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 Posted: Fri Jul 30, 2010 8:47 pm
Amerald came upstairs from a long night with his work. Closing and locking his basement door was the last thing he meant to do, before going to have dinner with his two daughters. He never kept the basement unlocked, nothing down there was for anyone's eyes but his own, as well as a few others who understood the workings he dealt with. His daughters were probably curious of his work, but never said anything to him. It was definitely not spoken of often. Amerald kept to himself, as did his girls. They had each other and that was about it. The other creations had only visited once in a while, but Amerald hoped for a visit from one each and every day he awoke.
The girls were upstairs in their rooms as Amerald concocted a beautiful dinner for the three. He made fish, chicken, and a lot of rice. He was in love with the simple dinners and the girls didn't ever mind his cooking. "Girls! It's dinner time!" he called to them from downstairs. He smiled as he heard the steps of his daughters coming down the stairs. He sat at the dining table with his plate of food.
"Hiya dad. How was work today? Create lotsa potions?" the white haired girl spoke as she leaned down to give her father a kiss on the cheek.
"Haha, of course. I was busy since today after lunch. Have you girls behaved yourselves?" he asked, jokingly of course. His girls were amazing towards one another. They loved and cared for each other quite a bit, and he loved the fact that they did.
Annabelle made her way down and went straight for the food as she watched her sister kiss their father. "That is great to hear father. Glad to know you kept yourself busy. I am quite sorry that there has not been many customers of late. I wish there were something we could do." she stated, spooning herself some rice from the pot. She then made her way around and sat as Amelia went to fix herself a plate.
Amelia finished her plate and went to sit with the others. She was quite happy, for she loved the family time they all had together. It was too bad that the girls didn't get to spend more time with their father than they already did. That was one thing that she wished would change.
It was a normally family dinner, what they didn't know was that someone would be stopping by sooner or later...
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 5:04 am
Two strangers lightly stepped through the town, careful of any eyes. One had a cloak draped over her body and head, hiding her abnormal features from sight. Even her taloned feet had a special leather cloth that covered her sharp nails. The other wore his simplest outfit, a black coat that had a fur brim, white shirt, black pants, and calf high boots.
"Alois, where are we going? Why are we we walking for so long? My feet hurt...Where are we going? Huh?" complained the one dressed in a cloak. She wasn't at all pleased with it all. Alois normally told her of where they were to go, and where she normally was to hide at. Then again, she couldn't help that she wanted to find out, they had been walking for hours now. It was just safer for them to walk to places, and with Felicity's new shoes it made it easier for her to walk on her abnormally shaped feet.
"Felicity, calm down. You aren't a child, figure it out for yourself." Alois said, looking at his hraappea once before he looked ahead. She had stuck her tongue at him, not at all pleased with his answer; even so she watched the buildings as they went by.
Alois did a little dirty work, but in the end it was what put food on the table. Being a bounty hunter has hard, but it was even harder when he was harboring is own little illegal person. Even so, she was his world, but he would never say that to her. He keeps her hidden and to the alleys, or above everyone where no one would look. Still, times were getting rough, and they came for a little something from an old friend.
Running a hand through his white speckled hair, he shifted, and glanced once over at Felicity as they approached a house. His moved the cloth back slightly, to shine some light on her face. She own white hair shone pure as snow and her eyes about as deep brown as Alois' but only a hint darker.
They finally slowed their pace to a halt once they arrived at a building. "Am-- Amerald's?!" Felicity gasped looking at Alois before she looked back at the door. She wasn't expecting to be going to a place from this far into the past, let alone back to the beginning. "He's not busy, do you think?"
"If he is, he is." Alois said shortly. It didn't bother him whether other people were busy. He tended to barge in on other's lives with no regret. Moving closer to the door he started to knock on it a few times before returning his hand to his side.
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Posted: Sun Aug 01, 2010 10:39 am
The three were enjoying their little dinner with each other, talking about the days events and what the girls did. Annabelle loved to read and so she did that often; while Mia would act and dance in her bedroom. The three got along splendidly and were pretty much all each other had in this world.
"What was that?" Amelia asked as she spun around in her chair, looking towards the door.
"What? Oh, hmmm...I guess I did hear something myself. I'll be right back." he said, getting up from his chair and walking towards the shop door. Going through that door and into the shop itself, Amerald glanced out the window to see two figures standing outside. He slowly unlocked the door and cracked it open to view the faces of the two strangers.
"I-is it really you two!? Alois and Felicity!? It's been so long! Please, please come in!" he said, widening the door and gesturing for the two to come in. As they stepped in he closed the shop door and locked it up once again.
Leading them to the back room where his house actually was, he smiled as he entered at his daughters. "Mia, Anna, you guys remember Felicity, no? Oh, you two must tell me to what I owe the pleasure." he said, grinning.
"F-Felicity!? Oh man! It's such a pleasant surprise! What are you two doing here!?" Amelia said, reiterating the question already stated by Amerald.
Annabelle gave a warm, welcoming smile and nodded. "It is definitely nice to see you again Felicity." she said kindly.
He went over to notice that most of the food was already gone. He hadn't expected company and the girls never ate all too much, so he never made a whole ton of food. He gave a glance and quick smile to his girls as he scurried to the couch to sit. "Please have a seat."
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 1:32 pm
Felicity smiled warmly towards Annabelle and Amelia, glad to see them both. It was hard enough for her to see other people, let alone see other people that look like her. She loved the fact that she saw the two of them, but her attention was torn between her guardian and them.
Alois shook his head, declining Amerald's invitation to sit down. "I need something.."Alois started to say, but he couldn't figure out to say it.
To him, taking care of Felicity was becoming too hard, and the fact she is now full grown makes it even worse to keep her out of people's eyes. Night could only come up so much of her, with the robe and the leather over her feet could patch up for the rest, but there still was the risk of her being found out, even by a simple misstep. She didn't have much defense, so anything that Amerald could have would aid greatly.
Felicity shifted and looked at Amerald for a moment before she reached around her neck and pulled the robe off. Then with a swift gesture she pulled it off from around her wings and folded it over her arm. "Alois thinks I'm getting to hard to keep a secret. I think he's just becoming sloppy, I mean come on. It’s not like I can't take care of myself." she piped in, crossing her arms.
"If you could take care of yourself we wouldn't be here Felicity." Alois scolded. He wasn't normally so sharp with her, but it was getting harder to keep her quiet. There were more people knowing about Amerald, and they were anything from posters to letters to notes. Alois would find these and destroy them to keep quiet about Amerald's experiments, but even that was becoming harder with more of his time spent on keeping his 'child' safe.
"Bah, its not my fault! There's only so much these can do." Felicity said raising one of her feet up, pointing at them. She had no problem with her taloned feet, but found knew Alois had an issue with them showing, and sometimes with them being near him. Once, as a child, she was being tickled by him in an attempt to make her smile about the feet, but they instead caught him on his chest, ripping a gash across it.
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Posted: Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:27 pm
"Oh?" Amerald stated as the invitation was declined. He then stood and heard what the two had to say. When they were talking of defenses, Amerald's interest peaked.
Annabelle knew where this was going. She couldn't even stand to think that Amerald would do this again, to another of his creations. The first two were hard enough, but she didn't dream of him doing it a third time. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm the raging fire that was inside her. She could feel it seeping through and she didn't want herself to blow up. She quickly, yet calmly stood. "Will you please excuse me." she said, giving a quick glare to her father and returning to her bedroom without even finishing her food. All that was heard was a slamming of a door from the upstairs.
Amelia let out a sigh, picking at her food and playing with it a bit. She didn't mind nearly as much as Annabelle, but she too knew where this was going to be headed. She didn't get up, but rather tried to keep out of it the best she could, taking another bite. "Oh, Felicity, would you care for some fish and rice? It's really good. Dad can cook some great food." she asked, smiling.
"Yes, please do eat Felicity, it's our pleasure to accommodate you with whatever you need. As for you, Alois, would you care to follow me to the basement? We can chat in there." he said, making his way down the hallway and towards the basement. He opened the door, gesturing for the other man to go down. He definitely hoped that he could get some more experience out of his crystals than what he had been lately. His last experiment with them didn't go over as well as he had hoped. Hopefully this one will go over differently.
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:28 pm
Felicity felt as if she had stumbled onto something that was much too big for her, let alone for what they had gotten into. Her wings clamped tighter to her body when she heard the door slam, adding more onto her nervousness now. Before she was fine, but with Annabelle, who to her seemed so calm, to so suddenly disappear threw her off guard.
Fluttering her wings, Felicity looked at the food before she moved her eyes over to Amelia. "Its been a while since I last ate...Soo..sure?" she said, unsure at the moment. They didn't eat much more then what they had to, well, unless they were at home, and that’s when they ate as much as they could shove into their throats.
Looking back at where Amerald and Alois had disappeared off to she quickly glanced at Amelia once again. "I don't mean to be rude, but what’s going on? What happened with Annabelle?" she asked, almost in a whisper.
Alois also was caught off guard by Annabelle, but he didn't seem to show much of anything on his blank face. He watched Amerald with his brown, almost black, eyes while he followed him. "What do you have in mind to do with Felicity? Since she decided it was her place to blab her thoughts." he said with a bitter tone.
He wasn't meaning to be so harsh, but he also didn't like her talking to everyone like how she talked to him, even if Amerald was the one who gave her to him. He was just being overly protective, but at times, he didn't know how to do this in a softer way. Alois tended to be harsh, but he meant well to keep her safe.
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 1:50 pm
Amelia sighed and smiled. "Well, when she and I were younger, dad found some type of crystal or something while taking apart a stone he was given in payment for something in his shop. He found the crystal and decided to experiment a bit." she began, tearing up a little with every word. "He researched the crystal as best he could and found that it contained some sort of power...he then decided to infuse it into Annabelle. A long...painful process. She wasn't quite the same after that. But then again, she almost died...since then dad's done this experiment a couple of times. He thinks it's going to protect her in the long run. She hates remembering those painful memories. So whenever someone talks about needing protection or defenses, she instantly closes up and begins to sulk. I feel so bad for her..." Amelia finished. She was sure that was the very thing her father and Alois were talking about that very moment.
~~~
Amerald nodded. "Well, the thought I had was to try a new crystal on her. See, I don't know if you received my letter? Anyway, if you did or didn't, that doesn't matter. You're here now. So, lets get talking. I have a few crystals that I can infuse with her to make her much stronger and more powerful, able to defend herself whenever needed. Yes, I will be honest, it is a painful process, but the end result is quite extraordinary. I have these to choose from." he said, pulling out the basket which contained the different colored gems. He was happy to look at them, all cleaned and cut to shape. He picked up a red and blue one, sitting at his desk and smiling, awaiting Alois' response.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 6:13 am
Felicity stared at her, feeling a little sick to her stomach from the story. Being infused? With something that seemed so foreign? It disgusted her, frightening her with the very thought of what happened to Annabelle.
Her black wings lowered from their tense stance, showing remorse for a black bird hraappea. Shifting slightly, Felicity glanced off at the where the slamming noise came from earlier. "That’s horrible." That was all Felicity could think of, to describe how she felt about Amerald's doing. "Is there anything I could do to help her?" she asked. One of Felicity's traits was to be stubborn, but another was to put other's problems in front of her own. Even if her own problem was the one that has already been faced.
-----
Alois crossed his arms, thinking about a letter he might have gotten. A horrid thought of what his desk looked like seeped into his mind. Mountains piles with letters, wanted posters, notes, anything that he would need to look at was there. Some of the papers he had never seen in years, let alone days. "No, I can't say I haven't seen a letter from you." he mumbled, shaking his head.
"But these... Who else have you tried them on?" Alois said looking at the basket. He was entranced with the colors, and how mystical they seemed. The colors stuck out more making them seem, to him, only mere stones not something to help to defend. Then again, the thought of succumbing Felicity to something painful did worry him, like any other father. Alois wasn't a horrible person to her. He cared for her and did what he thought would be good parenting, even if it was wrong in the end.
"How do they work?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:37 pm
Amelia was saddened by this. "I'm sorry...I haven't even been able to find a thing that can cheer her up to her former person. After the procedure, she was a little different. Not as happy as she used to be. Maybe that's a side effect? I'm not sure. But whatever it was, she still loves me and dad with all her heart and I don't think that will ever stop." she said. Amelia wasn't the best with this, for she hadn't really known what changed Annabelle. She just had figured it was the pain she went through as a mere teenager. "I think all she really needs is time." Amelia stated.
~~~
Amerald shook his head. "Well, seems as though we have a messy little hunter on our hands, don't we? Haha! But the letter I sent to you was discussing these crystals that I have found. They are used to give the hraapea infused with them a special power. Broken up, these pieces attach themselves to particles found in human bodies. Since hraapea are half human, they have the potential to have this ability. I am afraid to try it on a real human, thus I've decided to use them on hraapea instead. Annabelle has one as well as another I infused not too long ago." he said, placing the crystals back into the basket and crossing his left leg over his right.
It was time to see what Alois had really planned for his daughter. Yes, Amerald would then again be reminded of the painful time of both Helias and Annabelle, but he knew he could make it through those memories if he had a chance to use a new type of crystal. Of course, the thought was always in the back of his mind, 'what would Annabelle think?' although he already knew that answer full well.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 5:51 pm
Felicity ruffled her wings, but kept them down, not feeling at all elated about it. She didn't want to change, and to think that Annabelle had changed worried her. She always thought Amelia and Annabelle were the best, the two most kind and thoughtful people. "At least she loves you two." she said with a forced smile.
To her it wasn't a smile-like mood, but she didn't want Amelia to be so gloomy anymore. "Time is of the essence...Well that’s what Alois tells me all the time. Even though he doesn't follow it well himself."
----
Alois crinkled his nose, just thinking about how sick it must've been. Thoughts of the possibility of the unknown to use against his own daughter, there were so many outcomes. Different possibilities were out there, and it would be used to help her in the end. "So you did this to your own?" Alois more mumbled the question to himself then anything. It sounded simple, in theory, but practice meant a lot more troubles were bound to pour in.
Shifting, Alois moved closer to the basket, peering into it, tempted by all the colors. Pulling out a red stone that Amerald had out earlier he looked at it for a moment before looking at the scientist. "What do each of these do?" he asked. He took into consideration of what could happen to Felicity, but he also thought of her safety in the end.
Pausing, he shook his head, thinking about something. "Felicity is full grown, will it even work?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 7:35 pm
Amelia forced a smile upon her face. She wasn't the happiest as of now. "Yes...she does, very much." she said. She hoped that whatever happened, that Felicity would actually not go through with it. She had remembered the screaming and cries of pain both Helias and her beloved sister went through to get where they did. She wasn't at all happy of the thought that another would go through that same pain. But who knew, maybe to different hraapea, the pain was more or less excruciating. It just didn't make much sense to have them go through that much pain, even if they were just there for Amerald's amusement.
"I think that is a great quote. I bet Alois is really kind to you." she said, a true smile beginning to form upon her once downcast facade. "I know, from what my dad tells me, that your father is actually supposed to be suppressing the rumors and details of my dad's true business. I know that it must be so difficult...have you ever met anyone else, before or after coming here? Ugh, I can only imagine how life must be out there. Luckily I just get to sit inside here all the time. I know it's a bit boring, but I live. Maybe someday we'll be free to do what we want." she said smiling. She had her hopes and dreams, sure. But she didn't know if she'd ever be able to leave the house without becoming suspicious.
~~~
"Yes, I did. I don't regret it...but I do regret the pain she went through." he responded. He placed his hand over his eyes, leaning his elbow on the chair's arm. It was as though he began to cry. Soft sobs could be heard from the mans lips. He was hurting, in his own way.
He rubbed his eyes and slowly brought his hand back down to his lap. "Well, go by the color. Red is for fire, yes? Green reminds me of plants, life. The clear diamond is light. Orange is electricity. Whatever the color, there is a large possibility of there being a power associated with it that way. Or so my research suggests anyway." he said, forcing a smile upon his face. He was still clearly upset, but he would do anything for the protection of his creations.
"As for Felicity's age, she shouldn't have a problem. She seems like a strong woman, and Helias too, was full grown when he was infused. He took it a lot harder though; he was a bit weaker than most of the other hraapea. Sometimes you just have to be able to beat the pain mentally and you'll be fine in the end." he said, coming to a conclusion. He seemed better now, like he went from being extremely sad and upset, to rather interested in the conversation. It wasn't a complete transformation, but something seemed to instantly click with him.
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 6:29 pm
"Alois keeps me normally out of other's eyes, but I do get to by some fruits sometimes. I don't get to see their faces, most of the time it's just their hands," Felicity said moving her arm up slightly. She had to wear the cloak anywhere she went that was outside their house. "But he normally wants me to stay inside...Lately...Its...my fault," she mumbled raising her hand up to her side of her face. It worried her, making her feel guilty about what had happened in the recent past. "I...I messed up..and now it’s even worse. Alois is having troubles keeping us a secret." she mumbled. She felt as if it all was her fault, but maybe it was because Amerald's experiments were growing. Even so, she wouldn't know anything about it. "Troubles keeping the hraapeas out of the public's interest."
-----
Alois watched Amerald, feeling very uncomfortable when he wept. It bothered him, Alois never cried in front of anyone let alone someone that he hardly knew. He never could cry anywhere other than in the shower, and even then it wasn't much.
Shifting from one foot to the other, he turned his gaze down towards the crystals while he cried, and then kept looking at it while he talked about them. 'Electricity?' It would be simple to use, and a quick shock to someone would stop anyone in his or her tracks. There was also the idea of fire, which was the crystal he held. It looked tempting, but he decided on the one from earlier.
Replacing the crystal back into the basket he pulled out the orange one. "Felicity acts tough...Stubborn mostly, but she's soft." he said, finally looking up at Amerald. "It’s her decision in the end if she wants to do it, but if she chooses to do this. I want her to be able to fully protect herself...I say, this one." he said holding out the crystal at him. "But like I said, she has to chose."
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:59 pm
Amelia listened to all Felicity had to say. "What exactly happened? I don't mean to pry, but if at all possible, I'd love to hear the story. I know dad has been getting extremely hyped up about doing more creations...he just hasn't taken the initiative and done anything yet...But I am quite afraid he will sooner than later." she said. She hoped that all past, present and future hraapea could live in harmony and peace; that is all she cared about. She didn't want to be found out and killed, or her father to be killed, that would be completely absurd if she didn't mind or care about those facts. She just wished she could help in some way. It seemed too serious a moment to pull her attention away now to check on Annabelle, she wanted to hear what Felicity had to say.
~~~
Amerald nodded. "I'm actually quite glad you've decided to allow her to be the one to choose. I believe that makes you a true guardian, Alois." he said, quite pleased with his choice to give him a hraapea.
When that was said, he stood up, coming around the desk. "We should get her down here to choose what she'd like to do than." he suggested. He then went to the staircase. "Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?" he asked, before grabbing the candle on the shelf next to the staircase.
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 7:35 am
Felicity had her arms now crossed, with guilt splashed across her face. Moving a hand up she gentle rubbed her shoulder, careful of the brown plating she had on. "I went against his word." she mumbled. She didn't listen well sometimes, and other times she just flat out wanted to disobey him like a child. "I went outside, at night...so it wasn't so bad, but I thought it would be fine to do so, but I...It was a bad idea in the end."
Moving her hands up, Felicity felt the cloak against her face as she put her hands behind her head, feeling her short hair for a moment. "Ah, its useless," she mumbled. It was going to get harder and harder as the days go by, and she wasn't doing any good anymore. Ever since her wings grew bigger it made it even worse for her to go around. She's been even more confined to the darkest parts of night and the forests to stretch them out. The house was big enough to keep them out, but it wasn't the same as feeling the wind through her feathers.
Lowering her hands down, Felicity tried to falsely smile at Amelia. "If there's going to be more of our type out there then maybe we could come out one day," she said hopefully. In reality she didn't see that happening any time soon.
----
Alois watched Amerald for a moment, thinking it over about him saying he was a 'true guardian.' To Alois it was just being fatherly like, nothing more and nothing less. Inside he wanted Felicity to take it to be able to grow powerful enough to defend herself instead of hiding away indoors all day and most of the night. There wasn't much more he could do for his daughter now that she was grown. He taught her everything he thought she could learn, for if he never came back.
"I'd rather you do the honors." Alois said. "If I ask, she might feel as if she has to do this."
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Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 11:00 am
Amerald nodded and stood. It was up to him to retrieve the woman upstairs and ask her about the crystal. He began to make his way upstairs before turning back to Alois. "Feel free to look around, don't be shy haha." he said smiling. He then made his way upstairs.
Meanwhile Amelia nodded. "It must be hard...having to be hidden the way you do. I don't get to leave the house much, but I take in as many images and sounds as I can to get a good picture in my head of what 'outside' really is. But I agree...maybe one day we can actually be a happy race." she said, hearing the door to the basement open.
Around the corner came Amerald as he smiled. "Felicity, I want to speak with you, if you please." he said, smiling, turning and going back down to the basement.
Amelia just smiled and nodded, patting her friend on the shoulder. "Good luck." she stated, giving as real a smile as she could muster. She turned and made her way to the staircase, turning to watch Felicity as she waited for her to move to the basement.
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