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 Posted: Mon Jan 24, 2005 8:46 am
 Date: 01.24.05 Location: Small Chamber of the Silva Regia Tower. Synopsis: Averno taunts the bound Sajhiri, whose darkside is in control. A warning is given by the Feien to the demonic side of her bond's consciousness. Participants: Averno and Sajhiri. The Scene: Sajhiri growled and pulled at the extent the chains binding her would allow. The woman trapped within her had demanded to be chained up this way until the influence of Majestrix Nox could be removed from her, but her dark side was unaware until it was too late. Now, having awoken in the Silva Regia Tower in Gaia chained to the wall by one wrist in one of the smaller rooms, she paced the floor and hissed menacingly at the tiny figure perched on the door handle out of her reach. Her eyes glowed red with rage and the demonic spirit in control.
Averno sat crosslegged on the thick blocky iron handle of the chamber door and studied her bond with a smug expression. "See where all this nastiness has brought you, Sajhiri? Did you really think no one knew what you were doing? I figured this out long ago when you first started being rude to me." She flicked a sausage curl back over her shoulder. "Of course, I sort of like you this way, you've got a lot more backbone. If you'd just managed not to treat me lousy I might have let your little charade continue instead of letting Cervus know you were playing him."
Sajhiri lunged at the Feien but was brought up short by the chain. She put a hand unconsciously to her expanding belly, her and *Washu*'s child disliking the supression of her mother's good side. "Why you little snot! I'll have your guts for garters!"
Averno laughed, a taunting, teasing sound as she buffed her nails on her chest. "Reeeaaaalllly now? Considering you won't be let out of here until the real Sajhiri overtakes you permanently once more, I find that a rather hollow threat. You really should close your mouth when you hiss, you're getting spittle on the floor, dear."
That sent the possessed Seraph into a darker mood and she slumped into the heavily cushioned chair within her reach. Sajhiri eyed the fairy like a wolf eyes a stray fawn in the wood. "You'd better pray your little wishes come true, because if I get out of this chain, you'll be lunch for the Dire Wolves of the Moon Court. Not that you'll be much good for anything but picking their teeth."
Averno snorted and she flexed her wings. "Was that supposed to upset me? You must be losing your touch, dear, that was a lame attempt to raise my ire." She launched herself into the air and landed on a bookshelf also just out of her bond's reach. She walked along it, perusing the titles casually, just a smidgeon too far away for Sajhiri to snatch.
Jhiri veritably foamed at the mouth, but the weight of the child in her womb made her weaker and more tired than she usually was. She settled back to stare darkly at her tormentor from beneath her dark hair, a snarl contorting her face.
Averno glanced back over her shoulder and sighed as it seemed her fun for the day was over. "Ah well, I'll come back and see you again soon dear. I count the minutes until you're back in the hell of permanent supression by my bond. And make note, if you ever hurt her like this again, you WILL pay most dearly for it. This I promise you.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 6:46 am
Date: 01.25.05 Location: The GMFC Clinic Synopsis: Averno, Cervus, and the Sphinx bring Sajhiri in for a checkup. Participants: Sajhiri, Cervus, Averno, and the Sphinx, Lady_Morgan123, Kia (Neith-Kia), and Rhiannon (Sayuri_Nitta). The Scene: The door to the clinic was drawn open by a tawny furred hand with taloned claws. Following that hand a pair of tiny winged forms zipped inside and landed on the reception desk. One of the pair, an antlered male fey, hefted a pen in both arms, setting the point on the registry sign in. The other, a black-tressed, bat winged Feien girl flapped up to steady the top of the pen. Together they struggled to sign Sajhiri in for her appointment.
At the door, the tawny furred being turned out to be the Sphinx, Sajhiri's Mythos friend, who led the mother to be inside with one furred hand firmly gripping the woman's forearm. "Arrived we have, though where we shall wind up is yet a mystery, friend Sajhiri."
Sajhiri looked exhausted and a bit disheveled, though neither seemed to be the product of her barely visible pregnancy. Most unusual about her was the manacle around her right wrist, connected by a thick chain to one on the Sphinx' left wrist.
Averno, the Feien, grunted as she dropped the pen, letting Cervus stagger about with it on the counter top. The girl flew to perch on Sajhiri's shoulder. "You're signed in, now I guess we just wait, and keep you preoccupied so that dark side of yours doesn't get out again."
Sajhiri nodded wearily and slumped onto a sofa, the cat-woman sitting beside her and gently smoothing out locks of the woman's hair with the grooming instinct of a feline.Morgan slipped inside, shivering despite her heavy cloak. She hated being cold. She removed the cloak and relaxed back in a chair, not sure why she was here, but this place was always soothing for her nerves. She noticed the other woman and her...companions, and smiled slightly and gave a little wave. "Hello." The raven-haired woman greeted politely, her eyes flickering the manacle for a moment. Sajhiri's head lifted and she turned to regard Morgan with a tired but gentle smile. "Hello." She blushed slightly realizing that her current state of seeming incarceration must look odd indeed. She gestured to the manacle. "Just a precaution. To make a long story short, my small but unpleasant immoral side has been under the influence of a corrupt fairy who, via dark magics, has been able to supress my will and my 'good side' to wreak havok." Well, that was a mouthful.
Cervus, the male fey, settled on the arm of the sofa and crossed his arms over his chest, looking vigilent. Averno flitted off to look at the paintings hanging on the walls curiously. For her part, the Sphinx relaxed and picked up a magazine to peruse. She muttered about how even the masses could read words on papyrus now and how times had changed.Morgan blinked, she hadn't really expected an explanation. "Ah, I'm sorry, is there anything you can do to stop the magic?" She asked curiously. It seemed like a problem that could solved with a simple protection spell or enchantment, but Morgan wasn't sure if it was her place to say so, or if the magic could be stopped at all. She blushed slightly suddenly, "sorry if I'm being nosy." Sajhiri chuckled. "It's being worked on. Unfortunately it's an extremely ancient magic so it may take some time to unravel its intricacies. In the meantime, to protect myself and those around me, we're taking precautions." The woman smiled in spite of her predicament.
Cervus looked over at Morgan, as if trying to determine whether or not she was a threat, and seemed to decide she wasn't. He maintained his guardian stance though, a bit amusing considering his diminutive size on Gaia.Kia came into the clinic quietly, and headed straight for a soft looking chair nearby. One hand was around her stomach, as if already protective...
And there was the unmistakable look of a frying pan in the shoulder bag that she was wearing.
Kia flopped into the chair with a over-exagarated groan, already heavy with child, the stomach looking almost too large on her smaller frame. She rubbed her back slowly, glancing around. She noticed Sajhiri, and the chain, and blinked. She remembered the woman vaugely though Neith, when Kia was little enough to be carried to Silva Regia for visits. It had been months, Kia had grown too big to be taken across. "Hi, Miss Sajhiri..." Rhiannon had been approaching the clinic as Kia had entered, following her inside. She blinked at the pregnant woman with the chains on who was talking to someone else she didnt know, and taking a seat continued to stare at the younger woman, who was heavily pregnant. She stared unabashedly as she looked little older then Rhiannon's age - yet she was pregnant! She glanced around briefly, glad that Cyrus wasnt here. Finally warm, Morgan slipped off her cloak and folded it on the arm of the chair. She smiled at Cervus, "I promise I mean no harm, little one." She promised him and ran a hand through her hair.
"Well I hope it gets worked out soon. Fae magic can be very troublesome." Morgan replied, and then wrinkled her nose. "Forgive my rudeness, I should have introduced myself earlier, I'm Morgan." She added. Cervus seemed a bit indignant about the "little one" part. But he shrugged it off.
Sajhiri nodded to Morgan and smiled. "I'm Sajhiri, or Jhiri for short, nice to meet you." Her head turned at Kia's familiar voice, and a bit of shock touched her eyes at the young woman's impending state of motherhood. "Hello Kia, its go to see you. I er...congratulations are in order I supposed?" Concern creased Jhiri's brow at seeing someone so young in the clinic, but she tried to keep most of the worry off her face.
Averno zipped back over to the relatively secure area of Sajhiri's shoulder as the clinic waiting room began to fill up some. "Nice to meet you as well, Jhiri." Morgan replied, looking over at the two girls who entered, she was surprised to see that one of them was pregnant, but she kept that to herself. "Hello." She greeted both Kia and Rhiannon, she hadn't met them before but it didn't hurt to be polite. Kia beamed brightly at the other teenager, telling her, "Hi! I'm Kia, who are you?" as she stuffed a cushion under one side to help balance things. She wasn't aware of the feelings she was stiring in the others, Kia was a bit distracted.
Cog poked his head out of her bag, watching everyone through the odd fandangle face of his. Then he hovered out and perched on an arm, studying.
"It... is a bit early, I know." Kia glanced up to Sajhiri, shrugging helplessly. "But Taka is happy, and I am happy, so... besides, I heard that young bodies can give birth easier. If Dr. Kamiki thinks though, I will get one of those... cer... cutting up stomach births. Are you pregnant too?"
Kia glanced at Morgan, smiled brightly again and told her, "Hello!" 'I'm Rhiannon,' she replied flatly, still staring.
'Did a boy really do that to you?' she asked bluntly, pointing at Kia's swollen belly. Sajhiri blinked at Kia a few times, trying to digest the flood of words pouring out of her. "Taka...is the father, I take it? Ah a ceasarian section? Well I hope you don't have to go through that. It is quite early in your life to become a mother, but I hope it will go well for you, dear. And yes, I am expecting as well.
Rhiannon's bluntness made Sajhiri blush a bit. She cleared her throat and addressed the girl, "I think that is a question you should ask your mother, miss."Morgan blinked a bit surprised at both Kia's exclamation and Rhiannon's question. She did surpress a smile as she remembered having the explain to her daughters about pregnancy when they were younger.
"I'm Morgan." The dark-haired woman introduced herself, politely, to Kia. Rhiannon blinked at the woman;
'I already know how babies are made - I just dont get how she can allow a guy to do that to her. They are all jerks,' she scowled, scuffing at the floor with the tip of her boot. "Hi Rhiannon." Kia replied, not at all taken back by the bluntness. She'd been the same, and it wasn't quite as shocking to her. "Yes, I got pregnant before coming here. And Taka is nice, not a jerk!"
She glanced up at what Sajhiri said to the girl, looking a bit embarrassed. Kia didn't give Rhiannon any more information, just shifted a bit as one of the twins wriggled.
"Yes, he is. I was going to bring him... but I think he is trying to find money to get us a house." Kia rubbed her hands together a bit, adding, "I hope not, but the pain scares me, I am never good with pain. Congratulations though! You will be a good Momma, I hope you get unchained before it happens." Rhiannon shrugged;
'Well you are lucky then.' she muttered, still incredibly upset over her fight with Cyrus. Thinking about him made her eyes burn which probably meant they were glowing again. She ducked her head, letting her hair fall in a curtain around her face. Jhiri arched a brow, the earthbound angel apparently having a desire to give Rhiannon's mother a stern talking to, but not knowing who her mother was, the point was moot.
She looked to Kia and began to filter the information coming from the girl at her rapid pace. "Ah yes, well I hope so as well. How is Neith doing, dear? We're all so worried about Winny.""You will be lucky too." Kia told Rhiannon, believing every word. After all, the teenager wasn't much younger than Kia was, and Kia had found the guy she thought was her soul mate.
Kia glanced back at Sajhiri, shrugging helplessly. "I do not see her much, she is pacing around the house, or going to the castle, or returning. I think she is not sure what to do, so she is trying to be everywhere at once. I hope she is resting, but she is probably pacing around the house again." Morgan blinked and rubbed her eyes for a moment, looking at Rhiannon. She could have sworn she had just seen something strange with the girl's eyes, but the woman couldn't say for sure and now her hair was over her face. "You alright, miss?" She asked Rhiannon, her mothering instinct taking over. 'I'm fine,' she mumbled, blinking a few times to get rid of the feeling. She swallowed and tried to calm down, brushing her hair back and looking up at the woman that had asked. The Sphinx looked up at the conversation and chimed in "Little lives made littler by the greying of the light. But the dawn will subdue the dusk and the light will remain vibrant." She then idly looked back at the magazine she was perusing.
Sajhiri blinked over at the felinid in confusion, then back at Kia. "She does that a lot. Usually doesn't recall saying things, but they usually wind up being prophetic after the fact."
Averno snorted "Yes, after the fact, which makes her about as useful as polkadots on a moose."
The Sphinx accidentally fhwwaappped Averno off Sajhiri's shoulder with the tip of her tail. "Oh dear, my apoligies. The thing has a mind of it's own, I swear!" She smirked.
Averno brushed herself off and stood up on the couch cushion she'd landed on, glaring at the Mythos."You sure?." She didn't exactly look fine, but then she was a teenager, give it ten minutes and everything would be different. Morgan gave the girl a little smile. "Sorry if I'm being nosy." She apologized to Rhiannon. Kia's eyes drifted to the Sphinx, and back to Sajhiri. The woman seemed to give Kia a shiver down her back, but she couldn't place it, and she was feeling far too uncomfortable to even bother. "Maybe you could write them all down for her, so to keep track."
She grinned, and leaned forward to look at the feien fairy. "Are you from the Sun Court too? Or are you a different fairy?"
Kia leaned across to pat Rhiannon's hand, and told her, "Did a boy make you angry?" It made sense to Kia, after all. Strange things with eyes, plus calling males jerks, plus moody, all equaled a problem caused by a male! Or it meant that Rhiannon was at that time of the month, but male problems was easier to ask about. 'I'm fine,' she repeated. Who was this nosey woman anyway? She was acting like her mother. Then she had a thought - she did look older then Rhiannon and she wasnt her mother; maybe she would be useful.
'What is it like kissing a guy on the lips?' she asked. Morgan's eyebrows shot up, it had been too long since her daughters were teenagers, she wasn't used to this. "Its not really something you can easily explain. Its not a bad feeling, especially if you really like the boy. But aren't you a little young to be worrying about what it feels like to kiss a boy?" She added, crossing her arms. Ah, kids always in a hurry to grow up as fast as they can. Rhiannon glanced over whilst waiting for the woman to answer.
'He was really mean to me - he asked me what was wrong and then made me feel stupid for being upset.' she said, not eloborating on who this he was.
'How can I be too young?' she asked. This Kia girl was pregnant - she was a teenager wasnt she? Averno looked utterly appalled at Kia's question to her. The darkness Feien spat out in horror "Of course not! I'm a Feien. Not one of those silly folks from Tir Nan Og." She added as an afterthought, "No offense Cervus."
Cervus tugged on an antler idly, the Fey King obviously used to Averno's superiority complex by now. "None taken, Milady."
Sajhiri hmmed softly. "Writing them down does sound wise." She rummaged in her bag for a pen and a notepad and began to scribble what the Sphinx had uttered down on a blank page. Well most of it at least.Touche, Morgan thought, but she kept that to herself. "Well she made a choice, do you want to have a baby?" Morgan asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Besides, if all boys are jerks why do you want to be kissing them?" Morgan retaliated, again smothering the urge the smile. "I don't think you are too young for kissing." Kia told Rhiannon. After all, they were close in age, and Kia could remember when she wondered the same thing. "But if you don't know about it all, you make mistakes. And end up fat with babies like me, because you did not know how to stop it."
She poked at her stomach, and added as she looked down, "But it is not a bad mistake, ok, Bug and Bunny?" The last thing Kia wanted was for her babies to think they weren't wanted! Even if they were still being carried around.
Kia glanced at Averno, and shrugged. "Is a Feien more powerful? I do not see fairies as much now, so I do not know how to tell difference." Rhiannon smiled gratefully at Kia;
'You are nice,' she said to the girl - she understood. She looked at Morgan;
'She said they werent all jerks - and my Daddy is a guy and he isnt a jerk. Just maybe that guy is a jerk.' she said, her voice sullen again - now she was all confused! Averno fluffed up like a peacock at Kia's question. "Of COURSE Feien are more powerful!" She eyed Sajhiri as if daring her bond to refute her claim. Mercifully Sajhiri was now perusing a magazine as well.
Cervus, for his part, pretended he didn't hear her. His patience was legendary.Morgan resisted the urge to point out that maybe the boy was jerk because she liked him. The woman couldn't imagine that that would go over well. "Not all boys are jerks but sometimes they don't know what to say and just end up being mean." Morgan tried to explain. "So are you." Kia replied truthfully. "Some boys, like Morgan said, are just stupid and do not know how to act around us girls. Maybe he just needs to grow up in his mind."
Leaning back again, to unsquash her stomach, Kia watched the feien fairy with interest. So... if she was powerful... and Sajhiri had bad magic on her... "So you could help Miss Sajhiri, if you helped them, because you are powerful."
She was quite serious too, in her idea, Kia wasn't teasing the fairy. It did make perfect sense, after all. She shrugged;
'I dont understand him. He said he liked me but then he keeps calling me stupid. Do you call your friends stupid? Or girly?' Averno snorted derisively at Kia. "I won't taint myself with Fey magic."
The nurse came out and called Sajhiri in for her appointment, and the menagerie escorted her deeper into the clinic. The pregnant woman waved goodbye to those present.
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Posted: Thu Jan 27, 2005 7:04 am
From the Pages of Averno's Diary...01.27.05 - I know I've been rather neglectful of my diary lately, but it's only because I've been too bloody busy to sit down and write anything. The entire household is in chaos, and it's all because my bond is weak and a woman prone to using her heart more than her head. Such foolishness has left my own life in a state of disarray and I am MOST displeased with it.
Sajhiri came to me on the 15th, while I was watching my Three Musketeers movie for the 5th time, the one Cervus gave me for the holiday. She had the nerve to actually pause my DVD during the duel scene where Athos, Porthos, and Aramis showed up each to duel D'Artagnan. It's one of my favorite scenes, so to say I was perturbed would be a gross understatement.
She told me she had some news to share, so I cooled off my expression because a lot of the time, news resulted in me getting presents. Not this time. Unless you consider my bond being accidentally unnaturally impregnanted by her best female friend instead of by her fiance, and explaining to me that she would be getting fat, tired, and moody, and popping a baby out of an unmentionable area of her body in 9 months, a present. I don't understand these humanoids and their bizarre methods of reproduction. Why can't they just use magic and reproduce nice and cleanly with blooms like we do? Silliness, but I guess they have no other choice in their inferior states.
If this whole pregnancy fiasco wasn't bad enough, I then find out that this Nox person who had been subverting my bond to her will secretly for months, had used her to steal away a child. Well at that point I decided to cache in my chips and cement Cervus' loyalty and service to me. I told him what I had observed, thinking he'd be able to stop this fey magic problem and get Sajhiri back to normal. Sadly, I overestimated his ability and intellect. Instead we ended up having to chain Sajhiri up in a room to prevent that psychotic side of her from hurting other people until a cure can be found.
This of course means I've been stuck doing banal guard duty on my own bond, making sure she doesn't go bad again, or hurt herself. This translates into hours of boredom in the chamber she's been secured in, and escorting her to this clinic place for her baby checkups. I'd rather be fencing. Really.
Still no word from Corvus at all. I'm getting concerned again, but I'll give him a bit longer to seek me out before I try to find another teacher. I worry that my progress is stagnating without proper guidance.
Cervus is calling for me to go babysit the bond again. I'll try and write more later.
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Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2005 8:14 am
Date: 02.02.05 Location: Gardens of the Silva Regia Tower. Synopsis: Averno heads out to practice and learns from Cervus just what the Moon Court plans to do with the kidnapped child. Participants: Averno and Cervus. The Scene: Averno peered through the keyhole into Sajhiri's room and watched the woman talking to her stomach like an idiot. She wrinkled her nose as her bond recited inane baby names, all full of fluffy sweetness, at her belly, as if the bulging thing could possibly reply to her. If it did, Averno would finally find out just how far and how fast she could fly away from the tower. It was bad enough her bond was locked in the room, with the windows magically sealed against opening without a command word only Cervus and the Sphinx knew, and the door was both mundanely and magically barred against entrance or exit. At least the shackles were off her now, which returned some semblance of near normalcy to the Menagerie.
Cervus had decided that as the evil side of Sajhiri had not emerged since the Masquerade Ball, it was safe to cotain her in a more familiar and less prisonlike environment, namely her own suite of rooms in the tower. The Feien was still uneasy and aggravated with the lack of progress in breaking Majestrix Nox's hold over her bond, but at the moment, there was little she could do.
With a flap of her leathery wings, the young fairy launched into the air and began winging her way towards an open window. She soared out into the murky gloom of the overcast day, grateful that the rain had paused so she might practice with her rapier. She alighted on one of the stepping stones used to traverse a small koi pond on the grounds.
With a musketeer's flourish she whipped the purple plastic cocktail sword out of her string belt at her waits and brandished the tiny weapon down at a confused looking fish which blew bubbles up at her from the 3 foot deep water. She frowned at the nonplussed creature, and almost lunged at it, but as it was large enough to swallow her whole, she thought better of the maneuver and stuck her tongue out at it instead.
A soft chuckle from a nearby tree drew her attention and she glared up at the figure of Cervus perched there, looking amused. Behind the light laughter, however, his face looked strained with worry and older than he usually seemed. "I do believe that fish is of the fearless variety, Milady, for surely any other being would quake under threat of your martial skills."
His tone was one of gentle politeness, a reflection of his childhood as the son of a King. He had excruciatingly pleasant manners, which of course tended to rub the darkness Feien the wrong way. "You don't say? A fearless variety is it, and not just your attempt to soothe my pride?"
Cervus leapt from the branch he had been perched on and settled near her on the stone. "Now why would I do such a think, Lady Averno? I've no need to stroke egos or foster pride. I just believe a fish is a creature who is generally uncomprehending of any threat that doesn't involve a bigger fish. Else why would they so often find themselves upon the end of a fisherman's line?"
"Good point," the girl conceded, and felt some of her irritation ebb towards the antlered fey. "You look like you're not having much luck with the magic on Sajhiri..." she added, indicating his pensive expression.
He sighed softly and shook his head. "In truth, I've not even begun looking into it, as there is a child's life, or at least her ability to understand and know joy, at stake right now. Neith's daughter was taken by the Moon Court, and I've unpleasantly discovered that they plan to perform an ancient ritual to drain her of her joy and steal it for themselves. It is like a drug to a human, a moment of ecstacy at a terrible price. A practice done by the Moon Court's ancestors...the Autumn People."
Averno pursed her lips in thought, she had read a bit on the internet about fairies after Corvus told her that they weren't the ones most humans were accustomed to through legends. "The Autumn People..." she murmured, "They were in stories told to scare children into behaving in the dark ages and medieval times, and even earlier, weren't they?"
Cervus nodded solemnly. "Sadly, they were not just stories. At one point in history, the Tuatha de Danaan split in their views of humanity. The Autumn people discovered that the banality of mankind weakened the magics of our kind over a course of long exposure to their mundane ways. They secretly concocted a ritual in which to revive and restore their magics, they would drain the joy from human children who were not yet touched by banality. A child's imagination and ignorance of hardship and the unpleasantness of reality protects them from banality and infuses them with an essence of unharnessed power. When taken in by a fey, it translates into magical power, increasing the force and duration of their spells, and letting them cast more of them before their magics were exhausted. It only lasts a short time though, a day, sometimes two if the child was particularly joyful, then leaves them in aching withdrawl for days longer. So much like a drug might make a human able to run faster for a short time, after it ends they are exhausted and addicted."
Averno's face was unreadable during the explanation, but her mind was working amazingly fast. It didn't take long for her to connect how the fey being empowered by stealing joy was not too unlike how a Feien might boost their power by melding with a dead Feien's gem. Only the Feien had found a way to make it permanent. She inwardly smirked at her race's superiority over the Fey but kept her smile masked under an outward expression of shock.
"And what happens to the child?" She asked, though the sinking sensation in her stomach had already guessed. A tiny paranoia at being slain by another Feien so they could absorb her gem struck her.
Cervus swallowed. "They live, but they will never feel joy again from any of the things that caused the joy that was drained from them. A mother's touch, a beautiful song they loved, a treasured toy, would all be to them as if one were to bite into their favorite succulent fruit and tasted ash instead."
Averno shuddered. "I am sorry to hear that, Cervus, I hope the girl is saved before it comes to that."
"As am I, Milady, as am I." He flexed his insectoid wings and shook his head. "But I will not be successful in that if I am here chatting. I merely came out to gather my thoughts. I must return to Tir Nan Og now. I bid you a good eve."
Averno smiled at the fey King and dipped her head, though secretly she'd prefered to have jabbed him in the arse with her rapier as he lollygagged about disturbing her practice when he should have been rescuing some human brat. "Night, Cerv" she replied. She watched as he winged his way back into the tower, and turned about once more to get her latest riposte move down.
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Posted: Fri Feb 04, 2005 6:46 am
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 7:13 am
From the Pages of Averno's Diary...02.10.05 - I've been spending many long hours pondering the words Cervus spoke to me of the Moon Court's joy draining ritual. Gaining power from the life force of another isn't a foreign concept to a feien. I have read in the shop about how Feien who die become gemstones, and how feien can then merge with said gemstones to become more powerful. It's certainly something done, as Corvus is proof of that. It both intrigues and worries me. Part of me hopes to come into possession of one of these gemstones, so that I might grow in power. The other part of me has developed a nagging fear that someday I may meet with foul play by a Feien wishing to aquire a gemstone. Perhaps I am just being paranoid, but I know I've felt a twitching of that desire myself when thinking about the violent b*****d that accosted me in the tavern so soon after my emergence.
Babysitting Sajhiri has cut me off from the shop and the tavern for too long. I truly need to mingle more with the other feien, as Corvus is still missing and I've no idea of how to find him. My studies cannot go untended much longer, so perhaps I will see a tutor at the least until his return.
Besides, it always pays to be up on the latest news, and I'm sorely lacking in good gossip and information. I know so few of my kind, and that in and of itself is a pity. Who knows how many souls may be out there ripe for my use?
I've not seen that disagreeable white haired one with the red markings in some time either. Not that I miss him, but he at least seemed like a decent source of information or amusement at any given time.
Perhaps the Sphinx would at least let me reopen the tavern for feien until Sajhiri's magical enslavement is resolved. She really does know how to inconvenience me, doesn't she? Between the enchantment and the pregnancy I'm thoroughly exhausted with her. Humans are such burdensome creatures.
I'm going to close this for now and go get a few hours of rapier practice in. At least that skill is being well honed in Corvus' absence.
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 6:54 am
Date: 02.14.05 Location: Kitchen of the Silva Regia Tower. Synopsis: The Menagerie makes Valentines Day Preparations Participants: Most of the Menagerie. The Scene: The long wooden kitchen table in the Silva Regia tower was currently a very crowded place. Strewn atop it was a variety of construction paper in reds, whites, and pinks, white glue, multi colored glitters, ribbons, cinnamon candy hearts, larger sugary hearts with love messages on them, safety scissors, crayons, markers, paints, and stencils in various heart, flower, and cherub shapes. One end of it was also filled with heart shaped sugar cookies on racks, and bowls of white, pink, and red icing, more candies of rosy hues, and colored sugar.
Sitting around the table was the majority of the Menagerie, with the exception of the water-dwelling members who would find the kitchen an most unhospitable environment. A few of the present members looked less than thrilled to be there, but the rest seemed merry.
The Aduthule twins, Saevire and Sedare, were carefully cutting out construction paper heart shapes folded over to make Valentine's cards for the other Aduthule for the part scheduled for later that day. Sedare's pale pink heart cards were cut cleanly and in a well made heart shape, and were trimmed along the edges with decorative paper lace. The folded edges were holepunched and had white and red ribbon threaded through them, tied to the ends of which were red and white Life Savers candies. On the fronts she had painted pretty angel stencils and scribed the words "Happy Valentine's Day" in red marker. Inside each one was addressed in friendship to a different Aduthule with happy sentiments.
Saevire's valentines were the shape of a heart with crossbones made of white paper. She colored the heart in the center in with red crayon and put skull-like eyes, nostrils, and teeth jotted in with a black marker. After a moment or two of pondering it one might gather it was her version of a Valentines Day Jolly Roger. Inside each card was address to an Aduthule child and was inscribed with a warped pirate saying like "You Shiver Me Timbers" or "Yarr, Be my Matey!".
Averno, the Feien Fairy, was looking perturbed and as if she was there decidedly against her will. However under Sajhiri's watchful eye she continued her arduous task of dragging an icing-loaded toothpick across pink, white, or red iced sugar cookies to spell out phrases most often seen on candy hearts. "Love" and "Kiss Me" slowly took shape in the reluctant fairies shaky script. Sajhiri was grinning as she boxed each one after it was finished in a pretty basket labeled "For the Feien Shop".
Maleficent, the Cait Siobhan, was dipping a paw daintily into red fingerpaints and disdainfully placing a paw print squarely on the front of a white ceramic heart. Beside her Caelestis, the celestial Talaye, did the same with white paint on red hearts, only with much more enthusiasm and enjoyment. Beside him a tiny little Talaye named Tantillus added his tiny paw prin beside the larger Talaye's.
Escalus, the ghostly boy, peered over shoulders, unable to touch anything on the table. He looked deeply sad, but as was his wont he didn't voice any of his sorrow. Sajhiri moved to hug him gently several times, to remind him he wasn't alone and she, at least, could physically contact him.
The young Alphapet, Telenna, was stringing red, white, and pink beads onto friendship bracelets, spelling out the names of the rest of the menagerie. Her deft fingers wove the ribbons being threaded with ease, and she seemed calm and in a pleasant mood. She sat beside Sajhiri and kept a watchful eye on her guardian.
King Cervus moved from project to project lending a hand. He'd long finished his pleasant cards with pressed flowers glued beneath a top sheet of thin parchment the flowers could be seen through. The Fey's antlered head ducked and bobbed occasionally to avoid the paper scraps chucked at him by Saevire.
The Sphinx wasn't participating much in the festivities. Valentines were decidedly not an Egyptian thing, and she had a bigger project to be concerned with. She was handcuffed to Sajhiri to be able to protect the rest in case Majestrix Nox's spell took over her friend again. Instead of making cards or cookies, the felinid woman was knitting what looked like baby booties with an occasional grin at Sajhiri's expanding belly.
Sajhiri stepped back to look at her family with a warm and gentle smile. She placed a hand on her growing belly and looked down at it. "Feel the love in the room little one? Soon you'll be a part of it, and we feel so fortunate to have you coming into our lives." As if in response, she had a sudden urge to devour one of the sugar cookies, and did so without hesitation.
Averno shot her a dirty look. "I just spent 20 minutes trying to spell out "Be Mine" on that piece of confectionary nightmare, you could have at least eaten one I hadn't already decorated, Sajhiri."
The Seraph shrugged and grinned. "What baby wants, baby gets, Averno..." she quipped. She moved to pass out cups of cocoa with marshmallows to the menagerie as the Valentine construction continued long into the afternoon.
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Posted: Mon Feb 14, 2005 8:51 am
From the Pages of Averno's Diary...02.14.05 - Valentine's Day. I am told it is some odd Gaian custom in which beings in love or wed to one another (I am told such things can be mutually exclusive) exchange gifts or tokens of affection. It appears humanoids make many efforts at such "Hallmark Holidays" as Sajhiri calls them. Sweethearts day, Anniversaries, Mother's Day, Father's Day. I find Gaians utterly obsessed with holidays. I think Sajhiri is correct in that she feels some of these holidays are manufactured by card and gift makers. However, my dear bond has been perpetuating this farce.
She had us all make Valentines for the rest of the Menagerie, and she had me help her bake and decorate some treats to drop off at the Feien shop. Such silliness. So I spent my morning dragging around Icing covered toothpicks atop sugar cookies writing inane blabbering sentiments I have never and likely will never feel about anyone, much less a bunch of virtual strangers in the Feien community. Blech. My bond is an idiot.
Cervus gave me another movie with fencing in it, "The Man in the Iron Mask". I gave him a cookie. I refuse to be sucked into this senseless "gift giving for no real reason" mentality. It's like a plague upon Gaia and I would like nothing more than to see this tradition purged from the world!
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Posted: Wed Feb 16, 2005 12:03 pm
Date: 02.16.05 Location: The Feien Fairy Shop Synopsis: Averno tries to eat the evidence of her Valentines Day participation and is caught by a fully grown Silva. Participants: Averno and Silva. The Scene:
Through the window of the shop a dark blur zipped inside. Averno skidded to a halt in her landing on the countertop, and her eyes darted back and forth warily, looking for any other occupants. Once satisfied she was alone, she darted over to the basket Sajhiri had dropped off two days before and landed on the lip. Peering down into the basket she grinned gleefully at the remaining cookies. "Some left, thank the bloom!"
She happily hopped down inside and began breaking off feien-fist sized crumbs of sugary iced goodness and chomping on them.
First a pink iced heart with "Love Me" in red icing was quietly and methodically devoured...only in the areas where the iced words were. Averno mumbled through a mouthful of sugar cookie "Not going to let her embarass me like this. Just need to eat off all the mushy sentiments before anyone else sees them..."
Silva headed into the feien shop, looking around curiously before noticing the cookies on the counter. Usually he would have ignored them... but they seemed to be... talking to themselves.
He smirked, taking to the air and flying over, curious as to who was inside the basket thing. Because he was pretty sure he recognized "their" voice. He landed on the edge, peering down into the basket, chewing his toothpick in satisfaction. This was just too good.
Many long minutes later, the feien groaned and climbed out of the basket, feeling bloated and sick from so much sugar. She made a few test flaps of her wings and decided she felt too heavy to fly right now. With a small burp, Averno moved over to the spells lists and began to study them thoughfully, waiting for some of the icing to burn out of her system.
"Well that was interesting." Silva finally said, follwing her to the list. "Never knew you had a sweet tooth, princess."
"AAAAGH!!!" Averno shrieked, wheeling on Silva with her plastic rapier drawn in a flash. "WHo the hell are you and why are you calling me princess you lanky, red marked...er..." She blinked a few times at the familiar tone of the voice and the features. She narrowed her eyes and peered at the other feien. "Do I know you?" she asked.
"I'm hurt, princess." He siad, holding his hands up in a placating manner. "Don't you remember your old friend? Sure, I've gotten a little taller, but hell." He was biting back a laugh. Trust the princess to be the first feien to threaten to skewer him. "I'm assuming you will sooner or later, too."
"But tell me, what's with the cookies?"
Ah, the red marked one who she never quite got the name of. "I see...I'm guessing you didn't gain any MASS when you grew. You look like a beanpole. I'm surprised a stiff breeze doesn't knock you over." With a snort she sheathed her rapier once more. "As to the cookies, my bond forced me to write idiotic sentiments I never have and never shall feel for others on them. I came to destroy any evidence of that stupidity before any other Feien saw them. My bond is not very bright when it comes to such things."
"Ahh... poor kid." He replied, not really meaning it. "Guess you never thought about tossing them out the window, huh?" He smirked slightly, wondering if all that sugar would give her a rush soon. "Birds woulda done the dirty work for you."
He didn't even mention his lack of mass. He rather liked his size. Too much mass made one too heavy to move quickly. And his speed wasn't at the point he liked it in the first place.
She gestured at the human sized cookies in the large basket. "Do I look like I can carry something that big to you!? They're larger than I am. I could have just poisoned the bloody things and left no witnesses instead, but I wasn't in the mood to have to explain bodies."
He shrugged. "So you eat them instead." He replied, looking amused. "That makes sense. If you can move afterwards." Then he shook his head, looking her over. "Where it all went I'd rather not know."
He went silent for a little while, trying not to laugh. "So wha'd they say?"
Averno planted her hands on her hips and glared at Silva. "It's not as if they tasted bad. They were quite delicious if you must know. And I didn't eat them entirely. Just the parts with writing."
At his question her face colored a bit. "As I said, idiotic human sentiments their kind express to one another on the ridiculous holiday they just celebrated." She didn't seem terribly willing to divulge said sentiments.
"Holiday... holiday..." He frowned, trying to think of the last holiday he had celebrated. It wasn't Christmas... or Halloween... it was too late for that. "Doesn't ring a bell, princess. I guess Ice didn't celebrate it."
Or it could be that she just hadn't told him about it. She was still pissed, after all. "What was it about? More candy?"
Averno scowled. "Sajhiri called it Valentines Day, and it's all about love and cards and candy. You're supposed to give gifts of sweets and such to those you fancy. As I fancy no one, I thought it was a stupid, wasteful holiday propagated by human sweets and card merchants who wanted to make money off it."
"Love and fancy, huh?" he repeated, as though he had never really thought of the words. "Hell, no wonder she didn't tell me about it." He said, almost laughing. But there was a strangely cold look in his eyes. "Love is bullshit."
Then he turned slightly, looking thoughtful. "But hell, if you can make a profit off of it, who am I to complain?"
"Love is some diseased state of mind. It distracts from purpose and focus. I think it's meant do derail beings from their goals so that species don't advance too fast. I mean, just look at my bond, preparing to have a baby has addled her entirely. She can barely remember to cook dinner, let alone continue on her more important tasks." Averno idly examined her nails, polishiing them on her chest as if it were capable of making them gleam, or clean the icing out from under them.
He nodded, smirking slightly. Princess was the same as she always had been, thankfully. If she had started preaching love he would have been shocked. And it took a lot to shock Silva. "Good to know you have some sense. After the cookie thing I wasn't so sure."
Yep, that was going to piss her off.
The much shorter fairy glared up at Silva. "You're asking for a trouncing, bub." Averno gestured to the basket. "Go have a cookie yourself and see what I mean. That icing stuff isn't bad at all."
"I'll do that." He replied, smirking slightly. The trouncing comment had made him bite back a laugh. "You'd need to get some stilts to trounce me, princess." He said, hopping onto the basket, then into it, grabbing a half eaten cookie and bringing it out.
Then he walked over to the edge of the counter and sitting down as he ate. "Not bad. Got cherry flavored?" Then he paused, looking at the cookie to try and see if any of the writing was left.
That particular cookie seemed to have the remnants of "U R HOT" on it. Averno drew her rapier and rested the tip lightly on the floor at her feet. "You might be surprised how little I would require to trounce you. As you've never given me your name, I'm forced to invent one for you. Beanpole should do."
"You..." Silva read, smirking slightly as he figured out what it had once said. Then he glanced up, shrugging. "Hell, princess, never knew you had a Jack complex." That he had heard the story of Jack and the Beanstalk when Ice read it to one of the brats in the house, he didn't bother to mention.
"I won't even pretend to know what you mean by that, Beanpole." She gestured at him with the rapier. "I'll have you know I've been practicing my fencing every day almost since I was out of bloom. I've studied the masters, including my personal favorites, Saviolo and Capo Ferra!"
"And I just beat s**t up." He replied, still eating his cookie. He finished it, then turned, looking at her for a second. "I'm not going to spar with you, princess. If you aren't strong enough to carry the cookies to the window, then you're not strong enough for a fair fight. And I don't use weapons against females."
"I should be going now." He muttered, standing and looking over at her for a second. "You know... love might be bullshit... but there's no harm in getting a little now and then." Then he stepped off the counter, catching himself before he hit the ground and flying out the door.
Averno looked both confused and furious at his words. "I am NOT some weak thing you overgrown, egotistical, peacock!" She harumphed then added "And get some WHAT!?" Ah, ignorance is bliss.
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Posted: Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:41 am
Date: 02.23.05 Location: A Baby Store Synopsis: Averno accompanies Sajhiri as she shops for her impending baby. Participants: Averno and Sajhiri. The Scene: Sajhiri blinked in confusion at the vast variety of baby items in the aisle before her. She pushed her cart down it slowly, looking over the 'necessities' list in her hand and boggling at the wide selection of each item. "How the heck am I supposed to know which ones are best for the baby?" She asked with a grumble.
On her shoulder Averno idly ran her fingers through her curls, separating them and removing the tangles carefully. The Feien fairy looked incredibly bored with the whole excursion, and the yawn that escaped her did very little to disguise this fact. "Well, you've read every book in creation on babies by now, what did THEY say?" She spat out.
Sajhiri tilted her head to give the fairy a grimace. "They didn't mention much on brand names. I should have picked up a Consumer Reports or something." With a sigh she moved to the "Classic Pooh" section and scanned it's contents. "I always loved Pooh Bear...maybe the baby will too. And he's good for a boy or a girl, don't you think?"
Averno launched off her bond's shoulder and landed on a shelf where she inspected a Classic Winnie the Pooh plush toy. "It's abnormally cute and...cuddly." The feien seemed almost disgusted by the bright cheeriness of it all, but what would one expect from a Darkness fairy? She grunted and moved aside as Sajhiri grabbed for the toy.
"I think this will all work well, and it'll look cute with the paint job *Washu* and Kin did on the nursery," the Seraph murmured. She began loading items into her cart. Pacifiers, bottles, rattles, teething rings, feeding dish sets, bibs, blankets, and numerous other items began forming a large pile in the plastic conveyence.
"You ought to save some for people to buy as gifts for you, you know." Averno sniped quietly. "I read on the internet that someone should be giving you a bath and throwing gifts at you before you have a baby."
Sajhiri let out a short bark of an amused laugh as she regarded the tiny creature. "You mean a baby shower? It's not a literal shower to wash yourself, Averno. It's a type of party, that's all."
"ANOTHER party?" The Feien looked aghast. "Do you humans find a party excuse in everything? Christmas, New Years, Valentines Day, now a pre-baby arrival one? Goodness, it's a wonder any of you ever had the time to evolve."
Sajhiri chuckled and lifted the fairy from the shelf to deposit her back on her shoulder. "Come on, we need to go look at newborn diapers and bath things now..."
With a groan Averno went back to combing out her hair with her fingers.
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Posted: Mon Feb 28, 2005 7:19 am
Date: 02.28.05 Location: Silva Regia Tower Synopsis: Sajhiri is morning sick and Averno is cookie obsessed and introduced to toast with grape jelly. Participants: Averno, Telenna, and Sajhiri. The Scene:
Sajhiri groaned and reached for the bottle of mouthwash on the sink. Morning sickness was something she was going to official term as "Living Hell" from now on. She could almost swear her feet came out of her mouth during this last visit to pray to the porcelain god. She rinsed her mouth thoroughly then brushed her teeth and rinsed it again. Her stomach flip flopped a bit, threatening another wave of nausea just from the smell of the toothpaste.
"Minty freshness be damned..." she grumbled as she wiped her mouth off on a towel. She patted her belly and sighed. "You are about as much of a morning person as your mother, little one. Not a good thing, hm? No more oatmeal for breakfast though, I get the message loud and clear. "
There was movement in the bathroom doorway, and Telenna stood there looking up at her guardian with concern. "Are you all right, Sajhiri? You look very pale." The worry in the child's voice was plain as day.
Sajhiri smiled gently. "I'll be fine, Tel. It's just morning sickness...happens to most expectant mothers. My body is just confused over the sudden realization there's another living being in it. It'll pass in a few weeks or months." She grimaced at the thought of going through this for a few more months.
Telenna blinked at her. "Oh, I understand that. I do have some herbs to put in your tea which may help with the nausea though. I went out and put them together yesterday afternoon after hearing you throw up last morning." She pulled out several small bags which were fragrant and handed them to her guardian. "This one is ginger. Put that in your herb tea or in a fruity drink. This one is peppermint, also good in herb tea and just in water by itself. And here is some lemon oil, which you can put in almost anything. They should be most helpful."
Sajhiri accepted the bags with a soft smile and she leaned down to kiss the top of the girl's head. "Thank you love. That is wonderful, and very sweet of you. I'll be sure to use them every morning."
Telenna beamed up at her and then the girl turned, quick as a bird, and flitted off, dashing outside to poke about in the woods as always.
Sajhiri sighed watching her, and she rubbed at her aching back a few moments before she ventured back out into the kitchen. Sunlight streamed through the large tower windows as she settled into a chair and added a bit of the powdered ginger to a teacup. She mixed the herbal concoction and took a sip. "Hmmm...not bad at all. The kid really knows her stuff..."
"How fortunate, lest she accidentally poison you otherwise." The snarky comment emerged from the darkest corner of the kitchen, where Averno had taken refuge from the sunlight streaking in. "Must you leave those blinds open? I cant even make it to the cupboard for some breakfast without getting a migraine." Leathery wings twitched in irritation as the Feien flexed them stiffly.
Sajhiri blinked a few times before she rose and moved to close the blinds on one window, giving the darkness fairy a dimmer path to the pantry and cupboards. She'd taken to leaving them open a crack so the diminutive winged creature could get in and out easily.
Averno flew lazily over to the counter and shimmied inside one of the cupboards with a grumble about bright cheery mornings not being worth a thing. She came back out dragging a small package of cookies. "Why everyone here insists on starting their day with sunshine is beyond me," she groused.
Sajhiri narrowed her eyes at the Feien and murmured "I hope that's not what you're having for breakfast, Averno. Cookies do not a healthy meal make. Why don't you come over and have some oatmeal or some toast?"
Averno made a face and shuddered. "Oatmeal? Are you insane? I just had to listen to you wretch up your guts after eating that. At least I know the cookies are safe."
Sajhiri chuckled. "The oatmeal is fine, its the preganancy that causes the nausea I'm experiencing. At least come and have some toast." She began cutting up a slice of toast into the smallest pieces she could, dabbing each with a tiny dollop of grape jelly from a spoon. She gestured for the fairy to come over.
Averno grunted but after a moment of inability to tear open the plastic keeping the cookies from her, she acquiesced and alighted on the kitchen table in front of the offering. She picked a piece up in both hands and took a bite of it. The jelly was sweet and sticky and not too dissimilar from cookies. She grinned and ate a bit more voraciously.
Sajhiri watched her with amusement. "Well then. I'm going to get dressed and go out for my morning walk with the twins. Did you want to come, Averno?" She rose slowly from her seat, leveraging her extra weight out of the chair with care.
Averno snorted. "Hardly. That red monster of yours keeps trying to pluck off my wings. I'll likely go to the shop today and try to learn some magic once more."
Sajhiri nodded and she drained the last of her ginger tea. "All right then, stay out of mischeif, I'll see you in a bit. She headed out of the massive kitchen and to the family room where the Aduthule twins were watching cartoons.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 12:26 pm
Date: 03.01.05 Location: Cervus' Room in the Silva Regia Tower. Synopsis: Averno discovers Cervus packing to leave on a journey and she transforms into an adult before his eyes. Participants: Averno and Cervus. The Scene:
Cervus threw the last of his tunics into a satchel in preparation to depart. The Fey King had a mission, he needed to find help to recover Muris from the Moon Court, and he needed help fast, before they could harm, or worse, kill, the young Sun Court StableMaster. He was so absorbed in his preparations for the journey that he did not hear the padding of bare feet on the stone floor of his small nook in the tower.
"Going somewhere, are we?" Averno drawled as the juvenille fairy leaned in the door frame of Cervus' miniature abode. The darkness Feien derived great pleasure from the height to which Cervus leapt from her intrusion. She grinned.
Cervus fixed her with a scowl before he nodded his head solemnly. "For a while. I have a journey to make to find aid with some matters in Tir Nan Og. I've been reading the legends in some of my father's books, and one points to a path of following the totem to find what you seek, so long as your intent is pure. So this I must do, Lady Averno."
The fairy girl arched a brow in amusement at the archaic speech patterns of the Fey King. She stepped further into his room to look over the items he was packing. She still didn't quite grasp the Fey desire for covering themselves in dead animal skins. "So how many cats did you have to skin to get that pair of...aigh!" Her teasing was cut off at a sudden strange sensation which doubled her over and sent her to her knees. Something wasn't right, and her eyes widened in terror.
Cervus rushed over, setting a hand on her back lightly. "What is it? Averno? Are you all right? Tell me what is wrong!" There was strain in the King's voice, as despite her often unpleasant nature, he looked at her like he would a daughter.
Averno squeezed her eyes shut as her body began to transform. Legs lengthened, her chest expanded, her features defined themselves from the roundness of childhood to the elegance of adulthood. Within moments it was done, and the once fairy girl unfolded her body to reveal that of a Feien woman. She stood with Cervus' help, her hands trembling from the suddenness of the change.
"Milady, I do believe you have grown," Cervus said softly with a smile. He gestured to the large mirror leaning against the far wall.
Averno turned her eyes to it and stared, transfixed, at her reflection. She was an adult, a leggy, buxom adult with a dancer's build and regal features. She moved to the mirror and studied her new appearance with a small sound of approval. "Yes well, this will do. Quite splendidly I think."
Cervus shouldered his pack with a chuckle. "It is good you are pleased, I think, Averno. I must ask that you keep an eye on Sajhiri for me while I am gone. I do not know how long my journey will be, or if I will survive it, so I will say my farewell here, knowing it may be the last one."
Averno blinked at the King a few times. She never considered that someday he might not be around to tease. "If you'll survive it? Don't say things like that Cerv. You have to come back. So I won't say goodbye. I'll just say "See you later." She felt a sudden urge to hug the fey, but she quelled it, instead giving him a slight smile before turning and heading back out and towards her room.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 12:30 pm
Date: 03.01.05 Location: The Feien Shop Synopsis: Averno heads to the store after blossoming into her adult state and runs into a gaggle of Feien, including Simon and Careli who explain Corvus' disappearance. Participants: Silva, Patience, Averno and Sajhiri, Simon and Careli, Sunil, Ruya, Maquinar, Zelda. The Scene: Silva stepped into the shop, a thoughtful look on his face. He had seen something... interesting that morning. Something he wasn't sure he should be happy about, or not. But for some reason he couldn't help the little smirk that played on his lips.
It would mean a return to the problems of the past. And his rivalry with Neruo... whether they got drunk together or not. But... That was how things went, right? But hell, maybe she wouldn't even remember him.
He wondered if he was that forgettable... Patience needed some time away from home. With Shiro on a trip and a new baby in the house and all the magic practice she had been doing, she needed out! So she decided to make a stop at the feien shop.
Fluttering to a stop on the window sill, she looked in. She noticed Silva and flew over where he was. Her glowing eyes had to look up at him, since he was a full two inches taller then herself. She nodded her head and greeted him as she had many other feien she had met before.
"Hello there. I don't think we have met yet. My name is Patience. Nice to meet you."
She waited patiently for his responce, but never let her eyes wander to far. Though she was trying to not pay attention to his short but nice cut hair. He also had a ponytail that didn't escape her notice. He turned, looking at her with a slight smirk. "Patience, huh? Nice name." He was being honest, but there was a tiny drawl on his next words. "Must be hard to live up to." Then he turned, looking back at the scrolls so she felt free to look at whatever she wanted. He didn't mind.
And he was, regardless of what he had been thinking, in a damn good mood. Patience almost snorted at the comment, and then he turned away from her. Wait, wasn't there suposed to be a return gesture to a greeting and name giving. She crossed her arms, her eyes flickering eerily for a second as she got a bit annoyed.
"...And you are?"
His drawl had not been lost on her, she had a fondness of accents she had picked up from Shiro has he watched alot of Foriegn films. It interested her, though his attitude did not. But atleast she got a better look at his ponytail. "I am... impatient more often than not." He replied, almost thoughtfully. "Been called worse, though. Tend to be arrogant, as well." He smirked again, enjoying himself. "I guess I lack in virtues, little Patience." " And it appears you lack manners as well. And enjoy dodging the present subject."
She didn't mine to much being called little, though she was taller then Morgan and several other feiens she had met in the past. Though his obvious enjoyment is avoiding her question's meaning aggrivated her, though you coulnd't tell it except for her crossed arms and glowing eyes. "OW!" A grumbled string of sailor-like cursewords followed the exclamation coming from the window. On the sill a dark-winged feien woman stood rubbing her head achily where she'd accidentally smacked it against the windowframe. "Have to remember to start ducking." Averno muttered.
She shook off the pain and launched off the inner edge of the sill, flapping her leathery wings then arching them to catch the air and let her drift lazily down to the surface of the counter. Her wings folded behind her as her feet settled on the ground, a long seven and three quarters inches below the top of her ebon-tressed head.
She glanced around and her eyes rested on Silva and the unfamiliar feien. With a small smirk she idly moved towards the posted spell listings to browse them. He wasn't responding. With a huff, Patience turned away and stalked off. She didn't need this on her day off. She flew off to the other side of the shop to look at soemthing else, but kept an eye on the feien. A little girl no older than twelve stepped into the door of the feien fairy shop. Normally one might be inclined to inquire as to her business, or perhaps why she was wandering around unaccompanied, but upon closer observation answers to both questions became quite obvious. Seated on her shoulder was a fairy, and quite a large one at that, if one was to measure the length of his body and not his wingspan.
"...It just strikes me as odd," the fairy was saying. His voice was a bit nasally and whiny, the sort of tone that can quickly become rather annoying if the personality is found matching. The fairy in question was in good luck: while his voice betrayed a whine, his sentiments did not. He actually seemed quite patient with the mass of yellow hair that surrounded him, threatening to choke him at any moment, and offered no complaint to its intrusion upon the limited space afforded to him by the girl's shoulder.
The yellow-haired girl replied, "I don't know, it's none of our business." The object of their conversation was quickly lost. They had arrived. The little girl's bright blue eyes scanned the room and instantly alighted upon the forms of the other feien present. She made a small noise of interest but remained standing just inside the door.
The fairy on her shoulder seemed suddenly very relieved at the shield of yellow hair surrounding him, even if it offered little camouflage to his dark blue-marked form. "The noticeboard, it's over there," he whispered into the ear of the girl, pointing. She she turned her head to look it nearly knocked him over, but he was expecting it and managed to dodge.
With a look of steely determination, the little girl strode over to the noticeboard. She couldn't help but to cast a few curious glances at the unfamiliar feien. Her passenger did just the opposite, avoiding looking at his brethren. Instead he focused on the board most intently. With the enterence of the girl, she had turned her attention to watch her with muted curiousity. She had still been annoyed at Silva, but with this new girl in the shop and she now noticed Averno by the spell list, she was calming down and her interest was taking over. Sitting on a shelf nearby, she watched the shop and it happenings with curiousity. She was not able to see the other feien on the girls shoulder since on the other side of her. Perhaps if she was closer she would have noticed. So instead she just kept her glowing yellow eyes scanning the whole room to watch what was going on. The newly grown fairy woman moved a bit stiffly and awkwardly as she approached the spell listings, still not quite used to her suddenly very long limbs. Her ears perked at the sound of an entrance, and she glanced over her shoulder at the little girl and the fairy on her shoulder.
Violet eyes narrowed as she took them in. The world seemed to change perspective entirely when your height doubled, but she was relatively sure humans hadn't suddenly shrunk in her sight, and that the girl was, in fact, a child. The feien did not seem to be a juvenille however.
She put on her best smile, and dipped her head in a nod towards Patience as a greeting. No need to make a bad first impression, there would be time for snarking later. Her wings twitched with the forced pleasantness of it all, but until she could improve her magics and her rapier skills, she'd decided it was best not to annoy any more feien. Except Silva. Because that was just fun. The dark blue feien drew out a notebook -- several pieces of paper bound together with a piece of red string -- and a piece of lead. He'd starting off using quills and ink, but his tendency to break off into illegible scribbling...
Leaving the safety of the girl's hair, the fairy began to look at the information on the board in earnest. He took several notes. His human charge read over the board as well. "Oh, that's cool!" she said, reading over a spell list. She continued glancing over at the other feien from the corner of her eye. "Simon, can you do that?"
Her fairy companion, now noted to be Simon, glanced down at her finger. "No, that's beyond my skills in magic." He went back to his note-taking, going over the general shop information in particular. The nod to Patience was not lost. It was actually a welcome sight compared to Silva's snide comments earlier. Patience got off the shelf and headed towards Averno. She touched down nearby and nodded her head towards Averno.
"Greetings." It was with a faint grumble that Maq entered the shop by window, his wings billowing out behind him. Errand boy again it seemed, and just as frustrating as before. He hadn't gotten a chance to speak with Sinrei as long as he'd wanted to, but at least he was comfortable in the knowledge that Tera would be spending a good deal of time with her in these first few days.
Starting to cross the room, he drew up short in the air. Several beings were in the shop today, including a human. This was rather new. Silva finally looked up from the board, still not sure who this Tera was and how her presence would affect his status as the shop manager's feien. He smirked as he realized the green feien was gone, then caught sight of the black feien she was talking to. Huh... It seemd a lot of people had entered while he was reading... It wouldn't have happened if the damn scrolls had pictures. After a moment, Simon looked away from the board. "Would you say the distance down Wimpole Road was closer to two-point-two or two-point-three miles?" he asked of his human friend.
"Just say it was a little over two, it's not a cartography test," the girl replied. Now her reading of the noticeboard was nothing more than a disguise. She was far more interested in the conversation of the nearby feien than their spells and abilities! Her first chance to observe other feien interacting!
Simon didn't count, of course. He was just Simon. The girl shuffled slightly closer to Averno and Patience, pretending to be looking for some minute detail of information hidden among all the scraps of paper. Averno smiled down at Patience. "How do you do? I don't believe we've met," she extended a hand to the other fairy in the manner that her bond greeted others, "I'm Averno." She peered around the smaller Feien to try and get a better look at Simon, whose horns were rather intriguing to look at. "I say, the shop is certainly busy today, isn't it?
Black leathery wings twitched at the sight of Silva, but she was mostly sure he didn't recognize her yet. A grin played at the corners of her mouth as she weighed playing with him a bit, but she stayed it for a few moments as she looked at Patience once more. "I don't believe I caught your name?" There was something about the black feien though... it seemed to mess with his head. Sure, she was pretty hot, but that wasn't it--
"Princess!" He finally said, irritated by how surprised he sounded. "You grew up, huh?" He headed for them, sure he would get a dirty look, but not caring. She was one of the few feiens he knew that was close to his own sight so far, Neruo being the other. Returning from the frigid wasteland known as Maine had put Sunil in an excellent mood, so it was on a positive note tha she and Ruya re-entered the feien shop for the first time in ages. Sunil touched down on the windowsill first, annoyed at having to wait for Ruya to catch up.
"You didn't have to come you know, if you didn't feel up to the trip." Sunil said slyly, "accidentally" kicking Ruya in the leg with a grin. "I'm not an invalid Sunil." Ruya said, grimacing as Sunil kicked her.
Both of them surveyed the shop for a moment from their perch, a little unsure of how things might have changed in their absence. After a quick scan of the others, it wasn't difficult for Maq to decide who he wanted to meet first With a lengthy stroke, he made his way over to the green and the black Feien, friendly smile on his face. Simon startled at Silva's sudden words and dropped his notebook and pencil lead. He tried to back up into the safety of Careli's hair, only there was no Careli, and he was suddenly very confused-- And just like that, the familiar shade of red spread over his face and shoulders. He bit his lip and closed his eyes and clenched his fists tightly at his sides. While Patience was waiting to see if Averno would respond to her, she made note of everyone there.
There was Silva, who at the moment wasn't exactly someone Patience wanted to try speaking to again is he was going to be annoying. She was waiting to for Averno to return her greeting, and was quite impressed on how well her hair looked in those curls. Also another feien had arrived, she had not seen before. And the one studing the spells and taking notes was called Simon. Atleast that's what the girl had called him. He was quite tall too.
Patience's thoughts were broken when Averno had actually responded. She brought her attention back to the taller feien. Patience looked at the extended hand and brought hers up to complete the greeting.
'Nice to meet you Averno, my name is Patience. And yeah, this shop seems lively today."
Patience watched the larger feien's attention drift to Silva and she watched a grin form. Maybe she knew him. "It looks to me like Silva grew up. Unless of course there is some other adult feien who happens to look just as ugly."
Without waiting for a reply from Ruya and with absolutely no regard for the conversation she might be interrupting, Sunil launched off the windowsill and down into the shop to land over by Silva.
"Silva? Too bad you're still alive." Ruya remained perched on the windowsill, her lips pursed in a thin line as she watched Sunil jump back into the thick of things. Averno's eyes flitted towards yet another Feien having entered. She'd never met Maquinar before either...the day was certainly turning out to be a wealth of new faces. She found it oddly suiting for the "new" her. Now if she could just get the hang of her newly distributed weight and the difference in distance to the ground from up there.
At Silva's exclamation she silently cursed at not having played around with him for a bit before recognition kicked in. But a familiar face, even it if was one she found arrogant and full of himself, was better than an entire room of strangers. "And a good day to you as well, Beanpole. Yes, I've grown. How observant of you." She forced such a sickly sweet smile as to almost make her words not sound sarcastic.
She smiled back at Patience again, and gestured to Silva. "This is Beanpole, if you haven't met. He's been in a state of refusing me his name, so I've take the habit of arbitrarily giving him one." She flitted her eyes towards the approaching Maq, nodding to him. Silva cursed, then smirked, nodding at Sunil. "I could say the same, Darlin. Long time no see." And now everyone knew his name. He turned, ignoring that fact and looking at Ruya. "Going to come say hello?" He asked casually. The noticeboard was completely forgotten now. The human girl's attention was riveted (quite rudely) on the assortment of feien. Simon was completely forgotten.
Which unfortunately did not ease Simon's embarassment as he drifted down towards the floor to retrieve his notebook, glad to be ignored by the other feien at least. Maq had just nodded back to Averno and was in the process of saying something when Sunil's sudden appearance caught him off guard. Something twisted in his chest, and he found himself glancing back in the direction she had shot in from. Ruya? His breath caught momentarily, before his grin returned and he lifted an arm in greeting to the Feien still on the sill. "Your Bond let you loose, huh?" he called out to her. "Oh, so it's a normal thing for him to avoid giving out his name, and I thought it was just me. Beanpole. Interesting name..."
Patience responded, a small smile peeking across her lips as she looked at the slightly miffed seeming feien. She took in everyhting that was going on, and was trying to keep track just in case something happened. But man, there was alot of feien in today. And since there was so many conversations going on, it was hard to keep track if anyone said eachothers name. And everyone here was new to her. Sunil pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as Silva turned to speak to Ruya.
"You want to talk to her? No accounting for taste." Sunil blinked a little as she realized who Silva had to be speaking with. Shiny black hair, tight curls - who else could that be?
"What? Did every friggin' juvenile feien grow up while I was away?" Ruya sighed, trying not to look uncomfortable at Silva's question and made her way closer.
"Hello Silva." No harm in saying his name, since Sunil had already managed to blurt it out to everyone present. "How have you been?" Maq's comment drew Sunil's probably rude seeming stare off of Averno and over to him. An uncomfortable weight settled in her stomach and she narrowed her eyes. Suddenly she wasn't in such a good mood.
"Finnally let us come home, more like." She sneered at Maq. "Surprising to see you, Maq. Can't really say it's a pleasure. I don't suppose your sister is a long on this little trip?" Silva...so that was his name. Averno let out a soft snort. "I think I prefer Beanpole, it suits you better..." She flicked a hand towards his lengthy physique as if to demonstrate the suitability of her moniker. She controlled her expression to look dead serious as she deadpanned her response.
The Darkness Feien couldn't cover the sudden surprise on her face at Sunil's arrival, however. "My goodness...Sunil? It has been a while. The tavern has been closed for a goodly bit, but I'm sure Sajhiri may be considering reopening it. Will you be available for work again?" She looked hopeful. In spite of Corvus' vocal dislike of the female, she was very tough and strong, and Averno certainly felt safer with her keeping order in the tavern.
She idly glanced over at the horned fairy retrieving something he dropped, marking off "possibly clumsy" in her internal checklist of 'things to exploit later.' Sunil's stare was once again drawn back to Averno and she forced a smile.
"Of course. I imagine my bond will want me out of the house as much as possible. Nice hair."
God that probably sounded stupid. Sunil glared back in Maq's direction as if daring him to say something about it. "I'm better now." He responded, smirking slightly. "Neruo's missed you." He said, unwilling to admit that he had, as well. "You might check in with him." Oh yeah, that was a great idea. Shove her over just as soon as she showed up. Smart, man, very smart.
He glanced over at Averno, trying not to laugh. "Jack complex." "Depends on which sister you mean, Sun." It was easier to watch Ruya, but he made himself look back at the blue Feien. "Tera picked up a new bloom long after you guys had to leave, and it emerged the other day."
One ear kept turned towards Ruya, in case she had any trouble with this "Beanpole" character, but otherwise his attention was on Sunil. < >
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:19 pm
<>
As Patience let her attention drift since Averno was talking with Silva, which she now knew his name, she noticed the tension between a few of the feiens. She was hopeing nothing might happen, though there was enough other feien here that might be able to stop a fight if it did break out. Though she couldn't find whyere the tallest feien had gotten. After a quick scan, she noticed he was collecting his notebook off the floor. Seeming to be avoiding everyone. Patience had also noticed the human gaping at them all, but decided to ignore her for a bit and made her way over to Simon.
"Are you ok? Or did you just drop that and was getting it?"
She asked, concern in her voice.
Simon finally managed to close his fingers around his notebook and remained down on the floor for several moments. He thought he might want to leave, but he couldn't just leave every time something happened in the shop to unnerve him, could he? He had to learn to deal with other feien. It was his job now.
But he wasn't entirely sure he was feeling up to it today. Maybe he should leave and come back another time and try again.
Frowning, Simon looked up at his companion, decided to advise her to not wear skirts to the feien shop, and wavered back and forth on the idea of leaving. This was his shop now. He owned it. There was no reason for him to be down on the floor with half a dozen feien having a conversation above him. No reason whatsoever. Come on, Simon, just go and talk! he told himself. Now why couldn't he just listen?
"You know which sister I mean." Sunil hissed.
Was he making fun of her, asking which sister she would care to see?
"Quantel." She said finally, crossing her arms over her chest as if to protect herself. "I am asking about Quantel."
And then suddenly Simon was jerked away from his thoughts by the arrival of another feien.
Another feien. Not one he lived with, not one he knew (though he didn't really talk to the feien he lived with, did he?), but a face he did not immediately recognize.
"I, ah, I've got it," he managed, waving the notebook in the air. He swallowed nervously. He thought he might have met this feien before, but wasn't sure. If he had it was too long ago to remember.
Averno smirked at Silva, letting it show plainly once Patience turned her attention to Simon. She turned her back on him to face Sunil only and murmured a quiet "Thank you. I'm still getting used to being so bloody tall though. I have my bond home working on making an alternate to my room in the tower. I can't duck under the portcullis chains like I used to be able to to climb up there, and I can't squeeze through the space between them due to ah..." She glanced down at her chest "...Extra padding. So she's renovating on my behalf. I was tired of the racket she was making doing it, so I decided to pay a visit here."
She twirled a raven lock around one finger. "Would it be rude of me to inquire as to where you've been. I was worried when you stopped showing up for work."
Maq's grin widened, those orange eyes of his gleaming a bit at Sunil's defensive stance. "Nah, she didn't come. She's back at the House with the new Feien." As he looked her over, he bit back a remark that would probably sound bitter. The phrase he chose to use instead was a lot more jovial. "Maybe you should drop by? See if she still remembers you and all..."
Okay, so he'd slid a little towards the end. Big ******** deal. Sunil was probably too wrapped up in thoughts of Q to even notice.
"Ah, I see. My name is Patience if you didn't catch it before. Your name is Simon, right? You companion had called you that earlier."
Patience smiled, good to know he was ok, but it seemed he was just kind of a Shy feien. Which was a bit different. Most of the other feien she had met had been not as shy as he seemed. Well, except for maybe the first time she met Shux when she was younger.
"Ah, pleased to meet you." Simon stuck out his hand, then realized it was the wrong hand and hastily switched his notebook and extended the other hand, nearly fumbling the notebook again in the process.
Zelda flicked into the shop, wings fluttering out behind her. That damn bond of hers, fussing over that damn bloom... she was vaguely annoyed at herself for caring so much about what Sunny, of all people, thought. Sunny was vaguely useless. Sunny and her new bloom... it was ridiculous. The thing would probably interfere with all of Zelda's plans...
...maybe she should fortify her tent?
She emerged from her inner thoughts to eye the other feien here. Most she didn't know... but there was that one tall skinny feien. Again. Hrmph.
Zelda folded her hands behind her and moved closer.
Sunil turned back in Averno's direction with relief as the dark feien spoke. After her little outburst to Maq, she would rather be looking anywhere but in that direction. Speaking to him made her uncomfortable.
"Padding?" Sunil's eyes were drawn to Averno's chest and the minimal markings there for a second before she jerked them back up in panic.
"Ah yes. Hrm. Well. I have been in a frozen wasteland outside of gaia. My bond decided I was," Sunil made air quotes here, "out of control and Ruya and I were shipped off to stay with her brother. We were forced to eat cold pizza and remain in a tiny room all day everyday. It was dreadful."
Sunil gave Maq a sidelong glance.
"Maybe I will." And she probably would. "We'll have to spar." She raised one arm and made a muscle with it, making sure it was at a good angle for Averno to admire. "I've gotten weak in my confinement. I doubt I could even kick your a**."
Patience supressed a giggle at his fumbling and accepted his hand shake. She had to crane her neck to look at him though, since he was very tall compared to her. Almost 3 inches.
"Nice to meet you."
She smiled up at him, though the note book was interesting her. She glaced at the notebook and then back up at him.
"You seemed to be taking notes on the spells. You interested in magic?"
She wondered, curious about magic herself.
Simon looked down at the notebook. "No, actually, I'm taking notes on the information that needs updating. Due to the change in management and all." He quickly pushed at his glasses, hoping he wasn't coming off half as badly as he thought. "I'm not much for magic."
Silva almost laughed at the sight of Averno smirked, then jerked as he felt his new "Magic Detection" ability catch another presence in the room. He turned, raising an eyebrow at the sight of the juvenile he had met a while back. The dark skinned one... What was her name again?
"Hello, little darlin. Come to play with the big kids now?" He asked, motioning her forward. As he remembered, she had been entertaining.
"Change in management? This is new... When did this happen?"
Odd. she would think such a think would have been posted in a place where most could see it. She wondered when it happened and who was now in charge.
"I guess updating is a good thing though. Sadly I am trying to learn magic on my own and haven't had much luck. I have been looking for someone good with magic, but everyone I ask I find out they are as clueless as I am, or know someone but haven't seen them in a while. Oh well."
"Don't call me that," Zelda scowled automatically. "I am not anyone's 'darling,' least of all yours." She circled closer, head tilted, smiling distantly. Were all other feien as annoying as this one? She hoped not. If that was the case she'd go home and shred that bloom right away.
Exactly as she should have expected, Ruya thought to herself coldly as Silva blatantly ignored her to speak with some juvenile.
"I suppose I'll speak to you some other time." She said coldly to Silva's back before moving over to stand a bit apart from the group. She didn't really want to go home, but she wasn't sure the shop offered her anything either.
After a moment's consideration she took to the air and slowly made her way out. No doubt the pixapets would need to be let out and fed soon.
"The previous owners left," said Simon, a bit more weakly than he might have liked. He recovered well enough, continuing, "One of them was very good with magic. He gave lessons a few times. I suppose you might try the two feien I heard him mention having talked to about magic, Sunil and..."
At that Simon cocked his head to the side, thinking a moment. "Avernum? Averna?"
Averno gave an admiring glance at Sunil's bicep. "I fear I am woefully unequipped in the arena of fighting, though I am not a bad hand at weilding a rapier. I've been focusing on trying to learn more magic."
"Looks like we have a runner-up for the role of princess, then." He replied, amused. This was an interesting gathering, felt close to some sort of f'ed up family reunion. But he was starting to get claustraphobic...
"She holds that role." He said, motioning to Averno with his toothpick. "You're going to have to work harder if you want it." Sure that would piss her off, he turned, looking at the others for a moment. "It's getting too crowded in here. Think I'll leave."
This whole time the little girl had just been listening to the conversation. Finally, now that a bunch of fairies were leaving, she saw an opening. "What sort of magic do you know so far?" she asked Averno.
Her ego swelling just a little bit, Sunil spoke graciously to Averno. She had previous thought rapiers to be useless, but after a run in with Ruya's she had changed her mind.
"Magic is also very important. I have to admit, I've grown rusty in that area as well. I plan to start training immediately now that I am home."
She noted Ruya's exit with a sneer. Running away already? The girl had no spine at all.
"I'm sure we'll all miss you very much," Zelda said coldly. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. She pressed her lips together. Did he try to be so aggravating? Or did it just come naturally?
"Sunil... Wasn't that one of the names of the feien that was above on top of the counter?"
Patience tried to recall when her attention was grabbed by the human making mention to magic. Looking up, she was tempted to fly up there right that second, but it was rude to leave in the middle of a conversation. So she turned her attention back to Simon and bowed her head.
"Forgive me, but I think Sunil is above and someone just mentioned magic. I enjoyed our conversation. Nice meeting you Simon."
Nodding her head once again, she took off and landed back up to catch the rest of the magic conversation. Maybe she could get some good help from listening.
Seeing that Ruya was heading out before coming by to say hello, Maq thought something was up. He shot back to Sunil as he flew in Ruya's direction, "You know where the House is. Swing by whenever!" Then, in a blur of red, he was after Ruya.
Silva nodded, trying not to laugh as he took to the air and headed out the door. Ruya had left. He would have to see about talking to her again sometime...
Averno blinked in surprise at the little girl, and she looked at Sunil for a moment as if questioning the wisdom of answering. Not seeing much harm from a human child (Something she'd probably reevaluate once Sajhiri birthed her whelp) she responded, "I am able to see in the dark, and manuever exceptionally well in flight. I'm also studying to detect magic in others, and blend into the shadows. Sadly, my teacher has gone walkabout on me and I've no idea of when or if he will return. So I'm working on my studies alone for now."
She smiled at Sunil. "Perhaps we could do some studying together? I'm not certain of your elemental leanings, but methodology wise we could likely assist one another?"
"Y-yes," mumbled Simon, watching Patience's departure. He brow furrowed and he frowned. Had he said something wrong?
With a sigh he looked around the floorboards. Where had that piece of pencil lead gone?
Sunil ignored the human child, still sore at being sent off by her own bond. As far as she was concerned, humans were scum of the earth.
When Averno turned to her, she was pleasantly surprised by her suggestion.
"Indeed," she said quickly. "I am an air elemental - but one of my original teachers was Corvus, who is not. I think different elements can help eachother on some level. And there are non-elemental magics."
She watched out of the corner of her eye as both Maq and Silva left the shop. Interesting, they appeared to be leaving the shop in droves.
The girl gave a bit of a frown at how easily Averno dismissed her in favor of speaking to the other fairy, but that wasn't completely unexpected. There wasn't a lot she could offer in a conversation about fairy magic, since she herself had none.
She did have her Jedi skills and some training, and didn't Djerod say the Force was just like magic in other realms? But how that could possibly be of any use to a fairy, the girl didn't know. All she knew was that she did want to find out how great the so-called "magic" of these fairies was, and what made them tick.
And then she heard something familiar. "Oh, Corvus, I know him," she said, determined to insert herself into the exchange. "I used to live with him."
Zelda huffed. She didn't even know that feien's name, and she hated him. And he always seemed to be here. She could try to be civil... but she so hated being patronized.
Hrmph.
She shook herself, tried to put on a cheerful expression, and approached the other group. What were they talking about? Magic? Huh.
Patience popped back up top where everyone else was. She had been right and heard a conversation about magic. Trying to not be to eager, she got closer to Averno and Sunil.
"Forgive me for overhearing, but I heard you made mention to practicing magic? And had a mentor? I have just started studing magic and I tried to find someone to teach me or atleast to be able to tlak to about magic, but I wasn't able to find out much."
She really didn't mean to leave Simon down there, but her thoughts of learning magic and finally being able to help Shiro overrid her train of thoughts.
Averno smiled at Sunil. "Ah yes, Corvus did mention having taught you I think. He's been mentoring me in magic. He's been absent for some time though. I'm a touch worried about him, but if anyone can take care of t hemselves, it would be him."
Her head snapped around when the girl mentioned living with Corvus, and sausage curls whipped about bouncily from the motion. "Lived with him, you say? Do you reside with his bond then? Tell me, is he all right?"
Patience's approach was momentarily lost as she snapped at tidbits of info on where her teacher might be.
Sunil glared up at the human girl in annoyance. She used to live with Corvus? Damn her for arousing Sunil's curiosity.
"Used to? Is the b*****d dead then?"
She glanced sidelong at Patience and decided that since she had been in a good mood earlier, she could spread the joy around.
"Averno and I are thinking about training together. Perhaps we should have a regular magic class?"
God, this sort of thing was much more Ruya's deal than hers. Sunil scowled more to make up for how nice she was being. Plenty of time to victimize these people after she befriended them.
The girl blinked. "He was fine when I saw him last. He went with Rose somewhere. I don't expect he'll be coming back here, if that's what you mean. Emperial's left Gaia and taken Luun and the fairy plant with her, and Simon said Corvus is going to go wherever she went."
Actually, now that the girl thought of it, where had Simon gone? But she was too involved in her conversation to truly worry.
In responce to Sunil's comment, Patience was happy. Learning magic with others might help her get better, and maybe learn things quicker then trying it on her own.
"A magic class might be interesting and helpful. Please inform me if one might start."
She was paying attention to the focus about Corvus. She had heard stories Tosten told of the other feien, but she had never met him before. So she dind't know what to think. Though clearly the others were wondering where he had gone.
Averno looked aghast. "He left? But he's the Summoner isn't he? How on Gaia will any more Feien be brought into the world without him?" She clenched her hands into fists, and laid one atop the hilt of her purple cocktail rapier. She had a sudden urge to poke this child in the nose with it, but decided the child could likely stomp her flat if she did so.
"And he and I had an agreement about my magic lessons. Are you absolutely sure he left? Maybe he just took a vacation?" There was a slight flavor of hope to her last words, but the sort of hope voiced by someone who really doubts there's a snowballs chance in hell of it being the case.
"The feien plant is gone?!" Zelda broke in, surprised. "No more blooms, ever?"
This could be at least partially good thing. At the very least, it would mean she wouldn't have to ever deal with other feien around her home. Well, except that one. One she could avoid, right? The house was big.
The little girl was taken aback. "I don't know! Em took the plant that was on her desk, was that the last one? And I don't think it was a vacation. Emperial moved away." Now she looked about for Simon, wishing she had his more extensive knowledge at her disposal.
Simon was too busy scouring the floorboards for his pencil lead to notice. It would seem a fair turn.
Sunil scowled and placed her hands on her hips. This wasn't bad news, even though everyone else seemed to think it was. Finally, she smirked and gave a harsh little bark of a laugh.
"Gone is as good as dead. Hopefully he won't return."
And with those last words, Sunil stalked away from the group and then launched herself into the air and out the door.
Averno gaped after Sunil, then closed her mouth, recalling from Corvus' words that there was no love lost between the two of them. She flitted her head about looking for the Fairy the girl came in with. She leaned over the side of the counter, trying to recall the name she'd addressed him by.
"Simian..er...Salmon...Er...Simon is it?" She called to the horned male. "Would you be so kind as to answer some questions for us, if you know the answers...?"
Patience watched Sunil take off and brought her attention back to the rest of the group. So the plant was gone and so was Corvus... But wasn't there others summoners? Like the guy called Julius. Wasn't he a summoner? She was confused at how important him being gone was going to be.
With a small yelp of surprise, Simon jumped to his feet and turned a shade somewhere between a beet and an apple. Two moments ago he had been down on hands and knees looking at the floor and--
"There you are!" exclaimed the girl, crouching down. She noticed the familiar color of Simon's face and frowned. "They were just asking about Corvus."
Simon said something but it was so faint even the young girl, with her ear half to the floor, could not make it out. He tried again, "What about Corvy?" Completely forgetting that he was hardly so close to Corvus any more as to be allowed to address the summoner so familiarly.
The familiar term for the Summoner didn't escape Averno, and her lips twitched as she fought back a burst of laughter. She had a sudden image of Corvus levitating a frying pan to slap Simon with for calling him that. Of course Averno's interaction with Corvus had been minimal.
"This girl says he's gone and left, and that the plant the blooms come from is gone too. Is this true? Are they never returning?"
"If there's no plant... then there can't be any more blooms. And no more new feien?" Zelda put her head to one side. "Er. Is it possible to get a new plant? For the continuation of the species, and all that?"
But... but still! There would just be this silly yellow bloom, and then--no more! Sunny obviously had an addictive personality--Zelda had been doing lots of reading lately--and judging by the sheer number of pixapets crawling around the house, and anything that kept her from having multiple siblings would be extremely welcome.
Simon pushed at his glasses furiously, which seemed to calm him somewhat, and nodded. "There are no plans for their return any time in the near future. Emperial has Luun with her as well, though there is still one more summoner, and another plant..." Sheepish for no real reason, Simon looked down at the floor and finally spotted the misplaced piece of lead. Unfortunately he was presently rooted to where he was standing.
"That's why they put Simon in charge of the shop," said the yellow-haired girl haughtily, looking up at the fairies as if to dare them to contest her statement.
Patience blinked at the young girls mention that Simon was incharge of the store. Could they do that? Leave such a huge store for one feien to manage? Sure he was the tallest feien she had ever seen, but the cash register was still taller then him. How would he be able to run the whole shop on his own. The place would get dusty in no time if there wasn't anyone to clean the place out. Well, it was pretty dusty already, it would just get worse. Though she was curious of the other summoner and if she was correct.
"Is Julius the other summoner? I remember hearing about him, and that he was a summoner. Is he the other one and does he have the other plant?"
Simon opened his mouth to speak.
"No," said the little girl without pause, stopping Simon before he could even think of starting, "Julius is an ancient. Emperial said he could summon blooms but that he wasn't very good at it and that's why Luun had no wings, so she forbade him from summoning blooms again unless she and Luun died."
Averno looked quite a bit put out. "Well then, that is that. He could have at the very least left a message about his leaving. How rude of him. Of course Corvus didn't seem to care much for propriety or politeness. Which leaves me once more without an instructor. I think perhaps Sunil's idea of a magic study group might have just become a necessity rather than a hobby."
The woman frowned looking both hurt and a little lost.
"He didn't mean to," Simon ventured, speaking loudly for a change. "It was Em's decision to leave. She spoke for Corvus as well." He fixed Averno with a very serious look, the blush almost completely gone now.
It occurred to Zelda that she really didn't know all that much about the feien themselves, for all that she was one.
But Sunny didn't have any books on feien. Hrmph.
Averno smirked a bit at Simon. "And since when did Corvus take orders from anyone? If he'd truly wished to send a message or say goodbye, he could have. He could have left a message with you, couldn't he?"
"I wouldn't know," said Simon, "as I haven't seen him in over a month. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, Corvus doesn't even know that he's moved to... what was it called? World something?" Simon looked up at his human companion.
"Planet Zero?" she offered.
"World Zero," concluded Simon, not really caring if he got it right. "Corvus hasn't heard yet. I'm actually supposed to watch for him in case he comes to the shop by mistake, since he certainly can't go back to the house. It doesn't exist any more." Somewhere in the course of his explanation, Simon had completely forgotten to feel nervous. It was hard to believe he had ever blushed about anything in the first place.
His human companion did not miss this fact, looking at Simon with more than a small bit of awe.
A soft sigh escaped Averno. "All right, all right, I get the picture. He's gone. Not coming back. No more lessons. Move along, nothing to see here." She flipped a curl back over her shoulder. "Very well then, I'll see about setting up some group studies in magic with Sunil and Patience, and see if we can as a group fill the void of someone so versed in magic being gone."
Simon adjusted his glasses, but not in the nervous manner he had used previously. His movement was pointed, precise. "You're better off that way. Corvus would never have given you any of his best tricks and secrets. Just enough to make you think you'd learned something worthwhile, and enough to remind you that he was in fact still the original master of the magical arts."
Averno tapped her fingernails on the hilt of her rapier with the dull clicking of enamel on plastic. "Yes, but that would have still been better, and more likely for me to find deeper magical understanding on my own with his foundation of teaching, than to stumble about blindly as I am now."
"You're not blind," said Simon plainly, "though perhaps you haven't been using your eyes. There are feien more accomplished and experienced in magic than Corvus. One feien's departure does not spell disaster for the shop, perticularly not when that feien is Corvus."
Averno snorted softly. "Well until today I could count the Feien I'd met on one hand, and none of them seem particularly magically apt except Corvus. None of them seemed willing to teach either, unless you're offering, horny?" It seems growing pains have Averno a bit snarky today. Well she's always snarky, she's usually just INTERNALLY snarky. Maybe she's not realizing she's said that in her outloud voice?
Simon shook his head. "I'm no good at magic. I wouldn't be of any use to you in that regard. I am curious: do you feel yourself less capable of studying magic than Corvus?"
Averno frowned. "At the moment, yes. Some of the lower level spells I think I have a grasp of, and the concepts seem clear to me, and what's needed to invoke them. But spells above the third circle..." She shook her head. "I can't get a grip on them, and it's terribly frustrating. I was hoping Corvus could enlighten me on that...but other than a few initial discussions, we never made it to the actual teaching and learning part."
Frustration glittered behind violet eyes. Averno was not one to easily admin a lack of skill in something, but with thoughts of the violent feien who assaulted her in the tavern at the forefront, she let the admission of inability slip.
With a frown, Simon cast a glance at Careli, who seemed content to sit and listen for the time being. "I don't mean whether or not you're less capable of performing magic, but less capable of studying it. Corvus learned magic mostly by himself. Unless you're of the opinion that he psosessed some genius far removed from your own, it should be possible for you to do the same. Would you agree with my conjecture, Careli?"
Finally the girl had a name. She wrinkled her nose. She wanted to listen for a change and not talk! "Not everyone can be a Jedi."
"But all feien can learn magic with time and dedication, even the seemingly impotent," countered Simon, looking back at Averno.
Averno frowned. "Maybe, but I don't even know where to begin really. I'm hoping Sunil does. I haven't had much interaction with other feien as my bond has been..." She trailed off and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll just have to find my own answers it seems." She turned, and with a flap of her wings, she headed for the window.
And finally, with Averno leaving, Simon was able to relax, which seemed to mean he was finally able to collapse to his knees looking lost and exhausted and pick up the pencil lead.
Careli watched him with wide eyes, looking for his next move, but he made none.
"Perhaps we could go home now?" said Simon.
"But I thought we were really getting somewhere," Careli protested.
"Home," repeated Simon, looking as if he might faint. Careli hastily scooped him up. "I don't think I should be wanting to come back in for several days."
Careli hummed, a vague sort of noise that could indicate agreement or disagreement, and rose to her feet. It was nearing lunch time anyway. Djerod would expect them back. "I thought you did fine," she said in a low voice as she carried Simon out.
"No," Simon said. "I think perhaps Corvus had the right idea. I should leave and neeever come back."
Careli just shook her head. "You're being ridiculous," she said. Any further words were lost as she and Simon disappeared onto the street.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2005 1:20 pm
Date: 03.02.05 Location: A Barbie Townhouse in the Silva Regia Tower. Synopsis: Averno moves into her new abode after outgrowing her former space. Participants: Averno The Scene: Averno's grumbles echoed down the halls of the castle as she dragged the umpteeth item from her old room to her new one. Sajhiri had to move the heavy stuff after using fishing line and a fish hook to drag it out of the tiny space above the portcullis that the feien had formally made her abode. To Averno's chagrin she had discovered her new adult form was far too tall to fit into the tiny space her juvenille self had once occupied.
Sajhiri had found a doll house that almost fit the nearly 8 inch tall fairy. She was just a touch undersized for it, as barbie is 11.5 inches in height, but the furnishings, though roomy, were somewhat liveable, even if the materials were tacky and the colors appalling. Averno had never seen so much pink in her life, and she hoped she never had to see that much again. Her bond had graciously painted the plastic walls of the town house in shades of purple and blue instead.
She flew up to the topmost floor through the elevator shaft. She'd ripped out the pink plastic monstrosity immediately, deciding it was far more efficient to use her wings in the channel it left behind to get between floors. In her newfound bedroom she set out her mirror and her plastic box on her pink plastic dressing table. She grunted at the proliferation of pink. It made her irritable. Of course it could be Cervus' parting indication he might die on his journey that had her in such a bad mood, but she wasn't willing to admit that quite yet.
She threw herself onto her bed, thankful that Sajhiri had sewn her a little mattress with some cloth covered batting, as sleeping on hard plastic was not her idea of fun. She pulled the blanket up over her shoulder and felt herself drifting off in her pink palace of plastic.
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