice and seemed to lean down closer to him. "Mystic? It's not the power company, is it?"

At Kova's last comment, Mystic went rigidly tense. 'No. It's... not the power company,' he answered as he tried to stave off a wave of fierce panic. Reyna. He needed to get to her and make sure she and Sam were okay.

Just as he moved to flee towards the back room to check on them the lights flickered back on with a strange sizzle and pop, like a fuse had just blown. He stopped near Reyna's desk, eyes narrowed and focused upon a familiar looking note that was laying there innocently as though it had been there all evening. It looked almost exactly the same as the one that had been pinned to the door before.

Faintly, he could hear Sam sniffling in the backroom and Reyna murmuring softly to comfort her, but he couldn't seem to drag his attention away.

Even as he hesitated, Kova came up behind him. She cast a brief glance down at the note, puzzled but uninterested, and then fixed her dark eyes on Mystic again. Without a mouth to turn up or down, it was sometimes hard to read the shadow's expression but there was little doubt at the moment; something had him spooked. Instinctively, she went to touch his shoulder but drew back just in time. "Mystic?" she whispered, subdued. "What's up?"

He didn't turn or move when Kova spoke to him. He stood transfixed, even as Reyna re-entered the room with a moody Samara in her arms.

"Did the lights go out in here, too? Totally freaked out Sam," Reyna grumbled, "And just as I had gotten her to relax.." She trailed off as her head tilted to the side as she peered over at Mystic. She could feel the tension that was practically bleeding off of his form. She dragged her gaze away from him and then followed the shadow's line of sight.

She drew in a startled breath at the sight of the note. Oh no.

Before she could say much of anything in protest or really even react, Mystic reached out and picked up the note. His form seemed to shake and contort slightly, wisps of black rose off of his skin as though the dark swirl of markings on his skin had taken on a life of its own and were seperating from the rest of him.

Kova squeaked and took a step away from Mystic, hands coming up of their own volition as if to keep him back. She blinked and took another step backwards, pulling level with Reyna and Sam. Feeling her elbow bump the other woman, she turned and held out her hands. "I can hold Sam," she offered in a whispery rush. "Check... I mean, I don't know. What's wrong with Mystic?"

Reyna all but shoved Sam over to Kova mechanically before darting over to Mystic. She couldn't feel his presence, and it was freaking her out. Normally, she could literally feel that he was there no matter where he was. Their soul-bond was always incredibly strong and open, and now it was as though there was nothing there at all.

"Mystic," she hissed as she grabbed him by his shoulders, "Mystic. LOOK at me." She gasped sharply when he looked up. His eyes were a solid, jet black instead of their normal bright violet.

He reeled back, and phased through Reyna's hands as he tumbled backwards and fell to the floor. The note in his hands fluttered innocently to the floor like any sort of loose piece of paper as his grip on it slackened.

Reyna kneeled by his side and reached to touch his cheek. She didn't know what to do. Shadows didn't get sick. This didn't look like something she could fix, and the strange looking, inky darkness was still bleeding off of him.

Dark eyes huge in her pointed face, Kova quickly took a few more steps back and cuddled Sam closer in her arms. "Sssh, sssh," she murmured. "It'll be okay, sweetcheeks. Mommy's just gonna make sure Mystic's okay, okay?" Even Kova couldn't quite mask the worry in her voice, though, and Sam fussed in response, trying to see the fallen fiend. "Sssh, Sam. We have to stand here so your mommy can work. She'll make it better."

Mystic convulsed slightly as his form went from solid to ghost-like transparency back to being solid before he went rigidly still. He stared blankly up at the ceiling, eyes still an inky black. His conscious self was no longer aware of his actual, physical body. He was somewhere else entirely, and he was surrounded by the same darkness that had weighed so heavily on him and Kova moments before.

A figure appeared before him, but he couldn't quite distinguish the person's face. "Who are you?" he asked before his eyes widened in shock. Was that his voice? He didn't sound... quite like himself.

"Let's just say I'm an old comrade in arms who is doing you a favor," the person replied, voice low and quiet, full of secrets. "This is your realm. You ought to have control of it. I'll give it to you as... a gift."

"A .. gift?" he murmured before he seemed to sink into the darkness that surrounded him like quicksand. He wanted to scream in protest and fight, but he couldn't move and he no longer had a voice, not even a telepathic one.

His physical body seized once more before he sat up right with what have been a sharp intake of air, had he lungs and the need to breathe. 'R-reyna?'

The demon in question very nearly tackled him to the floor as she dragged him into her arms as though he were as little as Sam instead of a grown man that towered over her.

"Oh, wow." Kova quickly half-turned away from the disturbing scene, trying to shield Sam from it. "So what do you think, pipsqueak?" she asked the little girl, trying for cheerful and merely coming out slightly manic. Carefully, she pitched her voice loud enough to cover any noises that Mystic or Reyna might make. She walked Sam over to one of the glass cabinets. "Which is your favorite in there, huh? Do you like purple or pink or, ooo, look at the pretty green stone! What do you say? Green? I like green. It's a happy color. It, um, well, it's the color of my hair, isn't it?"

She did her best not to look over her shoulder to check on Reyna and Mystic.

Sam sniffed faintly as she rubbed her eyes with one small fist. "Gween!" she declared sweetly as she gazed up at Kova with her big, bright eyes. Fragments danced around atop the case as though he were trying to sniff out his favorite stone.

'What.. happened?' Mystic muttered grouchily as he gazed towards the note that lay abandoned on the floor.

"I don't know," Reyna grumbled as she reluctantly loosened her grip on the shadow. She was quite finished with traumatic events that involved her loved ones. Seriously.

"Mum!" Sam whined from a few feet away as she squirmed in Kova's arms before she went still and wide-eyed. Fragments zipped around the lavender woman and hunkered down as though to defend the both of them.

Directly across the room sliding down the wall was a strange, blackened creature.

Kova's head immediately swung in that direction and wide eyes went impossibly wider. Her grip on Sam tightened and she took a step back as the blackness grew and expanded slowly. It had an unsettling look of solidity to it and the movements were smooth and oily. Kova swallowed the sudden lump in her throat and never took her eyes from the shape.

Torturously languid, the darkness separated into a semblance of limbs - eight limbs to be precise. A head of sorts formed and it peeled itself away from the wall. Kova took another step backwards. Multiple eyes opened, glowing redly, and something rather like a mouth parted to show too-sharp fangs.

Freeing one of her arms from the protective hold she had on the girl in her arms, Kova began frantically digging in her pocket. As she realized that, like a good girl, she had left all weapons at home, she felt herself go a paler shade of lavendar. She took another step back towards Reyna and Mystic. She had Sam to protect!

Reyna glanced up with a look of pure irritation. "You seriously have to ******** be kidding me," she growled as she jumped to her feet and dragged Mystic with her despite how he protested as the movement made his head spin.

"And me without any fun toys," the demon grumbled as she prowled towards the creature, movements tense as she glanced backwards briefly towards her daughter that was sniffling faintly and hiding against Kova's chest.

"I don't have anything either," Kova whispered. She tilted her head to press her cheek against the top of Sam's head, reassured somehow by the softness of the child's hair. "It's... It's -huge-." She fisted her free hand and, somehow, that made things feel a little better.

The creature made a god awful screeching noise as it crawled off the wall and lowered itself with gangly, long legs to the floor. Standing up on all its legs it was only a few inches shorter than Reyna. Thick saliva dripped from its two protruding fangs.

A multitude of red eyes blinked over at her and focused intently on the silver haired woman as it charged forward towards the demon. Unfortunately, Reyna moved a little two quickly for it to catch her and she sank one clawed hand into its side.

It screeched again in protest and Sam wailed outright in protest of the awful noise and the terrifying nature of the beast that was now grappling with her mother. Tears streamed down her face and she pressed her hands to her ears with a scream of her own.

Fragments floated towards the creature and zipped through its legs to distract it. He was going to help too! He had a duty to protect his girl.

Adjusting her hold on Sam, Kova brought her tighter to her slim shoulder and quickly retreated behind one of the glass cases. "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay," she whispered to the child, over and over as if that would make everything true. Seeing the bottle of Windex out the corner of her eye, Kova snatched it up and adjusted her hand on the trigger.

Well, it was better than nothing. All she had to do was keep Sam safe, she knew. Reyna would have to handle the creature. Just in case, though... Squinting a bit in concentration, Kova brought the spray bottle up and began tracking the red eyes with the nozzle, ready to fire and even more ready to pray that Windex in the eyes of a beastie hurt it as much as it hurt a real person.

The jewelry inside the cases began to rattle and shake as Sam's upset grew with each passing moment. She glanced towards her mother and cried out for her, but the demon was obviously quite distracted by the giant nightmare of a spider that she was wrestling with.

Mystic, on the other hand, seemed to be the only calm person in the room. In fact, he was almost placidly calm. His eyes, which were once more their normal color, were focused intently on the beast. He moved mechanically, as if something or someone else was guiding him, as he took a step towards where Reyna rumbling with the beast which was now leaking a strange, black, ink-like ooze from its wounds.

The shadow held out one dark hand towards the beast, and like before, the dark markings on his hand seemed to move and take on a life of their own, but this time they stayed on his skin and formed different runes and patterns against his palm. He didn't know how or why he was doing what he was doing, just that he needed to do it.

"Hey, hey." Kova jiggled Sam a bit against her shoulder, bouncing her in her arm. "Sam, snuggles, if that's you doing the jewelry shaking... Um, stop?" She glanced at the cases worriedly for an instant and took a few precautionary steps back away from the nearest one. "See? Mystic is helping Mommy. All good. Please make the shinies stop bouncing." Even as she talked rapid-fire to the child and moved, Kova kept her spray bottle at the ready, tracking.

Sam hiccuped and squealed as she shook her head and kicked her feet in an all out hissy fit, which of course, made the rattling and shaking much worse. Her cries lessened in intensity a tiny bit when she noticed that the beast was no longer making noise.

In fact, it had stopped moving and seemed almost entranced by the glowing marks that shined through the darkness of Mystic's outstretched hand. Reyna took a step back from the beast and watched with a confused expression as the creature seemed to slowly shrink as though it were melting. It kept getting smaller until it was about the size of an actual spider.

If it weren't for the fact that the small creature seemed to melt entirely before turning into a strange looking coin, she'd have stepped on the damn thing. She was definitely going to have an issue with spiders from here on out. Especially since she was covered in ooze.

"Well. That was fun."

Reyna jumped with a startled jerk when someone knocked on the door. She scowled and moved to unlock the door to let in Athan.

"You're late."

"You, uh, missed all the fun, Mr. Athan," Kova laughed. She still seemed a slightly paler shade of purple but her sunshine smile was already returning and she came forward with Sam. Absently, she pressed a kiss against the little girl's temple. "See, ticklebug?" she whispered. "I told you it would be okay." Passing a glass case that was still blessedly intact, she set down the bottle of Windex and shifted Sam to that arm. She glanced at Reyna. "Though I'd really like to know what that was. It just poofed and was there and it was real but it didn't feel quite real and... Y'know."

"I didn't miss it entirely," he replied smoothly as he glanced towards Mystic. He had felt plenty of chaos disturbing his evening of peace and quiet from a certain shadow. "And I would like to know what happened as well." His gaze never left the shadow.

Mystic idly met his gaze but just shook his head. 'I'm tired,' was all he said.

Athan took a look around before noticing the abandoned note. He moved towards it, but didn't touch it. Instead, he bent down to inspect it. There seemed to be no writing upon its surface, but instead an assortment of strange looking runes he didn't quite recognize.

The longer he stared at it, and the longer he was within the room, the more distinct the faint smell of magic was -- particularly from the note and Reyna.

"It's..." he started, eyes squinting quizzically at the note as he picked it up, "... dream magic?"

'But it wasn't a dream.'

"No s**t," Reyna chimed in.

"More like a nightmare if you ask me," Kova remarked vaguely as she carried Sam over to the wall from which the creature had emerged. "Except it looked like it was gonna do a lot more than say 'boo' and leave you naked on Main Street. Not that that's so bad but spiders... Ick. Too many legs." Leaning closer to the wall, she wrinkled her nose at it. "Not even a mark," she added thoughtfully. "You see anything, Sammers?"

"Nooo," she murmured as she sniffed faintly and gazed over at Athan before calling out for him, "Atun! Spidy byebye." She pointed over at her big brother. "Misty made it go."

Athan chuckled quietly as he stood and moved to snatch up the little girl. "You weren't hurt or anything, were you?" he asked both Sam and Kova.

Sam shook her head no, and Fragments perched upon Athan's shoulder, his entire form wiggling and squirming as though he were telling his own story of how the events had unfolded.

"From the looks of things," Athan went on, "That is what that was. A nightmare. But the question remains, who opened a portal to the dream realm?" He actually didn't think it was truly possible, but it was the only explanation. That, and it felt like someone had opened a portal.

Her armful gone, Kova held up both of her hands, palms outwards in a clear "not me" gesture. "Don't look here," she shook her head. "I can't do anything like that. Well, not that I know of but I think I would know if I could do something like that so no. I was just cleaning up and Mystic was helping while Reyna took Sam and Fragments to the back room. Then the lights went out and the darkness got kinda heavy and it smelled funny."

"Interesting," Athan mused, "I definitely don't believe it was you." He turned towards Mystic and both the shadow and his bond gave him a rather defensive look.

"It's because of that!" Reyna pointed at the note accusingly, "Mystic touched it and it... did something to him. He was.. I don't know. Unconscious."

'...then I suppose. I was sucked into the dream realm.'

"That what it was? 'Cause you totally looked catatonic, Mystic, hon." Kova grinned at him. Then she walked over to the still-smoldering coin and crouched down to squint at it. She sniffed again and made a face. "Smells like... Burnt toast. Really, really burnt toast," she commented. Elbows on her splayed knees, she tilted her head up to look at her bosses expectantly.

Athan sat Sam down on the floor as he moved to inspect the blackened coin. It reminded him faintly of the elemental coin that he'd given to Mystic to practice spell-casting with, but this was different. It contained the beast.

He reached out to let one hand hover over the coin, eyes closed. Sam leaned against his side and watched intently. "Mhm. Dream magic, and with your signature on it. You locked it away?" he addressed the shadow that stood tiredly before him looking quite drained.

'Yes... and.. I don't know how.'

"Well. We'll have to figure that out, won't we?" he murmured as he stood and pulled Sam back into his arms, "But not tonight. It's late, and it's a holiday tomorrow, and a certain little lady ought to get herself some sleep so she can open presents in the morning, hm?"

Sam smiled brightly for the first time that evening.

Her mother, on the other hand, looked less than pleased, and suddenly horrified. Presents? She was supposed to particpate in that sort of madness? CRAP.

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:34 pm

// Beautiful Morning //
A very first Christmas morning!

reserved!

Posted: Sun Feb 11, 2007 8:57 pm

// House in the Middle of Nowhere //
Xana, Anemone, and their respective daemons visit Sam!

Leon Aristipossos did not ask for directions. Not even if his destination was, ... in the middle of a swamp; he just firmly took glances at the map of Lake Bass'ken that Cressida placidly spread out on her lap and ignored the light gurgles and gentle banging sounds coming from the back seat. The two children were being incredibly well-behaved, considering. The note scribbled from Reyna with directions on it was also sitting on the dashboard; and as Leon drove steadily towards the impenetrable swamp, he didn't divert from his course.

"Huh," he muttered. "Wouldn't say she got a good price on real estate."

Cressida merely laughed and shook her head with a smile. "I think it's sort of picturesque... Or are you having flashbacks to how you found our little Naiad?"

"We won't go there," said Leon. (Little Naiad gurgled again in the back seat, as if she were angelic.) "I don't want to go there again."

Just as it seemed that they were going to have to stop the car in front of impenetrable thicket, the road sort of, ... cleared; Leon kept his gaze steadily on the pathway as he cautiously drove through, dark eyes narrowing. Obviously, what with the living in the swamp and the Impenetrable Thicket Of Doom, Reyna's house wasn't exactly normal. Well, nobody's was; their bathroom door stuck.

"Huh," was all he said, as the house came into view. And: "Heh."

"Sam!" squealed Annie from the back seat, who knew what side her bread was buttered. (And it was buttered on Samara's side!)

Twisting in her seat, Cressida neatly snatched and returned the teething ring dropped by the squealing little girl. "Sam, indeed," she mimicked with a goofy, cross-eyed look at Annie. Annie squealed again with giggles and Xana, in his neighboring carseat, sighed heavily. Cressida twisted back around and pointed. "You can pull in there, beloved," she advised.

Within minutes, they were parked and Cressida had all but leapt from the car and begun the sometimes difficult task of wrestling two toddlers, two daemons, and various necessaries from the back seat. "I think," she panted after finally lifting an increasingly-large Courage out, "we will have to get a new car. This is getting a bit silly."

Quixana stood politely off to the side, watching. As soon as Courage had touched down, though, he motioned her towards him and padded over to peer up at the house set amongst the swamp. "Neat," he proclaimed. "Meme's Sam lives here?"

Sam was sitting as patiently as she could in a chair in the living room. The curtains, which were typically pulled tightly shut, were drawn open so that she might watch in anticipation as her friend arrived. That very moment was marked by a loud squeal that ended in an excited jumble of, "MUM! ANMEME!"

"Oh good. They didn't get eaten," Reyna said with a chuckle under her breath (more so at her daughter's antics than the being eaten bit -- that would've been unfortunate). They had made it to the house. The only trick now was to keep them from running away screaming so that her daughter could keep her friends.

She mentally went through a checklist of things that she had properly hidden and certain individuals she'd spoken to about behaving. Those individuals consisted mostly of Mystic, who still took a certain delight in causing mischief, and a certain overbearing medusa she knew would probably cuddle right up to the group in a most literal sense.

She felt like she was forgetting something, but she knew whatever it was would make itself known at the most inconvenient moment possible. Oh well. She scooped Sam up into her arms and opened the door with a small, yet charming, smile.

"Glad you could make it."

"Reyna." Ever not-exactly-the-huggy-type, Leon reached out to shake the other woman's hand firmly; Anemone was clutched under his arm and squealing like a banshee in excitement. Terror was somewhere in Leon's front pocket, wriggling with all the commotion. "Thank you for inviting us."

"SAM!" squealed Annie. "SAMSAM!"

"Nice house," Leon added, showing exquisite manners by saying nothing about the swamp. (Actually, he probably did think it nice. Leon was the type to appreciate out-of-the-way houses in the middle of very defensible swamps.)

The petite brunette just behind him rolled her eyes and wrinkled her nose; the face clearly was directed at her partner's manners rather than any untruths about the house. Nudging Leon aside with a hip, Cressida somehow managed to deliver a lightning-fast one-armed hug to Reyna. The pressure was momentary, gone in a flash as if not sure the other woman would welcome the familiarity but obviously a greeting so ingrained that she couldn't dismiss it completely. "And I'm Cressida." She jiggled the toddler at her hip and he smiled sweetly, sticking out his hand in perfect mimicry of his father. "And this is Quixana and his little Courage. Anemone's mother and brother, as it were."

"Pleasure to meet you both," Reyna replied smoothly with a quiet smile as she politely shook Xana's hand and nodded towards Cressida before stepping away to allow them inside.

"Please, make yourselves comfortable. I'll make us a pot of tea," she went on as she allowed her now wriggling, overly-excited daughter to the floor as Fragments did a little jig mid-air that clearly mirrored Sam's own excitement.

It was time to PLAY!

"Anmeme!!" the little girl shouted happily as she toddled forward, arms extended towards the other child in an expectant manner. Friends were for hugging! She knew that much to be true.

"Thank you," said Leontas, picking up a bag he'd set down on the step. "It was... quite a drive." (At least he seemed to be calming down over the murderous geography and the injuries done to his roadmap.)

Annie's excitement, on the other hand, was only building. She wrapped her arms around Samara and shrilled like a fire-engine: in a fit of joy, she wriggled out of her little Care Bears t-shirt, and hugged Sam again. "SAMSA," she shrilled. Then: "Is friend!". And: "Clothes yucky disgustable."

Possibly this could be translated as: Samara, my friend! Let us remove these hateful mortal coverings and dance in the honour of the Devil Swamp!. Or it could have just been: clothes yucky disgustable!.

Sighing a bit, Cressida lowered her burden to the ground and then kept right on crouching until she could snatch up the abandoned t-shirt. "Tea would be lovely, thanks," she answered Reyna with a faint, rueful smile. "With these two, you have to live off caffeine or you can't keep up." She glanced at her daughter and then shook her head and stood, folding the t-shirt absently. Clearly, she had already decided that the shirt battle was not one to be fought at the moment.

Quixana, on the other hand, seemed deeply grieved at his sister's lack of clothing. He heaved a deep sigh and then, standing behind her, gave Anemone a big bear hug. He regarded Sam over his sister's shoulder and then smiled. "Meme," he pointed out politely, "Sam's dressed pretty."

"I can't agree with you more on that point," Reyna said in response as she shot Cressida a fanged grin, "I thought she was a handful as a just a babe, now that she's up and about.. well, I'm sure you can relate."

She disappeared into the kitchen briefly as she put on a pot of tea and then returned to usher her guests into the rather large, expansive living room area. It was immaculately kept and had a rather modern, artistic flare to it with smooth lines, and bold colors. A few toys littered the rug in the middle of the floor, as well as a few atop the round, glass coffee table, otherwise the room was spotless.

Sam toddled after her mum and waved for Anemone and company to follow. "Come play!" she beamed merrily as she made her way into the living room with Fragments darting through and around her legs.

Anemone clambered after as Leon and Cressida settled themselves down in the livingroom; Leon took a moment to admire the decor and not admire how his daughter was giving wicked chuckles, obviously absolutely delighted to see "Samsa."

"Samsa lives in trees," she pointed out to the entire gathering, possibly referencing the swamp. Then she did a wobbly somersault, which was her latest trick, and held out one chubby hand to grasp Samara's.

'I like the dichotomy," said Leon. "This place in the middle of a swamp."

"Isn't his grasp of the obvious endearing?" If the words had come out of anyone else's mouth, there would have been sarcasm in spades. This, however, was Cressida talking about her beloved Leon and the expression on her heart-shaped little face was pure adoration. She turned the smile on the children as they toddled to the play area. "And he's right. Your house is lovely. Is it hard keeping Samara in the yard with all of this around?"

Quixana calmly applied both hands to his sister's back and rolled her further away from the glass table after her somersault. "Meme, is that a kitty?" He pointed at a stuffed animal a foot away. Then he smiled at Samara and nodded at her daemon. "Neat," he pronounced.

"Surprisingly, no," Reyna replied in a quiet, mellow tone as she seated herself within an armchair that faced the couch, "She usually has someone outside with her." That someone was also either a medusa or a snake, but she wasn't about to elaborate on that minor detail. So she had monsters living in her basement! So long as no one inquired about what she kept in her closets, all was well.

Sam was utterly thrilled with her company. Not only did she have Annie to play with but also someone new! Her very form seemed to radiate excitement. She plopped down onto the soft rug and reached for the plush kitty and handed it to the other girl.

"Misty gave kitty!" she declared. She beamed brightly at that fact. Perhaps he would come and play too. Wouldn't that be fun!

"Kitty," Anemone agreed, clutching it close to her chest; she examined it very seriously, perhaps over-seriously for a toddler, as Terror clambered over her neck and twisted himself in her hair. "Xana gotta kitty," she added, in reference to Courage. Then, bored with her own truisms: "We's play game now!"

"I envy their self-possession," Leon said to Reyna. "If I was faced with babysitting either of mine among a swamp, I'd have a nervous breakdown... we can barely handle a flat. Especially with the daemon."

"Don't let him fool you." Cressida smiled confidently at Reyna and threw in a conspiratorial wink. "Leon does just fine with the children. Especially now that Xana wants to help all the time. He's daddy's little helper."

Quixana, blissfully unaware of the discussion suddenly revolving around him, squatted down between the two girls while Courage settled herself in a lazy flop behind him. "Whatcha wanna play?" he asked. "Peek-a-boo? Clap your hands?"

Sam's bright green eyes lit up as all the ideas for playing swirled through her mind a mile a minute. There was so much to do! So much to see! "Let's play with Misty!" she declared with a cheerful smile as she clambered her way to her feet to go and fetch her big brother.

Had her mother been more attentive to what her daughter was babbling ever so cheerfully, she might have suggested they play another game. It seemed her wayward shadow had been rather irritable as of late -- never with Sam of course, but he didn't take well to strangers all that often.

"I've seen him manage little Anemone quite well," Reyna spoke up in agreement with Cressida, she paused as she noticed Sam walking off, "Honey, where are you heading off to?"

"Gonna get some toys!" she declared with a wave of her hand over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway with Fragments skipping along behind her. It was no lie, she gathered an assortment of toys up into her arms, as much as she could carry, before pausing at her elder brother's room.

"Misty! Come play!" she demanded ever so sweetly as she peeked in his room.

'In a moment...' was his soft reply, though he did not readily appear within the darkness of his room. Regardless, Sam knew he was there.

Satisfied with his answer, she returned to her friends that were waiting for her.

"Who Misty?" her smaller first friend demanded, though her tongue twisted it into something like mithy. Annie had thrown a look of scorn at her brother as if to imply that peek-a-boo was a terrible idea for a game out of the safe confines of the livingroom back home. She was appeased by Samara's impressive range of toys: she set down the kitty to pick up another soft toy, examining it carefully. "Gonna play."

"Too active," Leon murmured a little tragically as he watched the children clamber around. "I'm too old for this kind of thing."

"You're ridiculous," Cressida informed him, reaching out to take his hand in hers.

Quixana returned Annie's look with impressive equanimity; he clearly was not going to be shamed by his little sister. Anyway, peek-a-boo was perfectly acceptable for babies and Annie and Samara were definitely babies yet. He stood again and surveyed the range of toys. Selecting a teddy bear, he peered into its button eyes. Then he looked up and smiled at Samara. "Does the teddy have a name?" he asked.

"Mister Brown!" she declared with a grin, "My uncle Athun gave him to me!" She beamed brightly at that. He always gave her such lovely gifts and surprises. Her attention turned away from her friends for a brief moment as she noticed a familiar face appearing within the red painted wall just behind where Cressida and Leon were sitting.

She clapped her hands and squealed with merriment as she shadow drifted through the wall, a bemused look written across his face as he drifted down towards the floor to settle near the children, unmindful of the adults around them. He simply turned his back and focused his attention upon Sam as he pulled her into his lap despite her giggling protests.

'Introduce me to your friends...?'

Reyna paled a bit. He couldn't have used a door or the hallway? Really?? She huffed a bit before offering her guests a smile. She opened her mouth to speak but clamped it shut when the tea pot began to whistle loudly from the kitchen, "Tea is ready!"

Anemone was immediately filled with terrible jealousy that Samara got such a cool friend, and yearned immediately for an "Uncle Athun" to deliver unto her something equally cool if not moreso. Her expression to Quixana read clearly, WE don't get cool things like this at HOME, and she gaped for a few moments in awe. Then she gripped the soft toy to her arms again, while Terror crept down from her neck to get a better look at the newcomer.

"Excellent," Leon said to Reyna. This was after only a pause at taking in Mystic. He seemed to have taken it fairly well, all things concerned. "Milk, no sugar. ...can I or Cressida help?"

Cressida said nothing, merely staring in bemused contemplation at the shadowy creature now on the floor with the children. Courage, on the other hand, rolled quickly to her feet and promptly began sniffing Mystic, circling him with wary attention. Laughing, Quixana waved his hands. "Courage, no," he said. "Don't be nosey. He's Sam's friend." Then he held out his hand. "I'm Quixana."

"Oh no, I've got it!" Reyna called from the kitchen. Truly, she was just mildly worried that Charles would appear. Mystic was one thing, the overly friendly, undeniably flamboyant medusa was a whole 'nother ballgame all together. She sighed at that thought and arranged three cups of tea along with the teapot itself neatly on a tray to bring into the living room.

Mystic, though lacking a mouth, seemed to smile warmly over at Quixana. He accepted his hand gently with one dark hand. 'A pleasure to meet you, Quixana. I am Mystic, Sam's brother.' The amusement in his eyes sparkled somewhat, particularly at the child's protective daemon. He supposed it was simply their nature. Fragments was the same way.

The daemon in question perched atop the shadow's head and peered down at him with wide silver eyes.

"No Frags! No bother'in Misty!" Sam declared as she shooed him away before settling herself down contentedly at Annie's side. "Misty! Let's play a game!"

"Game!" Annie demanded too, not quite sure about being brave as her brother and introducing herself just like that. She narrowed her red eyes in suspicion at Mystic, waiting patiently to see whether or not his game choice would hold up to her rigid standards. Terror was licking his tongue out in vain, trying to taste Mystic with it.

Quixana linked his hands behind his back and grinned up at the alleged brother. "Nothing that Meme can fit in her mouth," he suggested. He paused to consider that and quickly added, "Or that Terror can fit in his mouth. They ate Mommy's lipstick once."

Giggling at the way her son solemnly retold the story, Cressida finally twisted on the couch to call back to Reyna, "I'll have two sugars and milk, please."

Reyna returned and gingerly set the tray upon the coffee table. She offered them each their cup of tea with a polite smile. "So uh," she began in an earnest attempt at making a bit of small talk, "What do you both do for a living?" In all honesty, she wasn't quite so well-versed at the art of conversation, but as their host she felt the need to at least try.

Mystic on the other hand, squirmed faintly where he sat. Somewhat uneasy at how he suddenly had the attention of all three children and their respective daemons settled upon him. He had to come up with the game? Lovely.

'Hm.. shall we play hide and seek?' he suggested before Reyna shot him a look that very clearly said NO. 'Or perhaps we should explore the inner garden?' he went on in hopes to appease both the children and his own guardian.

Sam cheered and hopped to her feet. "Garden!" It meant tree climbing, and playing with pixies and maybe, maybe, if she was extra good and perfectly sweet Mystic would fly them up towards the top of the oak tree!

The garden sounded appealing; Anemone carefully tottered up to her feet, Terror in tow, as they all prepared for an adventure! Everyone loved exploring! Perhaps they would find a mystery. "US GO," she said importantly.

Distracted by his childrens' antics, for a moment Leon didn't respond; then he inclined his golden head at Reyna and sipped at his teacup to clear his throat. "I'm a jewelry artist," he said. "Cressida is in the fashion industry. We're on a sabbatical at the moment."

"Like maternity leave," his fiance put in cheerfully. She sent a quick glance towards her children and smiled. Quixana caught the look and saluted; he knew his duty to watch out for little girls. Then she turned back to Reyna. "Though I still dabble when they go down for naps. I can't keep fully out of design or my hands will grow rusty."

Motioning for Courage to follow, Quixana moved to help steady Anemone. "Yes, please," he said to Mystic. "Gardens are neat."

Reyna smiled over at the children and nodded towards Leon and Cressida in understanding. Her visible red eye widened slightly at Leon's admission.
"Really? I work within a jewelry store. Perhaps we should collaborate on a project some time. My employer often contracts other artists to set stones and the like for him."

Mystic's eyes shone with a sweet warmth as he stood upon his human feet and gingerly ushered the children down the hall. To the right of them was a glass door which lead to the garden. There was also a separate door from the garden itself that led into the kitchen. The garden itself was the very heart of the entire house.

It thrived with greenery, herbs, and flowers of all sorts and in the center of it all was a gnarled, twisted oak tree that somehow still found room to grow. It was Sam's favorite!

The little girl dashed forward with a bubbly laugh as she reached to climb upon the branches. She liked to see how far she could go, though she never managed to make it very far without Mystic's help.

The shadow in question looked very transparent in the midday sun. His dark cloak served to shield him from the brunt of the sunlight, but he still clung to the darkness when he could.

"Come on guys!" Sam chirped, "Let's es'plore!"

Anemone, whose garden at home consisted of her mother's pot plants, was immediately and totally awed at the lush jungle of Sam's backyard; she toddled as fast as her little thin legs could carry her to the oak tree, pressing the palms of her hands to the bark as Terror flicked out a long tongue to taste it. "Wow," she said, genuinely impressed for one of the first times in her life. "Is forest." Then, with a siren-like voice (as in the ambulance kind, not as in the beautiful creature kind) she hollered -

"XANA, IS A FOREST!!!"

Leon, on the other hand, had looked at Reyna with interest. "Hm," he said, which was his 'thinking sound'. "I work out as contract - I'll leave my card. I also collaborate on design or do the design work at home - I won't talk shop, though, or Cressida will poke at my leg under the table where she thinks you can't see."

"Why would I bother?" Cressida answered sweetly. She winked at Reyna. "I don't think the thought of me watching your social interactions would terrify Reyna too much. Would it?"

Quixana was tempted to explain to his sister that one tree did not a forest make but he was too busy being properly impressed with the huge oak to try. Trotting up, he patted the trunk with both hands and then walked around it consideringly. "It's a good tree," he announced. "It likes it here. 'S why it's so big." He spotted a low hanging branch and motioned the girls over. "Want up?" he offered.

"Hardly," Reyna replied with a small smirk as she sipped at her tea rather daintily before setting it down upon its small saucer on the coffee table to cool a bit. "Though I will insist upon your leaving your card at the very least. Local talent is always something Athan prefers to invest in."

Samara beamed brightly, eyes shining bright with pride and a joyful mirth that she and her daemon both could barely contain. "Yes! UP!" she declared with a laugh before making grabby hands at Mystic rather than climbing up the roots herself.

The shadow chuckled quietly as he slowly and gingerly picked his way towards the group of children, looking quite mysterious with the hood of his cloak up to avoid the sunlight. 'Up it is, my little love,' he replied softly before reaching to pick her up with dark, star-studded hands. He settled her on one hip before holding one hand out towards Anemone. 'And you too..?'

"Up!" Anemone said shrilly, holding her arms out to the shadow: two bright spots of pink had appeared in her usually ice-pale cheeks, testament to how deeply excited she was. She appeared to not worry at all about Mystic's appearance: Terror had clambered up to the top of her head and was sitting patiently in her hair, looking like a ridiculous hat.

Leon sipped at his tea, hands a little too big for the dainty cup: he rolled his eyes at both Reyna and his partner, but it lacked spite. "If I constitute 'local talent', so be it," he said. "Actually, Cressida and I were looking at a couple suburbs about half an hour from here."

"What with having two children and two animals..." Cressida smiled fondly at the thought and fiddled with the handle on her teacup. "One of which is probably going to get very, very big," she added, "we're thinking that our apartment is much too small. After all, very few little girls want to share a bedroom with her brother forever." At that, she shot a sideways glance at Leon; it made precious little sense to the other woman but seemed to speak of mischief and old jokes.

Quixana watched as both little girls flocked immediately towards Mystic and quickly looked down at his hands to hide his frown. He had offered first, hadn't he? Maybe it was because he wasn't bit enough. It wasn't polite to get angry over that sort of thing. Forcing a bright smile back to his face, he lifted his head and once more patted the majestic tree. "It'll be an adventure," he announced.

Concerned, Courage nudged her head under her Forgotten's free arm and nuzzled into his side comfortingly.

"That I can understand," Reyna replied, "Thankfully I already had moved into this house when Sam came along, so to speak. Fragments does not seem to take up much space, though."

The ghost-dog in question was wriggling in quiet excitement as he peeked his head out from behind the branches of the trees at the children and their newfound shadow-friend. Slow! Time to play! Hurry! Fun-time now, yes??

Sam squealed in agreement and squirmed in Mystic's arms as the shadow reached to also pluck Annie up off the ground. He tucked them both carefully into a small play area that had been created up in the tree especially for little Sam by her beloved Uncle before extending one dark hand towards Xana.

'I believe I'll be needing your help in watching them,' he replied smoothly.

Annie squealed again at being up so high: she held Terror very closely in her arms, who didn't seem to mind the toddler suffocation as he was clutched close to her, and beamed with all the teeth in her mouth at Samara at the fun of it. "Inna air!" she said, not quite getting the main point that they were in a tree.

"I envy you there," said Leon morosely. "I don't know what's going to get bigger, Terror or Courage. And we need a damn aquarium for Terror. We were thinking about getting a swimming pool - Annie sleeps in a water tub right now, though God only knows how we'll keep her in freshwater."

"With luck and hard work. Nothing's too much for our babies." Somehow Cressida managed to make the cliche sound 100% sincere as she reached over to lace her fingers through Leon's.

Quixana looked at Courage and she nodded. Then he stepped forward and held out a hand to Mystic in acceptance. "Yes, please," he answered. Then, lowering his voice, he added, "I need to keep an eye on Meme. Can't let her get hurt, see?"

'That,' Mystic answered quietly with a bemused look as he lifted Xana up into the tree with the girls before following suit, 'Is what elder brothers are for.' He settled himself in front of the 'doorway' of sorts, as it was the only means of escaping the intertwined branches that formed the little hideaway.

Sam squirmed on top of a moss-colored pillow and went wide-eyed and still. She jumped slightly as she reached to sling an arm around Anemone. "Shhhhh," she said, "Pixies."

Reyna's brow furrowed for a moment as she contemplated having a child that preferred to sleep in water. "And here I thought getting Sam to sleep in her crib was a challenge," she replied in a sincere manner.

Pixies! Were they really going to see pixies? Anemone's eyes were huge and round and she looked nearly sick with excitement. Maybe they could catch one! Quixana could catch one for her! She was about to demand this but remembered Sam's pleas to be silent: maybe they were hunters now.

"'Challenge,'" Leon said dryly. "'Challenge.' Yeah. Annie's a challenge."

"Annie is a regular little Briar Rose of a challenge," Cressida agreed with an equal amount of cheer to her partner's blandness. "You have to change her water regularly."

Quixana craned his neck, looking around for the supposed pixies. He wrapped the fingers of one hand around a nearby slim branch. Tilting slightly, he leaned out further. "I don't see 'em," he whispered. "Are they colors?"

Sam sat is still as she possibly could. Event Fragments hardly moved and the wispy white smoke that continuously shifted all about his small form seemed to have slowed slightly though his very being ached to jump up and dance around out of sheer excitement of the moment.

Despite her best efforts, she squealed and clapped her hands to her mouth as she squirmed where she sat at the very first glimmer of light from a dark corner of the entwined branches. Sam's pixies were a little more like bugs -- lightening bugs to be exact, though they were far from ordinary bugs in that they changed color as they flittered about.

"PIXIES!"

Reyna smiled as she nodded towards Leon in understanding. She hadn't quite had issues with Sam save for the occasional tantrum that literally made things rattle and shake, but she could relate. She had suffered through Mystic's childhood after all, and there was hardly anything less of a 'challenge' than raising a shadow-child.

She opened her mouth as though to say something but clamped it shut as she caught the faint sound of her daughter squealing. She was either upset or having the time of her young life. She was personally hoping for the latter.

TBC!

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Reyna Crelos
Vice Captain

Shameless Ladykiller

Offline

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2007 12:24 pm

// Pretty Things for Pretty Girls //
Sam and Reyna pay Nisha and Aki a visit!

Reyna usually only took part in the designing of their jewelry sold within Twilight Designs, but she had decided to try her hand at the craftsmanship as well. It was something that she usually left up to Athan to settle with either a business arrangement or buy his own surprising skill at mounting stones without the use of his magic.

This however, was something special. It was something intended for a friend. Admittedly, the demon had few of those for various reasons. One being her very nature, the other reasons, well, were a little more nefarious and better off kept secret.

Aki, through the trials they had gone through together with their daughters, more than qualified as a friend. Not that Reyna had ever outright said it or mentioned it, but it was how she thought of her. What's more, the unspoken bond between their daughters was undeniable, and there wasn't anything in the universe that she wouldn't do for her darling Sam.

"Mum!" the girl in question chirped happily as she tugged at her mother's pants leg, "You promised!"

Reyna smiled gently as she reached to gently pet at the child's hair. "I have to finish this before we call Nisha's mother. I'm almost done, okay?" she replied smoothly as she turned back towards her work and gingerly twisted a bit of gold wire into a swirling design with her jewelry pliers.

Samara pouted. "Done now?" she queried.

A quiet chuckle escaped the silver haired woman. "Here," she replied as she fished her cell phone out of her pocket and dialed Aki's number for her, "Say hello to her for me?"

Fragments danced about the child's feet in excitement while Sam grinned as her tiny hands clutched the device and pressed it somewhat clumsily to her ear. "Hello Nisha's mommy!"

Aki perked up at the voice, phone cradled between her ear and shoulder. "Sam! Is that you, sweetie?" Bumping the oven shut with her hip, Aki wiped her hands clean on a towel before taking the phone properly. "How are you doing?"

She spoke with that bright, gentle tone that one often used with children...one that happened to inspire jealousy almost instantly in Nisha. Staring up from the pile of crayons she'd been playing with, Nisha listened stonily to the conversation...royal blue snapping in her little fist.

Thirty seconds. Then she'd start screaming.

Sam giggled happily as she squirmed in place with Fragments dancing about her feet and zipping around the air. "Good!" she chirped. She usually wasn't very chatty, but over the past several months her vocabulary and speaking abilities had become a little more concise, "I want to see Nisha! Mum has a present."

"Finished!" Reyna declared as she chuckled quietly as she attempted to pry the phone away from her daughter, "Hello, Aki? This is Reyna. I uh.. just finished setting one of the stones for you. From the trade, ya know? Sam was wondering if she could bring it by for you."

Bright green eyes danced with merriment as she latched onto the side of Reyna's desk and attempted to climb her way up to snatch the phone back. She hadn't gotten to talk to Nisha yet!

Aki narrowly averted the coming storm by covering the receiver with two fingers, leaning over to whisper to Nisha. "It's Samara! She wants to see you!" Nisha brightened almost instantly, and tried to scale Aki's leg in the same manner Sam was climbing on the desk.

"Reyna! I'm glad you called. I'm excited to see the finished piece, and...perhaps ask you a few questions, if you have the time for it." There was weary humor in her voice...apparently Aki had her hands full lately. One could only guess with who!

"We'd love to have you. Do you mind coming over? It's always easier with Desperate, here." Leaning to the side, away from Nisha's grabby hands, Aki struggled against the insistent child.

"Samsamsamsam...." Nisha's cross burbling echoed through the line.

Part of Nisha's murmuring seemed to reach Sam's ears. Immediately she squealed: "NISHIIiiiiiiiiiiiiii!" Her joyful outburst was accompanied by her hopping off the side of the desk and a small dance that Fragments mimicked midair.

"Somehow, I doubt Sam would protest, and I certainly have time for you and Nisha both," she replied in a low, amused voice, "Let me grab Athan to watch the shop, and I should be there in say... fifteen, twenty minutes?"

"Perfect! I hope you're hungry!" She would have marveled at the timing, but in truth, Aki was almost always cooking. "See you then, and thanks!"

Nisha paused as she heard the squeal in the background, and lifted one hand in a pudgy wave as Aki clicked the phone off. "Now."

"She'll be here soon." Aki set the phone on the table, and shifted Nisha to her other hip. The girl was getting too big to carry, but Aki lost that battle long ago. "Are you excited to see your sister?"

Pale eyes wide, Nisha searched Aki's face for some sign of a joke. She had a brother, not a sister!

Laughing a bit at Nisha's startled look, Aki shrugged and set the girl back down at her chair by the crayons. "Well, you and Samara arrived at the same time, in the same place, in what had to be more or less the same way! I think that counts, don't you?"

Nisha dropped her eyes back to her picture of scribbled floating butterflies before picking up a scrap of royal blue. "Mine."

No later than the time she had promised, Reyna arrived at Aki's front door. She was a bit hesitant to knock at the door. Was she even at the right place? It was quite lavish in comparison to her own home, but she also had a house in the middle of a swamp. Before she could make up her mind about knocking, Sam decided for her.

"Hellooooooooo!" she yelled loudly as she rapped lightly at the door with small fists, "Nisha theeereeeee??"

Fragments movements seemed to echo Samara's shouts as she darted towards the windows and pawed at the panes of glass, something that made Reyna frown.

"Come on now guys, make an attempt at being polite?" Reyna murmured, looking a bit sheepish. Like she could really talk about manners. She sighed before a sort of mischievous smile curved at her lips, "Now, now... what would your uncle Athan think?" It was low of her, she knew, to resort to such a tactic, but it worked. For whatever reason Sam behaved as primly as any schooled, well-to-do lady when Athan was involved.

For a moment, there was no response...until the panes of glass under Fragment's little paws began to vibrate. The vibration turned to shaking, dirt dancing in the flower pots, and escalated until it sounded like an avalanche had filled Aki's house.

As suddenly as it started, the noise stopped at its peak...with an odd squeak and a heavy thump against the door. "Desperate! NO RUNNING INSIDE!" Aki's voice was muffled until she yanked open the door with a harried smile.

"Hi guys, please! Come in! Sorry about that!" The massive Daemon lurked behind her, his eyes level with Aki's shoulder. His ears flapped in excitement, weight shifting from foot to foot.

As soon as she saw Sam, Nisha started to kick and arch against Aki, demanding to be put down. "SAM." It was a command, to be sure, but who knows who it was meant for! Once she reached the ground, Nisha toddled toward the other girl, one hand on the railing. She was more than old enough to walk properly...she simply didn't care too.

Stepping back, and shooing Desperate with one hand, Aki motioned them in with a slightly more relaxed smile. Obviously, the sight of a five hundred pound pachyderm hurtling down a hall had rattled her.

"We're glad you could make it!" The Villa had old splendour on the outside, crumbling stone and twining roses, with carefully carved column caps. On the inside, however, it was a bit more modern...long vertical hangings breaking up the expanses of grey stone walls. Light filtered in through sheers over the arched french double windows, which overlooked the sea below the cliffs. "Join us in the kitchen?"

Nisha was already reaching for Samara, so Aki offered a hand warmly to Reyna...wishing for a hug, but too reserved to initiate. The woman had always brought a bit of pink to her cheeks, it was hard being informal with someone you admired!

Sam quieted only for a brief moment as her eyes widened at the rattling and noise. It didn't so much shock her as intrigue her -- namely because she wasn't the source of the rumbling and shaking. She squealed loudly when the door opened to reveal Nisha, Desperate, and Aki. All previous thoughts fled her as she reached forward to draw the other child into a hug.

"Not a problem," Reyna murmured with a faint smile. She understood the trouble daemons could cause, though even as she cast a wary glance towards Fragments who zipped immediately inside to investigate his new surroundings, she was suddenly quite thankful he had thus far stayed puppy-sized. She accepted the other woman's hand gently and followed her towards the kitchen.

"... nice place," she said with a twinge of awe at the high, vaulted ceilings. She wasn't one for jealousy, she adored her own home, but she was definitely impressed.

Samara was equally impressed though she showed it a bit more openly. "Wooooow!" she declared as she held onto Nisha's hand in a sweet gesture, "This your house? So nice!"

Nisha nodded with slow pride, looking forward into her own home with new eyes. Was it nice? It was old looking, to her...she thought the hotel with the big crystal chandeliers in town was the prettiest! "Yus. Mine."

Bringing her pudgy hands together in a sharp, imperious clap, Nisha lifted her eyes to her Daemon. It was hard to say how such pale golden eyes could produce a look so dark, but the child pulled it off flawlessly. Without a moments delay, Desperate dropped first to one knee, then the other...lowering himself enough for his girl to climb aboard.

"'Up, sister." Another command, but this one with a smile, as Nisha held her little hand out to Samara to follow.

Trying to ignore the elephant riding, which was supposed to be a 'sometimes' activity, Aki nodded as her guest entered. "Welcome." Aki said simply, and gave Reyna's hand a squeeze. She let it fall as she turned to lead, propping the door open to let in the cool evening air. "I was curious if-"

"Heeey." A new voice echoed, in that split tone of a young man almost matured. Levi slouched in the doorway to the kitchen, a drumstick in one hand, as he gave Reyna a long look. "Met y' before, eh? M'Levi." He gave Reyna a nod, bringing a furious blush to Aki's cheek with the implication in his eyes. Where the hell had he learned that look?!

"Levi, you...HEY! That was for dinner!" It took a moment for the turkey leg in his hand to register, but when it did, Aki forgot all about the coy introduction.

"IS mah dinner!" Levi protested, backing up. He offered Reyna a half salute as he retreated, knowing some arguments just couldn't be won.

Samara fairly beamed at having been called sister. She knew it to be true! Her mum had explained it somewhat, and to her it was a glorious thing. Just like having Mystic as her big brother! She tentatively reached to climb up atop the rather impressive daemon with a little assistance from Nisha. Fragments seemed to glower disapprovingly and even muttered a faint protest inside her mind, but she ignored him quite blatantly.

Nisha had said it was okay so how could it possibly be otherwise?

The little ghost-dog settled with a huff near Sam's back, floating midair. He certainly wasn't going to be riding anywhere, but he would follow.

Reyna chuckled quietly as the unfamiliar young man introduced himself. "I'm... afraid not," was the most polite thing she could manage, though her tone was quite flat and showed a definite disinterest in what his lovely eyes and sure smile hinted at.

Instead of the rather rude gesture she normally would have given him with one distinctive finger had she simply met him on the street, she settled one arm around Aki's shoulders companionably and turned her attention fully upon the elven lady near her side.

"I have a gift for you," the silver haired woman stated quietly, "... well, it's more so something you essentially paid for, but.. I did design and make it myself."

Levi waved over one shoulder as he disappeared through the kitchen, out the back to the trails that led to the docks. Aki was glad he wasn't there to see her glance up at Reyna in shy surprise.

"A....gift! Is it...?" She couldn't quite say it, but her face was obviously hopeful. She'd been looking forward to Reyna's work for sometime, but to be honest, this was faster than she'd expected! Obviously a favor, and it warmed her to think such. She pulled out a chair at the table for Reyna absently as they spoke.

"Goh." Nisha pointed forward, feeling brave with little Sam against her back. Desperate was more than big enough to carry them both, cause they were little, but Aki wouldn't let Levi ride at all. When he's older, the woman always said, but Nisha never knew if she meant the pirate or the pachyderm!

Desperate trundled forward obediently, toward Nisha's room. He still fit neatly in the hallways, even if they did have to pull up their legs to fit in the door. Nisha giggled as he squeezed through the archway, and gave him a rare satisfied pat. The Daemon nearly purred.

"S'my room." Her speech was a bit lazy, a bit like her older brothers, for sure. "Wanna play?" She twisted around to ask Sam the question directly, golden eyes serious in her round, pale face.

Our room, Desperate echoed, for Fragment's benefit.

"Okay!" Samara all but chirped as she slid down off of the elephant's back gingerly. She reached up towards Nisha with a bright smile to help her down as well, "What're we playing?" It was Nisha's room, and her toys. It was only polite to ask!

Fragments settled himself atop a pillow. While normally energetic, he was perfectly content to stay out of the way and simply watch quietly with wide, silver eyes. Though still, his form continued to shift and move like swirling white smoke.

Reyna took a seat and reached to rifle through her messenger bag for the "gift" in question. She withdrew a solid, black box that appeared to be made out of some sort of leather. Imprinted upon it's surface was the Twilight Designs logo in a shimmery, silver.

The demon smiled, a slightly proud, fanged grin, as she set the box upon the table so that it faced the other woman before opening it up to reveal a rather stunning ruby pendant set within a gold.

"Warm colors suit you."

Aki was speechless. The delicate patterns of gold over crimson were simply enchanting, and Reyna had actually managed to give a stone with so much bulk an elegant air. With careful fingers, Aki lifted it from the box...watching it spin slowly in the filtered light.

"Reyna..." When she finally found her voice, it was warm and genuine. "It's beautiful! It's abso-HEY." Slender coral fingers closed in mid air as Aki pulled the piece forward, out of reach. The arm retreated over her shoulder, and a pair of dazzling eyes peeked out from around the fall of Aki's hair. "It already a source of envy! Reyna, Coral." The humor in her voice was obvious, and after the introduction Aki held up the piece again (just out of the reach of little fingers), for all to admire. "I have two things to thank you for!"

Nisha slid off, onto her bed, taking Sam's hand as she passed. The result pulled both girls down in a pile of giggles, swamped in a sea of silks and cushions. The bed had always been Nisha's favorite part of the room...it wasn't big enough for Desperate any more, but naps were still her number one priority. But naps weren't a game, they were Serious. What should they play?

Honestly, Nisha rarely played with others, especially her own age. Didn't like most of them, at the least. "You pick!" The room was a mess, with clothes and trinkets and toys strewn about...the options were endless! While they considered, Nisha picked up the corner of one of her blankets, draping it over Fragments carefully. Even if he didn't want to take a nap, he looked cute peeking out from under it!

Reyna's visible red eye widened slightly at the sight of Coral. "Already grown and ready to make mischief, I see," she teased lightly as she quietly admired the young Shadow. "I should have bothered Mystic into coming along. Perhaps you'll have to come and visit us for dinner sometime," she murmured, trailing off with a quiet, yet open invitation.

She smirked faintly before reaching out to snatch up the trinket from Aki's hands. She stood from her seat for a moment to drape the necklace delicately about the other woman's neck before securing the clasp. "It is a bit.. well, much," she went on, "But it's beautiful nonetheless."

Sam stared with wide-eyed wonder at the fact that she would be allowed to choose their activity. She turned in a little circle to look all around her, awed by the sheer amount of stuff Nisha possessed. Sure, she had a plethora of toys and trinkets from worlds all over thanks to her uncle, but this was all new to her, and therefore infinitely more interesting.

She paused for a moment before reaching to pick up a rather elegant looking hat that had a gem encrusted brooch attached and a long, plumed feather. "Let's dress up!" she declared with a bright smile. Uncle Athan let her try on all the pretties in the shop all the time. Surely this would be just as fun!

Coral tilted her chin back, displaying herself in a moment of coy bravery, until Reyna reached forward. In that instant, she vanished, in a surge of confusion. She could feel Ak's pink blush, as the demoness reached forward and snapped the clasp carefully. It wasn't the feeling that was unexpected...it was the timing.

Aki leaned back, once she felt the weight of the pendant against her breast bone, and inclined her head. "It would have been a bit much, with a normal setting. You're...adept at handling rarities. Thank you." Aki glanced up with a smile, and instantly lost her train of thought. Instead, she motioned with one hand to the spread upon the table. Bottles and glasses, a tray of cranberry tarts, and a bowl of yam chips with creamcheese dip. Harvest came early, with Elle around...and bounty was meant to be shared.

Nisha watched inscrutably as Sam peered around her room, silently weighting each smile and reaction. A large, furious part of her wished to be liked...it was a feeling that reminded her of Declan, and she clenched her little fists at the thought.

"For pretend?" The question was automatic. Dress up for real happened in dreams, of course. The options were limitless! Nisha picked up a scarf with one hand, letting it dangle between chubby fingers.

"I'm famous." It was a big word for such a little girl, but Nisha wrapped the scarf around her head with a hollywood flair. She peered at Samara with her chin up, and stared at her little sisters hat. "Whatter you?"

Desperate, not to be left out, gingerly sucked a slipper off the floor with the end of his tapered trunk. He let it drop near Fragments, in kind offering. -Shoe?-

"For pretend!" Sam declared brightly. She giggled with a sweet, innocence that only a child could. "I'mma wealthy laaa~aady," she replied as she settled the hat comfortably atop her head and posed like the ladies she often saw frequenting her uncle's shop. She settled herself in a small chair after draping a silk shawl about her shoulders.

"Dahling, do join me for tea!" she beckoned as she waved at Nisha with one hand. She stuffed the other hand against her mouth as she laughed. She sounded so much like Charles! She always thought his accent was funny. Hopefully Nisha would be amused as well.

Fragments eyed the shoe that was tossed his way by the other daemon. He squirmed his way out from underneath the blankets and zipped up into the air after lifting a scarf from the floor to drape about the elephant's head. He was famous too, now!

The daemon fairly writhed in amusement at both the girls' antics and his own. How fun!

Reyna, had she been present to witness both girls' make believe fun, would have been equally amused, though she was no less thrilled with her current company. She smiled over at Aki at the compliment at her craftsmanship. It wasn't something she heard often, largely because she was around to hear it, but it was... nice.

She reached for a tart idly before glancing back towards the other woman. "So. You had questions?"

Aki's thoughts weren't far from Reyna's...she looked down the hall briefly towards the bedroom as though half waiting for something. "Well...yes." Turning her eyes back to the other woman, she laughed off her worries. Nisha was old enough to be left alone for a bit, and Desperate would squeal if there was trouble. He always did.

"I was curious, about Coral." Glancing over one shoulder to see if the Fiend would emerge, Aki finally shrugged. Apparently not. "Anything else you might know, or anything she might be able to..." Waving her hands for a moment, sweatdropping a bit, Aki made a vague gesture. "...do."

Nisha smiled a bit at Sam's accent, which was rare in and of itself, but shook her head. "Dun like tea. Chokkit milk s'better." She seemed rather serious about that bit, and grabbed one of Aki's old blouses from the floor. It was a bit big on her, but that made it look like a dress, which was okay with her. Only boys wore pants.

"Lookit. Collar." Holding up a thin woman's belt, dotted with a few remaining rhinestones, Nisha waved it for Fragments. "You be a pursepuppy." That's what Aki called them, anyway!

Desperate poked at Samara's hat with his trunk, the scarf draped over his head sliding to obscure one beady black elephant eye. The feather tickled his nose terribly, so he poked Sam in the tummy to get rid of the sensation.

Reyna rested her chin in one hand as she peered contentedly over at Aki, chewing thoughtfully upon the tart as she contemplated an answer to her question. "Mmm... so far what I've noticed is, well, they're all vastly different in their abilities," she spoke up softly, "They all seem to have about the same given talents... mostly phasing in and out of view, drifting through walls. That sort of thing."

She straightened back up and leaned back against her chair. "Although," she went on, "Mystic as of late has discovered some interesting abilities involving dreamwalking, though he's an adult, not a child."

She frowned a bit before turning back towards Aki. "Perhaps I should have brought Mystic with me. He is a great deal better adept at answering questions about, well, himself."

Sam laughed and reached for the belt. Fragments didn't look nearly so amused at the thought of wearing a collar, but because his girl never seemed to ask much of him, he complied and settled upon her lap in a warm ball of wispy, barely there smoke. How the collar managed to stay upon him was a mystery in itself!

"Chokkit milk is MUCH better," Sam agreed as she laughed as Desperate poked at her tummy, "You half such maahhhvelus ideas!" Truly, the child just barely understood the words and phrases she used, she just knew it was what Charles would say when he invited his friend Mordecai over for tea and cake.

"You're maaahhhvelous." Nisha said in a slightly sulky 'your mama' kind of tone. That wasn't a word she'd ever heard before, so turn about was probably the best option.

Digging in the pile, just off the side of her bed, Nisha finally pulled up the string of pearls she'd liberated from Aki's jewelry box. She handed them over to Sam with a bright new smile, cheeks dimpling. "Here. Let's be princesses now, kay?" Princesses were famous AND rich, all in one!

As the scarf slid down Desperate's nose, he curled the tip of his trunk back, blowing gently to keep it in place. Instead, it fluffed and resettled to cover both his eyes, which was too much like being in the dark. The dark, of course, was scary.

Aki had just selected a tart for herself when Desperate began to hoot...his trademarked call echoing across the Villa. "That's our signal. If it's not too much trouble..." She pushed away from the table, still talking, in that patient way mothers had. "Maybe we could meet with you both sometime, then? She'll pout till I let her play with this," She patted the chain of the pendant with a wry smile. "So tonight wouldn't have really worked anyway!"

Reyna chuckled quietly as she stood and followed alongside Aki. "That I wouldn't doubt in the slightest. Mystic was just as stubborn and prone to sulking," she replied before smirking broadly, "Not that I feel he's changed that much, but yes, we'll have to do that some time."

She snickered quietly behind one hand when she felt a distinctive feeling of displeasure emanate from her bond with her shadow once he realized he was being discussed. 'I'll tell ya later,' was all she allowed him as she paused in the doorway of Nisha's room alongside her mother.

"And what sort of fun are we up to, ladies?" Reyna queried with a slow, almost sly sort of smile tugging at her lips.

"We're prwincesses, mommy!" Sam declared with bright smile as she wrapped an arm around Nisha's shoulders. "Aren't we beeyoutiful?"

Nisha looked up with wide, innocent eyes, as the adults walked in...almost instantly realizing Aki would probably have a few questions about her 'missing' pearls. The elf only smiled, however, and bumped her hip against Reynas. "They ARE beautiful! Aren't we lucky?"

As the storm failed to come, Nisha dimpled suddenly with a smile, and wrapped her arms around Samara just as tight. "Pwincess!" She even adopted the girls lisp. Apparently Samara wasn't as silly as she thought! This was a great technique!

Aki shook her head with a smile, and winced as Desperate trumpeted again. The cloth was still over his head, and he was too afraid to move since he couldn't see. Who knew what he might step on!

-Pursepuppy, heeellllp!-

Fragments zipped towards the other daemon and pawed at the scarf with gentle, wispy paws, but did little good. Reyna took notice of Desperate's plight and carefully picked her way through the room towards the pachyderm to avoid crushing any trinkets or baubles beneath the thick soles of her boots.

"There," she said as she pulled the scarf away and moved to drape it across Nisha's shoulders instead, "Better now?"

She smiled back at Aki before her attention was drawn away by her delightful daughter.

"Mommy!" she began, "You should be a prwincess, too!"

The look that flashed across the demon's face clearly stated otherwise, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared to keep from upsetting Sam. "Mmm... I think two princesses is more than enough for any household," she insisted, "Besides, you and Nisha do it so well."

Desperate sighed in relief as soon as the scarf was moved, shaking his head with a great flapping of ears. He offered Fragments a surge of thanks for trying to help, even if the little Daemon hadn't been the one to finally pull the material from his eyes. That had been scary!

Nisha froze as Reyna settled the scarf over her little shoulders, and looked to Sam with wide, curious eyes. Wasn't Sam going to scream, since Reyna hadn't given it to her? Forbid Aki gave something pretty to another girl...it would be the end of the world!

No explosion came. Samara chirped at her mom, as cheerful as ever, and Nisha glanced upward in amazement. "Yus. We best pwincesses."

Aki tried not to laugh at Nisha's flat agreement with Reyna, and shook her head. No need to encourage the snotiness, even if it was kind of funny. "Well, princesses, get dressed in your finest! When you're ready to make your entrance, there's a meal waiting!"

Nisha fished around in the mess long enough to find a single white satin high heeled shoe, which she passed to Samara. It was big enough to fit Aki, but it was still pretty. "Cinderella shoe."

"Alright, my lovely princesses," Reyna murmured as she gently urged both girls forward even as Sam cutely hobbled along in her one white, heeled shoe, "A banquet awaits you both." She chuckled quietly under her breath before swooping down to grab Sam up with one arm and Nisha with the other.

Despite the fact that both girls were quickly becoming a little too big and a little too old to be carried around as such, Reyna managed it with little effort. She had them situated to where they could lean one arm against her shoulder and around her neck so that they were perched quite regally within her arms.

"Shall we then?" she glanced towards Aki with a fanged grin as she waited for the other woman to lead the way back towards the kitchen.

Nisha allowed herself to be carried without a speck of fuss. This was the way things were supposed to be, after all! She patted Reyna's shoulder with vague approval, and offered her own guardian a haughty look. "Can't be late!"

Leaning around Reyna a bit to be able to peer at Sam, Nisha regarded her sister with serious golden eyes. "Mebbe there's a prince."

Aki rolled her eyes at her daughter, still smiling. Reyna was apparently a good sight stronger than she! If Nisha wanted carried, it wasn't going to be Aki doing it. Besides, the girl had never quite grown out of her baby fat. Nisha was definitely a handful, especially for one of Aki's bloodline!

Nodding as Reyna smiled, cheeks pinking a bit at the flash of fang, Aki slipped ahead into the kitchen to start pulling out chairs. One of the coasters rolled off the table as she bumped it, however, and Aki watched as it rolled across the way.

"Drat!" Always when her hands were full. "Hmm. Sam? Can you pick that up while mom puts you into your cha-...throne?" She'd been curious to see if the girl's ability had changed, since days past!

Samara gazed over at Aki with a small smile and wide, bright green eyes. Her little brow furrowed mildly in confusion before she glanced towards where the coaster had rolled away. She didn't mean...? She glanced towards her mother who was busy settling Nisha into her 'throne' as well.

Bad things happened when she made things rattle and shake, but maybe, just maybe she could fetch the coaster for Aki without too much trouble. Her little face screwed up with a look of concentration before she giggled as the coaster wobbled into view, spinning slightly as it did so.

Reyna froze and simply watched. So long as everything else in the kitchen didn't come crashing down she would say nothing to startle her out of her concentration. In truth, she had only caught Sam levitating things intentionally a handful of times.

The child in question stuffed both her hands against her mouth as she giggled when Fragments zipped up into the air and caught a hold of the coaster with his mouth that was very nearly impossible to see.

"No Frags! Spit it out!" Sam giggled as she flailed one hand out towards him before beaming cutely up at her mother and Aki.

Aki was delighted, but less startled than Reyna. She hadn't known she was asking for something out of the ordinary! Nisha's talents were somewhat more...self-centered...so Aki had never truly seen them demonstrated. She offered an admiring nod to Reyna before turning her smile on the young girl.

"Perfect. You're a big help!" Extended her hand for the coaster, wondering briefly about the consistency of ghost dog spit, Aki ignored the sharp kick to the back of her leg by one of Nisha's swinging, jealous feet.

"Princesses don't help."

Aki ignored that comment, but settled her other hand on her petulant daughter's shoulder. "You're both perfect princesses. And princesses don't kick!"

Sam tilted her head to the side with a look of confusion directed towards Nisha as she sucked in her bottom lip, brow furrowed with worry and concentration both. "No helping?" she queried tentatively as she shot her mom a wide-eyed look before glancing almost desperately back to her sister.

"I would help Nisha!" she declared with a bright smile as she kicked her legs to and fro merrily beneath the table, content with her own resolution to her own worries. Yes. Perhaps princesses did not help, but she would help Nisha if she were to need it.

Reyna said nothing, preferring not to interfere but found Sam's words to be rather endearing. She was a sweet girl. She had been half worried that she would end up, well, more like herself having been raised in a house full of demons, monsters, and other such creatures.

Nisha blinked at Samara's offer, and forgot about the kicking. "Yah? Okay." It didn't take her long to jump at the chance. "I'm big princess. Y'can be little princess." Nisha's nose went up in the air as she settled into her role, haughty attitude settling too easily over her. "We'll make a pillow palace too!"

After the food of course. As Aki offered Nisha a plate, the Forgotten waved her guardian off....selecting a tart for herself before grabbing the whole tray and plunking it down in front of Samara. "All for you!"

Aki settled heavily into her seat, and made googly eyes at Reyna, also silent. She'd never, never ONCE, seen the girl share!!

The act was so startling that the hungry noise from Desperate's bottomless tummy almost went unheard. He was so happy for his girl he could dance! Instead, he simply poked at Fragments with the tip of his trunk, trying to spread the joy in the form of tummy tickles. What a remarkable day!!

Fragments shimmied in a delighted little dance before trotting across the table itself midair in a sort of prance as though he were royalty too. Reyna shot him a look that clearly indicated a certain displeasure and it sent him skittering into a seat next to Sam to sit, tail wagging, with his paws upon the table.

If food was involved, he wanted in on the party, too!

Sam beamed brightly over at Nisha and selected a tart for herself, too. Her mum wasn't protesting, so sweets before dinner must be okay at Nisha's house! How delightful!

"Okay!" she agreed, "Pillow palace sounds fun!"

Nisha opened her mouth to respond, and opened wider, and wider, as a massive yawn overtook her. The little tart dropped from her hand and rolled about a bit on the table, leaving a circle of crumbs.

Aki knew that look. "A pillow palace and a nap, hmm Nisha?"

Nisha glanced up at her guardian with a look that almost bordered on affection. "Mmhmm." Leaning to the side to whisper to her little sister, she made one last concession. "You can use the gold blankie."

Smiling as the girls wound down and started to nibble, Aki finally got around to fixing a plate for herself...batting at Desperate's trunk as he vacuumed crumbs from the table and showered them down on Fragments. "Reyna, thanks for coming on such short notice. Today went...well." She sounded a bit surprised, and shared another smile with the demoness.

"I don't mind. I enjoy your company and Sam enjoys Nisha's," Reyna stated with a quiet smile and noted that Sam also was beginning to look rather sleepy. She had been up rather early, so it was to be expected. Especially since she had not yet had a nap for the day.

"Nope, nope! Don' mind!" Sam chirped as she wiggled in her chair in an effort to stay fully awake as she munched on a tart, quite happy that it was sweet. The fact that she was quickly making a mess of the sticky filling all over her face didn't phase her one bit.

Fragments didn't seem to mind the larger daemon, either, though he did prefer cake to crumbs!

TBC.

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Gaia Guilds

The Forgotten Library

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