Welcome to Gaia! ::

So there he was. Cully was bored and damn, he had standing there since the dawn of time. Well, it seemed that way, anyway. The redhead was leaning on the front counter of 'Ye Olde Wande Shoppe' as he liked to call it, elbows on and a comic book between his arms. While he would rather it be a science text, this was the only thing he could think of to read.

When someone walked into the shop, his head shot up, slightly flustered, and a grin crept over the round features. "Welcome to the Wand Shop!"

Did he ask them to touch the book now? Later? Whatever. It would happen when it happened. It would come with time.

The someone who walked in was a young blonde haired woman, standing about 6-8 feet tall-one could never tell as she wore stillettos-with cheerful blue eyes and a friendly smile. She was mainly just coming by to visit her friend Kishi at headquaters but for a change there was actually someone in the wand shop-and she didn't want to go straight into headquarters yet anyway after what'd happened there before. So here she was walking in. And there was a person behind the counter who looked normal-by Rouge's standards anyway.

"Hiya!" hse said cheerfully waving to him. "So the wand shop actually has a living person in it for a change. Yeah. I've never seen a single person in here through all of the times I've wandered through."

Cully blinked a few times as this modern day giant wandered up to him and spoke. Were those... His gray eyes tumbled down to her shoes, eyebrows arching and a grin lit up on his face again.

Tall women were fun. He was a tall guy! Not a six foot eight but he was six-foot-something indeed. So the Irishman leaned back, letting her talk until she was finished. It was easy to do; he had practice with his mother. Chatty Kathys, the lot of them.

"Hello," He responded again, finally, fingers raising in a tinkling wave. "That's why I was hired - to be the living wand-pusher around here. Ianna said as much, I'm afraid. But hey!"

There was a dramatic pause. Dun dun dun.

"As long as you're here and a regular, come check out this book." It was given a fond pat, lips curled into a familier grin.

Rouge thought for a moment and nodded. "Sure thing!" she said cheerfully walking over. "So long as it doesn't take long. I have to get home to babysit in a few hours and I wanted to give Kishi her gift." the woman said, indicating a bag to her side.


Walking over Rouge looked at it. "Oooooh big book! What's in it?" she asked, reaching out a hand to touch the cover, planning on opening it. Chatty Kathy she may be but she was a curious one. She inherited that from her dad.

"Nope. It should only take a second to touch the book," He assured her, smiling pleasently still. So what if she had kids? Or knew Kishi - he knew Kishi! Sort of. Heard of her.

The minute that Rouge touched the book, an invisible wind picked up in the shop, blowing the cover open, pages rustling and blowing about until it landed on a well worn page. On the page was a sketch of a strong looking wand with an oval-shaped stone on the end and a snake wrapped around it. Detailed, lovely. Below it read:

"Gorgon. Wand ID 00040. A Soul has been trapped within the confines of the wand. Congratulations, you have become the next guardian to take on the task of raising it from infancy to greatness. We, Ianna and I, have the upmost faith in you to complete your task dutifully. Best of luck,

Matilda."

He smiled, cheerfully, once more. His head tilted to the side, resting his chin on his palm. "So! You have a new little wand. Congrats."


"Neat. Is this one of the wands that becomes a kid? And what does Gorgon mean?" she asked, cocking her head to the side.

Rouge had recently been picked as a "guardian" to another child-a reborn god from her home world. And she'd been stuck informing others of their guardianship-so the term was fresh in her mind. Though if this was one of the wands that became a kid then Diyaka may have to be informed.

Rouge was a confused goose. She didn’t know what on earth a gorgon was and in some upcoming period of time she’d be caring for one. After preparing a bit for a baby -figuring out where she was gonna put the kid, telling Dia, and such-Rouge decided it was time to start preparing for a gorgon baby. And the best way to start preparing for a kid of a species you’ve never heard of is to find out what the heck this species is. And the best person to ask on that matter was Dartsmoore.

Charlene Phillip Dartsmoore was the last of a clan of Tison historians and general oddities. Apart from studying history, they traveled a lot, knew many languages, practiced all sorts of spells, and were generally highly rounded in bizarre things. And knowledge of creatures that existed in other dimensions and galaxies was one of those things she knew of and kept information on. So here Rouge and Dartie were going through the latter’s library in search of a book with information on gorgons that Charlene swore was there.

“Aha! Found it!” the white haired Dartsmoore exclaimed, holding a book of Greek mythology high over her head-which wasn’t difficult as she was short. Rouge rushed over and looked at it.

“So this kid is Greek? Odd. Okie let’s have a look-see.” The blonde mumbled with a shrug, opening the pages to the section on gorgons.

Aloud the woman read from the volume.

“In Greek mythology the Gorgons ("terrible" or, according to some, "loud-roaring") were vicious female monsters with sharp fangs and hair of living, venomous snakes. Gorgons are sometimes depicted as having wings of gold, brazen claws, and the tusks of boars. According to the myths, seeing the face of a Gorgon turned the viewer to stone.” she read, blinking.

After she had read the entire section on the creatures-which sited many other volumes and stories on the matter-the blonde felt she had a good grasp of what the heck a gorgon was and what she should do to prepare. Dartsmoore had told Rouge to keep the book for the kid-as Greece and it’s myths would be something she’d need to know of later.

---

Rouge had no clue how to prepare to deal with the turning one to stone when looking into a gorgons eyes bit but she was sure there were some things she could do to make the child feel more at home.

This brought on a trip to the Tison Capital with her son Diyaka. Tisoni Immortalis was famous for its terrific shopping. The first stop there-at Diyaka’s request-was a fabric and embroidery shop. And it wasn’t exactly a bad idea. She’d told the boy about what a gorgon was briefly on the way and he had wanted to make her a snake plushie to snuggle like his kitty plushie.

The two were soon accosted by a shop worker. “Can I help you two with anything?” she said helpfully.

“Yeah, we need to find red thread, some of that stretchy spandexy material and a pattern for a plush snake.” Rouge said, thinking hard about what all she needed.

“And fluff! We need fluff!” Dia added happily.

The worker smiled. “All right I’ll show you to the fabric you want and I’ll try to find you the pattern.”

Rouge and Diyaka decided after a while that they wanted to get red and gold fabric for the snake-since that was the colors of the snake on the wand and Dia wanted it to look like that snake. They also decided that those funny little balls that go inside of the spanex neck pillows would be much nicer in the snake then just stuffing.

Before long they had their pattern and supplies and it was time to go to the next store. This time it was an antique’s shop. Rouge wanted to get a crib for the baby. Dia had been the first child on the ship so Rouge had just let him stay in the padded playroom to sleep. Now she knew was babies needed and a nice old wood bassinet would be perfect. Especially if it could rock.

The old man behind the counter didn’t bother Dia or Rouge while they looked but the boy kept spotting things he liked and distracting Rouge from her task. But in the end she found it and brought the strange thing to the counter. It was of a wood that Rouge didn’t recognize and hand all sorts of strange carvings on it. The bodies of the people were facing forward but their faces were to the side.

“Excuse me sir, do you know anything about this crib?” she asked the old man.

He smiled and nodded. “Yes. That’s from another galaxy that is. From a place called Greece. I came by it on a trip there many years ago in a small town. It features a story of some sort but I never learned about their stories so I don’t know which.” The woman shrugged and purchased it anyway. Dartie would know probably.

Diyaka was excited. He and his mommy had gotten more things for the baby! And now they got to go home and make the snakey! What fun!

---

Back on the ship Rouge and Diyaka set to figuring out how to sew and making the toy for the child. Dartsmoore was meanwhile attempting to decipher the markings on the crib.

The two workers were interrupted when Dartie let out a loud “AHA!” Turning Dia decided to inquire as to if she knew what the story was.

“I believe I do. This crib isn’t severely old but it does depict a story from Rouge’s mythology book. It tells of a beautiful woman who had an affair with someone in a temple-or so it seems- and was turned into a gorgon and later was slain by being shown a mirror so she petrified herself and was beheaded. There’s more to the story but there wasn’t room.” The silver haired assassin told the other two.

Diyaka blinked and grinned. “Cool!” he shouted. “Baby gets a new toy, and a book and a crib with a story on it! She’ll feel so special!” he cheered.

---

The snake plush took a week to finish but when it was done Rouge and Diyaka were very proud. Putting the toy in the bassinet with a blanket the boy was sure that his sister would love it. But when would she come?

This evening Diyaka, Dartie, Demetra and I were sitting around listening to comedy CDs. We were trying to figure out what goes on in gaia and Dartie suggested listening to the comedians since stand up comedians seem to talk about the current events here so maybe they do it there too. Well we listened to some people that Chip suggested-he's half human so he knows all sorts of intereting music and comedians.

The evening consisted of listening to a bunch of very different strange people. Some really angry hispanic guy called Carlos Men something. And then an even angrier guy called Denis. And then this fat guy who liked to comment on his own show whose last name was something like Gaffigan. And there was this guy called Lewis which amused me because Lewis is a silly name. And there was also this guy called Robin Williams or something who did a bunch of silly voices. And there was a kind of funny but nto really dude called something Cook and a really really hysterical guy who sounded very very chill. His name was Mitch. There were also some guys who seemed to all be something they called Rednecks and they talled about blue collar but wouldn't that clash?

Dartsmoore and I were highly amused but Diyaka and Demetra didn't really seem to get any of the jokes. Demetra gurgled throughout the whole thing though I think she found Mitch's voice to be very soothing since she was completely silent except for a bit of cooing during his show. She was hiding behind me at first since I don't think she understood why there was suddenly the sound of lots of people from inside of the big black circle on the wall. I informed Dartsmoore that she didn't seem to understand the speaker and she said "Well DUH! She's a ghost and a baby. What ghostly babies do you know that automatically are born knowing what the hell a speaker is." I don't know but with Dartie around I have a feeling that Demetra's first word will be a curse word.

Well this was certainly new. Actual people bringing you food, and not just sending your order up and having it carted over by a machine. Certainly it added something, especially if you talked back to the person.

Nessalyn had finally bitten the bullet, and was sick of staying cooped-up in her aparment. Certainly she hadn't been able to get a hold of Luciel, so going out with Vilia was something she was going to have to do own her own. Certainly the little ghost needed to socialize! The little ghost, who was currently wrapped around the commander's arm like an armlet.

She was making cooing noises, not upset or scared at all. More like she was looking for something.

What in the world was she up to now?

Rouge Remika had never been to Denny's before. But she had been looking for a place to take her children out to and Denny's had seemed nice enough.

The blonde's two children-Diyaka and Demetra-both had their own reactions to the place. The 7 year old Diyaka was quite excited to go out and chit chat with his Mama, who had been busy all week. He was also excited because he'd seen pies in a case behind the counter when they'd entered and he'd never had pie before. Demetra meanwhile was on Rouge's shoulder, cooing happily in the woman's mind. The baby ghost was excited to be going places and there seemed to be something else she was looking for. Bouncing a bit and clinging to her wand, the ghost seemed to be looking in the direction of the people sitting in the booth behind theirs. Turning around Rouge noticed a woman with a funny arm band. Diyaka however was the one to notice the wand.

"Ooh! Ooh! She's got a wand baby like you do Mommy!" he said pointing at Nessalyn and tugging on his Mama's sleeve. Diyaka wasn't one for subtlety.

The shouted words 'wand baby' caught the woman's sharp ears, and her head swiveled to see a young boy, a woman about her age, and, of course, a ghostling. Holding a small wand, much like her own. Sighing a bit inwardly, Nessalyn stood and smiled, making herself as approachable as she could.

Gesturing a hand, she indicated that the small family was welcome to join her if they were so inclined. She'd only gotten tea so far, so it wouldn't be any inconvenience.

Rouge smiled kindly and sat down with Nessalyn at her table.

Dia was excited to introduce the two babies, though he didn't quite get how to do that. Reaching up he helped the little ghostling and her wand slide onto his hand. He lowered the little thing so that he could be nearer to the other. "This is Demetra. She's a gogo" Dia told the woman and baby with a nod.

"Gorgon." Rouge corrected her son. "Hi I'm Rouge, that's my son Diyaka, and as he said that's Demetra"

She had to laugh at the boy. He was cute, reminded her a bit of her one nephew, Alty. That, and how was the kid to know that gogos were a bad slanderous term for loose women?

Holding out her hand first to the little boy, then his mother, she grinned. "I'm Nessalyn Sharthavis. This is Vilia....I uh. Well. She's a Stormwing." Not that she'd ever heard of a gorgon. Was it perhaps some kind of loose man? Doubtful.

"Strange that I keep seeing wand-owners around here. We must all live close to that blasted shop."


"I actually live no where near it. I was just visting a friend there and a man asked me to touch the book and I got assigned the gorgon. I'm not familiar with creatures from this world. What is a stormwing?" she said cheerfully.

Rouge Remika was standing in a music store, looking around for some more of this gaian stuff. Tison music was odd so she needed to find some music from this world to figure out more about it. Her son Diyaka was standing next to her, holding her gorgon child Demetra. Demi was listening to some of the music as well. She seemed to like Rock a lot. Dia was more into pop. And Rouge was just trying to figure out what she liked and what she didn't.


Lately, the sidhe had the incredible urge to go back home (or what was previously her home) and play her precious harp. Two sides battled it out - why could she not be in touch with her Gaelic roots? Why did she have to reject all that she was?

Because she didn't want to go down that path again. The two sides warred until they met a compromise. Coailiann was quite pleased with her decision - a guitar. She would still play her folk music as well as other types. On a guitar. And while she still very much wanted her harp she wouldn't touch it.

Kay stepped into a local music store in Durem, ignoring everyone in the building and making a beeline for the guitars. She couldn't afford one yet but at least she could find one she liked and make a note of the price.

That chinese-style dress she bought had cost her all her money and then some. Sad thing was...she hadn't even worn it yet. There had been no occasion to wear such a fancy thing.


Demetra noticed Kay's wings nearby and pointed at them. "Gya!" the girl said. Pretty!

Rouge looked up and saw a young woman who resembled a little girl she had met at HQ long before. "Hallo there." she said cheerfully. Well it WAS possible the the girl had grown, but she'd changed a TON.

Diyaka poked his head out, looking to see what the three were looking at. "OOOH! Such pretty wings! They're like Sasha's!"


...Why were people trying to talk to her? She turned around, quite prepared to give them a withering look that would make them back off (mostly due to the fact there was a baby there and she'd grown quite annoyed with them) when she recognized the woman.

....Well, s**t.

"Hello." Maybe the woman didn't recognize her. She'd cropped her hair, dyed the tips pink, and was currently dressed in a pair of hip hugger blue jeans and a nicely fitting tube top of bright, electric green. She looked like a watermelon - but a very nice watermelon.

At the compliment to her wings though, she fluttered her wings, "They are pretty, aren't they?"


Diyaka nodded happily. "Can you fly with them."

Now getting a front view of the girl Rouge was posative that it was the same one. "You're Kay aren't you?" she asked. The girl had gone through a ton during that time and now she was a teenager, that had to be crazy. Her hair looked better though.

The baby giggled at the funny girl. She had a silly colored top on. Demi's curls bounced as she moved, looking more like snakes then ever. The funny rounded tips on the end of her curls looked like heads and they moved differently from normal curls when she moved her hair.


"No, not yet." She answered and was about to turn around and browse the precious guitars again when Rouge asked her that question. Ahh! To lie or not to lie was the question?

She scowled, "Yes." One word answer. Kay turned away from the space pirate and crouched down beside a pretty electric guitar, experimentally strumming it with her delicate fingers.


The woman nodded. "So I figured." she turned back to the CDs.

Diyaka meanwhile was interested in looking at the guitar too. It was pretty too and seemed to make that one sound he liked. "Do you know how to play?" he asked her, looking at the instrument.

The baby was poking it. She wanted one! Demetra would have started crying for it if Rouge hadn't walked over to pick her up and play some music for her.


"It should not be too hard." It had less strings than the harp but the concept had to be the same, didn't it? She picked the guitar up and held it as she'd seen in the movies, fingers placing themselves before she strummed out a little tune. She didn't know any chords but her fingers moved quickly and expertly along the six strings to make it sound more like rain dropping.

"Mm. Should be able to pick it up..."


Dia clapped his hands happily. He'd never seen someone play guitar before but it looked right so it had to be! "You're good! Are you getting it?"

Rouge smiled. At least Diyaka was behaving. Demetra was attempting to grab a tamborine off the wall.



She shrugged and looked down at the price tag. Her heart sank. It'd take her a year to save up that much money...

"No."

The sidhe set it down and stood up, brushing her hair from her eyes. Maybe she could coerce Callix into sleeping with a CEO's wife or something. She giggled at that - god, she was his pimp wasn't she? Even if she hated all that female company around him.....Hypocrite.


Dia looked at the number and tugged on Rouge's sleeve. "Mommy, Mommy can we get it? Please please please please please?" the little boy had such huge puppy dog eyes. He must have been practicing that since she told him what his position was among the Tison gods.

"Oi." the blonde said. "Yeah sure. just get your sister that tamborine too cause she's gonna cry if she doesn't get it." she mumbled with a shrug.

Sara Two-moons woke long before dawn that morning. The insistant cries of Too-ya-la-kekt had roused her periodicly through most of the night. He was a strange infant, she thought, his eyes filled with a certain wisdom uncommon in his tender age. There was something deep and encompassing and communicative about them. She had the feeling that Too-ya was missing something, but for the life she could not figure out what. She had kissed and cradled the boy, and doted upon him in every way she could thing. Still there was that vague sadness, barely perceptable, but there. In the meantime, he fussed for reasons perhaps unknown to him.

At five o'clock she got out of bed, pulled up the shade, then dressed for the day. Her charge had already roused, so she dressed Too-ya as well, wrapping the infant in a light blanket to keep out the early morning air. It was chilly, but she loved to watch the sun come up, and had not seen it in some time. She thought that perhaps the fresh air would do the infant good - it had been some time since the two had spent any time outdoors. Preparing a carry-al bag filled with diapers and other neccesities, the pair set out in the dusky streets. It did not take long to walk the short distance fo the gardens of the headquarters, a lovely place that they had visited once before.

The garden was lovely, even in the hazy light of dawn. It seemed to her that the early morning had a dreamy quality of its own, the human quiet was so absolute. The only sounds came from the birds in the trees, hailing the approaching sun pleasantly.

Sighing happily, Sara watched Too-ya's face. He seemed glad to be outside, and was silent as well, as if waiting with baited breath for the appearance of the morning.


Rouge Remika was out with her kids again today. Her son Diyaka-long black hair in pigtails- was holding onto his curly haired baby sister as he walked along with his Mommy. Rouge was showing them the headquarters-a place she had not been to in some time. So much had happened there that she felt almost nervous about entering. If she saw any grey this time though she was gonna get the heck out of the building.

Diyaka seemed to find it a funny place and had wanted to let Demi play in the gardens so that's where they were now walking. When Rouge saw Sara she remembered her from Halloween. The woman who'd decorated a cookie for tradition's sake she believed.


The silent morning was interrupted by the sound of three approaching figures. Sara was mildly disappointed to find herself sharing the garden this morning, but it faded quickly as a light smile rose to her face. She was always glad to meet other guardians, and this one looked vaguely familiar. She couldn't quite place the face, though.

She raised a hand in silent greeting, balancing the sitting infant on her lap, facing outwards. "Good morning!" Sara called out quietly, wanting to disturb the scene as little as possible. "I see there are at least three more early risers..."


"Actually only one of us is an early riser. Demetra and I haven't gone to bed yet." Rouge laughed. She wasn't THAT tired really. And Demi had a ton of energy right now and didni't like sleeping.

Diyaka walked over to where the baby boy and his mother were, sitting down and smiling happily. "Hallo there." he said.


She smiled, but was suprised. What sort of a child was up all night without sleeping? Still, she wasn't one to question parenting technique.

Sarah shifted the bronze skinned boy in her lap to reach a hand over toward Rouge. "Sara Two-moons." she introduced herself. "And my son, Too-ya-la-kekt."


"I'm not sure but I may have met you at halloween. I'm Rouge Remika" the blonde said with a nod. "This is my son Diyaka and my daughter Demetra."


Sara smiled, saying nothing to cover up the fact that while the woman's face looked familiar, her name was completely foreign. "I don't think I could handle two..." the woman ventured with a chuckle. "Too-ya is a handful in and of himself."

The infant was reaching its chubby fist out toward a nearby leaf. Sara watched with mild interest, shifting her lap so her son could reach out and touch it.


"Well I didn't have a choice in the matter on either. Diyaka was assigned to me and is going to be important to the salvation of my home some day so I have to care for him and Demetra got assigned to me when I got here. She's gonna be a handful when she's full grown though."


"Come to think of that, I didn't really have a choice either. Not that I have any objections... I don't think I could love Too-ya any more if he were my own flesh and blood." Sara rambled, reaching out to touch one of the infant's chubby cheeks. He hadn't pulled at the leaf as she had presumed he would, but was instead touching it gently, a serene expression on his face. Sara Two-moons thought it was strange that something so young should wear such an expression.

"I think he likes the garden..." she said at length, watching her son toy carefully with the flowering plant.



"I know what you mean. I always wanted children before and now that I have them I'm rather glad." she said with a nod, sitting down so as not to tower over the woman.

Demetra looked at the leaf a few times. Vaguely wanted to pull on it. But that was someone else's leaf so she'd pull on another or a blade of grass if she found it.

Diyaka smiled at Too-ya. "He's cute" the boy commented


Sara smiled to the boy. "I think so, too. And he'll grow up to be handsome, just like you."

She bounced Too-ya on her knees, but he seemed too focused on the leaf to care much, so she stopped. She turned her eyes toward Demetra, and then shifted back and forth between three. What a strange family... she thought. But nice.

She still wasn't used to seeing these Gaians, being from Earth herself. Their culture, appearance and ways were certainly different!



Diyaka blushed and smiled at the woman. She was nice!

Rouge reached out and picked the little girl up out of her brother's arms. Demetra gave her a funny look, which involved puffing up her lower lip somewhat indignantly. Then she turned to find another leaf in this area.

Rouge Remika loved going to Tisoni Immortalis, the Tison Capital. It was a bit dangerous, yes, as it was in Mainland territory and had been going to hell in a handbasket crimewise. But still it was her favorite place to shop, especially now that her son had vanished. It held fond memories of short shopping trips she'd taken with him.

Demetra sat grouchily in a stroller nearby, holding her wand tighly in a chubby fist. Diyaka's disappearance had upset her greatly. Now anyone who tried to really touch or play with the child got bitten with her newly grown teeth. Rouge had bite marks up and down her arms from putting the child in the stroller. Really, Demi would rather be home in her room like she usually was. Instead she had to be out in the city with Mommy.

Rouge, being somewhat distracted with the shopping rack in front of her, didn't notice the burly man who walked up on the stroller she'd left parked outside.

Now this man wasn't the type of guy who'd be interested in stealing or molesting children. Hell he hated them. Hated them in fact. He was the type of guy who was kicked out of strip clubs for breaking all of the poles to bludgeon his stripper girlfriend with. And unluckily for Demetra, he was also the type who liked to take and break the favorite toys of small children just to spite them.

Demetra's wand was in plain view, clutched in her hand, as she glared this man down. He may have gone right by otherwise but as he walked by his arm came near to her face and out of habit, the child bit the exposed flesh.

Turning his furious stare upon the child, the man began to snarl. Almost as an instinctive punishment for the bite he ripped the wand from her tiny grasp and snapped it in half. Most people would have trouble with this, but he bent and worked metal for a living as well as liking to break stripper poles. What he didn't anticipate was that when the wand broke the child's soul would die. Tossing the broken pieces on the ground he walked away, feeling no remorse for the little brat. She deserved what she got in his opinion.

Rouge heard the disturbance caused by suprised and shocked people outside and rushed out, eyes widening in horror when she saw her baby girl dead in the stroller. Collapsing to her knees she sob loudly, asking the heavens why they had done this to her. Authorities soon came to assess the situation and send her home. But this would definately mark an end to part of the Rouge Remika we know and it did mark the end to the babe Demetra.