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 Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:11 pm
Tag-a-Long
Hawk complicates Mystic's studies.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 7:13 pm
Little Sister
Mystic is having a hard time coping with Sam and children in general.To say that Mystic was angry would be a vast understatement. He was positively fuming and had been ever since he'd returned home after his last lesson with Athan. He told himself that if it weren't for that bloody seer it wouldn't have been nearly so bad, but another small voice in his head, a quiet, low voice he hadn't noticed before, said otherwise. At least for today, he had no lessons -- Athan thought it best that he take a day off from his studies.
'Of course he thought that it was best,' Mystic all but snarled to himself as he paced within the confines of his room which he then realized was rather small. That irritated him too. It made him feel caged, trapped. He scowled and moved to sit on the edge of the bed and hold his head in his hands.
He couldn't explain the rage that was coursing through him. He wanted to blame it entirely on Athan and Hawk, but he knew that it was more than that. He just couldn't explain it. Nothing really seemed to make sense. He visibly tensed and tightened his arms about himself and buried his face against his knees. He wanted to scream. Or yell.
But that was difficult to do when one had no voice.
There was so much anger within him, and there was no visible way to release it. Reading didn't help. Talking Reyna into allowing him to play with her art stuffs didn't help -- that would only lead to him having to talk to Reyna and she'd corner him to try and figure out what had made him all but close off their shared bond.
That was taking its toll on him as well, and he thought maybe that was part of it. He was used to sharing energy with her and now he was relying entirely on his own. It didn't hurt him or strain him, but it did leave him feeling sort of detached from her. It was probably for the best, or so he tried to convince himself. He'd just bring her pain.
He sat up straight, brow furrowed in worried lines as he tried to pinpoint exactly where that thought came from. He'd never cause Reyna pain. He'd made a promise to himself that he'd never hurt another person he loved.
'A promise..?'
Unbidden came images that reminded him of the first few books of magic he read. The images were fuzzy around the edges, tattered and frayed as though the roll of film had been damaged. He was in a large house. He heard a woman scream and then there was a sudden silence. That deafening sound seemed to knock the wind out of him.
Then he heard the distinct voice of a child calling out to its father in a small, wavering voice. A brief image of a little girl with dark hair and tear brimmed eyes flashed across his vision and then there was nothing.
He blinked a couple of times and realized that he was no longer sitting on his bed. He was standing in the door way of Sam's bedroom and she was standing upright in her crib crying. Fragments was pawing at his legs in an effort to obtain his attention as though to inform him of the child's upset. He swallowed thickly and pressed a hand to his face as he swayed lightly on his feet.
He didn't feel quite right. Something was wrong and he didn't know what it was.
Samara's crying pierced through the air and he pressed his hands to his ears. 'J-just... shut up..!' he hissed but it did no good, the child simply cried louder until in her upset the pictures on the walls and her assortment of stuffed animals began to tremble with the first signs of her telekinesis.
He darted out of the room suddenly in a movement that made his dizziness worse. He just barely made it into his room before he dropped to his knees and clutched at his head. There was a dull, throbbing ache there at his temples and it increased every time one of Sam's high pitched wails pierced through the air.
He wasn't sure how long he stayed there on the floor, doubled over in from the searing pain in his head. It could've been hours or simply mere minutes. He didn't really become aware of his surroundings again until he felt a gentle nudge inside his mind that soothed the pain. Reyna. His eyes sifted open and he glanced towards his door that was not but a few feet away. He could just barely see the soles of her boots beneath seam of the door.
"Hey.. you alright?" Reyna asked, concerned. She'd been hit with the oddest feeling when she was almost home and when she'd walk into the house Sam had been all but screaming in upset. Now the child was merely hiccuping softly against her shoulder with her tiny fists clenched in her shirt.
'I'm fine,' he lied easily enough, somehow managing to keep his telepathic voice from wavering.
"You sure?" she murmured again as he continued to soothe the grouchy child in her arms. She frowned when she didn't recieve a vocal response and Mystic shut her out completely from his mind. "Well.. I'm going to make dinner for, Sam. You take it easy, alright?"
'Alright.'
---
It wasn't until some time the next day that Mystic ventured out of his room. He was fairly certain that he'd managed to get a grip on whatever it was that had sent him into a nervous breakdown of sorts. Reyna kept hovering about him worriedly, though she pretended not to be doing it. He supposed that was rather endearing. It meant she cared, but he had to admit she was doing a lousy job at hiding it.
A faint, contented look flittered across his face at that before his eyes went wide when he realized the woman in question was trying to ask him something and he'd lost himself entirely to his thoughts.
"Heey.. you awake?" she teased as she balanced Sam on one hip as she pulled out a bottle of milk from the fridge with her free hand to hand to the child. "If you don't have lessons or anything today, wanna come to the shop with me today? You haven't been there in a while, and I feel bad leaving with you Sam all the time. This way I could at least half watch her and give you a little bit of a break."
'Sure,' Mystic agreed before he could stop himself or protest.
Reyna merely grinned in response and went about packing a diaper bag with all of the nessecary items that Sam would need. Really she was starting to get the hang of the entire 'motherhood' business. Sorta. She snickered faintly at that before trailing out the door a few minutes later after she'd declared that they were ready to go.
Mystic followed suit and merely drifted out the door after locking it from the inside so Reyna wouldn't have to fumble with keys, a baby, and a diaper bag, the latter of which he promptly stole away from her as they walked towards Barton to take a bus to Durem.
'Oh hey. Check this out,' he beamed quietly as he opened a small portal that was only big enough for his hand to fit through. He drew out the small disk of silver he'd spelled the other day while Reyna watched, slightly wide-eyed and a bit impressed by the small display.
The disk was now on a small, delicate silver chain, and with a smug look on his face and he lifted it over his head and put it on. It settled against his chest a few inches above his ever present mystic topaz gem. He pressed his hand over the pendant itself and a moment later the black stuff was wisping about him and formed into the cloak he'd summoned once before.
Reyna chuckled quietly at that while Sam gurgled and reached out with one hand as though to grab at the black, swirling material. "You've got a cape!" she exclaimed before giggling outright at the expression that flittered across Mystic's face.
'Do not! It's a cloak!' he insisted a bit hotly, but his tone was more playful than angry. 'See?' he murmured as he drew the hood to the cloak up over his head, 'It's a cloak. Capes don't have hoods.'
"Some do," Reyna replied with a faint smirk as they walked along.
'Yeah.. well. This isn't a hooded cape. It's a cloak,' Mystic went on.
Their playful banter over what the spelled garmet really was lasted until they reached the shop. The Shadow fell quiet as they passed through the front doors before he skittered towards the backroom to see if Athan was there. He relaxed somewhat when he discovered the man was absent. If he wasn't there early as he usually was, it generally meant he wouldn't show up until late in the afternoon, if at all.
Reyna appeared in the backroom a few moments later to place Sam in her playpen for a while before heading back up front. "Keep an eye on her for me for a few minutes? I've got some paperwork that needs to be finished. Athan will have a cow if it's not done by the end of today."
'Sure, no problem.' he answered as he flittered about the backroom and reveled in just how dark it was. It was just a touch darker than his own room, though he figured that was because of the distinct lack of windows. He also loved the spelled painting on the ceiling. He idly wondered if he could manage to figure out what sort of spell Athan used to make it move and shift like that. If he could, he'd see about spelling his ceiling in his room.
He floated midair, idly amused by watching the fake constellations move about and Sam play with her ever growing number of plushies. The panda plushie he'd given her was still her favorite. He beamed quietly at that before floating down to the ground to crouch down next to her pen to play with her for a while.
All in all the day seemed to be going infinately better than the day, or even week before. It was a nice change, and his good mood lasted well into the better part of the afternoon. The only thing that dampened his mood was when Samara began crying again and he couldn't figure out what it was she wanted. Reyna appeared shortly after the crying started and gave her a fresh bottle. The crying ceased and he was fine after that, if a bit antsy.
Things became progressively worse when a customer came in with two children, both of which were small, and loud. The eldest was possibly two to three years old and the other was an infant. Why on earth a stay at home mother thought it a good idea to come into a jewelry store in the middle of the day, was beyond him, but hearing the youngest child shriek uncontrollably and the eldest whine steadily wore away at his nerves.
He began to pace back and forth and was sorely tempted to sift through the wall or something similar in an effort to scare them away. Reyna would likely scold him about that, as would Athan if the woman decided to report the incident. That was something he didn't want to deal with, but he was having a seriously hard time coping with their screaming.
He absently peered through the door way, making certain to stay entirely hidden from view and scowled darkly when he realized the woman was doing absolutely nothing to calm her wailing children. It was visibly starting to get on Reyna's nerves as well. She was visibly tense and he could tell she was starting to grind her teeth.
He shuddered convulsively and drew away when the eldest child's screaming increased to a deafening level. He clutched at his head and stumbled backwards and nearly fell over when he stumbled past Sam's playpen. She murmured something unintelligible in a sweet, cooing sort of way but to Mystic it might as well have been a scream or shout.
He recoiled away from her and Fragments both and ended up fleeing outside through the back door. Visibly trembling he weaved down the alleyway, occassionally pausing to allow his vision to clear as he clutched at his chest. Inadvertantly his hand slipped over his silver pendant caused the cloak to appear. Its cool darkness was comforting to some degree and it helped keep away the heat and light of the sun.
He startled some poor passerby when he exited the mouth of the alleyway. He was no doubt a frightening sort of figure what with the billowing cloak and his rather unusual appearence. If he hadn't been in such turmoil it would have amused him, but it was all he could do to get himself home so he could hide in the darkness of his own room and wait for Reyna to come home.
Halfway there he felt a worried tug at his bond. He wasn't certain what sort of excuse he supplied his guardian with, but whatever it was it worked. He wasn't bothered again until the woman came knocking hesitantly at his bedroom door to check on him sometime late in the evening.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:10 pm
A Lesson Learned
The sweet natured Fiend finally loses his temper.Mystic remained inside his room well into the next day, curled on his side in his bed, buried beneath a mound of blankets to keep away the light that seeped in under the door and to block out the normal everyday noise of Reyna and Sam going about their morning routine. The noise bothered him. It made him see things. He knew he wasn't a Seer like Hawk, but he had this suspicious feeling that the visions he saw were real -- they had happened once.
That thought left him slightly shaken. His only explanation of what those visions were wasn't one he particularly liked. They had to be memories. His memories. He'd heard Athan discussing with Reyna about what he really was, a shadow of his former self. Remembering things wasn't something he thought would bother him, but the images that came back to haunt him were less than pleasant. They were tinged with fear, pain, and a mixture of other emotions he hadn't ever really experienced.
Like rage.
His hands shook faintly as he pulled the blankets tighter around himself when he heard someone knock at the door, fairly certain it was Reyna trying to check on him yet again. She'd already pestered him once that morning, wasn't that enough? He scowled darkly at that thought before the expression softened. He wasn't angry with her. She'd done nothing wrong.
He swallowed thickly and pressed a hand to his face. Perhaps he was simply going insane. That had to be it. He had no reason to feel such horrible animosity towards the ones he loved. Reyna was good to him, and always had been as far as he could remember even when he'd been a brat of a child.
"Still in bed at this hour?"
Mystic bolted upright and squinted blearily at the tall man that was leaning against the frame of his doorway. He glanced idly towards the over turned digital clock on his bed stand and realized it was nearly noon. He hadn't noticed he'd been in bed that long. Hadn't he just heard Reyna bustling about the kitchen and Sam making noise with some sort of obnoxious toy?
Athan turned away and padded down the hallway. The Fiend followed suit without replying to the man's comment and idly noticed that his typical dark robes were missing. His clothing was still entirely black, but it made him look different without the robes -- it made him look a little more familiar. He'd seen him without the dark, flowing garmets before, but this familiarity was a little different.
Either way he wasn't given much time to dwell on that particular thought. He followed the man into Reyna's private study and took a seat in his usual chair as Athan moved to sit across from him. The man remained quiet and simply peered over at the Fiend who sat in his chair, unmoving. There was no restless fidgeting as there usually was.
There was an odd calm about him that reminded Athan of the calm before a storm. Mystic's behavior was erratic at best. He'd always been fairly antsy, but his actions hadn't ever stood out to him before. Since he had started working more closely with him he'd picked on a few "quirks" so to speak.
He wasn't certain he was caving to darkness as he had previously feared he might, but there was something else there that was slowly building. Mystic was doing a good job of keeping Reyna in the dark, too, but he'd clearly forgotten that he was also bonded to him in much the same way as he was with his guardian. Their bond was considerably weaker in comparison to what the two shared, but when he blocked Reyna out things had the tendency to spill through. It was sort of like Mystic's emotions and energies that were typically shared with his guardian were now overflowing.
The only place for those things to overflow to, was to Athan himself.
The man's green eyes narrowed in thought as he shifted idly in his chair and shifted to lean back in a casual sort of manner. "Do you have any idea.." Athan began slowly as he carefully chose his words, "..how dangerous keeping secrets can be?"
Mystic glanced up from where his gaze had settled to meet the man's gaze. He stayed silent for a moment rather than replying to that question. He knew with an eerie sort of clarity that it was a trap. 'Don't tell me you don't have secrets,' the Fiend taunted as he crossed his arms over his chest and continued to stare unblinkingly over at the other man.
"Oh I have plenty," Athan replied smoothly as he crossed his arms over his chest, "I never claimed that secrets were nessecarily a bad thing. I was merely asking you if you knew how dangerous it is to keep them, particularly from people you love. Even the most benign of secrets can hurt them."
The Fiend looked away with a faint scowl. 'I wouldn't hurt Reyna or Sam.'
"You wouldn't hurt Reyna or Sam intentionally, you mean."
The Shadow stood from the chair, effectively knocking the piece of furniture over with the abrupt movement. 'I don't need you to tell me what I bloody well mean. I know what I mean quite well, and I am sick and tired of you constantly second-guessing my actions,' he hissed, his telepathic speech rising in volume with each passing second.
Athan chuckled quietly and idly rested his chin in one hand as he leaned his elbow against the table. The smug look on his face served to further anger the already furious Fiend even moreso. "Well if you're quite finished, I believe we still have work to do. Have a seat."
'No,' Mystic growled out in a voice that held more rage than the Shadow himself realized was truly within him.
The other man sighed in an exasperated way as his eyes narrowed in a tic of irritation. "I said," he grated out between clenched teeth as his free hand balled into a fist, "Have. A. Seat."
'And I said NO,' Mystic yelled as he knocked over the chair next to his and proceeded to go on a small rampage as he knocked over everything on the table and generally anything within reach until Athan unclenched his fist and hit him with a spell that froze him in place.
"I'm not entirely certain what it is that's gotten into you, but I'm going to highly suggest you figure out what it is right now. I will not tolerate this sort of behavior," Athan gritted out, his anger evident in his stormy features, "When you're quite through with your little two-year-old temper tantrum, I'd like to get to work."
The Fiend merely growled and writhed in what little space he could move from the binding spell. He attempted to contort his body into shadow so he could get loose and .. and what? Attack Athan? What good would that truly do him? There was no possible way he could outsmart him with magic. His knowledge was limited and even though he could blend with the shadows there was no way he could escape him. Athan would be able to see him, or at least feel where he was exactly just how he had pinpointed where that Rhodolite wisp had been the other day.
He fell still when he came to the conclusion that he was defeated before any sort of true fight really began, but there was still malice and anger in his tone of voice. 'Fine. Let me go.' In an instant he could move freely again but Athan watched him closely as though anticipating the Fiend's next move as he shifted to pull his chair up off the floor so he could take his seat. He snatched up the book he'd been in the middle of along with his notes. Athan continued to watch him, and it slowly shredded what was left of his patience.
"I think perhaps the next lesson will have to wait for tomorrow. You're too wound up to be able to properly focus," Athan stated in a quiet, calm voice as he stood from his chair as though to leave all together.
Mystic sputtered as he attempted to come up with something to say in response to that but his thoughts were clouded over with anger. That simply proved Athan's point -- he was too angry to be able to focus and pull his thoughts together coherently.
'Fine. But if you leave I'd rather you not come back at all. I've had enough of this,' Mystic hissed as Athan passed. His hands clenched at the sides of his chair when the man merely shrugged as though it didn't bother him -- as though he knew he'd give up his pursuit of learning magic anyway, because in all honesty, Athan was his only way to properly obtain that knowledge.
"Suit yourself. I'll be available to you if and when you change your mind, but be aware that I will know if you start using magic on your own," the man warned as he padded calmly away from the study, utterly unperturbed. It was both an offer to continue at a later date and a warning not to try and cast any spells that were completely out of his league.
The Shadow was left alone in the study with his anger all but boiling after the rapidly retreating man. Athan could almost feel it bubbling over and trying to follow him. It was like a dark, malicious shadow in his thoughts, but he didn't think it wise to shut the Fiend out. If he did he'd have no outlet at all and the effects at that point would be disastrous for both Fiend and guardian. He frowned at that thought as he paused briefly by Sam's room to check on the little girl before he left to go see to shop matters before he went home. He'd have to keep a careful eye on Mystic. He was walking a dangerous path.
---
The repurcussions of what he had done didn't hit him until Reyna came home. The demon was angry and when she stormed into the house that anger was written clear as day across her face. Mystic watched from the shadows as the woman carefully schooled her expression to a more neutral calm before she called out to him.
He appeared a few feet behind her as she headed into the kitchen to rummage through one of the cabinets for some aspirin. She had a headache and she was angry. Mystic huffed quietly at that. It wasn't a good sign. She was never fun to deal with when she was irritable.
"So," she began conversationally as she idly toyed with the edge of her eyepatch before shooting the Fiend a sidelong glance, "How were the lessons today?" A brief smile flashed across her features but it wasn't a pleasant sort of expression. She was clearly furious.
'So he told you.'
"Damn right he did!" Reyna yelled as she slammed down her glass of water after swallowing down the medicine. "What the hell were you thinking? Going toe to toe with a magic-user is not a smart thing to do, Mystic," she began as she glared over at him stonily, "He could've easily locked you back into a stone!"
Truly her anger was more out of concern for his general welfare than to scold him for fighting with Athan as he did. In his mind he recognized that for what it truly was, genuine concern, but another part of his mind was absolutely seething. How dare she ridicule him! Athan had it coming. She wasn't one to talk anyway! She hated Athan as much as he did! The man was always in the way and..
Mystic swallowed thickly as he took on a more solid form and reached to place a hand against the counter to steady himself. 'What? Afraid no one would be around to take care of Sam for you if I were locked back within my stone?' The Fiend blinked, idly wondering where the hell that particular comment had come from. He didn't mean that. He loved Sam and he voluntarily took care of her. She and Reyna were his family. Family was important.
He opened his mouth to explain that he didn't really mean that. It wasn't what he wanted to say, but the words were choked back when Reyna stormed forward, fists balled at her side. "Do you honestly think that?!" she hissed, voice low with raw anger, "Do you honestly think I don't care at all? I would have gotten rid of you myself a long time ago if that was the case."
'You wouldn't dare. It could potentially harm you as well,' Mystic replied as he folded his arms over his chest and glared stonily over at the woman despite how another part of him was absolutely horrorfied at what had just come out of his mouth -- and at the reaction he was inciting within his guardian.
"Do I honestly look like the sort of person who truly gives a damn about their own well-being?" Reyna yelled, voice reaching an new octave all together. Her features seemed to sharpen. Her teeth looked sharper, as did the rest of her facial features, including her ears. Her visible red eye glowed brightly and she had a white-knuckled grip on her glass of water. He was fairly certain that if she wasn't careful it was going to burst within her grasp. "The only reason why I care at all is because of you and now because of Sam," she hissed, "And I don't know what the hell has gotten into you but you best cut the attitude with me."
Reyna gritted her teeth and focused her gaze on something other than Mystic. She had to find a way to stay calm, but with each passing moment she could feel her human guise slipping around the edges. That anger was so tempting, so easy to give in to, and Mystic kept pushing her. She let go of her glass when she noticed that fine, spiderwebbed fissures were beginning to crawl along the surface.
"Just.. go. Just.. go to your room," she managed in a slightly strained voice as she pressed a hand to her face before her visible eye widened when Mystic defied her by taking a step towards her and briskly informed her that he didn't have to go to his room. She wanted to explain that it wasn't so much she was trying to punish him as she was trying to get him away from her. He kept triggering instincts within her that would land him in a more trouble than he had been with Athan earlier that day. Athan had calm, cool control. She had berserker tendencies. Big difference.
"D-don't.. Mystic..!" she murmured in a low voice as she backed up a step and then realized that she was cornered there in the kitchen. She shook visibly and a fine sweat broke out against her skin. "Y-you need.. to.. l-leave.. I.. c-can't.." She doubled over with a moan of pain. She could feel the change upon her, but instead of just switching forms her body was fighting against it. She should've just been able to change and then change back to keep from mauling her Shadow.
Instead she was trapped between the two. One moment her hands were clawed, the next they were somewhat normal. She couldn't make it stop. She felt cool hands touch her face and a voice whisper against her mind but she couldn't make out the words that were said or see the worried face that was hovering so close to her own.
'Reyna..! Reyna. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to say those things, I'm sorry,' Mystic apologized over and over again as he gingerly bent to scoop the woman off kitchen floor. He rushed her to her own room and carefully laid her down but it didn't help her. She was still writhing in agony and he didn't know what to do to help.
So he did the only thing he could think of.
He called Athan to come and help.
The man was there almost impossibly fast, but then again he did know how to teleport. Mystic felt his presence almost immediately and hurried to go open the door to let the man in. He wordlessly led him to where Reyna was. Her visible red eye had a sort of glassy look to it and her body kept contorting itself in a strange way. She was physically convulsing and she was completely incapable of speech. The only thing the Fiend could compare it to was some sort of strange case of epilepsy or a seizure.
"She's been bound," Athan stated, eyes slightly wide in surprise. He moved to pin the woman down to the bed to attempt to keep her still. "Reyna," he called softly as he tried to break through the haze that seemed to have surrounded her mind, "Reyna you have to pick a form. Focus on one or the other."
The grave look on Athan's face intensified when the convulsing didn't stop. His only option was to force change her. It was something he new how to do in theory but hadn't ever attempted seeing as there hadn't been any need to do so. He drew in a deep breath and press one hand on either side of the woman's face as he focused on drawing up his own energy to give to her.
He could feel the spell that had been placed upon her. It bound her ability to change into what likely would've been her true form, and from what he could discertain from the guilt-ridden looks Mystic kept giving him, his 'temper tantrum' hadn't ended with him. There were also a number of other spells he could detect that had been placed on her without her knowledge but only one was negative and it mostly surrounded her left eye.
It was similar to a void, and he was fairly certain if it weren't for the spelled eyepatch that covered her left eye, it would've sucked up all the magic around her that was available including the energy he was pouring into her. At that thought he drew away some and realized that the convulsing had stopped and Reyna had now taken on one form.
He pulled away from her entirely, figuring that the demon would likely be very displeased if she woke to find herself pinned to the bed -- and by him no less. "She.. should be alright," he replied as he glanced towards Mystic who hovered worriedly about his guardian, clearly frazzled by the entire ordeal.
'Athan.. I..'
The man in question held a hand up to silence the Fiend that stood before him with a sort of mortified look on his face. "This isn't something you need to take the blame for. You might have triggered the reaction in her, but.. trust me when I say this isn't your doing," he replied before allowing his hand to drop to his side as he peered down at Reyna's unconscious form, "She should have been able to change on her own. You might want to consider yourself lucky that she couldn't, though."
Mystic's brow furrowed in worried lines as he crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the floor. 'But if I hadn't said what I had..'
"And despite that I somehow doubt you're skilled enough in your studies of magic to be able to bind her ability to change. Your guilt is unfounded and misplaced. Stop it," Athan retorted with a rather exasperated air.
"...like you've got room to talk."
Both men fell silent at that croaked out reply. Reyna scowled and gingerly lifted one hand to pinch at the bridge of her nose -- she had a headache from hell. The effects of the aspirin she'd taken earlier had clearly been wasted. She grumbled at that before pushing her hair out of her face only to realize just how long her hair was.
"Oh s**t."
She scrambled out of the bed faster than either of the two men that were lingering near her bedside thought possible for someone who had just been force changed. She was definately a resiliant demon, but most were. It was simply the way of demons and other such creatures. It made them terribly hard to kill.
"NOooo.. this is so not cool!" Reyna screeched from the bathroom.
Athan just barely suppressed an amused chuckle, but he wasn't able to hide the smirk that graced his features at the woman's string of exclamations. Mystic, on the other hand, still looked a bit upset over the entire situation and more than a little worried.
"I look like a ******** evil elf!" the woman declared as she padded out of the bathroom and scowled darkly at both Athan and Mystic, arms crossed over her chest. Her ears were a bit longer and came to a point. Her skin was a slightly more pale, and her hair went all the way down to her back. It was like a halfway point between her human form and her true form, and she wasn't very happy about it.
"You don't look that bad," Athan replied, "You do look.. a bit like an elf because of the ears." He snickered faintly despite his best efforts. "And.. I'll be leaving now," he went on at the dark, venomous look Reyna shot him, "You need time to adjust to your new form and all, and.. I have this suspicious feeling that I can't help you more than.. I already have."
Reyna sighed as Athan left and pressed a hand to her face. She was supposed to be in hiding. That was why she took on a human guise in the first place. Now it was quite obvious she was more than just a human with odd colored eyes. She tensed briefly when she felt a hand on her shoulder but she relaxed somewhat when she realized it was Mystic.
'I'm sorry,' he replied a bit meekly.
The woman's expression softened and she offered him a faint smile. "It's alright," she reassured him before drawing him into a brief hug, "And Athan's right, you know. This.. wasn't really your fault."
The Fiend merely nodded before drifting away to allow Reyna time to herself. He needed to think too, and sort out his feelings. Despite what his guardian and Athan both said, he still felt guilty over the entire situation. He had provoked her. Intentionally.
He closed his eyes and moved to curl down on his side in his bed. He felt drained, but at least the near constant rage that had been tormenting him for days on end had seemingly faded away. Tentatively he reached towards his bond with Reyna to share with her his own energy in an effort to soothe the both of them.
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Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2005 8:25 pm
A Noticeable Change
Mystic awakes to find himself slightly transformed.He lounged in bed lazily, content for the time being to sleep well into the afternoon since it was a Sunday and the shop was always closed on Sundays. That meant Reyna was home and he need not worry and fret over Sam. She'd take care of her and he could do whatever it was he felt like since he'd called off lessons with Athan.
He still felt slightly guilty about that, but he wasn't about to apologize to the man. He truly wasn't that fond of him. He didn't hate him per se, but he wasn't going to willingly put himself in a position where he had to deal with the man on a constant basis.
He buried his face against his pillow at that thought. Yes, he definately felt bad about what he had said to Athan, but he felt even worse for what he had done to Reyna. He was still rather appalled and shocked with himself that he'd just.. lost that much control. He sat up slowly and idly rubbed at his eyes and he squinted blearily over at the light that seeped in beneath the door.
He needed to get a rug of some sort or something to seal it off. It was annoying. He glanced down at his hands before his eyes widened slightly as his thoughts trailed away from vauge irritation at light being in his room. His hands.. looked different. A stormy look of confusion filtered across his face as he stood and padded quietly towards the bathroom.
He winced faintly at the light when he flipped the switch. Despite having changed all the lights to forty watt bulbs it still was rather unpleasant, particularly when he'd just woken up. He waited for his vision to adjust before he stumbled backwards and nearly fell into the shower with a startled yelp. He pulled himself up off the floor and hesitantly peered up over the counter in a comical sort of way before his eyes widened in surprise.
'I changed!' he gasped.
'You what?' Reyna's voice asked as it filtered into her mind. He'd forgotten that he'd re-opened their bond last night before he'd fallen asleep.
'I'm.. different,' he answered as he stared at his reflection with something akin to awe. He felt vauge feelings of confusion, but they weren't his own. He shared with his guardian the image of his reflection and not but a moment later the woman came running into the room.
"Wow. You do look different," she said as she tilted her head to the side before irritably trying to blow her bangs out of her face. She seriously wasn't used to the long hair. It was slowly driving her up the wall, but that was besides the point. Mystic was.. basically all grown up! "And heey.. how come you get to be taller than me," she protested despite the fact she knew there was nothing she could do about it. He was only an inch or two taller so it didn't make that big of a difference. She usually wore boots anyway and that gave her a couple more inches.
Mystic beamed quietly. He was a bit surprise by the change, just as he had been a bit caught of guard when he'd changed forms before when he became a teen. It was a pleasant sort of surprise, though. Mostly, anyway.
His hair was longer and his roots seemed to be growing in black. His eyes had taken on one color instead of the multi-colored hue they'd been before. The markings on his hands and feet were slightly different, too. And then there were his ears. They looked more like the elfin ears that Reyna now had.
He felt a faint rustle of air next to him and then the next moment Reyna was curled against his side in a rather uncharacteristic sort of fashion. "My little Shadow is all grown up!" she mock-wailed, but the effect was ruined when she started snickering in amusement.
'You're secretly a dork, you know that?' Mystic teased as he playfully shoved her away.
Reyna simply laughed and shot him a fanged grin. "I don't think so, buddy. If anyone around here is a dork it's you," she informed him with a smirk as she playfully pushed him back before retreating out of the small bathroom and out of Mystic's room entirely.
The Shadow followed and their playful banter continued on as though nothing had really changed, and truly, nothing really had changed between them. It was something that brought the Fiend a little comfort and washed away his overwhelming guilt that remained from the previous evening.
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Posted: Mon Oct 17, 2005 6:26 pm
A Reflection
Mystic mulls over his own thoughts.Mystic idly sat on the couch with Sam sitting in his lap. Every once in a while he'd take to bouncing her on his kene just to hear her sweet laughter. He felt different than he had days ago. That overbearing, gnawing presence in the back of his mind had seemingly vanished. It left him feeling more like his normal self.
Physically, he'd definately changed since he had grown into his adult form. It took minimal effort for him to maintain a solid form, something that was quite handy when one was attempting to play with a small child. He decided he rather liked his longer hair and the fact that he was a little bit taller, too. That latter detail made Reyna fume in an amusing way since he was an inch or two taller than her, but he tried not to rub it in. He'd already done a good job at pushing her buttons and it was a lesson he learned well to not do again.
Despite the overall relief he felt, he was still a little worried. He had to admit it was because he was scared. What he had done and the strange things he'd seen and felt frightened him. That was mostly because he was terrorfied it would happen again. There was no solid explanation for his behavior except perhaps the change in his physical form. If he recalled correctly though, the changes he'd undergone before hadn't triggered that sort of reaction within him.
It was all a myster to him, and he wasn't entirely sure he wanted all the answers. Where would he go for answers anyway? He didn't quite feel comfortable talking to Athan. The man still made him uneasy as he always had, though that uneasiness had shifted into.. something else. It wasn't mistrust, so much as it was a general dislike of the man himself. That wasn't to say he didn't trust him. No, he trusted him.
He trusted him to act as he typically did on a day to day basis and to squash him like a bug if he were to step out of line even the tiniest bit.
He huffed faintly at that, but there was little he could do about it. Athan was a powerful man, and he could use that power to his advantage when nessecary. One of his better qualities was that he would only use said power if it was nessecary. That was good news for him and the general world at large. He'd just have to be careful and make sure he didn't do anything stupid again -- like incite a demon's wrath.
That had definately been a bad thing. Despite how severe the situation was, it was rather amusing watching Reyna adjust to her new form. She explained that it was a combination of both her human form and her true form. It was an odd halfway point. It also heightened her senses and physical strength a bit in a way that left her a little disoriented.
He felt sorry for what he'd done and he'd apologized, and of course, Reyna forgave him -- and also briskly informed him that if he trailed around apologizing non-stop she was going to kick his a** straight into next week for being annoying.
A bemused expression filtered across his face at that thought before he beamed quietly when Sam cooed something sweet and curled in his arms, clearly ready for her daily afternoon nap after playing for most of the morning and the better part of the afternoon.
He also felt bad because of Sam. She didn't recognize her mother-figure with her long hair and sharper features. The long, pointed ears were definately different. The first time Reyna had attempted to hold her she started crying.
He cradled the little girl close and went to carry the drowsy child to bed so she could sleep comfortably. Fragments was hot on his heels, playfully running circles about his ankles with somehow managing to avoid being stepped on or tripping the Fiend.
'I'm sorry, Sam,' he said in a soft, barely there whisper as he idly watched over her as she drifted off to sleep.
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Posted: Fri Oct 21, 2005 12:08 pm
Trick-or-Treat!
The Halloween party...Reyna hurried along with various bags and boxes in her arms as she headed towards Twilight Designs. How she managed to balance it all without dropping something was quite a feat and involved more than a little juggling on her part. Thankfully, Athan was already at the shop so he could open the door for her.
"By the gods, this stuff gets heavy after a while," the woman complained, mostly because she could and it always seemed to grate on Athan's nerves some even if he didn't show it often.
"I thought Mystic would be with you to help," the man replied in the calm, cool tone he seemed to regard everyone with. He lessened the woman's burden by taking a few of the boxes away from her to set atop one of the glass cases which had been covered with a decorative black satin table cloth for the occasion.
"Nah. I though we already had most of the supplies for the party," she answered conversationally, "And he's watching Sam for me at the moment."
"So he's not coming?"
"He should be, and he's bringing Sam with him," Reyna went on, "but Samara has to take a nap or she's less than pleasant to be around, and I doubt anyone wants to listen to a screaming baby while attempting to have fun during the party."
Athan snickered faintly at that. He muttered under his breath how she ought to try taking naps more often herself. Not but an instant after the words had left his mouth he found himself ducking to keep from being hit in the face with a roll of black crepe paper. He'd definately forgotten about how her new form enhanced her senses somewhat and allowed her to hear all those little remarks he had the tendency to make.
He managed to catch the roll of paper just before it hit the floor, and smirked faintly in a way that caught the woman slightly off guard. He held up the paper as though to throw it before pausing when he took in the woman's attire.
"What are you wearing?" he chuckled quietly as he eyed the demon thoughtfully.
"I'm a pirate," Reyna huffed as she crossed her arms over her chest and scowled. She had her hair partially tied back with a red bandana and had tied in various small trinkets and beads into her hair as well. The knee high, lace up boots looked more like something she wore on an every day basis, but it went well with the breeches, lace-up shirt, and accompanying corset. The eyepatch she always wore even blended into the outfit quite well.
"Riiiight."
"I am!" she insisted, "It is a costume party. What the hell are you supposed to be? The ********? I totally should've bought you a fake scythe or something when I was at the party supply store."
Athan simply rolled his eyes at that comment and cut the conversation short when he moved to pin the end of the crepe paper to the ceiling with the aid of a latter. He smirked over at the woman again who was eyeing him a bit suspiciously, arms still crossed from his earlier comments. "Catch!" he called as he through the crepe paper towards her.
Reyna bared her now sharp fangs at him, irritated that he'd managed to catch her slightly off guard but it didn't keep her from catching the paper. She caught his drift easily enough as she moved to go pin it to the other side of the ceiling to toss back towards him. It was a little like playing a game, and it went on for quite some time until the ceiling was a spider web of black streamers.
Tombstones made of gray foam tastefully added to the graveyard-like decor. Some even boasted names of several of the guardians, and Reyna had made a point of writing Athan's name on one as well. Everything was set and ready to go for the party that would be starting within the next half hour or so.
All that was left to do was to set out food and refreshments. Reyna smiled with a sort of satisfied look on her face before it melted away into a slight frown as she gazed over at Athan who was scowling at the rug.
"It's entirely innaccurate!" the man declared a bit hotly when he realized the woman was staring at him staring at the rug.
The rug itself was a charming shade of blood red that Reyna herself had picked out. It was trimmed in a lovely black and silver fringe and depicted, in rather elegant scrollwork, a pentagram cast in a circle. She'd forgotten how the man had the tendency to pitch a mild fit when he came across items that had "fake" runes and circles on them.
She sighed with a huff and rolled her eyes. "Athan," she replied as calmly as she could muster, "Would you rather it be accurate and have one of our party-goers transfigured or potentially transported to another dimension? Or would you rather it be inaccurate, them not notice, and simply have a good time?"
Athan frowned and for a moment Reyna thought that he might resort to sulking over the matter like a small child, but Athan being Athan, wouldn't dare resort to such tactics. "Point taken," he grumbled. He sighed irritably before retreating to the backroom briefly to return with a large, festive looking basket that was filled with what appeared to be ceramic eggs.
"What are those?"
"Party favors," he replied simply as he set the basket next to all the other free goodies they were handing out.
Reyna's visible eye widened slightly when she ventured closer to peek at the contents of the basket. All the eggs were intricately detailed in some unique way that highly appealed to her aesthetic senses, but her attention kept being drawn to a small red one that had tiny little black horns.
Without a second thought she snatched up the little egg. "This one is so mine," she declared as she pocketed the small trinket somewhere in the red sash that was tied about her waist.
"You would want that one," Athan admonished with a smirk that Reyna chose to blatantly ignore, unmindful of the fact that technically she was taking something that Athan was handing out as a gift to strangers.
That alone should have sent off alarm bells but the fact that it was oh so shiny over ruled any logic her mind would have supplied her with. Unfortunately, all her mind told her was that the egg was hers, hers, hers, and no one could touch it.
That thought aside her mind was also preoccupied with making sure everything was ready for the party -- meaning she had to keep Athan from nitpicking at every little detail. First it was the rug, next it would surely be some of the party favors she'd bought at the store, or even the foam cups, and quite possibly the mini black cauldron she'd bought and filled with candy.
Idly, she glanced at her watch and then grinned. It was time for the party to get started!
Elysia trod carefully through the slowly arriving darkness, nervously looking over her shoulder for anyone that might be following her. She'd had a strange feeling all day that someone was watching her, but she didn't know who it might be. She'd never had these premonitions before, and was a bit wary of all people out trick-or-treating. She wouldn't know if anyone was out to get her until it was too late. Almost tripping over her long dress, she finally stumbled onto the front walkway of Twilight Designs, happy to have finally arrived.
This year she had reverted back to childhood when thinking about what to dress up as, and decided on a fairy princess. After all, she was already half fae, so the fairy part was easy. Her princess dress on the other hand, was not as easy to wear. The bodice of the dark purple velvet, silver-lined gown was laced up tightly, and she could barely breathe. The tops of her breasts were practically popping out of the dress, and though she felt a bit self-conscious, she told herself that it was for show only. She balanced a tiara on her silver updo, and in her hand, she carried a silver wand, tipped with an amethyst crystal. She was pleased with her costume, and was curious what everyone else at the party would be wearing. Halloween had always been one of her favorite holidays, up until her recent bout of holiday paranoia.
As always, Labbie was hovering just inches above Elysia's naked right shoulder. It had been in a cheerful mood all night, and hadn't reacted to Elysia's nervousness at all. The wisp bounced up and down in time with Elysia's gait, and gave off very happy vibes. The wisp had also dressed up for Halloween. Well, as much as a wisp could, Elysia supposed. She'd gotten the idea to dress Labbie like a butterfly, and after showing the wisp some pictures in a book, Labbie had crafted itself a pair of butterfly wings from it's shadowy tendrils. It'd also been trying to make it's wispy wings flutter like butterfly wings, and so far, it'd been quite successful. If someone had seen the wisp from afar, Elysia was sure that they'd think it was a real butterfly with exotic colors and patterns.
Pushing open the door to the shop, Elysia picked up the hem of her dress and crossed the threshold into the warmth of the jewelry store. Looking around, she saw that the place had been decorated. Labbie instantly began "flapping" it's wings, and flying around the shop, curiously inspecting all of the nooks and crannies. The wisp had only been there one or two times since Elysia had gotten it, and she could tell that it was more than curious about the shop.
"Hello! Happy Halloween!" Elysia exclaimed, seeing Reyna and Athan off to the right. "How are you all today?"
"So, what are you supposed to be?" Aislin asked, arching a brow. "You still haven't told me." She herself was wearing a dark blue old fashioned dress, knee long, with a white - but blood stained - apron, and some rather gothic looking black boots. She was wearing only a single necklace today, with an omega shaped pendant.
In the apron's pocket she had tugged away the biggest kitchen knife she had been able to find.
"Shinigami," the boy walking next to her replied with a cheerful smile. "A death angel," he added upon Aislin's slightly confused look. He felt rather comfortable in the dark, asian looking robes he was wearing. The feathered black wings on his back were fake, but the scythe he had shouldered was most certainly not. He'd to be careful with that..
Azel was trailing only a few steps behind him, always staying within Luthe's shadow, but careful to keep his distance to Aislin - he had learned his lesson as it seemed. Since it was kinda hard to dress up a floating gem it had ended up in the classic halloween costume - a ghostie. A handkerchief had been sacrificed for this, two tiny holes cut in, and splattered with some red color to make it look a tad more creepy than silly. At least Azel seemed to like it, the Wisp had been very excited all evening.
"I still can't believe that you are supposed to be Alice," Luthe commented with a glance at the woman next to him. "I've read the books, and I remember her to look.. a tad more harmless."
"Well, it's Alice a few years later," Aislin replied with a wicked grin, and pushed the door open. She still wasn't sure if it had been a good idea to let herself being talked into coming along, but now that she was here, she was determined to have fun.
Ravija had come by the shop once or twice before, always browsing, never buying. It wasn't that the items in there were too expensive--they weren't, really, not with the salary the Moorgahaines paid them--it's just that she never found anything she really liked. But a party... no resisting that!
She had decided to dress in the minimum clothing possible. Clothing was always itchy and never felt right, but Halloween seemed to be the opportunity to dress up (or wear as little as possible). She'd decided she was going to be a belly dancer. Besides, she could use the costume year round!
The gauzy purple-pink pants she'd had made matched the purple-ish drapes she already had coming out of her chest. They were occasionally useful, but she'd never seen anyone with a cloth-like substance naturally growing out of there. Her wrists were adorned with half a dozen bangles made of a thin golden metal that chimed when she moved her arms just so, and Ravija had taken to doing that costantly as she walked down the street. The flashed of light and color matched the sash she wore around her waist, with hundreds of small metallic discs sewn to it; it was tied artfully over one hip, and the cloth-of-gold danced with a life of its own with every step and errant breeze.
Dressing up was fun. Ravija half-skipped, half-walked up to the store that had been advertising a party the last time she was in. The door had just swung shut after someone in a blue floofy dress had gone in, and she opened it up about a half-minute later with a cheery "Happy Halloween, everyone." So what if she probably didn't know anyone here?
Reyna waved and smiled warmly at the first guests that arrived, quite impressed by the costumes everyone showed up in. She'd been a bit worried she'd end up being the only one dressed up when Athan showed up in only his typical black robes. Then again, that was to be expected from him. She had a hard time imagining him in anything but those robes.
"Wow.. not even Mystic was that creative on Halloween when he was a wisp last year," the silver haired woman commented as she idly pointed towards Labbie. She looked like a butterfly! And she blended in so well with Elysia's costume. "We ought to be handing out prizes for stuff like that!"
Athan thoughtfully mused over that thought for a moment. "Hm. It might be arranged. We shall see," he stated quietly before moving away to greet the other guests as they arrived.
"Good evening, Aislin. Luthe," he replied as the two came through the door. Leave it to a demon and a woman as charming as Aislin to be carrying actual weapons. He idly glanced over in Reyna's direction as the woman continued to chat with Elysia. If he wasn't mistaken there was a dagger of some sort that accompanied her outfit. At least she hadn't brought in a sword.
"Happy Halloween," Athan replied to Ravija as she skipped through the door as well. He'd seen her a hand full of times browsing through the shop. It rather pleased him that customers who frequented the shop were showing up as well as guardians.
Elysia smiled at the warm greeting she'd gotten from Reyna. She'd always been a bit cautious of the woman, seeing as how she did sort of get duped into taking a wisp home from the woman's shop with her, but she'd come to like the silver-haired woman, and was glad to see her.
"Well, don't you look like a sea rogue! Arrrrghh!" She said jokingly, swinging her arm back and forth like she was a pirate. "Nice outfit. I'm impressed. Your eyepatch meshes so nicely..."
Nodding to Athan, she gave him a warm greeting as well. "Happy Halloween. Nice to see you again," she said, giving him a once over. "And let me guess what you are for Halloween...Athan? Am I right?" She was chiding him, but it was all in good fun. Giving a laugh, she smiled at him, and watched as he left to attend to the other guests who had come in behind her. None of them looked familiar, and she decided she'd introduce herself, and Labbie, in a little while.
"Yeah," she answered, nodding toward Labbie. "It did a really good job with the costume! I was impressed when I was watching it flutter around. It's been practicing all day!" Labbie fluttered toward Reyna, circling once around her head, and then landing right on top, looking pleased with itself. "It seems to like you too. I get a lot of positive, nurturing emotions from it. Let's just hope that when it grows, those will be it's preferred emotions...I'm not sure how I'd fare with something more...violent." Maybe it was the macabre nature of the holiday, but Elysia was having a hard time forgetting about the ominous feeling outside. Instead of dwelling on it though, she decided that maybe she'd have a good time while she could.
"Got anything to drink around here?" she asked as Labbie fluttered back over to her shoulder, wanting to be close to her bond as possible. "Something...strong maybe?" She smiled. Yeah. Liquor would definitely loosen her up a bit...make her forget about what might be lurking outside the shop's doors.
"Happy happy Halloween," Ravija said warmly, fluffing her feathered tail. That was one of the problems with pants: her tail never quite felt comfortable. "It seems I haven't missed too much of the party." Walking (and jingling) over, she examined him for any sign of a costume. "You look... approximately the same as ever. How have things been here?"
Reyna smirked faintly. She was rather proud of her costume. The best part was she had most of the clothes already, it was just a matter of putting it together in a fitting way.
"Athan is the grim reaper for Halloween," Reyna threw in as she tossed her long hair out of her face, "But everyday is Halloween for Athan." She snickered faintly and absently decided that she really ought to have bought that fake plastic scythe she'd seen at the party supply store. It would've been hilarious!
"Yeah. Positive, nurturing emotions are definately better than being slammed with random bouts of violence," she replied as she eyed the little wisp that flittered about, "But as for something to drink, there's fruit punch in the big bowl over there and we converted the table next to it into a mini bar. Help yourself to whatever you like!"
Athan paid Reyna and Elysia's teasing comments no mind. He had no interest in sparking the playful banter into something more in the middle of their company party. Thankfully he knew the demon was well aware of what she could get away with and what would be considered entirely unprofessional.
"And you look.. lovely as ever," Athan replied as he peered curiously at the woman, "What was your name again? I don't believe we've been formally introduced.."
"I thought that since I hadn't bought anything yet, I shouldn't burden you with even the hint of a suggestion you should remember my name," she said with a smile. "It's Ravija. It's very nice to be introduced to you." She nodded to him, the bells she'd woven into her hair tinkling quietly
"I make it a point to get to know those who take interest in my shop," he answered simply, "My name is Athan." Idly he gestured towards the silver haired woman that was still chatting away with Elysia, "The woman dressed as a pirate is my business partner."
"Athan, hello." Aislin smiled warmly, even though she still ought to be mad at the man - afterall, thanks to him her household got 'blessed' with that darned Fiend. She couldn't help it, something about him was just.. just.. Whatever it was, she just couldn't handle it.
~ It's called 'charm'.. ~ Luthe's thoughts wispered amusedly in her mind, while nodding at Athan. ~ You really need to guard your thoughts better, woman. ~ With a giggle the boy jumped out of her reach before she could get the idea to actually use that knife she had brought along.
Azel in the meantime had discovered the basket with the ceramic eggs..
Athan smiled over at Aislin with a nod of his head and a small wave. At least the woman was in better spirits this time than she had the last time he'd seen her. He smiled despite how that thought unnerved him and brushed it aside.
His smile faltered somewhat, however, when Mystic walked through the door with Sam giggling and squirming in his arms. He hadn't realized he'd grown. He thought about saying something to him but decided against it when the Fiend brusquely walked past him and headed directly towards Reyna to hand off the baby to her mother.
"A fun, if questionable, choice, considering the implications for your business practices," Ravija replied with a smile. It was not an accusation, just something she thought amusing. "I do enjoy your shop, and it has a lot of very beautiful pieces, but unfortunately none of them really seem to speak to me, if that makes sense." She gestured futily with one hand, making her bangles bounce musically against one another.
Athan chuckled quietly at that. What an astute young woman! She had an interesting aura as well, she fairly radiated power. She hardly seemed the sort to be that powerful, but he knew better than to judge by appearences.
"Hmm.. I see. Well if you are ever looking for .. something in particular, or have a design in mind, Reyna can craft it for you. She's quite skilled when it comes to that sort of thing," he replied, "The next time you drop by the shop do ask her to see some of her sketches, won't you?"
With a quiet 'clack' the first of the ceramic eggs fell to the floor - and much to the Fiend's chagrin it stayed whole. The Wisp floated down and angrily lashed at the egg with one of it's shadowy tendrils. It rolled two or three feet over the floor, but it still stayed whole. Usually things broke when they fell down, very useful, because you got to see what was inside. Well, maybe the next one would break? If he'd carry it up a bit, so that the fall was longer?
Mystic, rather tired of watching over Sam after having to wrestle her into her little panda costume, floated over towards where Azel was, curious as to what the little wisp was up to. He let himself go somewhat transparent as he moved through the air effortlessly. If anyone asked what he was dressed up as, he would simply reply that he was a ghost, or a figment of their imagination.
He beamed quietly at that thought before returning to his solid form. He bent down where the wisp was and picked up the ceramic egg that was on the floor. 'Pity. These won't break,' he murmured in his ever-quiet telepathic speech.
Athan glanced suspiciously towards Mystic. The Fiend was an adult -- surely he wouldn't be causing mischief with that wisp. He'd grown out of creating chaos long ago... or so he had thought.
"Perhaps you're right," he replied with a smile, thoughts temporarly drawn away from both Fiends, "It is rather ... fun to come across things at a whim. It's a little like discovering a treasure of some sort."
Azel stopped with his efforts to pull the next egg over the rim of the basket to glance at the older Fiend. His own telepathy hadn't developed yet, but he did catch the bit about 'not breaking'.
He sent the mental equivalent of a frown to Mystic, and then tried his best to project an image of the similar egg his guardian had found a few days ago, and - very excited now - the pretty purple pendant it had 'hatched' into.
Mystic's bright violet eyes glittered in amusement at the images the little wisp did it's best to project. 'These are meant to be party favors, I think. Perhaps you could convince your bonded to take another home,' he answered before glancing up to scan the room for who he thought might be linked to the little purple stone.
His gaze settled on a figure with dark wings and dark clothing. What was he supposed to be? Self-consciously he tugged on his cloak and curled it tighter about him despite how the fabric had the tendency to move of its own accord.
"Life is its own treasure, I think," she replied. "And it seems your shop is full of many kinds of wealth. I never cease to be amazed at what this world attracts." Ravija shook her head, the small discs in her hair shaking against one another. "It's as if every being on every world decided Gaia would be a great vacation spot."
Athan smiled at that. There was a simple truth to her words that he definately understood. Life was a treasure. A brief, unreadable look washed over his face at that thought. He looked almost lost, but the look passed quickly enough and he regained his composure with little to no effort.
"Quite true," he replied warmly, "It's one of the reasons why I decided to place my shop here on Gaia. It's an excellent place for a business considering all the people who come through."
She chuckled. "There are as many reasons as the creatures who exist here reasons, but at least you know yours." Ravija lost herself for a second and a half, then her eyes refocused, and she smiled at Athan. "But listen to me talk. I can't hog your attention for the whole party. Which, from the look of it," she scanned the milling people--and other beings--in the room, "will be getting lively. Perhaps I'll get to talk to you later?"
The Wisp paused for a moment, then he zipped off to his guardian.
Luthe had been coccupied with the sweets in the mini cauldron, when he felt a slight tug on his cloak and looked down. Azel, of course. He picked up the feeling of excitement from the little one, and images of.. an egg? Not another one?
Rolling his eyes he followed the small fiend through the room, and indeed, there it was, a basket full of ceramic eggs, similar to the one he had found a few days ago.
"So, you want me to bring some of them home, yes?"
Affirmation. Then a mental image followed, the whole basket neatly placed into one of the kitchen cupboards.
Luthenep chuckled. "No, I'm most certainly not taking all of them. Don't be so greedy!" He took three of the eggs and then glanced up to Mystic, a bit uncertain.
"We are allowed to take these, right?" He asked, just to make sure. He couldn't help but stare - was this what a fully grown Shadow Fiend looked like?
"Perhaps," Athan smirked faintly as he took his leave from the interesting young woman and briefly disappeared into the back room. He shot Mystic a warning glance, but the Fiend simply scowled and paid him no attention. He knew how to behave!
But he also knew what he could get away with when the man wasn't looking. A smug sort of look crossed his features before he glanced towards Luthe. 'Ah.. Yes. These are meant for the guests as party favors,' he replied quietly as he idly fidgeted with his cloak. He'd grown, but sometimes old habits died hard. He still felt a bit uncertain around strangers, but it wasn't as bad as it had been before.
Luthe carefully stored the eggs away into the depths of his cloak. "So.. You are a Fiend too, right? You are the first, erh, grown up one I've seen so far." The boy frowned. It just had occured to him that Azel would be fully grown sooner or later while he was still stuck as a kid.
"And that cloak looks cool," he added, eying it in awe.
'Yes,' he answered, 'I am a Fiend. I'm bonded to Reyna.' He pointed over towards the silver haired woman dressed as a pirate that held a squirming, wriggling baby in her arms. He idly tugged at his bond to her and she waved with a faint smile towards the two of them.
'Thanks,' Mystic replied, beaming quietly at the compliment, 'It's.. something I created from a spell out of this piece of elemental silver.' He tapped the coin that appeared as the clasp to the cloak, causing the black fabric to ebb and flow back towards the coin as though it were deteriorating. He held up the silver coin with a sort of smug look on his face. 'It's pretty cool. The fabric absorbs sunlight.'
Even though she had been in her costume for several hours, Ying twirled happily in front of a dark Durem window. It really was the perfect dress- not too frilly or fancy, like some princess dresses she had seen, but elegant and classy. Instead of a crown she had decided on a black satin top hat, tied with a pink bow that matched her dress.
Ying looks very pretty.
Blushing a little, Ying nodded. "Thanks. You too." He really did look nice, she thought, in his black-and-green tailcoat and trousers. Everyone had done partner costumes this year, so Ying and Xue decided to go as a prince and princess, with a bit of a gothic twist. Everyone had said they looked beautiful. They were even wearing her favorite colors, pink and green. She could just envision them at a candlelit ball, with red velvet curtains and a marble floor...
Should Ying and Xue stop at this store?
"Um." Blinking away her daydreams, the Jumi stared at a familiar door. "Oh, the jewelry store! Sure!" Maybe they'd have her brooch repaired! It would be the perfect addition to Xue's costume... even if he was the one that broke it. And even if it wasn't ready, she could at least drop in and say hi... and get some candy to boot.
His candy-filled bag swinging on his arm, Xue charged forwards and opened the door. Trick or treat!
"Trick or treat," Ying echoed, looking around. Were they having a party? How neat!
'Athan tought it to me,' Mystic replied as he tapped the silver again to send the fabric wisping back into place the way it had been once before, but this time he left the hood down, 'I can try to teach it to you sometime. I'll just need another piece of a silver.'
He was rather pleased that someone else thought his cloak was cool, too. It made him proud of what he had accomplished. It also reminded him that he wanted to learn more magic, but he had a feeling that lessons with Athan again probably wasn't a good idea.
The man in question came bustling out of the back room with another small basket of candies to set out on the table on the other side of the room. He smiled as he sat the basket of sweets down and moved to greet Ying.
"Happy Halloween," he said warmly, "Glad to see you came to the party. Please, help yourself to the refreshments we have provided."
Party? Xue didn't know there was a party. Can he come too?
"Don't ask me," Ying hissed, leaving the boy to ravage the candy bowl. She self-consciously brushed her hands over her dress, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles, and looked shyly up at the man who addressed her. "Actually, I was just taking my brother trick-or-treating. But if there's a party, I'd love to stay... if that's alright, that is."
Xue turned his head towards the party, a half-eaten chocolate bar sticking out of his mouth. Once he ealized it was there he shoved it all the way into his mouth, oozing contentment, and a bit of confusion.
Can Xue stay too? Pretty please with sugar and cherries on top?
It was hard to deny his cuteness, but Ying kept her expression fairly calm. After all, she wanted these people to take her seriously. If they thought she was just some kid, they might not let her stay. And the party looked so inviting too.
"I love your costume," she continued, making idle chit-chat while sweeping a couple pieces of candy into her bag. "Grim Reaper, right?"
"You're more than welcome to stay and enjoy the party," Athan replied, quickly deciding to forgo responding to the bit about his 'costume.' He didn't want to say something rude to the girl and scare her off afterall. She was a customer!
"Ying, wasn't it? I do believe I nearly have your brooch repaired. Just a few minor details to adjust and it shall be as good as new," he informed her with a smile, "You should be hearing from us within the next couple of days most likely."
Fantastic, she could stay! Of course, the fact that her pin wasn't ready was a bit disappointing, if expected. Then again, perhaps Xue didn't have to have that exact accent to make his costume even more splendid. They were in a jewelry store, after all...
"Is the shop open for business this evening? You see..." Ying lowered her voice. "I was hoping to find something that matched his costume. I'm afraid I was rather mean to him earlier, and I'd like to show some trust in him by lending him something." An outright gift would be nice, of course, but the gesture of trusting him with something special of hers would restore more of his faith. And that was the point, after all.
She needn't have worried about her volume, as Xue was far too busy looking around. So many sparklies! Neechan and Sneaky would love this place. Maybe he could take them sometime, and then they would all be happy.
His gaze then fell on the basket of party favors, and he gave a mental squeal of delight, running back to Ying and the man. Can Xue have one? Or two or three or five?
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 1:15 pm
Trick-or-Treat!
The Halloween party continued... "Technically, business is closed down for the evening for the party, but.." Athan trailed off with a smile, "I'll make an exception for you." He took the girl by the arm in a gentlemanly fashion and lead her towards the backroom where all the fancy jewelry was currently being stored. "Since your brooch is still unavailable to you, and all."
Athan stepped through the door into the backroom that looked terribly empty despite his claims that all the jewelry was being stored there. He raised one hand to call forth the spell he had laid there earlier. Several tables appeared with the jewelry set out neatly atop them with little labels with letters and numbers that desginated which case they were to be returned to once the party was done and over with.
"Feel free to browse through anything you see here," he smiled before stepping away to head back into the front room to hover near the door lest the girl should need some assistance.
Clearly it payed to dress. Ying made a mental note to thank her friend Mes for that tip later, but for now, it was time to shop!
"Really? Thanks so much..." Sweeping a curtsey, she turned with a flourish of skirt and bustled in. It was a good thing Xue was still distracted by the candy and favors, since he probably wouldn't be able to keep his hands off the pieces. Even she was having a hard time keeping calm. She brushed a hand over a few stones, feeling the cool fire that seemed to be inside all of them. Despite the dim light they all shone, reflecting the small luminesence back onto her palms.
Except one. It looked normal enough, a plain squat square. An emerald cut, she remembered from one of her books. The stone itself vaguely resembled an emerald, but it didn't feel like one at all. More familiar somehow, though that wasn't comforting. It was shiny, sure... yet it didn't catch the light the same way the other stones did.
Luckily the shopkeeper was still nearby. "Excuse me sir," she queried, "but what's this one?"
Athan stepped back into the backroom and allowed the door to shut behind him. His bright green eyes widened slightly at the sight of the stone she was referring to. He hadn't remember putting that there! Bloody things! They were about as bad as those damnable eggs.. always escaping and the like.
He cleared his throat and tilted his head to the side. "I.. do believe that's a small piece of tsavorite," he replied slowly, eyes never leaving the stone. He hoped perhaps the stone had simply been misplaced by accident, but he knew that little bit of logic was faulty. All of those stones were stored safely away in a small safe located in another dimension.
...but he had shoved all of the jewelry that was laid out on the tables into another pocket of that same dimension.
Still, it didn't make much sense to him how and why the thing was there and the very thought was headache inducing, but what was more alarming still was that the thing wasn't just a stone anymore. Dark wisps appeared around the stone, seemingly sucking in all the light around it. Without warning the little stone zipped up off the table and beneath the edges of Ying's skirts to escape the light in the room.
"Ohh no." He hadn't planned on that. Normally he took a sort of morbid delight in inflicting Fiends upon people, but Ying was a sweet young girl. She hardly deserved to deal with the chaos that a Fiend could create.
"Tsavorite." Was that a sapphire? No, a garnet. That would probably explain why it felt a little familiar, though it clearly wasn't the same as she was. Unless raspberries suddenly turned green. Still, it was awfully pretty. And a bit dark, perfect for a dark prince. As she thought that it grew darker still, as if reading her mind. There wasn't much time to reflect on that possibility- she shrieked loudly as the stone vanished from its spot on the table, and there was a cold touch against her leg.
Her first impulse was to turn around and smack whoever had lifted her skirt, but there was no one there. Bewildered, she spun around, unable to find any cause for alarm except the persistent presence around her legs. "What... what's going on?"
Arms full of chocolates and a few egg-shaped objects, Xue wandered towards the room. Is Ying okay?
"My dear, I am terribly sorry," Athan began in explanation of what exactly had happened and what was hiding in her skirts. "That.. stone isn't.. well.. it is a stone, but it's also something called a Shadow Fiend. I'm not entirely certain how it managed to awaken, but.. it seems to have chosen you as it's guardian," he went on.
"Long story short, that stone has a soul trapped within it." Athan paused and pressed a hand to one temple as though to ease the throbbing pain there that was rapidly forming into a migraine. "I suppose.. an easier way to explain this might be to simply show you. There are two other Fiends here. Mystic Topaz and Sugilite," Athan stated with a wave of his hand towards the door, "Mystic is bonded to Reyna. You've met her before.."
The concept sounded a bit familiar at least. Without realizing, her hand reached to her chest, brushing the stone there. "Are they... cores?"
Most of what was flying around was indecipherable to Xue- stones awakening, guardians, trapped souls. But one feeling he picked up on quickly.
New friends?
Ying attention was elsewhere, and she anxiously shifted in place. "Does it have to... must it stay down there?" Really, that was just too much.
"In a way.. I suppose you might call them that," Athan replied as he headed out towards the main room and motioned for the girl to follow, "And.. er.. it's.. hiding beneath your skirts because it's dark there. Fiends are creatures of darkness and therefore aren't very fond of light."
He headed directly towards where Luthe and Mystic were standing, something that unnerved the Fiend somewhat. Initially he thought he were in trouble or something like that, but he relaxed somewhat when he picked up on a new presence -- a new wisp.
'Hello,' he replied with a small wave towards Ying.
... okay, that was NOT a Jumi.
This was all a bit overwhelming. There was some freaky floating rock under her dress because it was afraid of the light. Something called a Fiend? And then she was face to face with something... taller. "He-hello," Ying stuttered nervously.
Xue had no such inhibitions, though he did remember to hold his hand out for a proper handshake. HELLO!
Mystic chuckled quietly and shook the boy's hand. He shot the girl a sort of concerned look. She looked a bit shaken, but then again, she had just been bonded to a wisp. Reyna's reaction had been rather calm, at least initially, but his guardian was just that way when it came to stressful situations. Usually.
'I'm Mystic. And you are?' he asked politely.
Xue is Xue!
Taking a deep breath helped clear her senses. Eyes open again, she held her own hand out to Mystic. "My name is Ying. It's nice to meet you. Um." The next part was tricky. "If you don't mind my asking... what exactly are you?"
Hopefully that wasn't too rude. Just in case, her mind started running through apologies.
Elysia headed toward the table of drinks, anxious to see what they had...Helping herself to a glass of bright red punch, she swallowed it down quickly, noticing it's definite lack of alcohol. 'Oh well,' she thought to herself. 'It's probably best not to get hammered around people I don't know. I may make an a** of myself.' She poured herself another cup, and turned to scan the crowd for people she knew.
Every time she came into the shop, the only people who were there were Reyna and Athan. She'd never met any of the other bonded, let alone any other Fiends. Elysia wasn't great with social situations. She was shy in large groups, and it made for a difficult time at a party. That's why she drank at parties. It gave her the necessary social lubrication, so that she could be her normal outgoing self. But it was okay. She'd start a conversation with someone...She'd just have to decide who.
Labbie, on the other hand, had gotten excited when it saw the other Fiends floating around. Fluttering her wispy shadow-wings, she glided toward each Fiend, hovering around them, taking note of all of their features. The wisp was definitely curious about others like it, and Elysia could tell that it was looking for friends. Once it had gotten enough of the other wisps, Labbie noticed the now-grown Mystic, and fluttered over to him, landing on his shoulder. The stone took on a bright glow, and pulsed a couple of times, before returning to its normal state. The wisp seemed content on Mystic's shoulder, and it gave off warm, welcoming vibes.
Elysia watched Labbie from the other side of the room, curious as to what it'd do. It seemed particularly fond of the adult Fiend, and she was interested in why it had picked him to land on. Labbie had rarely left her shoulder, and it seemed that the wisp was comfortable here. Perhaps it was the fact that other wisps were around, but Elysia was glad the wisp was enjoying the party. At least someone was outgoing enough to make new friends...
Luthenep made a mental note to search the attic for a silver coin like that.. He'd avoided going up there ever since he'd been bounded to Azel. He didn't want the Fiend to figure out where Aislin kept her really interesting and precious stuff, since he wreaked so much havoc in the shop already. But on the other hand.. He'd watched as Mystic went all transparent and floaty and that. There was no way he'd be able to keep Azel out of the attic forever. And he really wanted a cloak like that..
He watched curiously as Ying approached Mystic, his ears twitching slightly when she asked about what exactly he was. Yeah, he'd like to know that too - the explanation Athan had given him about the Wisp that was bonded to him had been rather brief, and he'd never had a chance to talk to that man again ever since then. Things.. had come up. There was a painful twinge in his heart when he thought of what had happened to Laure..
He felt something cool and smooth touch his right hand, and a gentle mental nudge trying to soothe his sadness. He looked down and gave his wisp a timid smile, closing his hand around it for a moment. 'It's alright,' he mentally wispered to Azel.
Mystic's violet eyes widened slightly at the directness of that question, but he wasn't at all offended or upset by it. He half expected it from people he didn't know. 'I'm.. well. I'm a shadow.. a creature of darkness. If I understand Athan correctly, I'm.. mostly a shadow of whom I used to be a long time ago,' he attempted to explain, stumbling a bit on his words. He wasn't entirely sure what he was himself so explaining it was rather difficult. He just...was.
He glanced over towards his guardian who shot him a bemused look at the crowd of wisps and curious guardians he'd gathered. Honestly, she was rather impressed that the Fiend was handling the stress of being surrounded by so many people so well. He had the overwhelming tendency to flee from situations like that.
'I'm sorry I can't explain better than that,' he apologized, 'It's a bit.. difficult to put to words.' Idly he glanced towards the little wisp at his shoulder. He was always amused by the little stones, fascinated by how they flittered about as nothing more than a shiny stone surrounded in darkness.
Aislin glanced over to the little group as well, Mystic specifically, and frowned. She didn't know for sure, but a feeling in her guts told her he was a Shadow Fiend as well. And if he was, she was in trouble. "Too big to lock into a jar.." she muttered under her breath and helped herself to some snacks. The fact that he'd been, transparent? Well, not entirely physical when he moved through the room earlier, had not escaped her. Maybe it was time to take out an insurance - or to check if her address list of exorcists was still up-to-date..
Somewhat bored she looked around, hoping to see a familiar face or two.
"I... I see. Thank you." Ying's words tumbled out slowly and clumsily, like untrained acrobats. The bulk of her brainpower was focused on trying to make sense of things. At least the concept of gemstones coming to life was familiar, but from the way it sounded that wasn't quite it. More of a half-life. Still, that really wouldn't make much of a difference, would it? Of course not. And Mystic seemed perfectly nice. So besides the fact that the wisp was still hovering around her legs, making her most uncomfortable, things would be fine.
Good humor restored, she smiled to the group. Everything would be fine!
The explanation, while fascinating, was mostly incomprehensible to Xue. Mister Floaty was cool looking, but his feelings were so complicated!
Unwrapping another chocolate bar, he wandered away from the group. Maybe he could find more shiny-shinies...
While Ravija wandered around the shop with a dance in her step, the door opened again.
A black-haired girl barely under five feet tall entered the room with a thump-jingle. She had a pure white peplos edged in gold on, secured at her shoulders with large golden brooches etched with a serpent coiled in a spiral. Her sash was a rich blue also trimmed in gold that matched the gem that winked from her left upper arm.
The staff she carried that made the thump and jingle was... unconventional. The main body of the staff consisted of fragile looking joined loops with metal rings hanging from some of those loops; they clashed with a pleasing sound when disturbed. Around it, twined in such a way to not disturb the rings' movement, was a metallic green snake with sparkling gems for eyes. The staff itself was more than a foot taller than the girl that carried it, but she seemed to handle it effortlessly.
Memi managed to look regal for all of ten seconds for bursted into a run... toward Luthe. "I didn't know you'd be here, Luthe! Hi!" Her sash billowed out behind her like a sail, attached as it was to her shoulders and waist.
Luthenep blinked, utterly surprised. Now that was someone he'd not expected to see here. But.. Well, that she lived in the same house as some God of Light, didn't necessarily mean that she despised shadows and darkness. Plus, she'd been really nice and helped searching for Azel..
"Memi, hi!" he said. "Didn't expect to see you here. I.. I'm sorry that I ran away so suddenly last time. I think I forgot to thank you." His cheeks flushed with embarassment.
Azel floated close to his Bonded's shoulder, curious who managed to make his Guardian feel so awkward. He remembered Memi only vaguely, but he instantly liked those golden brooches she was wearing now.
"Well, you're welcome," Memi said chipperly, setting the staff down with a quiet jingle. "I just came by because I saw people coming in in costume, and since it doesn't seem to be invite only, I'm staying." She grinned and waved at the little ghostie, then turned back to Luthe. "Who are you dressed up as?"
"A Shinigami - a Death Angel," he replied with a fanged grin and pointed to a dark corner of the room. "I left my scythe over there, since I didn't want to accidentally hurt someone. And you?" Curiously the boy eyed her costume. He really liked those broo- Waitasec. 'Stop that', he mentally hissed at the Wisp. It had happened before, the Fiend's desires influencing his own..
Athan moved to stand near Reyna who merely smirked broadly around her cup of punch. "Don't tell me. You gave that girl a wisp. You're a cruel man," she teased.
"I didn't give it to her. It awoke on its own," he grumbled as he folded his arms over his chest and scowled faintly before a small quirk of a smile appeared on his face when the woman choked on her drink at that response.
"What the hell!" she hissed in a low, quiet voice as though to not draw too much attention to their conversation. "That's like.. what.. twice now that that's happened?" Reyna scowled in much the same way Athan was before heaving a heavy sigh. Normally she wouldn't care, but Athan wasn't the sort to just lose control of things like that. Something weird was up and she wanted to know what it was before things spiraled out of control.
Last time that happened it hadn't be pleasant -- not that Athan could control the fact that Doran was a complete nut case hell-bent on destruction, but it was still a rather unpleasant fact.
"Don't worry about it for now. I'll figure out what it is soon enough," he murmured quietly, "For now.. let's just make sure everyone is enjoying the party."
Reyna nodded at that and sipped at her punch with a sort of moody look that was only a little less like a scowl.
"Panacea, goddess of medicine," Memi said, giggling. "Harmodius said I could try on some of his collection, and it felt right." She twirled, being somewhat careful not to whack anyone with her staff. "Besides, I can actually run around in it." Freedom of movement was always a plus, though she was being extra careful not to ruin his antiques.
Luthenep raised a brow. "You dressed up as the Goddess in your gem?" That was odd. "But it suits you. Azel likes it too - especially the golden parts." He chuckled, but suddenly went serious again. "Which reminds me.. That Goddess of yours, if she's the Goddess of Medicine, does that mean she's really good at healing?"
Aislin in the meanwhile had finally found the mini bar and poured herself a glass of.. whatever it was. It smelled good, but a first careful sip told her this was not something that should be used for a drinking game.
Curiously she peered over to Luthenep. It was strange seeing him in a group like that, since he wasn't exactly the social kind. But then again he seemed to make a hell lot of friends lately. And the girl he was talking to right now.. Aislin's eyes slightly widened and she craned her neck to get a better view at the costume the girl was wearing.
"Thank you~! You do the dark look well," she replied. "And.. um... lemme check."
Hey
You're certainly rude today.
Are you good at healing?
It isn't as though I can wave my hand and cause wounds to seal up. I rely on knowledge and skills, not pure magic, to do what I do. Relying overmuch on magic can have deleterious effects.
Um?
Panacea sighed. Bad stuff happens.
"She says she uses skill, not magic," Memi reported. "So it's not a 'poof, you're healed' type thing. Someone's hurt? I made Asclepius a Healing element. Well, sonic too." Memi remained blissfully unaware of Aislin's attention.
Wren was late, fashionably late at that, but the odds of him caring were very slim. In fact, he might've had an amused grin on his face because Hawk was berating him for running late ( and any time that Hawk was trying to get on to him was a source of amusement ) but that would've been a little out of character.
Adjusting his hood and robes and then making sure all the spells were in place to ensure his costume was perfect, he let out a pleased sigh.
'... you'll tell me what death's like, won't you?' Hawk said, blind eyes speaking their displeasure behind the mask that covered the upper half of his face. He himself hadn't really dressed up ( and he never would have if he hadn't found something he liked ), but he wore a delicate looking mask on his face that resembled a hawk. The feathers were changed to colors to better suite him and he was rather happy with the mask. It couldn't, however, distract him from the fact that Wren was obviously bent on causing trouble. He was tempted to stop focusing all the excess energy into the quartz pendant carefully held in his hand and use it to zap Wren, but it wouldn't do a thing.
"You've met him," Wren countered smoothly, smiling over his shoulder as he approached Twilight Designs, "so you definitely know what death's like."
'One day, demon, one day.' Hawk ignored him and went on ahead towards the shop. He wasn't really looking forward to anything besides talking with Athan.
"You all ways say that, lovely," sensing Wren's smirking face in front of him caught him off guard and he paused before glowering blindly. The man shrugged his shoulders and went on ahead. "Was just going to get the door for you." With a small gesture, the door to the shop opened up and Hawk scowled at him before slipping on ahead.
He knew, had Seen, that Wren was going to make an entrance. The demon wouldn't be satisfied with anything else.
As Wren entered, it was obvious that shadows were cloaking him. From every angle it was hard to see his face, as it was entirely shadowed. The only thing that seemed to emit light was the faint green glow of his eyes. Even then the area still seemed a bit darker as the shadows shifted and moved as if there was wind blowing where there wasn't. After entering, he closed the door behind him, adjusted his robes as if they weren't in the right position, and then nudged a dredlock behind an ear that had fallen out of the band that held his hair back.
His face was devoid of any expression and he was truly getting into character at the moment. Playing Mister Death wasn't going to be easy!
Besides, he wasn't going to let up until Athan saw him and even then, it was questionable. First, however, he had to get away from the front door.
"Someone's hurt, yeah." The boy shifted around uneasily, pretty sure that said 'someone' wouldn't appreciate at all having his name or condition mentioned to anyone. "It happened ages ago though, but it was a God that hurt him, so the wound never healed properly - even after that Deity faded away. So I thought maybe it needs another God to take care of that inju-" He broke off mid-sentence, an odd mixture of amusement, curiosity and a frown on his face.
"Ais, what exactly do you think you are doing?"
"Huh?" Aislin blinked. So much for tip-toeing closer unnoticed. "I, erh, just wanted to take a peek at that costume, but didn't want to disturb your conversation, so I.. sneaked." She gave Memi an innocent sweet smile which was an odd contrast to her blood stained costume. "Just wanted to get a closer look at your costume.."
Her voice trailed off as she noticed the door being opened and closed again. She raised on her toes to get a look at who entered, and only moments later she was desperately trying to stifle a laughing fit.
Reyna was contemplating snagging something a bit harder than the punch to drink, and idly wondered what the effects would be on her new form. She didn't have much time to contemplate that, though. She turned when she felt a familiar presence, and caught her first glimpse of Wren's costume. Whatever scowl might've been on her face melted away to complete amusement -- he was dressed as Athan!
By the gods, that man was a genius.
She snickered at that and made her way over towards him. "If we were having a costume contest, you'd have my vote hands down," she laughed.
Athan, on the other hand, wasn't at all amused. He stood with his arms crossed and a rather irritated look on his face. He could deal with being called 'Mr. Death.' Fine. He could cope with everyone assuming he was dressed as the Grim Reaper for Halloween. Fine. But this was unacceptable! Wren was openly mocking him at this point, but then again, he reminded himself, when wasn't he?
There was a brief cursory glance over those present and there were few he knew, if any at all besides the obvious ones, but it was hard to miss Reyna's presence coming closer to him and there was a small quirk of his lips once he saw her and he heard her speak.
"I have no idea what you're talking about, Reyna," he said to her, briefly raising an eyebrow in question. Costume contest? What on earth was she going on about? This was how he dressed all the time!
( Wren would happily enjoy those that were trying to contain their laughter, just ... not show it. Trying to stay in character here! )
However, his attention slipped away from Reyna for a moment towards Athan and his eyes narrowed slightly. Obviously, someone was trying to mock him! Look at how he was dressed! He scowled faintly and muttered, to Reyna though not obviously so, "Who does he think he is?"
... why yes, Athan, he did mean you.
Trying to slip further away from his guardian, still not quite sure he was on good terms with him again -- if he had ever been in the first place -- Hawk contemplated throwing the hawk mask at Wren. Except that would've ruined a finely made object and pleased the demon, so it was unacceptable.
It was easy to feel the presence of Mystic as well as a few other wisps that he had never met. There were also some stranger presences, among the guests, tickling his senses, but he ignored them. So far, he had Seen no threat tonight -- well, nothing that could not be handled, but he was hoping ...
Still, he was winding his way through everything towards Athan ( or trying to before he somehow got waylaid, as he had a feeling it was possible ). If had lips, an apologetic smile might've been on them. Some times you simply could not warn people about.
Well," Memi said thoughtfully....
It may not work as well as you might hope. I don't even have a body of my own, yet. She sounded less than happy about that.
Memi paused and refocused on Luthe. "She says don't expect much, at least until she's a little stronger. Panacea doesn't seem mad that I just volunteered her for something.
Panacea didn't share her thoughts with her host, but those who knew her power had returned were few and far between. Any demonstration was an opportunity.
"Okay." Memi didn't seem at all cognizant of any sort of deception, and whirled in place again, the rings on her staff making their noise. "Do you like it? I borrowed it from a friend."
Reyna snickered faintly under her breath and shot a bemused look towards the 'real' Athan. He didn't look pleased, but in all honesty she had yet to see him respond to anything in a positive light. Not really, anyway. He definately wasn't appreciative of her and Wren's constant teasing him -- but that didn't mean she was about to stop. Ohhhh no. It was her sweet revenge for withholding important information from the get go about what he was roping her into.
She opened her mouth to say something else to Wren before she heard a faint, familiar cry. Sam! Poor thing! She'd left her in the backroom in her babypen a few minutes ago and had all but forgotten. "I'll be right back," she said instead of the barb about Athan she had come up with, "But help yourself to all the goodies we've got laid out, hm?" She shot him a fanged grin and darted off towards the back room in quick strides to comfort her little girl.
She paused briefly to lay a comforting hand on Mystic's shoulder. She felt his mood shift to something a bit darker when Hawk had drifted in with his guardian. He had been amused by Wren's attire, but there was definately some tension between him and the other Fiend -- not to mention Athan.
Mister Death himself glared as Reyna walked past him but his expression softened about the edges when he caught sight of Hawk heading his way. He offered him a smile and pushed off the wall he was leaning against to greet him. "Good evening, Hawk. Glad to see you made it to the party," he replied, making absolutely no mention of his guardian. He'd ignore him for the entire evening if need be. "That is an interesting mask you have," he went on with a faint smirk, "Quite fitting I should think."
"He's not feeling too well right now. He's been taking care of a lot of gods recently, and no one's taking care of him," she said, sounding at once sympathetic and irritated with Harmodius. "He has a whole lot of this stuff, and it's all really old, but I'm being really careful with it." Memi smiled up at her. "You like it?"
"Mh-hm," Aislin nodded, though somewhat puzzled. What kind of person took care of gods? A priest perhaps? "Could you let me take a look at one of those brooches? They look really pretty, and I happen to like snakes." She just had to know if they were genuine.. "And, erh, do you think your friend might be interested in selling some of that really old stuff he has?"
Her glance darted over to Luthe, but if he knew something, he didn't show it.
"Probably not," Memi said. "And sure, you can look at them, I like snakes too. But it's holding my dress up, so I can't really take it off, sorry. You can still look, though." She smiled at Aislin.
"Luthe, if he wants help, we'll see what we can do. I dunno if we can even do anything, though."
"Ah, erh, sure. I didn't think of that, sorry." Aislin smiled apologetically.
"Yeah, sure - because greed makes you blind," Luthe said with an amused grin. He winked at Memi. "You should see the treasures she keeps up in the attic - a dragon's hoard is nothingagainst it. Actually.." He leaned forward and wispered into Memi's ear. "She's so greedy for treasures that I'm convinced she must have been a dragon in her last life."
"Luthenep!"
Giggling the boy dived out of Aislin's reach when she tried to swat him, hiding behind Memi.
Aislin rolled her eyes. "Really, I'm not that bad, I just.. want to see they were genuine, because I deal with antiques."
"Suuuuuure... Just that you never sell anything." Luthe laughed. "Memi, don't let her get her hands on those brooches, you might never see them again. And.. Erh, thanks for that offer - both of you. Even if you can't do anything."
"Well, I can't let her have them, they're not mine," Memi said reasonably. "But she can look at them." She brushed her hair off her shoulders; even though she was supposed to look Greek, she couldn't do her hair very well, so she'd just left it down. "And you're welcome. Just come by anytime. I promise I won't introduce you to Illumin unless you ask." She grinned and winked at Luthenep.
I'd appreciate that," Luthe said with a sheepish smile. "If he's your friend he's probably a nice guy, but Azel and I are both of the Shadows. And the person I'd like to introduce to you is as well. Light.. just isn't good for us." He looked at Aislin, his eyes meeting hers, his glance oddly serious.
Uh-oh, there he goes again.. Aislin bent down to examine the golden brooch, pretending to not notice that reproachful look. Hm, looks like it's the real thing. No way to tell it for sure under these condition though. But I wonder what other treasures that friend of hers keeps..
"Thank you," she smiled at Memi. "If Luthe visits you, remind him to leave a card of our shop - just for the case your friend does want to sell something." She gave the brooches a last longing glance. "Well, I'll go have a look what that fake Athan is up to - it was nice meeting you."
"He... I dunno, but I like him," Memi said with a shrug. She let Aislin look at the brooches, feeling vaguely uncomfortable. "I'll try. It was nice meeting you too," she told the woman, and as she walked off, Memi leaned toward Luthe and whispered, "She's a little creepy, isn't she? I really don't think Harmodius will sell any of it."
"Creepy is an understatement sometimes.. Though it may be my fault she became like that." He sighed. "It's a long story, and I don't feel like telling it now. Or telling it at all." His gaze followed after his pact partner until her blue dress was no longer visible in the crowd. He had the strangest feeling seeing her vanish like that, like she had been swallowed up by some creepy monster. And it was hard to resist the urge to run after to see if she was still here. He shifted uneasily - he had to talk to Sesostris, maybe he'd know what to do.. And he had to tell him of Memi - or rather Panacea - anyway.
"People rarely sell her something since she's usually way to agressive about it. You always get the impression she's trying to threaten them into selling," he said to Memi. "So, erh, do you want to look around a bit? There's a basket with pretty ceramic eggs as a party favor. They seem to be unbreakable - Azel tried - but actually we found a similar one earlier this week which did break. And it had a very pretty necklace inside. So you might want to take some."
"Have you tried telling her that? It can't be good for business if she can't buy new stuff and won't sell old stuff. Though I guess that's not really a business at all..." She shrugged. "I guess she likes it that way."
"Eggs? That hatch necklaces? Neat! It'd be kinda greedy to take some for everyone back at the shop--with the new people and all, and I haven't met everyone yet." She looked thoughtful. "Are they over near the food? I didn't really want to go near there because these are pretty important to Harmodius..." Memi giggled a little. "Probably shouldn't've taken them out of the shop without his permission anyway, but I didn't want to bug him anymore than I did already."
"Oh, I did try - but she's really more about hoarding than actually having bussiness.. Like a dragon sitting on it's treasure, really." The thought of an Aislin-Dragon sitting on a heap of treasure made him giggle.
"Well, I'm not sure if these eggs will hatch into necklaces as well.." He pointed at the basket. "But they look really pretty as they are. Maybe you could ask Reyna, or Athan, if they'd allow you to take some extras for your friends. I'm sure that wont be a problem." Honestly, he couldn't imagine anyone saying 'no' to that cheerful girl. "And the food's over there. Hm, I could try and spell your dress spill-proof? I'm good with protection spells, and that would only be a variation of it."
"Well, I don't want to take too many. I'll just leave a note in the shop when I get back, though I was thinking of going to the library... not in this though." Memi smiled, thinking of going to the library in costume. In antique costume. Living history and written history in the same building. She giggled. "Yeah, that'd be silly."
"Oh, it is Halloween after all.." Luthenep winked. "Maybe you should try, just to see the stupid faces of the people working there - it might be fun." He stretched, a bit. Those fake wings weren't heavy at all, but damn, they did get uncomfortable after a while.
"I for one will go 'haunting' once it's dark outside, and try to scare the living daylights out of some people," he grinned. With Azel coming along it probably would be more fun than usual.
"That might be fun, but I think I'm going to change to be safe," Memi said. "Though I might trick or treat a bit to get some free candy." She giggled. "After you've finished being scary, you can come by the shop if you want and I'll make you cupcakes. Do you eat?" A valid question. Harmodius usually didn't.
"I don't need to, not normal food at least. But.. I like sweet stuff. Usually I eat souls." It was said cheerfully, but the next moment he was inwardly cursing his own stupidity. Dammit, how could he that have let slipped?! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! Just because Laure had simply accepted it without freaking it didn't mean everyone else would suddenly do the same!
He tried to calm himself. Maybe.. maybe she thought he'd just made a joke.
"Well, no sampling," Memi said with a grin. "I'm on someone else's menu." Jokes were good. Jokes helped with the coping. "It's too bad, since I'm about as sweet as they come." She chuckled and shrugged. "Pancake offer's still open."
Whew.. "Sure, I'll take you up on that whenever I have the time. As long as Illumin stays up in his room."
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Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2005 9:08 pm
Trick-or-Treat!
The Halloween party continued... Ying usually had very little trouble talking to other people. Most of them were nice, and the ones that weren't just needed some help. Perhaps it was the other conversations going on around her, perhaps the lingering discomfort from having a floating rock fluttering under her dress, but she backed away from the large group of people. This was a bit much to take.
On the other hand, Xue was feeling rejected. No one had talked to him all night! Frowning, he walked into the center of the room, and in the midst of everyone projected a friendly, but loud, greeting.
HELLOOOOOOOOO!
Reyna came bustling back into the room with Sam in her arms fully-dressed in a little panda suit. She'd been a bit worried that she'd get to hot in the outfit, but she seemed to be doing just fine. She stopped short of heading back towards Wren when she heard Xue's rather loud greeting.
She snickered under her breath in amusement. Any other time she likely would have been annoyed by how loud the boy was, but Wren's costume definately lifted her spirits. "Hello there," she replied with a smile as she idly shuffled Sam in her arms who gurgled something unintelligible and waved with one hand before giggling when her daemon, Fragments, zipped into the room.
The little ghost-like creature did a circle around the entire room before diving back down towards the floor to skitter about Reyna's feet.
Hawk barely even paid attention to Mystic, though the younger fiend threw a knowing look briefly towards him, but otherwise left him be. After all, tonight it wasn't worth picking at him.
'To you too, Athan,' Hawk replied back, finally letting some of his irritation fade away now that he did not have to focus on Wren. It was obvious Athan was trying to do that and ... well. He could endeavor to do so too. 'I figured I might as well come, though ... I didn't quite expect you here.' There was a glint of humor in those eyes of his. 'I wonder if Reyna had to blackmail or bribe you into coming.' He was just teasing of course. As obviously, in the end, Athan would only come if he wanted too.
Raising a hand to mask, Hawk let his fingers brush against some of the feathers. He might have smirked if he had had lips. 'It is and I do like it, even if a bit ironic.'
Wren had merely nodded his head towards Reyna once she departed, wandering about the room ( though going no closer to Athan for now ) and did start to inspect the various things laid out. It wasn't much fun when Athan was bent on ignoring him as well as his own fiend, but he could care less. He had his plans and ... oh, he knew what he was going to do.
He'd get Athan's attention later. After all, revenge was going to be his!
And then he promptly blinked, his attention all most going to Reyna and Sam who were returning, but then to Xue who had ... so loudly called for everyone's attention. Wren arched an eyebrow, not quite use to such an abrupt greeting -- not like that at least.
There was a brief surge of emotion that Wren felt and he glanced towards Hawk. The fiend wasn't too pleased by the sudden greeting. He glared at Xue for a moment before shaking his head with displeasure and turning his attention back to Athan.
Wren rolled his eyes. Hard to believe Hawk was bonded with him and had such a grumpy personality at times.
No wonder he got along with Athan.
A faint smile quirked at Athan's mouth. "No," he replied, "No blackmail this time. She's already called in what favors I owe her, so I'd say I'm relatively safe from that sort of thing for the time being." If he wanted to get technical, Reyna now owed him for his saving her life, but there wasn't anything he wanted to request of the demon. He knew better. Favors and deals with demons were never a good idea even if you were under the impression that you had the upper hand.
"As the owner of this shop, I felt it necessary to be here," he went on as he trailed over towards one of the tables of refreshments to get himself a cup of tea, careful to avoid Wren as he did so, "Even if social functions aren't exactly my forte', but I figured Reyna could handle most of it if need be." He realized that leaving Reyna in charge of a party was a bit ironic considering how reclusive she was, but despite her temperment she was good at pretending so all was well.
Hawk might've smiled a bit if he could, his attention focused where Athan had been for a moment, before he followed after the man. He had a sneaking suspicion of something and while his powers were not quite as frequent lately, he never doubted his gut feelings.
'When it's a demon, them using up all favors is something worth celebrating.' He tilted his head slightly, fingers coming up reflexively to his mask to adjust it briefly. Hawk's Eye was listening to Athan, but it looked like he was staring off at the wall. His attention was on his guardian, on Wren who was no longer paying attention to the empathic boy but rather Athan.
"... might as well be now," Wren murmured to himself, fingers deftly plucking up a candy from a nearby bowl. With Athan relatively close by, he would prove to be an easy target. Eyes glowing brighter for a moment, he raised his hand and took aim to throw the candy.
Was it childish what he was doing? Yes, yes it was. The point of it, however, was that it was fun. And what was a Halloween party without a little mischief?
Hawk let out a mental hiss, a sudden image flooding his mind. Athan was busy getting his drink still and he suddenly pressed towards the man, his hand coming down to rest on his shoulder. Unintentionally, the slow playing image slipped along the bond Hawk shared with Athan.
It was Wren taking aim and pulling his arm back and then pitching it forward to let the candy loose and fly in the air towards Athan's head.
Except it wasn't going to hit Athan's head, because just as it got close enough, Hawk caught it in his outstreched hand that had dropped the quartz pendant down to dangle from it's cord. '... Wren,' he said in an agitated tone, 'cut it out.' And then the Fiend clasped the candy in his hand, the quartz no longer there to take the charge, and let it take on some of the excess energy he contained. Before it burst from the strain of energy he pressed into it, he threw it right back at his bonded.
Hawk wasn't able to watch it fly with his own eyes, but he saw it through his bonded's eyes as it came closer. He felt that sense of disbelief from Wren as the candy shattered right before his face, covering him in a sticky red mess of what had been contained within the piece of candy and the small shards of the outer shell that had keeped the liquid on the inside.
He just did not see as his bonded's hand clenched around several more pieces of candy.
Athan's bright green eyes widened in a brief look of shock at the vision that flashed by his eyes before he realized that it was actually happening. He ducked out of the way just in time to avoid getting hit with the candies that the demon hurled towards his general vicinity.
It was actually Mystic who had the misfortune of being pegged with some of the candy that went flying through the air. His brow furrowed in a dark scowl as his gaze settled on Hawk, who was standing where he was fairly certain the candy had come from. He phased into a more transparent form and through a handful of candies from the table he was standing near towards the other Fiend.
Mass chaos had officially been unleashed, and ironically, it wasn't a Fiend who had started it -- a rare occurance at Twilight Designs.
Hawk moved back to avoid the candies that Wren carelessly threw towards Athan, but were obviously heading towards more than one target. Glad that he didn't get hit, he wasn't expecting to get pegged from the back and he whirled around -- glaring from person to person that he sensed until a static image popped into his mind.
Mystic.
'... nitwit,' he nearly growled at him, a trait picked up from Wren, and then ducked out of the way as his bonded threw more candies. They went sailing passed when he ducked down and, though most wouldn't think it out of place, reached out to see if he could feel Athan's shoulder. He could sense him, but for the moment his senses were a little frazzled with the rapidly flying candies that were being thrown through the air.
"Bugger," Wren muttered, pausing before he even threw another thing of candies. He ... hadn't meant to hit Mystic and he hadn't gotten Athan -- or even Hawk for that matter. "... oh well," he grinned, picking up a candy and bouncing it up and down in his hand. This time, he was aiming to miss and his target? Reyna.
"So, Reyna," he called teasingly to his friend, humor obvious in his eyes, "are you a regular pirate or a pirate elf?" He meant no harm, really! ( And had no room to talk, considering his own ears, but shh. )
Athan frowned as suddenly there was candy and other foodstuffs flying through the air. This was not how he had hoped the party would progress, nor could it possibly be good for business. He glanced towards Hawk who looked a bit out of sorts, but it was no wonder why. He couldn't see the chaos that was unfolding around him.
He reached to grab him by the hand and led him towards the backroom where it was relatively "safe" from the all out food fight that was in progress. "It would probably be a good idea to stay here until it stops," he told him quietly, eyes glowing faintly in the darkness of the room. He cracked open the door just in time to see Reyna snatch up a handful of something to throw at Wren, while yelling at something about it being revenge for the comment about her ears.
He sighed and pressed a hand to his face. This was not good.
'Very good idea,' Hawk murmured, unsure how chaotic the party now was, though he could -- when Athan opened the door -- hear an undignified squawk from his guardian who likely got pelted again.
Slipping a bit further away from the door, just in case anything came in by accident, he raised a hand up to make sure that his mask was not out of place. Satisfied, he let his hand slip back down and twisted his hand so that the quartz pendant could be caught and held in it. 'This is not how I imagined the party would be.' Shaking his head, Hawk could only blame his bonded.
The demon was a loon and speaking of said loon, Wren had taken a break from throwing things to try and brush the candy and other things off of his robes. So much for staying in character and dressing up as Athan for Halloween. Big bust! Oh well, the look on Athan's face had been priceless ...
As soon as food had started flying, Memi had immediately made a panicked sound not unlike a squeak and run from the party, trying not to get anything on her borrowed (antiquities) costume. She didn't know how much she would be dead if she ruined this, but she wasn't going to find out!
Food fight? What was this!? Elysia ducked behind the table with the punchbowl, not wanting to get hit with anything. Why is it that a perfectly dignified party had to break out into a food fight?
Labbie fluttered back from Mystic's shoulder to land on Elysia's once again, and Elysia could feel the wisp's displeasure from the chaos that had broken out in the shop. Elysia felt that it was time to depart, and though she hadn't talked to anyone much, that was okay...She was never the best in large social situations.
Labbie, on the other hand, seemed to have had a good time, mingling with the other wisps and with Mystic. Elysia was now even more curious about what the wisp would look like once it had grown up a bit...Now that she'd seen Mystic as an adult, she was excited to find out more about Labbie.
Suddenly, as Elysia was about to crawl out from behind the table and head for the exit, a flash of pain went through her head, and she passed out on the floor, into the same dream that she'd had just a few weeks ago...
Labbie looked a bit jumpy as Elysia passed out, and as soon as the silver-haired woman's head hit the floor, the wisp reformed it's wings into wispy strands of shadow, and pulled itself over to her, firmly attaching itself to her forehead...
Reyna giggled quietly as Sam tried to turn around in her arms to get a better look at what was going on around her. Her mother had her cradled protectively against her chest. She was fairly certain the little girl would not be at all appreciative of being pegged with candy or whatever else that was flying through the air around them.
The child laughed along with her mother, clearly tickled by the massive mess that the shop had been turned into. Athan, however, was not at all pleased. He stood in the door way of the back room and glowered at the mess that Wren had caused with the help of Reyna.
"You two do realize you'll be the ones cleaning this up, correct?" Athan grated out, displeasure clearly written across his face.
The silverhaired woman smirked faintly and shot a glance towards Wren who was trying to clean up his robes. Without warning she grabbed a handful of candies and hurled them at Athan, but for frowning with a bit of disappointment when the man dodged the projectiles by slamming the door shut.
"... oh hell, I missed him," Wren said, looking up in time to see the door slam shut and the candies hit it. He looked over to Reyna and have a shrug of his shoulders. "You know, two demons cleaning things up shouldn't take that long." Smirking, he walked over towards Reyna and Sam. His fingers wiggled at the little girl and once he was close enough, he started to whisper in a conspiring tone.
"I have an idea. Got any red markers? Or ... red paint? Red something to write with?" Wren really did manage to look entirely too much like Athan in his costume, but it was easy to tell that the mischievous look in those glowing green eyes was all his own.
'Don't think that'd put a dent in anything,' Hawk said, as he heard the door slam shut. His fingers were once again curled in Athan's robes, a firm attachment to something that was steady in his surroundings. He did not know if he wanted to go back out there -- even if the food fight died down.
... unless it was to go back out and do something to Mystic, now there was an idea.
Mystic moved towards Reyna and plucked Sam out of her arms when he realized that his guardian was really too preoccupied being mischievous with Wren to carefully watch the little girl as she usually did. Chaos never failed to erupt when those to went at it.
"I've got a red sharpie in my desk drawer," she murmured before skittering over towards her desk to lift up the table clothe strewn over it to rummage through one of the drawers. She held out the marker with a triumphant smirk to Wren. "...what's it for?" she asked, head tilting to the side.
"Go go Powerrrr Rangers!"
The bellow of a voice gives not enough of a warning before Pippin's official entrance. Exploding through the doorway with tremendous force, he leaps into a stance right there, his arms raised and knees bent in a way to add unintentioned hilarity. It certainly does not help that the man is clad in a spandex Green Power Ranger costume.
Taking off his helmet, Pippin beams brilliantly at the general occupants of the room before inviting himself further inside. At his heels, previously hidden, or at least unnoticed due to their father's commotion, are the Adu known as Mythos and Chronicles. Both sport outrageous, overstuffed pumpkin costumes. Quite ironically, the faces "carved" into their pumpkins are opposite those of the wearer.
Wrapped in its protective leathery cloth, Mythos has the Smokey Quartz well hidden, at least for now.
"Hi, hey, HELLO!" Pippin cheerfully greets everyone and anyone, shutting the door distractedly. The overly hyper charisma has to be explained by some sort of drink he had prior to his arrival, though this is shady territory for the man. "Hope we haven't missed too much of the fun, HEEEE!"
Reyna stopped midstep and burst out laughing at the Pippin. She'd only met him the once when she first got Sam, and the situation had been rather grave. She wasn't accustomed to the man's quirks at all (but she had heard stories from Wren). She stifled her giggles behind one hand before offering the man a fanged grin.
"Hello there," she murmured as she moved forward to greet him but paused when something crunched beneath her boots. Candy. There were peices of candy all of the place along with various other food stuffs that had been flung through the air not but a few moments ago. "Been a while," she went on after shuffling her feet a bit to rid the soles of her shoes of the sticky goo that was on the bottom even though it would likely do her little good.
"Because," Wren said as Reyna got the red marker, "we're going to be decorating --" The demon that was no longer a demon, but actually dressed as Athan let out a particularly un-Athan like squeal and practically pounced on his boys night out buddy.
"Pip!" Pause. "... wow, um. Yeah. Look good in spandex." Wren blinked and shook his head before he turned his attention back to Reyna, though he gave a side long glance to the two children that had come along with Pippin. One of them, he knew, held something that at least one person in the building would not want to see. "Anyway, um ... Reyna?"
The demon slid right back up to his friend to whisper in her ear, shaking his leg a little to get candy bits off of him, "With that marker, we're going to go decorate Athan's gravestone in hearts. I think it's quite fitting. To, you know, let him know how we feel about him."
The silver haired woman snickered under her breath and grinned. "I'm sure he'll appreciate the sentiment," she replied with barely contained mirth. She continued to laugh quietly to herself despite her best efforts as they snuck over to where the gravestones were lined up and went about decorating Athan's with bubbly red hearts.
Mystic watched, vaugely amused by his guardian's antics. If he weren't holding Sam he'd likely join in, but currently the babe was proving to be quite an armful. She gurgled odd little noises as though she were trying to speak and flailed out towards Fragments who was perched on the Shadow's shoulder. He had a feeling she was getting tired of her stuffy, however cute, panda suit and would soon be needing to be put to bed.
Athan decided that it was safe enough to emerge from the backroom once more. He noted that his shop was indeed a mess, and was fairly thankful the floors were not carpeted seeing as their was sticky candy everywhere. It crunched in a rather unpleasant manner with every step he took and he was rather thankful his robes were spelled against such messes or he'd have a terrible time washing his clothes.
The irritated look on his face darkened even more when he caught sight of the two demons. "You two are so cleaning this mess up," he grated out between clenched teeth.
"So, so great ..." Wren broke out in a grin and helped with the decorating of Athan's gravestone. It looked so cute now! So obviously representing of their love for Athan. Though love, in this case, surely meant how much they got a kick out of irritating and bothering him.
"... cleaning what?" The words were innocently spoken and Wren lifted his head to stare at Athan as if he had no clue what he was talking about. Worse was that he really could pull off the look.
Hawk slipped back in as Athan then, a hand resting on the man's sleeve and a scowl on his face as he heard his guardian's tone of voice. The demon just ... couldn't let things go normally. At least, when it came to Athan he couldn't.
'And I'm suppose to be the child here,' he grumbled. Never mind he was certain that Wren was bound to have tried something else while Athan and himself were in the back room.
About thirty minutes later, Labbie detached herself from Elysia's forehead, and hovered over her, flapping her 'wings' slowly and calmly...The dreams were Labbie's creations of course. And, they weren't just normal dreams...they were prophetic dreams. Soon, they would come true, and Elysia would be shocked to see her own child living her dreams. The wisp sent her bonded calming feelings, hoping that it would keep her sane upon awakening. Labbie landed on Elysia's chest, and waited. She would wake up soon enough, and the wisp wanted to be there to help her...if she could.
After what seemed like hours, Elysia's eyelids began to flutter, and slowly her lids opened. She was staring at the ceiling, feeling a bit...sticky. Getting her bearings, she pushed herself up, and saw Labbie, fluttering there in front of her. Though she should have had some extreme emotions upon waking, she felt a calm wash over her. She knew it was the wisp.
Picking pieces of candy off of her velvet dress, she finally stood up, looking disheveled, her hair tangled with sugary candy, and her dress wrinkled and dirty. Labbie just hovered over her shoulder, waiting for what would happen next.
Rubbing her temples, Elysia spoke up, not really caring who was around. "I...I think I need to go home. Nice party though guys." She paused, and gave the rest of the party-goers a wave. "Wait, where did all this candy come from?" She sighed and picked yet another hard candy out of her hair. "Nevermind...maybe I don't need to know. I'll see you all later."
And then, she walked toward the door, pushing it open to let in the cool autumn air. Her headache wasn't quite gone yet, but she thought that perhaps the walk home would help. Giving a last wave to those inside, she stepped out into the night, heading back to the beach house.
Before the door slammed shut, Labbie slipped through the crack, her butterfly wings disappearing, becoming wisps once again.
When Athan entered the room again, Luthenep quickly let the handful of candy he had just been ready to throw drop into one of his pockets. It was probably better to not be caught in the act, he was a guest after all. But.. he had enjoyed himself immensely, Azel as well. But now it seemed like more and more of the guests were leaving..
He made a few steps into the middle of the room, looking around for Aislin to see if she wanted to stick around somewhat longer, or was ready to leave as well. Where the hell was she?
Hawk slipped forward, moving away from Athan ( a brief glance back, as if he could look at him once more ), before he continued moving. He paused near Luthenep and Azel, just as he sensed his presence, and then slipped around him with a quietly murmured word of 'excuse me'.
His target was, actually, Reyna. He knew she still had that red marker and he promptly snagged it out of her hand. 'You're finished, aren't you?' he asked, but did not really leave room for her to respond. It took him a moment or two, but he eventually ascertained which gravestone was Wren's and promptly went to work altering the date on the gravestone and putting in a proper one before he moved on to Reyna's ( and then to the rest of the gravestones after that ).
Wren tilted his head to look over his shoulder and watched Hawk for a moment, watched the numbers written down neatly, and then scowled. "... that is so not right, Hawk."
Wren was, of course, ignored.
Reyna looked startled for about a split second when Hawk snatched the marker away from her. She moved to peer at her own gravestone and tilted her head to the side as she stared at the dates Hawk had written on the foam surface.
"Huh. Always thought I'd die a lot sooner than that," she pondered out loud before shrugging and turning away. She had intended to go snatch Sam away from Mystic but she stopped promptly after one step when Athan cut her off.
He scowled down at her, arms folded over his chest. "Clean up this mess. Now," he grumbled in a low, slightly threatening voice. It seemed he was actually beginning to lose his temper, something that was quite a rare occurance. Then again, everyday wasn't quite Halloween at Twilight Designs, and Wren was dressed up as the fuming man.
And not just dressed up. He went the whole nine yards. Glamour. Realistic robes. For a while he was even "in character" so to speak.
The silver haired woman scowled back up at him. She'd give him that. She'd let him be irritated for a bit. "Fine," she hissed, "Not like I'd leave you to pick up this mess anyway."
'Shows what you know,' Hawk muttered back at Reyna, briefly pausing to twirl the marker in his hand before continuing on with his work. Besides, it gave him the time to work out the dates that needed to be written down. He had to concentrate some, not everything just came to him.
Wren's eyes flared a brighter green for a moment, briefly the true blue of his eye color peeking through before the glamour shifted back into place. "Whatever," he finally muttered, whether it was at Hawk or Athan was unknown. "I'll help, Reyna." A look was briefly given to Athan to dare him to say something in response to him saying he'd help.
He helped make the mess, he'd clean it up as well. Of course, first he wanted to snack on while he cleaned and he moved to pick up what looked to be a pumpkin lollipop. He could've swore, however, that they had been eggs previously. Undoing the wrapper, he popped into his mouth and started to suck on it.
Then he blinked and pulled it out of his mouth.
"Hey! These taste like souls!" A brief pause. "Yummy!" And it was promptly popped right back into his mouth while he went about figuring out where to start cleaning ( while he slid some of the lollipops into his pockets for later comsumption; they weren't real souls, but they'd hit the spot when he got a craving ).
Reyna thought for a moment about saying something snide and rude to Hawk for that biting little comment, but decided against it. She wasn't bonded to him, and in general, crossing a Seer was not a good idea. Even if said Seer was merely a child that was far wiser than his years. She frowned and kept her comments to herself before glancing towards Wren.
"Seriously?" she asked, a bit wide-eyed. Kickass! She skittered towards him and peered into the basket. There was an assortment of black candles and the orange suckers that Wren had tried. The other things that had hatched from the unclaimed eggs had seemingly escaped, but considering how those particular eggs disappeared at random, she wasn't surprised.
"I grabbed one of these earlier," she murmured as she sifted through her pockets and then her sash tied at her waist to find the little horned, red egg, curious to see if it had hatched. She sulked a bit when she discovered it hadn't.
Hawk was back to semi-ignoring people again anyway as he felt his way along to the next grave stone. Another date had all ready formed in his head and he was well on his way to writing it down in red marker after he crossed out the other information on the thing. Accuracy was key, after all.
"Yeah, seriously," Wren mumbled around the sucker. "Didn't expect something so tasty ..." He looked over the other items briefly before looking towards Reyna as she peered at the horned egg. "That's interesting," he murmured, looking at it for a moment before dismissing it. It wasn't that interesting -- just a little demonic.
"Wonder about the one I found." Shuffling about in the hidden pockets in his robes, he reached for what should've been a bloody egg, but came out as a pendant with a blade and rubies. "Huh. Didn't expect that.
"Right." He said after a moment of staring at the necklace before slipping it back into his pocket. "Cleaning?"
Reyna started suddenly when Wren mentioned their needing to be cleaning. "Uh.. yeah," she murmured as she hid away the egg once more with a visible amount of effort. It was so pretty, and shiny, and red! She liked that color. And it was shiny. And.. she needed to go get the mop and bucket out of the closet in the hallway that led out to the alleyway rather than coveting the shinyshiny egg she'd snatched earlier.
'I'm going to take Sam home,' Mystic replied as she headed for the back room. Sam was half asleep in his arms with her little face buried against the Shadow's neck. He swayed slightly to rock her as he rubbed her back to keep her comfortable. She'd gotten rather grouchy towards the end of the party.
"Alrighty," Reyna replied with a smile, "I'll see you at home then." She sighed faintly as she watched Mystic leave with her little girl before heading off to get the cleaning supplies they'd need to clean up the front end of the shop.
Athan was tempted to leave. The comfort of his own home was infinately better than hanging around the shop with the two demons lurking about, but he wanted to make sure things were cleaned. It wasn't so much that he doubted Reyna (and begrudgingly Wren) but he was in an irritable enough mood to stay out of spite.
He glanced over towards Hawk who was still writing dates on the tombstones. He chuckled quietly under his breath and thought for a moment to tell him that what he was doing wasn't particularly nice, but he did find it to be rather amusing.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:07 pm
A Moonlit Path
Mystic and Sam head home from the party.The child in Mystic's arms fidgeted restlessly. She'd been in her panda costume all evening and was quickly growing tired of it. What's more, all the noise and people from the party at her mother's store had left her cranky. She certaintly hadn't woken up from a perfectly good nap for all of that!
She huffed faintly and turned in Mystic's arms so she could wrap her little arms about his neck. The faint frown of displeasure on her face disappeared when Fragments zipped around Mystic's legs in a quick circle before zooming upwards so that he was eye level with the child. Samara smiled and waved at him with one hand before reaching out to pat his head. She giggled when her hand sifted through him all together a moment later when she reached to pet him again.
Mystic glanced back behind him, utterly amused by both the child and the daemon's antics. It seemed lately they were always up to something, and that something always seemed to be terribly cute. He had a feeling it was because they had both settled into their home. He and Reyna had also grown used to having them around. Really, it was hard to imagine life without them.
A group of children in costumes ran past them in a quick dash, giggling and laughing as they ran past Mystic who paused to allow the kids by. Sam's green eyes widened suddenly at the sight of all of them in strange outfits. She squealed loudly in delight and reached out towards the direction they fled in before turning to look up at Mystic expectantly.
'Still a bit too young for trick or treating, I should think,' he chuckled good naturedly in a soft whisper against her mind. He wasn't entirely certain whether or not she understood what he had said but she smiled brightly all the same, showing off the very first of her baby teeth.
He stopped once more when another smaller group of kids rushed by. They all seemed to be gathering at a shop not too far away. He could hear the sounds of music and laughter and other such sounds indicative of a party. 'Lets have a better look, hm? Just don't tell Reyna or she'll throw a fit,' Mystic murmured as he slowly allowed himself to float up off the ground.
Sam cried out loudly with a bubbly, amused laugh as they floated up towards the rooftops of the surrounding buildings. Fragments seemed to prance midair before zipping about in acrobatic loops and spirals.
'Show off,' the Shadow laughed as he floated over towards the roof of where the children had all headed. A few shouted and pointed, declaring that he was ghost as he passed overhead, but with a few mutters from the adults supervising they were calmed. He laughed quietly and idly wondered what their explanations were. Really, all they had to say was, 'This is Gaia, you know.' It was the truth.
Samara snuggled closer into Mystic's arms that held her so tightly and waved to the people down below with one hand while Fragments danced just over their heads. Some of the children waved back and she gurgled happily in response before quieting down once the lights of the city faded and the familiar dark calm of Bass'ken Lake replaced the hustle and bustle of children in costumes. The only light that could be seen was that of the swollen, yellow full moon. It shined with a faint silver glow that reflected lightly off the waves of the lake. It was a calming sight after such an eventful evening.
She yawned and watched sleepily as Fragments slowed down and hovered closer and closer to Mystic. She'd had quite a bit of excitement and as much as she loved to play with her big brother when he decided to fly her through the air, she was growing quite tired.
Her warm bed was welcomed without protest after she had been changed out of her panda onesie and put to sleep. Mystic hovered near her bed and watched as she slowly slipped off to sleep. 'Maybe next year.. you can go trick or treating.' He reached to brush her bangs out of her face and whispered a sweet endearment before drifting off to his own room.
Despite the insanity of the party at Twilight Designs, it had been a rather uneventful Halloween, though really, he couldn't bring himself to complain.
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Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2005 10:10 pm
Dreamtime
Disturbing thoughts and equally disturbing dreams.He'd never particularly slept well. Truthfully, the actual physical need to sleep was something completely new to him. Athan had explained that the likely cause was his age. Because he was older and was now creating more energy than simply stealing Reyna's, his body had to recharge. He had his doubts on that theory, but there was no other way to explain it.
He hated feeling like someone else's science project.
Regardless of how he felt about the subject, he once more found himself lying in bed trying to sleep. Instead, he found himself staring up at the ceiling, wishing he could. Maybe it would be easier if he knew the mechanics of how sleep worked exactly. It was terribly abstract. But so was magic, and that he understood with a sort of absolute clarity he couldn't readily explain.
It made him wonder. How did it manage to effect him anyway? He wasn't human. He definitely wasn't a demon like Reyna, either. His chest rose and fell as though he breathed, yet he had no lungs. He could touch and feel, but there were no nerve-endings beneath his fingertips. What was he really? A shadow. A shadow of what?
A shadow of whom he used to be. A watered down version of his former self. That bothered him.
It was those thoughts that tormented him most -- and it was those thoughts that haunted his dreams.
He sometimes felt as though he were trapped by them; trapped in them never to wake again. When he did wake, it was to confusion and torment. There was also the general feeling that he was being watched, even though no one, not even his bond, was present.
It made him want to scream, but he lacked a voice to do so. It was maddening, and he couldn't help but sometimes wonder if he was in fact insane. Then of course, there was that nagging voice in the back of his head that snickered and laughed.
Of course he was crazy. Of COURSE he was batshit insane.
Who wasn't.
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Posted: Fri Dec 02, 2005 9:27 pm
The Cat Came Back
...just not the very next day."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.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:00 pm
The Curious Little Bug
Roleplay with Labradorite!Bright violet eyes narrowed and focused intently on the silent form that was hunkered over the desk, steadily working on a pile of paperwork. If he was silent, if he was careful, he might be able to sneak up on her. The little flaw in that plan was that his bonded was not an easy person to sneak up on and she was his bonded -- she knew when he was around reguardless.
"Nice try buddy, but you're going to have to try a bit harder than that," Reyna spoke up without ever taking her eyes off her paperwork.
'It was worth a try,' Mystic spoke up as he lazily drifted down along the wall and then the rest of the way through it so he was hovering just near his guardian's back. He felt utterly lethargic and it was visible in the way he moved and spoke. Seeing him move through the air was akin to watching a slow-moving fog creep across the ground, and his cloak only seemed to add to the unnerving visual. He huffed quietly as though sighing in a bored, detached manner despite his obvious lack of lungs to push the air forth needed to do so. The phantom ache and feeling of doing so was still there, though.
"Something wrong?"
'No. Why?' he asked as he curled loosely against Reyna's back and wrapped his arms about her shoulders.
"You're acting strangely," she said simply.
'Mmmm... it's because.. because I'm drowsy. Seems I've done nothing but sleep, though,' he answered as he slowly drifted away from her to lounge lazily midair, just barely visible with the light pouring through the front windows. 'Been having weird dreams,' he went on as he used his cloak as both a blanket and a pillow.
"Yeah?"
'Mmhm,' he replied, 'And all I remember about them is that there were two weird little kids running around playing with.. something. Something shiny.'
Reyna glanced back towards him with a faint, bemused expression. If her mind weren't linked to his she probably would have thought him insane. He typically didn't ramble, but that's what he was beginning to do. Or at least, that's how it sounded in her mind.
"Right. Uh. Watch the front end of the store for me for a minute," she murmured as she pushed away from her desk and disappeared into the back room with a stack of paper in her arms.
'Kay.' He floated back down towards the ground to stand on human-like feet before moving to sit at Reyna's desk with the hood of his cloak drawn up over his head. He looked very much like Athan sitting there moping about the shop with his dark robes, but Mystic was hardly the disgruntled mage.
Labbie seemed almost excited to be going back to the shop. It flitted ahead of Elysia, wisps fully formed into an elaborate set of butterfly wings that faded and wisped away at the very bottom. The wisp bobbed up and down excitedly, and waited in front of the door to the shop for Elysia to come open it. After all, it couldn't phase through the pane of glass...
"Gosh, aren't you excitable today!" Elysia exclaimed, power-walking behind the shadowy creature, trying to stay caught up to the energetic wisp. "You haven't been this motivated to move in a very long time...Feel good to be back?" she asked, not expecting any answer besides more bobbing up and down. Pushing the door to the shop open, Elysia stepped inside and waited for Labbie to follow.
Seeing the cloaked man at the desk, Elysia called out. "Athan, is that you?" she asked, not seeing that it was, in fact, Mystic. She'd only met Athan a couple of times, but he was usually all decked out in robes and black stuff. This guy seemed to match the profile.
The wisp darted over to the desk, and the butterfly wings transformed into swirling shadows again as the wisp checked the man out. She was obviously excited to see him.
Mystic laughed. It was an eerily soft sort of noise, but that was generally how his telepathic voice came across -- soft and quiet. Though it had deepened some since he had grown, but he was still rather soft spoken. At least most of the time. Unless, of course, a certain Seer were involved or the man in question whom Elysia had mistaken him as.
'I'm not Athan,' he murmured faintly as he reached to push the hood to his cloak out of his face to prove that point. Last he checked Athan wasn't purple. 'Thank the deities for that,' he added as he idly rested his chin in one hand and watched the little wisp curiously. It was an energetic little thing, though most of them seemed to be so from what he had seen.
'Hello, bug,' he replied. Surely, if he had had a mouth, he'd have been smirking.
Seeing the shadowed purple face emerge from underneath the dark cloak, Elysia smiled, her face becoming suddenly relaxed. "Oh, hi! I was expecting to see a more sour face under there," she chuckled. Athan always made her a bit nervous, in that "man-that-guy-is-just-a-little-creepy" kind of way. "You're Mystic right? Looks like you've gotten older since I saw you last. Looks as if the new age suits you. How are things around here?"
She leaned up against the counter, watching the wisp interact with the Fiend. Interesting...
The wisp bobbed happily up and down at the greeting, obviously oblivious to any ill will the Fiend might have had toward it. Uncoiling it's wings, shadowy tendrils explored Mystic's hair, and then they crept along the desk, backing slowly away from Mystic. There it rested, looking as if it were closely observing the Fiend.
'Yes, yes. I am Mystic,' he answered with a wave of one hand with a sort of bored, detached air, though his eyes didn't for one moment leave the little wisp that was floating about the desk. 'I'd say things are doing okay, but I don't actually work here, so I wouldn't know for certain. I make it a point not to visit too often.'
He fell quiet and tilted his head curiously to one side as he gazed intently at Elysia for a moment. 'What brings you buy? Shopping?' he snickered. Right. Who really came shopping at Twilight Designs once they'd been saddled with a Shadow?
"Aaah, well I guess it's good that you don't work here?" she asked, not really asking the question, because he made it clear that his answer would be yes.
"Yeah, I'm not around here very often either...and every time I am in here, there's no one else here...But I'm glad to hear that things are well enough." She paused, watching the wisp dance around the desk on it's shadowy tendrils.
"I've got a a question for you...not quite related to why I'm here, but something I've been wondering...Can you talk to it?" She pointed to Labbie, who was now resting atop a pen. "I try to talk to it, but I never get much feedback...but of course, it's been the source of more than a few strange dreams."
"And as to why I came by...I was also wondering if um...if it could get sick? It's not been acting very normal as of late...Labbie's been surprisingly quiet, and it's kind of concerning."
The wisp continued to perch on top of the pen, the wisps eventually reforming into wings and flapping silently, as if it was trying to keep its balance.
Somewhere in the back of his mind there was this wicked little voice whispering ever so softly that he ought to fill the woman with all sorts of lies. Oh sure! He could talk to it! Sort of like how he could talk to a brick wall. He resisted the urge to laugh outright at that train of thought as it would be more than a little rude, and he had a suspicious feeling that lying outright to the woman's face would come back and bite him later. Hard.
Squishing that mischeivous, nagging voice, he replied, 'No.' He paused for a brief moment as he peered down at the little wisp before deciding to elaborate. 'I can only feel what it feels if I wanted to try. But I don't. You should be able to as well. We are empathic. Pity emotions are so vauge, though.'
He leaned back away from the desk and idly swiveled the stool back and forth in a fidgety, child-like manner that belied his adult form. 'Can't say I recall ever being sick. Not really, anyway. Too much light inflicts headaches on occasion. Darkness is definately preferable,' he went on as he was more or less beginning to ramble as he scooted the stool back and forth, 'Closing off one's bond to one's guardian is also a tad painful, and I don't reccomend it, but she shouldn't be able to do that yet and I don't think you have a choice in the matter.'
He stopped suddenly and leaned over the desk with his dark hands flat against the surface as he all but invaded the small wisp's space so that his face was only inches from it. 'Question. What's your definition of normal?' He couldn't help the amusement that trickled into his voice.
"Well, sometimes I feel some occasional emotions from it, but never much...It's hard to tell. I can usually tell when it's happy, and if it's afraid...but that's about all," she said, not noticing a change in Mystic's demeanor. "I just thought you might have a way to communicate with it, since you're a Fiend too. Annnyways..." she paused to listen to potential reasons why Labbie might not be feeling so well, leaning up against the counter, her chin resting in her palm.
As he swivled around and put his face near the wisp, Elysia was a bit surprised to see the wisp jump a little, and she suddenly felt a surge of nervous emotions that could only have come from Labbie. The wisp was obviously agitated by Mystic's invastion of it's personal space. The wings quickly collapsed, as shadowy tendrils reached backward, pulling the gem backward with it, away from the Fiend's face. Once it was in a comfortable position once again, the shadows reformed into wings---dragonfly this time, and the wisp settled on the edge of the desk, the wings flapping more quickly this time, as if it was still a bit nervous.
"Well," she said, watching the poor creature jump and back away from Mystic. "Looks like it likes it's space...though it seems to have no problem invading other people's." She let out a chuckle, and then answered Mystic's question, noticing his jovial tone. "Well, Labbie's been so quiet. It hasn't really moved around much, and it used to be quite active...And now it's so serene and calm! It doesn't attach to my forehead anymore, and I don't get the dreams either....I was so used to its odd behavior, and now I think it's strange that these things aren't happening," she said, a look of concern on her face. "I guess I should probably welcome the blessing, but I just thought maybe there might be a problem with it..."
'Perhaps she's simply quiet by nature. It could be her personality showing through,' Mystic replied casually as he leaned back away from the wisp and crossed his arms over his chest comfortably. Or she could be plotting some sort of impending doom in the back of her nonexistent little head. Really, he needed to find a way to permanently squash that ickle little voice before it got
him into some serious trouble. Even if it was entertaining at times.
'I'm sure she's fine. She seems okay to me,' he went on, 'Dunno if there would be much you could do if she wasn't, though I'm certain if something was wrong you'd feel it.' Despite his lack of a mouth his face was quite expressive, and once more, he seemed to be smirking. 'It would be impossible not to.'
"I suppose you could be right," she said with a slight sigh, eyes carefully watching the wisp. "Her...behavior was just so odd at first," she paused, noticing that it was the first time she'd ever referred to the wisp as a female...but Mystic had said done it as well, and somehow Elysia was sure that she'd really known that Labbie was a female spirit all along.
Noticing the expression on his face, she instantly felt just a little creeped out by the adult Fiend. "Well, thanks for the reassurance anyway. I'm sure she's just fine...It'd probably be more obvious if things weren't going well, like you said." She stopped, feeling a bit of awkward silence. My, weren't things going pleasantly, she thought...maybe it was time to be going...
Seemingly examining Mystic once again, the wisp darted up and floated quickly around his head, and then moved back over to Elysia, her tendrils reaching out to once again curl around her silver hair. It moved up on top of her head and sat down, forming a strange diadem, and gave off a few happy vibes here and there.
'Yup,' he spoke up. Afterall, the woman still had a pulse and that was generally a good sign that things were going just fine. He nearly laughed out loud at that thought but was caught slightly off guard when Reyna bustled back into the room with a box full of papers.
"What sort of trouble are you stirring up?" she teased, but there was a knowing smile on her face as she plopped the box down upon the desk and ruffled Mystic's hair in a way that made him pull a rather sour face. She simply grinned before turning towards the other woman. "... Elysia, wasn't it?" she asked curiously before rifling through the box.
"Thanks for the info Mystic...I appreciate it---I don't really know what I'm dealing with..." she said with a slight shrug and appreciative smile. Hearing Reyna's voice, she stood up, no longer leaning on the counter, but standing casually, hands in her pockets.
"Yeah," she said, nodding at the woman. "I'm Elysia...Labbie's bonded. Nice to see you again. Reyna, right? It's been awhile since I've been here. Not since Halloween, I think it was." She looked curiously at the box that the woman was searching through, and then saw shadowy tendrils creeping down her arm. Had the wisp decided to make another appearance?"
Labbie crept slowly down Elysia's arm and along the counter, looking rather interested in Reyna. The shadows formed wings once again, and the wisp fluttered up into the air, and around the room, finally landing on the desk near the box.
Mystic said nothing as he stood from the chair to allow Reyna to sit. He idly leaned against her back and watched the little wisp from over her shoulder. Amusing little bug. He would have smiled at that thought, but Reyna smiled for him with a small chuckle.
"Yup. Hehe. That was a good party," she murmured as she set down a stack of papers to sort into different piles all over her desk. "Pity Athan doesn't seem too keen on hosting another."
'Could be because of the mess and how it ended in mass chaos,' he spoke up softly. A particularly wicked look fluttered across his face briefly. 'Not that I'm defending him.'
"It was quite the party, you're right," Elysia said, stifiling a giggle. "And it did get pretty rowdy there at the end...I had to crawl out the door to keep from becoming a target!"
She smiled at the pair, and continued. "Well, I'm sure the next gathering won't get so...out of hand," she said. "I'm sure Athan will keep things in line this time around..."
She sighed, and glanced around the shop once again. "How are things around here? Do many other Fiends and their guardians come around? I never see anyone when I come here."
The wisp seemed to be watching Reyna as she shuffled through her papers, and it was now giving off more pleasant vibes than it had been before. It's wings flapped slowly again, just to maintain it's balance.
Reyna snickered quietly under her breath. If she had her way, the next party (because there would SO be another whether Athan liked it or not) would be just as rowdy as the first. She smiled and continued shuffling through papers before pausing briefly to eye the wisp and then Elysia.
"Mm. It is fairly quiet here most of the time. Others do drop by every now and then," she answered quietly, "I suppose there's not much need to hang around this place too much. Fiends have a way of taking care of themselves."
She paused for a moment and glanced towards Mystic with a small smirk twitching at her lips. "Even if they do cause a fair amount of trouble."
Elysia shifted from one foot to the other. "Yeah, I just never see anyone unless you're having some sort of rowdy event..." She chuckled, and lifted her shoulder bag up, relieving her back of the weight for a short time. "I guess you're right about that," she said, knowing that Labbie could definitely take care of herself.
"I'm just glad Labbie hasn't caused me too much trouble. She seems so much more calm now that Rhea's living with us...I thought her erratic behavior was normal, but thank god it wasn't! I don't think I could have dealt with those headaches much longer..."
She paused. "And speaking of...well, sorta." She chuckled. "How long does it take for them to...mmm...mature? She's been a stone for so long now...I don't know if I'm just expecting it to grow like the Furies do, or what. They do have similar inital stages. I thought by now she'd be talking to me, and we could be having good times together!" She laughed, and as she did, the wisp fluttered over to her, bouncing up and down in front of Elysia's face happily. It seemed she wanted to enjoy herself too.
"Mmm.. that sounds like an Athan-question to me," Reyna spoke up as she rest her chin in one hand and paused from rummaging through paperwork. "I honestly couldn't tell you. Mystic was a wisp for quite some time. My guess would be that it's different for every Fiend."
Mystic simply nodded in solemn agreement with his guardian. It was the plain and simple truth as far as he knew.
"They are more fun when they're older, though personally I thought I was going to have to strangle Mystic a time or two when he was a kid."
The Shadow in question gave his guardian a rather exasperated look. Really, he was never going to live those times down.
"Mmm...Well, I'll just keep talking to her, and hopefully she'll decide to emerge one day. I just want her to be able to talk to me...She gives me such mixed emotions that I never know what's going on in her mind," she leaned up against the counter again. "Well, I can imagine they are more fun when they're older. At least they can interact with you..."
Turning to the bug resting on her shoulder, she spoke to it softly. "Not that you're not fun now Labbie...I just want you to be able to tell me what you're feeling and seeing..." She had begun to treat the wisp like a child, trying to show it things, and explain things to it as they travelled, so that when Labbie did emerge, she would understand at least some of the things around her.
Attention went back to Reyna, and Elysia giggled slightly. "Well, most of my kids did rowdy things when they were younger. It just means you'll have lots of stories to tell to your own kids one day."
"Mmmm... true," she replied slowly with a mischeivous glint in her visible eye, "I've always been fond of reflecting on the time Mystic got stuck in a wall. And then there was when he demolished my kitchen." A wicked smirk plastered itself across Reyna's face as she turned her gaze over towards the Fiend in question.
He huffed and folded his arms over his chest, but despite the rather stern look on his face it was quite obvious he was blushing and was more than a little embarrassed.
'You're almost as bad as Hawk.'
"Sorry, love," the woman smirked, "You make yourself an easy target."
Elysia giggled at the thought of Mystic getting trapped inside a wall. "How did he get in the wall Reyna?" Elysia asked, wondering if he just up and slid right on through..."And why couldn't he get out?"
Turning to Mystic, she gave him a knowing smile. "Hey, don't feel bad, every mother tells embarassing stories about their children...And she'll do it forever too, so I'd try to get used to it if I were you," she suggested, laughing.
Labbie just sat there contentedly, flapping her wings every now and then, radiating a peaceful feeling to Elysia.
Reyna shifted in her seat and leaned forward on the desk to rest her chin in her hand. "He hadn't been a child long when the incident occured," she answered quietly even though she could almost feel how Mystic rolled his eyes at her, "He was hiding in a wall trying to escape from me because I was scolding him for basically destroying my kitchen. He didn't realize he'd taken a solid form and he got so upset that he got stuck in the wall."
She laughed quietly under her breath at the memory. "Good times."
'Indeed,' Mystic grumbled.
Elysia nodded and gave Reyna an amused smile, and then she turned to Mystic with a curious look. "Did you become solid that quickly? When did that happen? I don't really know what kind of creature Labbie's going to grow into...Will she be invisible when she first grows--maybe look kind of like you?"
She had lots of questions about what Labbie might be like...It would be cool if she was see-through. She'd be like a small ghost, and who wouldn't want a cool ghost following them around? She supposed that she'd seen a couple of other ghostly looking Fiends at the Halloween party, but she hadn't noticed if they were opaque or not.
Mystic blinked and peered at the woman for a long moment before slowly replying. 'I did.. I just didn't know how to reverse it.. er.. well.. I did.. I was just too upset to,' he admitted with a grumble before glancing away. He fell silent for a time before turning his violet eyes back upon Elysia and Labradorite.
'You will know. She is.. bonded to you. You will feel it,' he answered, 'And she ought to be able to assume whatever form she pleases, but it will take time to control it as I and other older Shadows can.'
He faded from view almost entirely as though to demonstrate that particular ability causing to him appear very much like some strange spector floating through the air. He resumed a solid form as he stood behind Reyna on human-feet with one arm idly wrapped about her shoulders.
Getting the feeling that Mystic was bothered by her questions, Elysia decided to back off a bit. She knew she could get carried away sometimes, but she really was curious. After all, Labbie had been a stone for a long time, and she had no idea what to expect.
"Aww, I can imagine that changing for the first time would be a bit traumatic...Now, I'm sure you're great at it!" she said, giving him an enthusiastic look. She was never sure if he disliked her or not... "It's all a matter of practice."
Looking over at Labbie, contentedly flapping her wings, Elysia imagined what she might look like. Probably similar to the ghost she saw in that Casper movie. That's what most of the other Fiends she'd seen had looked like...
"Aaah, I see. Well, I'm sure she'll be beautiful, regardless of what form she chooses."
She watched as Mystic faded from view, and then reappeared behind Reyna. "WOW, that's so cool!"
Suddenly, an electronic beeping emerged from Elysia's pocket...and soon after, vibration followed, indicating the ringing of her cell phone. Pulling it out and flipping it open, she held a finger up. "Hold on one second..."
There was a brief discussion on the other end, and then she snapped the phone back into it's closed position. "Oh, I almost forgot! I have to go pick up Ari from the sitter. Looks like I was supposed to be there half an hour ago...God, I'm a horrible mother!"
Labbie flitted out toward Reyna and Mystic, sending them thankful vibes, and then she turned and moved back onto Elysia's shoulder, sensing that it was time to go.
"Take care," Reyna smirked. Mystic simply offered a small wave over her shoulder as he decided to hide in her shadow for the time being. He still really wasn't so used to be social, and it left him feeling a bit drained. He was beginning to think he didn't mind it too much, though. Time would tell.
"Later!" Elysia called as she headed out the door, Labbie safely riding on her shoulder, her wings no longer wings, but wisps again.
"See you guys again sometime. I know I'll be back eventually!" They all came back eventually, she thought to herself with a grin. Heading out the door, she let it close quickly behind her, and she walked into the evening, back toward Gambino.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:02 pm
Living With a Medusa
Mystic is having a hard time adjusting to the presence of his house guest.To say Mystic was not fond of Isabella Tuuli was a vast understatement. He loathed the changeling. He visibly bristled whenever she came near and cringed when she tried to "flirt" with him. He voiced his dislike to Reyna who more or less echoed his thoughts, but she did nothing about her. He knew his guardian. He loved her. He knew her well. He didn't understand why or how it was Izzy managed to have some sort of sway over her to make her not do anything about how annoying she was.
It made him dislike her even more.
His current dislike laid mostly with the creature Izzy had apparently sent their way. His name was Charles (but he preferred his "stage" name of "Die") and he was surely the most infuriating beast Mystic had ever encountered. His dislike of Charles (he called him that just to piss him off) even rivalled his dislike of Izzy. It was even dangerously close to his dislike of Hawk and Athan (but that was a very special kind of dislike which was difficult to beat).
Yes, Charles was annoying. He was fatally cheerful. Constantly. He also had no idea of what personal space was, just like Isabella. He was slightly harder to get away from than the changeling, however. Charles, while lacking feet entirely as he was a medusa of sorts, he moved quite quickly and had a habit of wrapping his tail around things and people.
He was also a blanket thief and had overrun the basement with blankets and an assortment of space heaters to keep it warm at all times. Mystic didn't especially suffer from cold or require blankets, but he liked having them. Furthermore, they were his.
He huffed and curled up beneath the comforter he had just snatched back. He wished the stupid medusa would just go away. Sure, he was nice to the point of sheer idiocy, but did he have to scream about ghosts every time he phased through a wall or a door?
Mystic grumbled to himself and tightened his grip on his blanket, eyes drifting half closed as he began to fall asleep. At least he was sweet to Sam and Fragments. She seemed to like him just fine, but Sam was sweet to everyone she met unless they gave her specific reasons to throw temper tantrums. One look at her big green eyes was enough to melt anyone she came in contact with so it wasn't like she really had that problem.
And if she did, her mama was a demon.
Plus she has me. He relaxed a bit at that thought as his dark scowl smoothed out to what very well could have been a smile. The moment was ruined however when a knock came at his door.
"Myyssstiii~iiiic, sweetness!"
He groaned and pulled a pillow over his head.
Die creaked open the door and poked his head in with a cheerful smile. "Just wanted to let you know that I made cookies and tea! I know you don't eat but... it's there anyway!"
Mystic rolled his eyes. No mouth, a*****e. I have no MOUTH, he thought to himself.
"Oh! I also went shopping today and bought you some books and a new blanket! I'm leaving them here at your door, kay? Night night!!"
The door shut and Mystic heaved a heavy sigh. He was going to have to play nice now. Damn it.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:03 pm
Shiny Things
Mystic bought himself a journal and does a tiny bit of writing...
Mystic sat at the desk in his room, something he realized he had rarely used, not even for reading which he could frequently be found doing. Typically he did his reading while lounging in bed, and if he wasn't there he was in a library or book store of some sort. It was at such a store that he found a neatly bound leather journal. He typically wasn't a compulsive shopper, but he thought it might be useful to write his thoughts down in. Who knows, perhaps he consider writing fiction of some sort on his own. He certainly read enough of it to perhaps pick up the talent.
With that thought in mind, he began to write:
05/12/06
I bought this journal today, mostly for superficial reasons -- it was shiny. I think I might write something useful, or perhaps simply entertaining. Not sure what yet. I do enjoy fiction a great deal, so perhaps a collection of short stories if I have the patience. There will likely never be anything of epic proportions written. I lack the patience.
I also am not knowledgeable enough in any one subject to write decent nonfiction so that is completely out of the question. My life is certainly not interesting or lengthy enough for an autobiography, either.
So in short, I've not a clue what to write. I suppose my thoughts will have to do.
He shut the journal with an irritated look. Well now what was he supposed to do with it? He had nothing else to write and thus no other purpose for it save for it to sit and look nice on his desk. He sighed and leaned back in his chair. This was totally due to Charles' influence, compulsive shopper that he was.
Oh well. Perhaps he'd write again tomorrow. Or not at all.
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Posted: Fri May 12, 2006 7:04 pm
Don't Panic
Cut off from his bond to Reyna, Mystic loses a bit of his reserve.As he had grown into adulthood, there were truly few things that could make Mystic panic. There were things that made him uneasy, irritable, or down right anxious -- yes. But panicky? It did not top the list, if it even made the roster at all. There was apparently one thing that could however.
Reyna, or rather, the loss of her presence.
His bond to her was something he treasured beyond all else. He loved her. She was the constant in his life. Her temper was something that didn't phase him (usually). Her brash sense of humor amused him to no end. He could always feel her nearby even if she weren't physically close to him through their bond.
Never before had he encountered a situation where she somehow simply wasn't there until now. He tugged desperately at his link to her, but instead encountered nothing almost as though she simply didn't exist. It sent a thrill of panic through his entire form.
Where was she?! Where. Was. Reyna?!
His flurry of upset raised the attention of someone other than his beloved guardian, however. It was Athan that tugged back and inquired what was wrong.
Mystic's first instinct was to shut him out entirely, but if there was anyone in the known universe that could understand or help, it was Athan -- even if he didn't appreciate or even like him.
'Reyna's GONE,' he insisted.
He felt the distinct impression of Athan making some sort of indignant noise. 'If she were gone, so would you be.'
This thought calmed him to at least some degree as it was true. Without his bond to her, he would fade away. All that would remain of him would be his stone. 'Then why can't I reach her? It's like... nothing is there.'
A long span of silence followed and he began to fidget restlessly.
'It could be a number of things. Likely, the foolish woman has gotten herself into trouble.'
'But what if she is hurt and is dying or something? I need to find her!' A spike of panic accompanied by worry went through him again, and he began to pace about his room, tearing his hands through his hair until he stopped mid-step as he felt a faint twinge of something.
'You would cease to exist, you know that. If she were dying you would feel it.'
Mystic went still. He could almost almost feel her presence, but it was so faint. It was like she was waking slowly, clawing through a thick fog until suddenly she was there. Their bond flared brightly to life to a point that it was nearly painful, or was it simply that Reyna was in pain?
It was difficult to tell.
He rattled off to Athan that he had found her and that he was on his way to her. Athan, knowing better, would follow to ensure that no true harm befell Reyna and that Mystic stayed out of trouble. He would be needed given the young man's state of mind, that was for certain.
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