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 Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:26 pm
But the paper wasn't ready to ask the next question, because she hadn't answered the first. It rippled slightly, and the words blurred for a moment, before sharpening once more, as if it was simply repeating the question.
What always ends everything?
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:29 pm
Eight sighed and shook her head, watching the words blur up and waiting quietly for the next question. ...She just answered this one!
"I said death always ends everything!" Eight stated sharply, her headwings lowering over her face. She would have asked if the paper had listened to a word she said, but papers didn't have ears. What, did this thing only want direct answers? Fine, she wouldn't think out loud anymore.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:34 pm
The letters disappeared slowly, as if disappointed. The paper remained blank for a few long seconds, before the smaller, unadorned text appeared once more.
"Penelope Bailey Jenkins, you disappoint. Death is not the end of everything. You must prove yourself worthy of our kin by answering correctly. See through the eyes of Shauna. How would she respond?"
The words remained there for a moment, allowing her to read them before at the bottom the question reappeared, in a larger, more forceful text.
What always ends everything?
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:42 pm
She was surprised by the words, staring at the paper defiantly. See through the eyes of Shauna...what always ended things for her? Going to bed...leaving...plenty of things. Eight frowned, her headwings lowering sadly behind her head.
"She would say...'when Mommy makes me go to bed and I have to stop playing'...or...when we have to leave after she's been playing with a new friend, or with Elle and Asra." The halfling laughed, although there was a hint of sadness behind the laugh, she obviously already missed having Shauna sitting next to her. "I guess...I always end everything!" There, was that a good enough answer for this person? Shauna probably would say her mother always ended everything!
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 12:52 pm
The paper seemed to take longer with each incorrect answer it was given. Eight was simply lucky that she didn't have three tries, and that the questioner was as patient as he was. Nevertheless, the word that appeared in place of the question looked a little annoyed.
INCORRECT.
It seemed she was getting nowhere with her closed-minded answers. Eight wasn't very good at riddles, was she?
What always ends everything?
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:02 pm
She hated riddles, to be honest. Eight felt like screaming when she saw the word 'Incorrect' appear on the paper. What the hell?! You don't just go and ask her questions like this when she was frustrated, upset or tired! And currently she was all three!
"What the...I always hated riddles." She grumbled, staring at the paper. "Nothing? It could be a number of things! I could be here all night answering this question!" Eight just wanted her daughter back! But she wasn't going to until the woman started thinking outside of the box, was she? She glanced at the clock...10pm...oh boy. "I can't help but wonder who is asking me these questions...let's see..." Everything...what always ended everything?
"If it isn't me, and it most certainly isn't death...nothing? Uh...everything...everything..." The girl stared hard at the question, reading it over and over again before...
She burst out laughing.
"I'm a moron! Is it G?" And here she was trying to look for a real answer!
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:09 pm
The paper rippled fervently while devouring it's words, almost like a sigh of relief. The G remained, and moved to the top left corner of the paper, residing there for the time being.
A series of numbers began to show themselves on the paper. Each row appeared slowly, one at a time, as if trying to make a point.
1
11
21
1211
111221
312211
13112221
Consider these rows of numbers carefully. What would the next row of numbers be?
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:18 pm
Eight raised a fist in triumph, still laughing at her own stupidity. As upset as she was, she still found this funny! Now she just had to wait for the next question, which wasn't a very long wait. Obviously none of her questions would be answer, but that wasn't such a big deal, was it?
...Lovely. Eight loved numbers! The halfling read the new riddle quietly, hoping this one would take as long as last time; she knew what was going on now, the person asking these questions wanted her to think of all possibilities. "Let's see. We have one one...then two ones, so that could be why there's a two and a one in the next line...but the first number of every two lines is the next number in a line! Soooo the next row would start with a one! Soooo...now I just need to find the rest of the numbers." Perhaps it would help if she wrote it down, figuring something out by hand was always easier for her so she could keep track of what she's already done. Grabbing a notepad and pencil off the side table of her bed, Eight wrote down the pattern, spending probably two minutes trying to figure it out before finally coming up with what she thought was the answer.
"1113213211!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:33 pm
The numbers jumbled into a mess before disappearing as Eight answered the riddle. A quick, abrupt sentence flashed on the paper momentarily before disappearing almost as quickly as it had come.
"Perhaps there is hope for you yet, Penelope Bailey Jenkins."
The answer to her previous riddle showed itself on the paper, now down in a row.
1
1
1
3
2
1
3
2
1
1
The numbers added themselves up in front of her eyes, before she was left with a single number.
16.
Suddenly the alphabet swirled into view, and each letter settled in ordered fashion, as the paper counted down starting with A being 1. Once it reached 16, the number stopped just above the letter it corresponded with, and all other letters fell away. The letter P remained alone, and moved to join the letter G in it's little sanctuary on the corner of the paper.
After so much action, the paper took a moment to shine in it's silver blankness, before a single command presented itself in large, black text.
FIND THE ONE NAMED JOCE.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 1:44 pm
Well, this wasn't so bad! In fact, Eight was beginning to enjoy herself! Eight made a face at the paper and its statement, rolling her eyes. "Not sure if I should feel flattered or insulted!" She grumbled, watching the paper quietly in the corner of her eye as she curled up on her side. Now what? She quietly watched the paper do its addition and come up with the next thing she had to do, blinking and staring curiously at the 'P' left on the paper.
WHAT?!
"...Who's Joce?!" Eight whined and stretched out on her bed, growling in frustration as she buried her face into the pillow. Find the one named Joce...but...who around here was named Joce? Eight didn't know anyone like that, and it'd be weird if she just randomly went up to people asking their names. She was certain of one thing, however, she'd need help looking for this Joce person...but who was good at finding things? Maybe she'd give Sukku a call or finally visit the woman at her home, she was certain Adghal lived with her now, and as much as Eight didn't want to admit it...she could probably use his help. He could fly and search from the sky, she couldn't. She didn't even know what she was looking for!
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:40 pm
Finding Joce... Eight It was so dark...thankfully there were no clouds to cover the sky and Eight's best source of light; she was in too big of a hurry to look for a flashlight, those thins always got lost. It took some searching, but Eight sure as hell wasn't about to give up on finding Sukku's house. She knew Sukku would probably kill her for this, visiting her so late at night...or so early in the morning, whichever worked since Eight had no idea what time it was right now, but she had to get some help in looking for this Joce person. "...This fits...figures Sukku would live out in the middle of nowhere..." She sighed, rubbing at her arms and hugging her jacket closed tightly. It was only October, but when you lived in a tropical area like Gambino everything was freezing cold! Eight hopped up the front steps of the porch and looked around, peeking in a window for a sign of life; if someone was awake she'd be in less trouble for what she was about to do. She was desperate to see her daughter again at this point, it was amazing how quickly Eight had discovered this...did she rely that much on Shauna's company? The halfling frowned, shaking her head to clear it of any thoughts before she finally lifted a fist to knock on the door. "Please let someone be awake at this hour!" Eight pleaded quietly to the door, leaning over to peek in a window again. Nothing yet, but she'd wait a minute or two before knocking on the door again a bit louder. Sukkubus "God damn 'Bruzzi and her deadlines. That b*****d is dead and she still acts like she has higher ups..."
Sukkubus sat cross-legged at her desk, forehead resting against the tips of her fingers. She had been staying up to all hours trying to fix and rewrite her newest novel, seeing as her editor went and more or less edited the entire thing. Well damn! If she wanted to become a writer.... The she-devil tapped the back space on her laptop, eyes blinded by the glaring white screen. She grunted and rubbed the bridge of her nose, pushing her glasses up in the process.
She hadn't even changed out of her suit. God, was this thing stuffy...she hated being in offices, especially the one she worked for.
He twisted around with a...
Lame.
The young devil tur -- naaaaalalala
Backspace, baaaaaackspace. She was tired.
With a mighty CRASH! The devil struck his GOOD FOR NOTHING EDITOR AND RAN AWAY CACKLING INTO THE NIGHT! LOLZ HI AMBRUZZI YOU SUCK
She should keep it that way; she hit the delete button in the end whisking away her hopes and dreams. Sigh.
He grunted and twisted arnjgaeuolhaeh
The hell? Was someone at her door?!
Sukkubus slid from her chair and padded down the hallway, glad that everyone else was asleep upstairs already. She wasn't too off-put by being interupted, seeing as she wasn't even on a creative streak or anything. She wasn't even too surprised by the ungodly visiting hours this person had chosen.
Believe you me, she had had stranger.
She rubbed her fingers beneath the clip holding up her mussy hair and opened the door carelessly. Her weary, circled and bespectacled eyes met with a familiar face. Why wasn't she surprised?
"Good morning, Eight." Eight Eight smiled sheepishly up at Sukku, staring at her feet and locking her fingers together. "Morning Sukku...um...I didn't wake you, did I? Because if I did I'm really sorry it's just that I have to get some help because Shauna disappeared and this piece of paper told me she'd come back eventually but then it told me I had to find this girl and I don't know this girl and...can I come in...?" She hadn't taken a breath between every word, and it was obvious when she took a deep breath and looked up again with a frown. Oh hey...Sukku wasn't wearing pajamas, she was in a suit. The halfling blinked. "Nice suit...I didn't know you wore glasses" It was random, yes, but she'd never seen Sukku in a suit. She really did look worried, and it looked as if Eight had rushed all the way down here; her hair was a mess, she didn't make any makeup whatsoever on for once, her clothes looked like she'd just tossed them on and she was out of breath from running, which was a feat in itself. The halfling was nervous as well, looking around ever few seconds at any rustle in the trees or a bush that she heard. "I must be going mad...I almost got into an argument with a piece of paper that kept asking me the same riddle over and over until I got the answer right..." She whimpered, suddenly throwing her arms around Sukku and clinging to her tight. How childish, but she needed a hug right now. Sukkubus "Slooow down, cowgirl," she laughed, brows knitting as she did so. She had no idea what at Eight was going on about, let alone who Shauna may have been. How the hell did she find her, anyway? Good lord were there a lot of questions in need of answering, but the young halfling didn't look like she was in the mood for giving details. She absently touched her glasses when they were mentioned, and laughed again in spite of the strange situation.
"Nah. You didn't wake me up, Ambruzzi the Ruler of Hell did."
All joking aside, the she-devil's eyes softened momentarily, lips puckering in the worry the young woman was emanating. For a girl who'd been so bright and bubbly, this was worrisome. Then again, she hadn't seen her in so long that things may have changed. She ushered Eight in, silent as she shut the door; she rubbed the clip in her hair again.
"Shauna gone, check. Looking for a stranger, check. Finding my house, check. And arguing with paper. Yeah, I'd say all but the first are signs of losing your noodle." She had no time to grin as Eight's arms flew around her. She toppled backwards, caught herself, and hugged her back, albeit awkwardly.
"Hey, hey. Come on, don't worry. I'm sure everything will be alright." Whatever the hell 'everything' is... She absent-mindedly smoothed out the demon's hair, expertly avoiding her headwings.
"You obviously came here for something, maybe I can help." Eight Eight was still whimpering nonetheless, burying her face into Sukku's shoulder. Yeah...everything would be fine...the person behind the paper had said the absence wasn't permanent after all! And...all she had to do was find this chick! What was her name? Jose? No...Cose? No... oh! It was "Joce...I...I have to find a girl named Joce. But I have no idea what she looks like or who she even is! I don't even know of this Joce person is a girl! For all I know I could be saying the name wrong and it's a guy!" She whined into her friend's shirt, finally lifting her head and wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her jacket. "I was hoping you or Adghal could help me find her...Adghal can fly and you just have stronger senses than I do!" She looked around the room they were in quietly, sniffing softly as she rest her head against the devil again. "Oh that's right...you haven't met Shauna, have you...? She's one of my daughters, and she actually looks like me and Alex, he was your partner at Enoh and Nio's wedding...and I'm just so attatched to her...and I miss her! I want her back!" She sniffed and wiped at her eyes again, closing them and leaning into Sukku. Damn was this wearing her out. "I'm so worried about her...I hope she comes back to me after I find Joce..."Sukkubus She stiffened in the girl's embrace, her hands falling still. Joce? What the hell...
"I haven't seen you since the wedding, have I?" she noted, speaking without ever really thinking. She seemed to have niggled her way into her own little world, face pinched in thought. Shauna. She'd never heard that name before. Shauna. Boy, a lot had happened, huh? She needed to get out more.
She spoke carefully, "Joce? Well...I think you may be in luck. I'm not going to ask any questions now, but I'd better get an explanation later, yeah?" She pulled away from the raccoon-tailed girl and took her hand, coaxing her to follow through the foyer and upstairs. How would that piece of paper she spoke of know of her daughter? Or maybe it wasn't her Joce...maybe it was someone else. Everything swam within her head, muddled and fishy. God...she would have performed better with a little rest on her side.
She lead Eight down the spacey hall of her upstairs, past several doors until she stopped in front of the one she had searched for. The door was painted an apple red, with the words 'STAY OUT' written in childish, white print across the middle.
Yeah, this was it. Grabbing the knob, she opened the door.
"Damnit! Who the hell brought a Bible into my house?" She hissed and pinched the bridge of her nose.
She pointed at the young girl sprawled across the mattress, a book in one hand and a worse-for-wear teddy in the other. Her white-gold hair was splayed over her pillow and face, giving the nuisance of a girl the most angelic of appearances while asleep. She was snoring, though softly.
"Anyway...Eight, meet Joce." Eight Eight was about to reply, but her hand was taken and she was dragged upstairs and down a hallway. What the...where were they going?! She didn't know, but she did know the tugging was hurting her arm. Wait, was Joce here? Sukku sounded like she was confident she knew what Eight was talking about! The halfling gasped softly at the thought, quickening her pace from the scuffling of her feet to a full out walk. Wherever they were going, she was sure it would help her a lot.A Bible? A few shivers ran down Eight's spine at the aura of the room, biting on her lip a bit, and biting even harder until she actually drew blood at Sukku's words. This was Joce? She glanced at Sukku and took a step into the bedroom, crossing her arms over her chest and looking around until she reached the girl's bed. "Jo...oh..." A flash of silver being reflected off the dim light in the hall caught her eye, and she stared at it for a good minute before realization hit her like a lead pipe with rusty nails sticking out of it. There was a paper on that bear! The halfling snatched the paper quickly but carefully off the bear, checking both sides for a moment to make sure it was what she thought it was before she ran over and hugged Sukku again. "Thank you so much! I think you just brought me even closer to getting Shauna back! I'll give you an explanation as soon as she's safe with me again, okay? I promise! And if I don't...you can um...I don't know...punish me somehow." This was all said in a bit of a rush and she was out of breath by the time she finished, squeezing the devil tightly before she ran down the hall, slid down the banister, and ran out of the house, accidentally slamming the front door shut in all her excitement. She didn't come back to apologize, however, for she had already put the paper in her pocket and ran off to the subway back to Gambino.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 6:52 pm
Once Eight got a chance to look at the sliver of paper, she would notice that the paper had a single letter written in familiar black text, "A", and nothing more. It was a small bit of paper, shaped in a thin triangle. If Eight were to look at the first, larger sheet of paper she had found on her bed, she would notice that there was a sliver missing near the top left corner of the paper, separating the two letters written there. "G" and "P".
The night was starting to wane away once she'd reached Gambino, as sunrise was just beginning to surface up into view. The slight glimmers of light from the sun might catch one's eye in the direction Gambino Lake, but still the sun refused to rise, toying lazily with the waters edge before it.
Despite the sun hesitating to rise, it was a breathtaking view, and one that deserved a moment's pause, at the very least.
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:10 pm
Eight stopped when she reached the pier, resting her hands on her knees and pausing to catch her breath. This was quite the workout she was getting tonight, and she was sure she was going to have worry lines on her face after tonight too. The halfling couldn't help but watch the sunrise in the corner of her eye, leaning against a crate and reaching into the pocket of her oversized sweatshirt. Now to see what that paper said...
"A..." She took the other paper out of her pocket as well. "G...P...Gap?" The halfling held the two papers up next to each other as she pushed herself up onto her feet again, walking along the docks in the direction of her home again. "What about a gap? Is that all I had to find...?" Eight whimpered softly and put her arms on her head, finally turning around to face the sunrise and sigh in frustration. "I want my baby back..." She murmured quietly, wiping at her eyes with her sleeve before staring down at the paper once again. "Now what...?"
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 7:25 pm
As Eight took one last look at the paper, the last clue it would give her wrote itself on it's silver texture. Within the gap between night and day, between the conscious thought and the drifting dream, only there can Shauna return from our world back to yours.
Find her within the gap.The paper melted the moment Eight was done reading it's last words, and fell from her fingertips like silver goop. Directly ahead, at the coastline of the lake in the distance, Eight would now be able to see the silhouette of a girl playing on the edge of the lake's shore. The girl's silhouette was black, as the sun began to rise on her other side and blinded details from view. It was Shauna. Unfortunately, once the sun rose in full and the gap between night and day was over, she would be gone for good. If Eight made it to the coastline to retrieve her daughter in time, she would find the child severely changed. One could only hope she would recognize her in time. 
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Posted: Sun Oct 23, 2005 8:05 pm
That made almost as little sense as anything had tonight...sigh.
Eight gasped when the paper turned to goop, trying to catch it in her hands like it was something precious. Oh please oh please let that be a good sign! Find Shauna within the gap? The halfling bit her lip and looked up just in time to see the girl on the coastline, squinting her eyes a bit to try and get a better look. Who was that? She looked around for a moment before deciding to chance it, kicking her shoes off and taking off at a full out sprint towards the coast line.
Within the gap between night and day...
That was the break of dawn! That just had to be Shauna! Eight was willing to believe anything at this point, anything to bring her closer to her daughter. She tripped up a bit on the sand and it slowed her down, but not by much, completely ignoring the sand for now. Who was that? Whoever it was, something about her was familiar...
Eight stopped about three feet away from the girl playing with a stuffed cat, panting heavily and just staring. That hair...that tail...the cat was the biggest giveaway. The halfling fell to her knees in shock, silver eyes wide, jaw dropped and headwings perked up to full height and width. "Sh-sh-Shauna!" She cried, hugging the girl tighter than she'd ever hugged anyone before. It wouldn't hurt too much, but Eight was too overjoyed to hide any emotion right now. Her baby was back...although she really wasn't a baby anymore, was she? "I was so worried! I was scared I'd never see you again!" Eight whimpered, kissing her daughter's forehead, cheeks, and head. The sun in front of them rose ever so slowly over the edge of the water, allowing Eight to see her daughter even better. She...she'd gotten so big! She'd only been missing a couple hours! She leaned back enough to check Shauna from head to toe. She was so beautiful...her little baby was growing so fast.
"Wow...Shauna..." The woman whispered softly in amazement, cupping the Shauna's cheek and rubbing at it gently with her thumb.
"Mommaaaaaa~!" She finally manage squeal out, nuzzling her face into Eight's hand; it felt so good to be back in her mother's arms, she felt safest there. Shauna made a soft 'oof' sound when she suddenly found herself pulled into Eight's embrace again, only this time her mother was standing and burying her face into the top of her head. Was she that worried? "I love you, Momma." Eight smiled.
"I love you too, sweetheart...you gave me such a scare, I was up all night arguing with a piece of paper! Let's go home and make you a big breakfast okay?" Eight pulled back enough to look down at Shauna, brushing hair out of her face and sticking her tongue out playfully. Shauna gasped in delight, jumping up and down in place.
"A piece of paper?! Momma you've lost it! Ohoh! Can there be pancakes and muffins and...and...oh! Orange juice! And toast! And eggs! Scrambled! Yeah! And milk too!"
"I thought you wanted orange juice." Eight said with a laugh, taking Shauna's hand and leading her back across the coastline to the pier to fetch Eight's shoes. It was nice being able to understand what Shauna was saying now, albeit the new voice would take some getting use to, it was becoming more and more apparent that Shauna was just as excited about her new voice as her mother.
"Well I want cereal then! Am I missing anything? Oh! Fruit!" Her ranting about breakfast continued on all the way back home, although it changed several times from breakfast to Elle's reaction to Asra's reaction to breakfast again several times, even Alex and the boys she'd met this week were mentioned.
"Is everyone still asleep?" Shauna finally asked once the pair had reached the front door of the Jenkins home. Eight blinked a bit, surprised by the question coming up now...although it made a little sense. The half demon shrugged and looked up at the house, turning her attention back down at the fox girl in front of her with a proud smile, sighing as she wrapped her arms gently around her again.
"I suppose...I didn't bother waking them up last night, although I might have wakened all of Sukku's family on my way out of her house...I'll have to make it up to her...come on, we can surprise them at breakfast." Eight reached into her pocket and dug around for a moment until she found the key, unlocking the front door and leading Shauna into the house.
Wow! Shauna thought quietly, looking around the house as if it was her first time ever arriving here. Everything...looks so different! Wait until everyone else sees me!
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