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It was finished. Lyrus sat back with a sigh, critically eyeing his creation. The flower was simply amazing, identical in every aspect to the one that had lured him into the trap, right down to the dewy tears quivering on its petals. The orchid, if it could be called such, was of clouded glass, perfectly molded beneath Lyrus' hands and 'pens', whereas the stem and leaves were clear and of a much simpler design so as not to distract from the bloom.

It was magnificent.

He had spent the better part of the past two days working on it, breaking only for meals and sleep at Banda's insistance. But it had been well worth it. This blossom was easily his most amazing accomplishment to date, crafted with a skill far beyond anything he had expected of himself. He doubted he could ever duplicate it.

Rising to his feet, he retrieved the wooden 'pen' and leaned out over the statue, carefully inspecting it for any minor imperfections he might have missed. So involved was he in his task that he failed to notice the arrival of his 'guardian'.

"Lyrus, I--Oh.." Banda froze, awestruck, in the doorway, staring wide-eyed over at the boy and his creation.

Lyrus jumped with the unexpected greeting and dropped his pen on the table, wheeling around to face his older brother. Relaxing somewhat at Banda's expression, he cracked a grin and stepped aside, gesturing to the blossom. "I finished."

A moment passed in silence. Suddenly paranoid, Lyrus half turned back towards the flower, eyes searching it for any mishap. "It's good, right? I can start over, I guess. Or color it, or--"

"No, no..." Snappy back to his sense, Banda interrupted him and stepped over to the table. He smiled. "It's wonderful! I didn't know... Wow. No, don't color it. It's best this way."

Inwardly preening, Lyrus nodded his agreement and retrieved his pen. "That's what I thought, too. 'Cause the light catches it, see?" Stepping back to the window, he pulled open the blinds, lighting both the room and the flower, and earning himself another astonished gasp from Banda.

"Truely amazing," the SkullMonkey awarded him, stepped closer to admire the bloom. "Very well done, and so realistic... This is that flower that tricked you, you said? I can see why." Shaking his head in open amazement, he straightened up and hooked his thumbs in his pockets. "It's beautiful, Lyrus. Where're you going to put it?"

"I'm giving it away," came the calm reply, as if Lyrus was actually generous and spent this much time on every gift he gave, few as they were. "It's for Anisia."

Banda quirked a brow. "Anisia," he repeated, glancing from the flower to Lyrus and back. Then, shaking his head slightly, but nonetheless smiling, he fixed his eyes on the lamb Sin. "And what's the occasion?"

Lyrus shrugged. "She kept the plant from eating me." Offering no further explanation, he carefully picked up the plant and headed out of the room. "I'munna bring it to her now. Bye."

The SkullMonkey just shook his head, watching him go and looking more than a little confused. Oh well...maybe he would explain when he got home.

"I didn't do it!"

"I didn't do it!"

"I didn't do it!"

How many times had she repeated that, and to how many people? She didn't care to count. And, sure, she did do it, but it obviously wasn't her fault! One of those brat sisters (or maybe Kotoki) had done something to her spell to mess it up--she wasn't to blame.

It was a relief to get away from her family. Even if she did have to wear that stupid teal outfit like Noyama's and hang out with that group of stupid girls from her island who were visiting and who all wore the same thing and pretty much looked and sounded exactly the same in the stupid mall's "food court" place.

"I think he said something about you!" One of the four purple-haired girls giggled. They all spoke English, but the island language was easier for them. Besides, it was more fun. You could talk about people, and they wouldn't even know what you were saying! Giggle.

Despite being 12 in reality, Kilah easily passed as a teenager and didn't mind playing as one so long as this group of babbling morons kept buying her stuff. The girl who was being spoken to made a face and nudged the other playfully, sticking her tougne out.

"So Kilah, did you think about getting a tan?" One asked suddenly. "Your skin is really pale."

"Is it?" Kilah yawned, spinning the straw in her milkshake around. "I hadn't noticed..." Morons. At least they had money...

Malls were stupid. Malls were stupid and boring and didn't have any of the interesting stuff like at the weird little foreign stores they usually visited. Why Banda had chosen to drag him to the mall, Lyrus would never know. They certainly didn't need anything, and it wasn't the sort of place Banda would normally want to go--especially since they had taken Venoch with them. But here they were.

Scowling, Lyrus shot a glare up ahead at his 'brother' and the demon curled up on his shoulders. Blasted noisy malls. He couldn't even play with his knife--Banda had made him leave it home. His KNIFE. Lyrus never left his knife anywhere! It was making him nervous, jumpy. Around each corner could be someone waiting to attack and slit his neck, and he wouldn't be able to do a thing about it because his bloody knife was at the bloody apartment!

Lyrus hated the mall.

Sighing heavily, and forgetting Banda couldn't hear, Lyrus let his gaze wander the area. Boring clothes store, some video game place, shoes, more clothes, food court... Kilah? He blinked. The mall was certainly not the kind of place he'd have expected her to be around. ...Oh well. "Oi, Kilah! S'that you?"

"That's Jaxom, isn't it?" One of them accused immediatly. Kilah snorted. It probably shouldn't have amused her, but for a reason even she didn't know it did.

"That'd be Lyrus," she answered in English, leaning back in her chair and waving in no particular direction. "Hey, Lyrus!" Kilah called across the many tables, chairs and people to him. It sucked they wouldn't let Gizmo in here.

Not that she needed him with at least one of these girls dragging her around by the arm. They were like eye dogs themselves, except they talked and giggled and gawked at every boy and stuff like that.

Maybe throwing a few babies in the volcano hadn't been such a bad idea after all. It would help weed out the stupid ones like these.

Thankfully, Lyrus wasn't near enough to catch the other girl's words. Even in another language, Jaxom was Jaxom, and had he heard that name, he likely would have just followed after Banda after all.

As it was, he returned the wave, ignoring the fact that Kilah couldn't see, and, leaving the oblivious Banda, hurried over to the table and pulled up a chair for himself, sinking down between two of the girls and otherwise ignoring them. "Never thought I'd see you at the mall. Not that I'm ever here myself... Banda's looking for something. How've you been?"

"Actually, I come here a lot," Kilah admitted with a chuckle. "My friend Morty pierced my nose here once. It fell out, but Lucky won't let me do it again until I'm older." That's why she was here so much. Trying to sweet talk the owner of that lovely shop with all those earrings to do it for her anyway. He never agreed, and even when she told him her "mother" couldn't write and therefore couldn't provide permission he wasn't swayed in the slightest.

One of the two girls beside Lyrus glared lightly. "He's rude."

"I think he's kinda cute," the one on the left said jokingly. The other three 'ew'ed in unison.

"He's like ten! Gross!"

"I meant cute in the little kid way!" The other teenager defended. It was interesting when you thought about it. They didn't look much older than Noyama and Noharu, but acted so much different. That island really was changing, apparently.

"I've been better," Kilah answered, ignoring the other females. "Our house burned down." And it so totally wasn't her fault. "What about you?"

"I see..." Nose piercing? He could vaguely remember her mentioning that before, but didn't care enough to dwell on it. He would never get one, anyway. Maybe a regular earring or something, 'cause they were shiny and neat and it'd look cool with his horn, but not in his nose. That was kind of gross when you thought about it.

There was a brief pause while Lyrus glanced around at the girls, actually acknowledging their presence, but more out of annoyance that they were saying things he couldn't understand than any desire to talk with them. Once they had stopped ewing, he returned his attention to Kilah, grimacing. "Your house burnt down? Where're you living now, then?"

"I'm staying with Banda now," he chirped smugly, reclining back in his chair. "So things're good. Finally got away from Moo and Jax and crap." He paused, expression darkening somewhat, a shrugged. "I heard Jaxom grew. Haven't seen him since, though." And don't want to, the stupid p***k.

"I don't know. Lucky'll figure something out. She's smart." And scarey. Kilah didn't dare stick around to wait for her to come home. No one believed her when she said she didn't do it. The evidence was awfully overwhelming. Whatever. She didn't really want to think about it.

Another thing she didn't want to think about was Jax. Stupid...moron. "Ah," she said casually, almost boredly. What did it matter if he didn't see him anymore? Sometimes she could swear he was trying to start something. "You four, go away."

The group of girls whined as they gathered their things from the table and left. No one from the island dared to tell Momoro's future wife no. Of course, as far as they knew she actually had interest in him.

"I'd volunteer Banda's house, but it's tiny." He sighed. It was annoyingly small after the magnificence of the House. The apartment only had two bedrooms, a small kitchen, and a combined living/dining room. Lyrus had already booted Venoch to have a room of his own. The demon didn't mind. He stayed with Banda now.

He quirked a brow as the girls departed, watching them go and waiting until they were out of hearing range to continue. He didn't know why Kilah had sent them away, not did he particularly care. He preferred them gone. And he could make this work to his advantage. "Yeah, I heard from Isto. He also said Jax has a new girlfriend or something. Another Guardian he met."

A lie. Lyrus didn't care. If there was even the slightest chance that Kilah still liked jaxom in that way, he wanted it gone. Call it jealousy, call it greed, call it whatever. He just didn't like sharing a friend with his p***k of a brother.

Alright. Now she was sure he was trying to start s**t. She hadn't seen his brother in who knows how long, why couldn't he just let it go? She listened in silence, trying to look as careless as she could. The fact she didn't have eyes was for once a good thing--it was easier to fake an expression without them.

Drumming her fingers on the chair handle, she rested her elbow on the table and her head on her palm. "That's...nice," she said sarcastically in a way that almost seemed to be warning him. "Did you catch her name?"

"Eydie," Lyrus replied without missing a beat. He had expected the question. And Eydie -was- a real Guardian. She even lived with him--or with Moo, anyway. Part of Lenta's family. But Eydie had been stuck as a baby forever for some strange reason, even though she and Jaxom shared a birthday, so they idea of them ever hooking up was particularly laughable.

Not that he laughed. That would screw up everything. "I've met her once or twice. She's a b***h," he added. And she was. Demonic little wretch. Like a female Venoch, except less prone to slicing things open.

"But anyway," And time for a subject change. All casual like. "Have you met Anisia?"

It was hard to believe him for a few reasons, and those reasons were probably why she was so doubtful about it. For one, it was hard to believe anyone could put up with Jax for very long. He was all fine and good at first, but he got old quick. Besides, if he did have a 'girlfriend' it was only to make her jealous. Amusing, if anything.

But then what did she care?

"No," she answered, fiddling boredly with the straw again. "Why?"

"Just curious." That was all, really. He hadn't expected her to have. Maybe heard of the cinnamon girl, but not met her--Ani had said she didn't know Kilah or Mignon, after all. "I met her a few days back, s'all."

A pause while he traced a design on the table with one finger, and then, "She saved me from this giant plant. There's a room at the mansion, and we were exploring, and..." he shrugged. It was too much trouble to bother with the full story right now. "Well, she got me out of the plant, anyway."

Ah. So she was a Sin'aeis. That was-- Kilah paused, 'tsk'ing angrily at the sudden memory. "I know what room you're talking about. The one with all the plants, I've been there. That big a** fly trap or whatever almost ate me when I was toddler." Oh, Lord, how she loathed that thing to no end. It wasn't safe in that room! Chaco should burn it. Maybe she'd do it herself. "Like I needed another reason to hate flowers," she muttered as an after thought.

"Anyway," the girl continued, twirling the straw around and around in the glass again--for some reason it really helped pass the time. "I've never heard of her." Which kind of surprised her. Normally she'd at least heard of a person. "Sounds cool."

"Yeah! That's the one that got me." Well, he didn't feel so stupid anymore. And that blasted lure-flower hadn't helped. Of course, it wouldn't have tempted Kilah, but had she been able to see, he was sure it would've. It was just that nice of a flower, even if she hated them. So it was perfectly reasonable for him to, you know, nearly get eaten by a plant.

Why did Aylee have that room, anyway? ...And what did she feed the plants?

"She's pretty cool," Lyrus replied evasively, shrugging. "A lot like Mignon, I think. But less inclined to beating people with batons." Meaning she was nice in not-so-nice terms. But flat out telling Kilah someone was really nice generally made Kilah think of that person as a wuss... Which, really, Anisia probably was, especially since she was friends with Aard. But Lyrus could get over that. She had chopped him out of a plant, after all.

Kilah nodded understandingly. That plant was the damn devil. Now that she knew it was there she planned to revenge on the damn thing. One day. When she was older, and had more access to sharp objects she could kill it with.

Still listening, she 'hm' occasionally, eventually lifting her head up a bit and giving him one of those looks. "I don't think Mignon and I would've gotten along as well as we do now if we hadn't known each other as babies," she informed him in monotone. Perhaps it was a hint to drop the subject before she started thinking this girl Lyrus seemed to like so much wasn't so cool after all. Honestly, she was beginning to sound like another Yukito... Ick.

Come to think of it. "I barely see her anymore." Mignon, that was. It hadn't crossed her mind more than once, but the prescene of someone she had forever considered her best friend was becoming more and more rare.

Lyrus frowned, good mood vanishing in an instant. He knew that look, and he read the hint, but he was not at all inclined to drop the subject. Of course, he had expected something like this, hence his reasoning behind mentioning the plant fight first. But she didn't have to be so blunt about it. "You could give her a chance, anyway," he snapped, more to himself than to Kilah.

For a brief while he didn't bother to reply, merely eyeing Kilah's drink and debating going to get one for himself. And then he remembered that he didn't have any money, and that Banda wasn't nearby at present. Nevermind, then. "You don't really need to, do you? You cover the bitchy side, and those island girls're the nice side. Why should you and Mignon be friends anymore?" He didn't mean a word of it, of course, but he wasn't in the best of moods after Kilah's reaction to Ani. So piss her off it was.

Again, Lyrus? Sigh. Leaning back, she held one hand up and just as bluntly said, "Look, you're becoming increasingly easy to piss off. I didn't say anything bad about her, I don't know her. I'm only saying I don't want to be forced into contact with anyone. I don't like Yukito and we still talk despite the fact you do." It wasn't that she was happy with that, she wasn't. Pansy needed to go burn. But if she could deal with Lyrus liking him what was one more?

"I don't know those girls names." Hell, she didn't even want them here. The only reason she hadn't told them to 'piss off' was because they obeyed her every command and gave her money and stuff. Where someone from that island got money for things here she didn't know, but then didn't care enough to ask. "I don't know," she admitted flatly. "I seem to be thinking that about more than just her recently. Certain others like to start things and be unreasonable."

Had it been any other day she would've yelled right back at him, but not today. Considering everything that had happened arguing was the last thing she was interested in. Even if it was Aard she'd have hesitated, if only for a second. "You're awfully defensive about it," she pointed out. "You like her?"

She did have a point. However, that had been his arguement back when Kilah had hidden his 'relationship' with Jaxom from him. So he didn't have to listen to reason because she was being hypocritical. "I never said you had to meet her, I just don't like you swearin' off people before you meet them." Which was partially true given the situation. For some people, he probably wouldn't have cared.

He pulled a face at Kilah, but didn't bother to grace her with a reply. She wouldn't just stop being friends with him. And today he could make all the rude hand gestures he wanted, because Gizmo wasn't here to warn her. Bwaha.

"No," he snapped instead, scowling and huncing down over the table, arms folded on top of it. He paused, then muttered "Maybe," and after a beat sighed heavily and rested his chin on his arms. "I don't know. No. Banda says I do, but I don't think I do. So no, right?" Right. Right? Now he had confused himself.

"Don't ask me. As you so go out of your way to prove I'm not the best with this kind of thing." Damn Jax. Casting him aside completely she still wasn't any help with this sort of thing. Ani-whatever sounded more like Mignon than her. "You should talk to Mignon, she'll prolly be able to help you more than I will."

It wasn't just her who could hear those girls coming back. They were so damn loud seperately, deafening together. It was disgusting, really. Noyama seemed like a God-send in comparison. She wouldn't lie and say she wasn't slightly relieved they returned.

"Let's go," she immediatly insisted, rising to her feet. Not before pulling a lovely twenty dollar bill out of her pocket and tossing it out on the table. "Here, buy her something or...something. Consider it a farewell present, too, because Lucky's likely to kill me." That wasn't completely untrue, unfortunately.

Waving, she grabbed one of the girls arms and was led away. Couldn't catch a break anywhere today, and she'd have to face the reality outside that which was the mall eventually...

"Mignon, right," he mumbled, more than himself than to Kilah. However, with the return of the girls and the gift of the money, he glanced up somewhat, frowning faintly once more. She was leaving? Just like that? Sighing, he watched her go, then climbed to his feet and picked up the money, starting away. Buy her a gift nothing--he was getting a snack. And then off to search the mall for Banda. Wouldn't that be delightful.

Lyrus was pleased.

Practice, apparently, did help. Grinning, he peered down at the set of panpipes in his hands and, after adjusting their position somewhat, begaun the simple tune once more. It was nothing complex, of course, but it was a quick tempo and the notes were all right--that was an amazing accomplishment for the lamb Sin. Learning panpipes was hard when your instructor couldn't hear.

Banda was at work and had taken Venoch with him, so the empty house hhad quickly chased Lyrus outdoors. At present, the lamb Sin was seated beneath one of the trees in the garden of the mansion, using the nice weather and lack of company to his advantage.

Wrapping up the song, he paused briefly to glance over to Vin, quirking a brow. "Well?" The flit crooned his approval, eyes whirling a cheery blue-green. Smirking with pride, Lyrus began again, this time adding a few extra trills here and there to make things more interesting. Practice makes perfect.

Good times.

Yukito's ears twitched back and forth as he went about the watering of the flowers in the garden and the picking of the ones that he would need later for a couple of potions that he was wanting to fiddle with. Roses it seemed were the main ingredient in a love potion, how interesting since it seemed they were also the ones that people gave out to each other on all occasions to show that they cared.

He lifted his head as he caught a few trills of music and his tail started to flick back and forth to the sounds. He wondered who that was, Vana maybe? She seemed more into singing though then instruments but one never knew right? He carried the watering can over to set it back down next to the edge of the garden where he had found it and decided to go in search of the music. It was a lovely sound after all.

Needless to say when he found who was making it he was a little in awe, he hadn't known that Lyrus played an instrument. How neat. He found himself standing there, listening to the sounds and sort of swaying to the music unconsciously.

Lyrus could have gone on for a while without noticing Yuki, and likely would have done so had not Vin been much more perceptive than he. A few confused chirps from the flit successfully interrupted his tune and, growling lightly, Lyrus dropped the pipes onto his lap, swiping idly at the flit. "Be quiet, Vin! I'm trying to--" The flit took to the air, and Lyrus scowled, eyes following him upward.

However, on the way, he paused, finally catching sight of the white dragon. That explained it. He grimaced faintly, but soon fixed a smile on his face, deciding this may not be such a bad thing. Climbing to his feet, he picked up the panpipes and started over to the dragon, waving slightly with his free hand. "Liked it?"

Yukito nodded his head, "It was wonderful." He told him with a smile, tail wagging. He had quite enjoyed listening to the lamb boy's song and was a little saddened at its ending when he had been noticed. Maybe he should have tried to be more stealthy about how he came over to listen? No, he supposed not. Being bright white didn't make for good camo now did it?

"I hope I didn't disturb your practice." He said, he would feel bad if he had gotten in Lyrus's way or something.

Good, he was getting better, then! Lyrus grinned. Now all he had to do was find a way to have Banda hear again.... Heh. Easier said than done. Ah well, perhaps he could bother Acia about it or something... "Thanks. And no, I was gonna wrap it up soon anyway." Not entirely a lie. Who knew when he would have gotten bored with it and gone home?

"How've you been?" he continued, tilting his head slightly. "It's been.. a while, I guess. Anything interesting happen?"

"Not to much has been going on late, mostly more learning from the books that I borrow from the clinic." He said, he was of late getting a lot more serious about his learning of potions and doctoring. It was a shame though that it seemd he couldn't catch up with either of the doctors that ran the clinic. He really wanted to learn more from them but for now the books would have to do.

He gave Lyrus a smile, "I really am getting the hang of it I think. I have been helping out the Sin'aeis with wounds and colds and such so I must be at least half way decent." Nothing like the two that took care of Dante though. That was what he was hoping to one day become.

"Books..." Lyrus grimaced. He could read and write, of course, but he wasn't very fond of either. He read only when it was absolutely required, and wrote in his journal to keep Banda happy...or when he got really bored or had something important to say. He preferred more of a hands-on learning experiance, hence why he did all of his glass sculpting from scratch. Life was more interesting that way.

"To each his own, I guess." He had heard Banda say that once or twice, and it seemed to fit well. "So you're gonna be a doctor, then? It suits you. I haven't forgotten when you fixed my hand." He glanced down at the hand in question, where the scar from Momoro's bite was barely visable beneath countless smaller others. Glass was tricky. He was lucky he healed quickly. "I don't know what I wanna do yet."

Yukito looked at his hand too glad that the scar left from the animal bite was minimal. He figured had it been now he could do better for Lyrus then just a bit of first aid but he had done well for what he had had to work with. His tail swished a little and he smiled, "I'm sure that you will figure it out when the time comes. I just discovered early that I liked helping people." He told him, people and flowers anyways.

"So how have things been of late?" He hadn't seen Lyrus for a while now. He had gotten bigger, had gotten hair even, "I like your hair." He comment aloud. It was a pretty color, he had flowers in his garden that color.

Lyrus... Well, it wasn't that he didn't -like- helping people, persay. And he'd do it if the situation arose, or if the person was his friend or something. But for the most part he could care less about the masses. He had more important things to worry about than sick people staying sick. Though he did respect Yuki for his ambition--and skill at it. "Yeah, I'll figure it out eventually." He had plenty of time to think about it. No worries.

"Thanks," he replied with a grin, eyes flicking up towards his hair. He got that a lot. But it was to be expected, as he hadn't had hair before. "Things have been alright, I guess. I found Banda and moved in with him, so I'm not living at Moo's anymore. Thank the gods for that..." Stupid Moo.

He looked over at Lyrus tilting his head to the side, curious about what had prompted the move. He looked over at him closely then smiled, "You moved huh? We were at one point thinking about it but ended up that plans changed. I was a little disapointed where we were moving I would have been closer to the clinic and all the stuff in it." He said, "What about you? Did you have reasons for the move?"

He was a little curious was all.

"Yup." And he'd never been happier. Well, almost. Actually, Banda's house was pretty dull when Banda wasn't around. But Ven was good company, if prone to violent outbursts, and when Banda was there it was a lot better than Moo's house ever was.

"My brothers are jackasses," Lyrus replied with a shrug. "And Moo forgot about me. Banda used to take care of me, before he got kicked out. So I finally found him again and moved in with him. S'all there is to it." And, you know, Jaxom was gonna grow soon and Lyrus didn't want to be murdered when that happened.

Well that made total sense, to want to be closer to the one that had taken care of him. He nodded his head, "Ahh. I see. And I understand the thing about brothers too. Mine can be a bit of a pain at times too." No doubt why he was glad to have the excuses of his garden, clinic work, studying, and herb gathering to get him away from home at times. It was much to loud there most days.

Bit of a pain. Lyrus rolled his eyes. That was an understatement. Lyrus hadn't had a moment of peace since he had shoved Jaxom out of the tree and Jax had broken his wrist. Of course, he hadn't had much peace before that, and Jax had had it coming, but still. Anyway, changing subjects: "You going to that Halloween thing coming up?"

Yukito nodded, "Yep, one of my brothers is coming along as well to help out with the work. He's mostly going to try to see his twin though. Less cause he wants to be there. He doesn't like people very much." He said then gave a bit of a smile, he had his own costume all ready to go and everything! He tail started to swish back and forth, "I think it sounds like fun and will get to see everyone I hope. I haven't gotten out and about much as of late myself." To much studying he supposed.

He looked over to Lyrus, "How about you?" He wondered if Lyrus would be going, that would be cool. Made him curious about the sort of costume he would be wearing but didn't ask as he was trying to keep his own a secret. Mostly cause it would be so funny that way.


[cut short due to hiatus D: ]

I've had a lot of free time lately, now that Halloween's over and all. Oh, I never wrote about that.It was cool I guess. My costume was freaking awesome. I went as a sultan. Banda made the clothes, and I made the sword. Best s**t ever.

Trick-or-treating got old fast, but I got a lot of candy, which made up for it. We trick-or-treated at the Sin'aeis mansion, ran into a few people. Mostly I stayed and helped Banda give out candy. Ven and I got to split the leftovers. And that was Halloween.

Uh. Oh, right, so, lots of free time, okay? Don't feel like going to the center, so I've been hanging out a lot with Banda. He's pretty cool for an old deaf guy.

Well, he's not -really- old. Pretty young, actually. But he's an adult, and months older than me, so yeah.

Back on subject, Banda got me this neat microscope kinda thing. It's like a magnifying glass, but magic, so it's much stronger. I just have to think and it zooms as much of little as I need it to. Cool, right?

You've no idea. I went and looked at one of my little worlds with it, and there're -people- there. Not real people, but tiny...holograms, sort of. There's a whole civilization of hologram people! A whole world!

It's so ******** cool, man. And all of the worlds are like that, but the people are different. And they react to stuff you do!

Like, okay, I got bored, right? So I poured sand reeeeaaaal slow on one of the worlds--the cactus one, figuring it wouldn't hurt, 'cause it's a desert anyway. The sand grains were HUGE compared to the hologram people. Half of the people got crushed, and the other half ran around screaming.

So ******** sweet, right?

And then you get bored, turn off the world, and stick it back in that makeshift solar system. And that's that. It's all magic and all fake, so it's not like I'm murdering millions of innocents or anything.

I like being god.


--Lyrus

Christmas has to be the best holiday ever.

I mean, at first I was thinking: 'Oh cool, I get presents' and 'gag, why do we have to go to Moo's?', but it was really a lot of fun.

We got up early on Christmas morning and opened presents from this fat Santa guy, most of which were weird clothes. Then me and Banda and Ven (I didn't kill him after all) made this huge breakfast together and ate -all- of it. Bacon and eggs and sausage and waffles and pancakes and toast and all sorts of good s**t. (We ended up skipping lunch.)

Next we went and opened presents from each other. Banda got me two new worlds, which is ******** awesome, and then Ven got me a big leathery egg. (I made Banda a glass flower kinda like Ani's, but smaller, and got Ven this spiked leather collar.) Supposedly it's gonna hatch within the next few days.

I'm not sure if I'm excited or terrified, knowing Ven.

We all just lazed around for a bit and watched Christmas shows on TV, then we go dressed up and went to Moo's.

It was actually...well, fun. Jack and Isto came over with their families and Kama was actually there, but not being a butt! Tayn grew, Acia grew, Adroi's just turned one, and even Jaxom was being less of an a** than usual.

It was just a lot better than expected. I spent most of my time talking with Isto's daughter Violet and Jaxom, of all people. Violet's pretty nice. One of her legs is made of metal--her real one got hurt really bad in a car wreck when she was little and they had to take it off. And then Isto adopted her, and she's been living with him for a while. So it's cool.

I wonder why I don't have any sisters. I mean, there's Acia, yeah. And I guess Tia and Miire sort of count. But they're all -tiny-. It's just weird. There aren't any normal sized girls in the family except for Moo. But girls're generally pretty irritating, so maybe that's why.

You know, most girls. Not my best friends. Or Ani.

Hell, most of my friends are girls, aren't they?

Life's weird.

Anyway, Christmas. It was cool. We didn't exchange gifts at Moo's 'cause the family's huge and half of us don't have money, but it was fun just hanging out and seeing everyone. I did get a present from Moo, though. She's this...sorta fox-ish, cat-ish thing that looks like a Christmas tree ornament and is absolutely BEAUTIFUL. I think Moo's trying to make up for giving Jaxom a dragon.

I don't want a dragon anyway. They're too much trouble.

And I like my present better. She's certainly prettier, and doesn't eat as much. I've named her Klinnah.

Oh, and Jax gave me a box that had a kitten in it when I opened it. It's a real kitten, and it talks like Atear does. But it's not super powerful, and it's really freaking sarcastic, so I can't decide if he's being an a** or not. Guess we'll find out sooner or later.

I found another egg in my room when I got home. I don't know who it's from. It hasn't hatched yet.

I can't wait until next Christmas.


--Lyrus

It's like 3 o'clock in the morning, which means it's been a completely different year for a few hours now. A whole different year! And that means it's almost my birthday. Or, well, n a couple of months, anyway. But that's close.

We -just- got home. We stayed up later and went and got ice cream around 11, and then we went to see the fireworks at midnight. We met up with Moo there (and Kama, Tayn, Adroi, Jax, and Coen) and shot off a bunch of fireworks of our own.

Me and Jax had bottle rocket wars, and Ven set Tayn's tail on fire. Then Tayn screamed and ran around and accidently lit a bunch of those black cat snappers. ******** sweet, man.

So yeah, we just got home. I'm tired. Thus far, the new year's looking good, but I'm gonn sleep now.

Happy New Year!


--Lyrus