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"Oh ain't this so ********' melodramatic," Thanatos drawled as Antony entered his room, tossing his bag into the corner. "You really think you're in love?"

"Of course I am," Antony said. "Shut up."

"You're not in love."

"How would you know?" Antony demanded.

"Because, kid, you're death. D. E. Alpha Eth. A walking shinigami, death incarnate, you can't HAVE kids, boy, you KILL kids."

"I," Antony said, turning on him, "am nothing like you."

"Absolutely," Than agreed. "Makes me proud, actually. You'll be the perfect reaper with a little bit of work."

"How am I the perfect reaper? It doesn't make sense! The reaper should be like--like one of those old hair band guys from eighties rock," Antony said, his tone a bit desperate. "I want to be a lawyer, for cryin' out loud!"

"See, now that's where you're wrong," Thanatos told him, dropping down on the bed, his legs crossed. A guitar appeared in his hands and he plucked at the chords for a moment before going on. "Death isn't emotional. Everyone dies. And everyone tries to get out of it. A lawyer for a reaper is a hell of a lot more logical than some idiot that spends more time on his hair than his brain. Not that you don't spend a lot of time on your hair."

"I love Jace," Antony said.

"You like the idea of being in love," Thanatos corrected. "Jace is your friend and you understand her, so it's easy to use her for this experiment of yours. But here's a truth you must have realized somewhere deep in that massive brain of yours. You're going to wind up hurting her, her friends, her family, and that massive b***h with the pointy toes who likes to play with fire. Do you really want to do that for a feeling you're only pretending at?"

"How do you know I'm pretending?"

"Because you were willing to give her up the moment you had her," he said bluntly.

Antony went silent, staring at him for a long, long moment before he reluctantly looked away. "If you really didn't believe me, you wouldn't be listening to my arguments," Thanatos added, rubbing salt into the wounds. "Cut your ties, kid. Do everyone you're fond of a favor. I even found a college that might fit you on Gaia, but far away from that hellhole you call Liberty. Walk away."

Antony sat down at the desk, his hand coming up to rub the bridge of his nose. He scowled as Thanatos played a riff from Don't Fear the Reaper, glaring at the spirit for a moment. "She's going to hate me."

"Let her," Thanatos said.

"She's my best friend."

"Sucks to be the dipshit that played her, then, now doesn't it?"

Antony cursed.

"Hey, if it makes you feel better, you can always learn to play the guitar."

Changes At Home: Jack's got another baby now^^ Shade and Antony meet Regina.

Parks and Spirits: Antony and Shade meet Touda and find out that he's living in a pharmaceutical building. They aren't happy.

Antony put his last piece of luggage in the hallway, glancing at his watch with a hint of impatience. "Father!" he called into the house. "Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming!" Shade shouted. "Just let me finish this call already!" he sighed, feeling a headache coming on. "Yes, I know, but Ice--"

"Look, he just needs to get out of the house for a bit, Shade," Ice said. "And you said you were going on a trip to different colleges right? It might be good for him. Of course, if it was only you going I would hesitate--"

"I'm hurt," Shade muttered.

"But Antony's a good boy," she said. "He even sent me a card on my birthday, you know?"

"It was my idea, you know," Shade said. Lying through his teeth.

"No it wasn't," Ice said with a snort. "But Walter needs to get out of the house for a while. I would send Kitsu with you as well, but she's got a project coming up that she needs to work on. So I'll send him right over--"

"But--"

"And I expect both boys to come back in one piece," she said sweetly, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Yes, dear," he said meekly. He hung up.

"I'm going without you!" Antony yelled at his father, opening the door right in time to see a rift open on the front porch and a teenage boy shoved through. A metallic monster the size of a motorcycle came out second, and Antony twitched.

He had hoped to be done with this boy when they were children. The surprised look on the blonde's face turned into a scowl as he saw who was in front of them.

"Well, then, it looks like you've been misplaced," Antony said irritably. "Why don't we get you home?"

"Noooo," Shade said, appearing behind him. "Antony, you remember Walter and Oblivion, right? Well their mom decided they needed to get out of the house for a bit. See the sights, so to say."

"Has she ever heard of sports teams?" Antony asked dryly.

"Colleges have sports teams, right?" Shade offered. "She packed for you, didn't she?" he asked the boy and his daemon.

"I guess?" Walter said.

"Good, since we'll be gone for a week."

"But I think she forgot my underwear," Walter said quickly. "So why don't I just go get it--"

"Underwear is overrated," Shade said, opening a rift. "And we, my boys, and girl, are late." Then he shoved them all through and onto the campus grounds of the first school.

"Vegas?" The hissed question caught Walter's ear and he slowed down a bit to listen in. "Father, what in the hell are you thinking? If the little monster eats college statues, just imagine what it would eat here!"

"I panicked, so sue me," Shade muttered. "Now calm down. We'll keep an eye on her and nothing will happen."

"I can't believe you," Antony muttered. "A pretty face and you're as dumb as--as a politician. Seriously."

Walter scowled, shoving his hands into his pockets and glancing down at his daemon. Her eyes gleamed blue as she eyed the world around her. This seemed to be her sort of place. He was happy that it made her happy, but he really hated being here with Antony.

"Just wait 'til you go to sleep, pretty boy," he muttered, frowning darkly. Not that he hadn't appreciated Antony's response to the college lady. But that didn't make them friends! He knew all about Shade's thing for his mom. And there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen. Not when Shade came with a complete b*****d as a son like Antony!

'You're pouting,' Oblivion told him. 'You already said you'd wait until tonight.'

"I know," he said. "Wow, this place is awesome, isn't it?"

"Want to go to a show?" Shade asked. "There's a magic show right ahead. Let's see if we can get tickets."

"Can we afford tickets?" Antony asked. "I didn't really plan on going on a vacation for this trip."

"I'll come up with something," Shade said, disappearing into the crowd and leaving the two boys behind.

Silence reigned and Walter dared to glance around. A man dressed as a woman walked past, perched precariously on a pair of shoes that were a foot tall themselves. He had feathers in his hair, Walter noticed blankly, and he had never seen a mix of plastic and silk like that in his life.

"I do believe he was prettier than me," Antony commented drolly.

"No, he just had better makeup technique," Walter said.

He didn't laugh. He wanted to, but he didn't. He didn't want to be here--well, he did, but he didn't want to be here with Antony!

"That one looks like my ex," Antony went on, pointing at a biker.

"So you are gay!"

"No, but she was."

Walter choked, then looked away, unable to keep from laughing. "Dude, I can't believe you just admitted that," he said finally.

"You'd be surprised," Antony said, watching more people go past. "I'm surprised, actually, that no one's tried to dress me up like them."

"Yet," Walter said. "Give them time."

"I think I'd rather not," Antony said. He looked impatiently in the direction that his father had gone. "There's a lot of spirits here," he said quietly. "They don't realize they're already dead, though."

"Now you're starting to freak me out for real," Walter said.

"Yeah, not nearly as freaked out as I am, though."

The Devil You Know
Players: Ice & TB
----------------------

"Quit shoving," Kash whispered at her sister. They were outside her father's office, holding glasses to the door to try and hear what was going on inside. Problem was, that trick seemed to work a lot better in the movies.

Usually they didn't care about who came to talk to their dad. When he worked he was never really off work. Some of his clients or partners liked to come by and pretend to be family friends while they made sure he was getting their asses off the line. But this was different. This was their mortal enemy. This was Antony.

"So you're looking for a bit of experience?" Dyer said, leaning back in his chair and eyeing the blue haired boy on the other side of the desk.

"Yes sir, while I finish up my high school education and start taking junior college classes," Antony said. "My father is a friend of Mr. Deakon, and Mr. Deakon says that you're a lawyer. I thought being a research assistant might be an interesting job. If you're interested, that is."

"Oh, I am," Dyer said. "But only if you're thorough."

"Sorry," Rhye whispered back, ear to her own cup. What was he doing here? She still hadn't forgiven him after the time he dropped a warning. It wasn't well done, at all. But that didn't matter. What mattered now was what he was doing here.

They should invest in a stethoscope as soon as they could, if they were going to continue this spying habit. At what she could pick up, from the conversation inside, she frowned. Things would be annoying if he worked with their dad.

"I try," Antony said modestly.

"Unfortunately, you don't ever start out as the research assistant only," Dyer said. "What you're offering to be is an intern. That means you do all sorts of jobs, such as getting me coffee, cleaning up, etc. Are you still interested."

"It seems fine to me."

"Then, because your teachers extol your abilities, considered yourself hired," Dyer said. "You can start on Monday."

"Thank you sir," Antony said as he stood and headed for the door. He opened it a bit too quickly and Kash fell in, barely managing not to land on her glass.

Unfortunately for her, Rhye tumbled in and landed on top of her. Her glass fell out of her hands. She looked up sheepishly for a moment. "Uh... Hi Antony.... What brings you here?" she asked awkwardly.

Antony looked at Dyer, who shrugged. "I came here to ask for a job," Antony told her, offering them his hands to help them up. Kash glared at the offered hand and shoved her sister off of her before standing up.

"We don't like that," Kash told her father, shoving past the blue haired youth and glaring at Dyer. "Find someone that's not a complete jerk!"

"I think I'm offended by that," Antony said.

"Which doesn't matter," Rhye told him, getting to her feet with out his help. She straightened her clothes first, then walked up to their dad as well. "Can't you find someone else? Some how I doubt you even need an intern. Wouldn't you have offered it to one of us?"

Never mind they had their own part time job, thanks to a fairy godfather.

"You're both already working," Dyer said. "And you don't need to work unless you want to. This job is also extremely boring, unlike yours." He didn't seem as if he was going to give in.

"But Daddy!" Kash said, pulling out her princess card.

"Really, Antony seems to be a fine boy to me," Dyer said. "He seems to have great potential as a lawyer, too," he added with a hint of amusement. "And he is your classmate--"

"He's in other classes. I wouldn't call him a classmate," Rhye corrected. Then she pulled her own princess card. "But Daddy, why him? Shouldn't you test him more? You can't just out right hirer a guy! Even if he is willing to get your coffee. There should be a... a testing period!"

"True, but usually they quit after the first week, anyway," he said with a shrug. "Somehow I think it'll be interesting either way, don't you?"

Antony sighed. He was going to be sooo tortured by this, he could already see it.

"Your a** is grass," Kash growled as she walked past him, storming out the door. She obviously didn't agree with this situation one bit.

"Good," Rhye said, giving her dad 'that look'. It was the same kinda look Croela gave him when he didn't agree with her and she thought he should do something about that fact. She too walked past Antony, giving him a glare of her own as she followed her twin out. Her tail swung behind her.

"Actually," Dyer said as Antony started to leave. "Could you clean up the glasses before you go?"

Antony looked down at the glasses that the girls had dropped and sighed, leaning down to pick them up. "Tell me, do you always work out of your home?" he asked the man.

"As often as I can," Dyer said. "I like being close to my loving family."

"Right," Antony drawled.

"We have definitely got to get rid of him," Kash told her sister as they headed for their room.

"Then let's make this internship hell for him," Rhye agreed. "Then he'll quit and we wont have to put up with him," she added, heading for the desk to get a note pad. They would work on plans on 'how to get rid of the annoying guy'.

Kash dropped onto her own bed, thinking about it long and hard, only to jerk as Bastion suddenly appeared right in her face.

"You know," he hissed happily, "I'm always good for this sort of thing."

"Sadly he is correct," Atreyu said reluctantly. "But I could be on help too," he added almost wickedly. Anything to keep them out of trouble and it going right.

Rhye looked at her sister. "Well....? Do you want to try it?" she asked.

"We'll see just how annoying he is first. Then we'll do it," Kash said with an evil little smile.

Night came more quickly, the brisk air tugging at his long blue trench coat only emphasized the eerie sight of clouds rolling over the brilliant, almost full moon. The sky was brilliant and clear, the kind of colors you would never forget no matter how long your life was.

Antony hunched in on himself slightly, shoving his hands into his pockets. He was walking home from Mr. Dyer's office. It had been a long night of searching through obscure laws and past cases. He enjoyed it. Well, other than the pranks that the twins insisted on playing on him.

He was almost positive that he would never get the dye out of his shirt. It was a shame. He rather liked this shirt.

It was October. He had never liked October, the time when Halloween was right around the corner, the time when people started thinking about spirits and the supernatural all the time. Every channel on TV had a horror movie of some sort planned, or playing, people at school decorated the walls with pictures of white robed ghosts and pumpkins with black cats peeking out from behind them. It was the most retarded thing he had ever seen.

They didn't believe in ghosts.

Maybe it was only on Gaia and Earth, he thought as he started down the familiar path that ran through the local park. Perhaps he could convince his father that they were in sore need of another vacation. For an entire month. Of course it wouldn't work, he thought with disgust. Not only did his father have responsibilities to fulfill, so did he.

"You look serious, young man. Is there something bothering you?"

He glanced up, only then noticing the old woman sitting on a bench off of the path. "It's cold out tonight, madam," he said as he went to her. "Shouldn't you be at home?"

"Soon enough, soon enough," she said, waving a frail hand covered with age spots. Her fingers were covered in rings, but they were sized for a much younger woman. "I enjoy these brisk fall nights. They're so bright, don't you think?"

"I do," he agreed. "But I also think it's too cold to be sitting out here all alone. Can I get you something? A coffee? A hot chocolate?"

"A regular prince, aren't you?" she asked with a small laugh. "I'm fine, good sir. But I'm afraid you aren't."

He went still, the blood in his veins going cold at that simple statement. It was then that he noticed something he should have seen earlier.

He could see the planks of the bench through her body. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," she said. "But I will warn you. It gets larger the closer it is to Halloween."

"What gets--" He stopped as he realized she was no longer there. A curse lit his lips, something that rarely happened. Whatever she had warned him of, he knew already that he wasn't going to like it.

He had best warn his father.

The Reaper's Duties
Players: Ice & TB
-------------------

Antony sighed, reaching up and straightening his already straight clothing before he knocked on the door of the Zee household. To be honest, he hadn't ever been there before, not that he could recall. He wondered if they would be irritated with his sudden showing up.

But Chris had called him on his cell phone. That Chris even knew Antony's phone number was enough to show how serious the situation was.

"Coming!" Ze called from the other side, opening the door. "Antony! I haven't seen you in some time. I almost didn't recognize you," she grinned at the youth, welcoming him in. "Rory's in the living room, doing homework with Rayne."

He smiled back, since it was part of his nature to be charming, and bowed slightly to her. "Actually," he said, "I'm here to see Rayne, if I could. Chris said she had a little shake up today?" he added as he walked in, shrugging his trenchcoat off and looking for a place to hang it at.

Ze took the coat from him, hanging it on a hanger behind the door. "Oh, well.. yes. Someone invisible to me ran off with her. The other and I cornered them, and Rayne was returned. Rory hasn't let Rayne out of her sight since," she told him, leading him to the living room.

What he would do about it, she didn't know. nor why he was told, but oh well.

"Hey Antony!" Rory called. She was laying on her stomach in the middle of the living room floor with her math book. There were crayoned answers in it from when Rayne got her hands on the book.

Worst part was, the answers had been right.

Rayne looked up at him as well, her two tails waving, and nudged her glasses back up her nose.

"Hello, you two," he said with a little smile. "Mind if I join you?" He looked around, then sat in an empty chair, looking at the crayon answers with a hint of curiosity. The expression turned to amusement as he realized they were right. "You wouldn't happen to be cheating, would you?"

"Nope!" Rory replied, head up high. "It's easier to work out the answer and how to get there if you already know what the answer should be. So, let's just say I'm double checking them."

"They right. Is what the book said," Rayne replied, and went back to her coloring. She looked up again at Antony again and held out her hand. The one she wasn't coloring with. "Hi, I'm Rayne."

"I remember," Antony said. "I was there when you first hatched." He took a deep breath, wondering how he could broach the subject. "Chris called me not very long ago. He said you had a little adventure today?"

"Fox-lady ran off with me. -Everyone- wants to turn me into a pet. I'm already Carmel, Jordie and Coba's pet!" she replied to him and gave a little huffing sigh.

"You're not a pet, you know," Rory added.

"I know, but they friends. They can claim me pet," Rayne replied. Only friends had such a privilege, after all!

A little laugh escaped him. "As long as they don't try to put a leash on your or put you in a cage," he told her with a little grin. "But tell me about the fox lady. Did she hurt you?" Would he have to hunt her down? He didn't even know if he was strong enough to handle a kitsune, if that was what she was. But he didn't say any of that.

"Nope. Just ran around with me. She was having fun, so I think she was bored. She coulda vanished with me, but didn't, so she's not bad," the little girl told him, coloring again.

Rory looked over to Antony now with a small look of concern. Just what was going on with her baby sister?

"Chris said that he couldn't see the fox lady, and that... Jordan, was it? Couldn't see her, either. Did you have any trouble?" he asked. It felt like he was researching a crime. But he was, wasn't he?

"Mama couldn't see her, either. But Coba and Carmel could! Carmel told Chris and he came after me. Coba and Carmel almost fought over who's I was, too," she told him. "But Fox-lady gave me back."

"That was nice of her," he said, trying not to laugh at her explanation. She was so cute, really. "But that brings me to another subject. Strange people like that will be showing up now and again until Halloween, as much as I hate to admit it. I'm going to have to warn you to be very careful, okay? Since you're going to draw their attention, just like Carmel does."

"Cuz I could see fox lady?" she asked, tilting her head. ".... As long as they give me back before dinner and don't do anything bad, it'll be okay."

"No, because I don't think all of them will be nice like the fox lady," Rory replied. "Maybe she should stay over at Chris's? At least with two of them who can see, they can alert those who can't."

"That, actually, is a great idea," Antony said. "Not only can both girls see things, Chris can stop it from getting too close. But--"

"But he can't see them," Rory ended. "And how would they stop them, anyway?"

"And Coba sees. Will they go after Coba too?" Rayne asked him, looking up through her glasses.

"Exactly," Antony said, sighing. "There's probably several of the kids that have some sort of spiritual awareness. We can't shove all of them on Chris, no matter how large he is. But," he said slowly, "Chris can do pretty good against spirits. I would think you'd have the same ability, Rory. Even without being able to see them, his natural aura is far stronger than they are."

"Okay. So then, by sticking with her, it'll help. You just gotta tell me when they're around, kiddo," she told Rayne.

"So... no spending the night with Carmel...?" Rayne pouted slightly.

"You can, if you feel safer there," Antony said. "As you said, she can see them, too." And she had some of her own protection, as well. "But as long as you pay close attention to what's happening and stick with your sister you should be safe for now. When Halloween gets closer, I would suggest sleepovers. Now... this Coba, who is he?"

"I safe here. We sleep over later," Rayne announced. Rory just knew this meant the little girl would want to share a bed or something.

"Coba is Jordan's little brother," Rory explained. "He likes scaring Rayne into a little fox form."

"Jordan... I haven't met her--him?" he asked, "either. But I'm betting that Chris has, hasn't he?"

"They're neighbors--"

"Jordie's a girl," Rayne cut in. This was an important fact because she didn't look much like a girl. But then, neither did her mother.

"She's a dwarf," Rory added.

"I see," he said, thinking about it. If she was like a Pratchett dwarf, she wouldn't have any problems at all. Maybe. He nodded. "Then I'm going to have to go meet them, I think."

"Okay, but be careful, there are weird people over there," Rayne warned him, reaching out and patting his foot as if to console him for the things he might have to face.

"Weird people, huh? And you still like going over there?" Rory teased her.

"I'm used to them now," Rayne said proudly.

"Thank you for the warning," he said with a nod. "I'm sure it'll help me very much." Then he stopped, thinking of something. "Have you ever met the luck dragon twins, Rayne?"

"Luck dragon...?" Rayne asked, tilting her head to the side. "Whaz'a luck dragon...? Are they scary?"

"Nope, not at all," Rory grinned. "I've met them before, but I haven't seen them in a while."

"I work for their father," he said with a wry smile. "They hate me, by the way, but they're getting trained in a very special sort of magic by a fairy godfather. I suggest you check out their shop sometime and see if they couldn't make you a few wards."

"They have a shop? Wow... it -has- been a long time. What do you say, Rayne? Wanna go shopping tomorrow?" Rory asked her little sister.

"Will the have books...?" Rayne asked doubtfully.

"Probably."

"Okay then!"

"It's a magical shop, so I won't promise that you'll find it. But I think Rayne might have a better chance than most. You might invite that Coba boy along with you, actually." He stood. "But I've got work today, and so do you, so I'll be going now."

"Uh, okay?" Rory said, getting to her feet to walk him out. It was the least she could do. Rayne trotted along after her. "Magic shop indeed. Don't forget to go to their place, and I'll see about taking Coba with us," she promised.

He nodded, smiling at her. "I shall try my best," he promised. "I also need to check on Carmel, and probably warn the twins, as well, and--" He was getting a headache just thinking of all the work he had to do.

"How about this, I'll give Chris a call about it for him to talk to Carmel, and I'll call up Coba's family too. You can talk to the twin's dad for him to tell them, since you work for him anyway. There, things have no been delegated."

"Thank you," he said with a smile. "I appreciate it." Then he reached down, patting Rayne on the head. "It was good to see you again, Rayne."

"Okay, have good day," Rayne told him, as she could tell her mom or sister when they went out to work, and waved to him.

Rory tried not to snicker at this.