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 Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:09 pm
Shinies! - Part One
It was morning that they started out again - though it was a morning three days from the said time. Matilda had taken a turn for the worse and Ianna did her best to nurse her back to strength yet again. Finally, she was at least half-way better than she was before.
"Where to now, Matty?" Ianna asked, smoothing her silver hair away from her face. The pearl-winged wand was tucked safely beneath her arm.
"Scandinavia, for the Wyvern..." Matilda answered, straightening herself out a little bit from the hunched position she was in with a wince. Rock was not a good bed.
"Scandinavia eh? Well, I did always say I wanted to see the world...." A sigh, "Lets go."
Using her reserve of energy, Matilda immediately transported them - with a little difficulty - to a rather run down cave.
"A...Cave?"
"Yep. Apparently..."
"It's...Dark."
"Caves are usually dark, mother."
"No s**t," she murmured, rummaging in her pockets for the lighter she had before finding it and flicking it to give a small beam of light.
"You know, you could have just...I don't know, asked me to light something?"
"Shush."
Both women started walking through the cave, Ianna occasionally putting the flame out and letting it cool before starting it up again. She didn't want her hand to explode. "We're not going to find much with this kind of light."
"Again I say..."
"Fine. Light."
"Ask nicely."
"Bugger off."
"Thank you."
And there was light.
Ianna put away her lighter and glared at her daughter. "You're welcome. Now...Where on earth would a Wyvern be hiding...?"
"I don't know, maybe in the back of the cave hoarding his shinies?"
"Now you're sounding like Iamel. Please stop while you're ahead."
Matilda did, indeed, shut up. While she didn't mind the 'boomy birdie of doom', she didn't exactly want to be pegged with sounding like the hyper-active woodpecker. Yes. Yes she did watch.
A glint of red and gold caught Ianna's eye a good while back into the large cave. "Bingo." Came her voice as she rushed ahead, grabbing at the wand. Unfortunately, her attempts to dislodge the piece of gold metal from the boulder-like hands grasping it were...quite impossible.
"Urm. Rocks just don't like me, do they?"
"Does ANYONE like you, mother?"
"...Shut up," Ianna hissed, turning to tug on the wand again, "Why are you being such a b***h today?"
"Oh, I don't know, mother. Maybe it's the fact three pieces of soul just got wrenched from me?"
"Sorry, forgot for the moment."
"Thought so."
Ianna sighed and wiped some sweat from her brow, staring at the stone-carved hands. "It seems as if someone is trying to hold onto it. Maybe magic wo--"
She was promptly cut off by Matilda's sharp command to open, the hands unclenching. The glint of metal started to fall and Ianna had to dive to catch it, scratching herself up - yet again. "Bugger."
Well, two down, one to go.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:16 pm
Three wands had been found, and Ianna was not much better off than Matilda was. Sure, she hadn't had her soul sucked out from her, but she had fallen down a mountain, dove across stone and shot in the arm with an arrow.
Her silver hair was pulled back in a half pony-tail, it not long enough to do much else with it, and dirt smudged her face as she sat there at the main shop's desk, writing with her one good arm. As for her other arm, it was in the same sling as it had been in not too long before that.
Coailiann was sitting in the playpen she had grown to accept and was happily scribbling on scratch paper with crayons, quietly. It seemed she hadn't liked being left alone for the last week and had thought it was a punishement - thus being on her best behavior.
Ianna let her think that, thankful for the quiet.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:40 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 5:53 pm
Ianna's silver eyes lifted, eerily matching the exact color of her hair as she stared at the pair - after all, she herself was being stared at, was she not? Yes, yes she was. She was about to let out a rude retort - being in one of her foul moods, but was instantly scolded by a weak voice in her head.
"Oh fine." she muttered, tilting her head. "Welcome to Ghosts of the Past." she said a little louder.
They certainly were making quite a racket, at least in her mind. One she wasn't exactly fond of with the way she felt at the moment. "And yes, It's dusty." she hmphed. Like she had time to clean.
Coailiann looked to the new comers and babbled a happy greeting before shoving her crayon in her mouth to chew on. "Hiiiiiii!"
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:06 pm
Darius eyed the older woman, while Airaka's eyes fell to the little baby. She grinned happily, and waved at the baby. Then she heard a half groan from Darius, and raised her blue eyes from the child to the woman. She bowed her head, both in apology, and in greeting, and said, her voice coming out rather softly,
''I'm sorry, and thank you.''
Daruis shook his head, and mumbled,
''She looks really old. And why do we have to be sorry? I'll I did was state how dusty the room was.''
The boy grabbed on to one of Airaka's arms, and dragged her to one of the shelves. Airaka stood by him nonchalantly, hand held in front of her, watching the boy out of the corner of her eyes, while he stared into the boxes. He turned back to Ianna, and blinked, it was almost obvious he was greatly surprised, and said,
''It's just old stuff. No wonder you don't have many customers. ''
Airaka shook her head, and shot Ianna another look of apology. She was curious, too, and wanted to know what they sold in the shop. It looked awfully rotted, and not the best place for children, like that little girl in the play pen. Which reminded her, her own ''shop'' was full of children, and this little field trip may not have been the best of idea. Darius was a very persistent boy...
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:18 pm
"Excuse me, I am not OLD young man. I am only twenty three."
Ianna didn't look old at all - at least, she didn't think so. Maybe children thought otherwise? Though Iamel was one of the most direct little kids she had ever met and he had never said anything to her.
At his second comment, however, "I don't sell things here, little one." she nodded her head at that, pushing one of the larger books forward. "Matilda, shut up." she muttered, shaking her head. She did look rather insane when she was talking to someone not there. "Miss Airaka, is it?" another nod of her head. "Come, touch the book. You will get all your answers."
Ianna's lips turned upwards in a smile, wondering if there would be an argument.
The minute she would touch the book, the cover would fly open, an invisible wind winding through the pages and blowing them rapidly open until it landed, quite suddenly, on a well-worn page. On this page was a beautiful sketch of a wand, two dragons joined at the top with what seemed to be a crystal between them.
Under the picture read:
"Scandinavia. Wand ID 00011. 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."
The woman stared at the two, crossing one arm over her chest before giving a wince. Not the best idea in the world. "So it would seem you're a mother."
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:36 pm
Darius rolled his eyes, and grabbed Airaka's hand starting to lead her outside. He felt Airaka pull the two of them to a stop. Airaka tilted her head, and blinked at the little girl. She wasn't Matilda, was she? She hadn't even spoken. Weird woman. Maybe she used wrinkle cream. Wasn't it said that the older you get the more you start to act insane.
As the woman ordered her to touch the book, she held both her hands behind her back, staring wide eyes at the large thing on the mahogany desk. It wasn't until Darius pushed her forward, and grumbled, ''Do it or she'll stab us or something,'' did she obey the two of them. She heard her soft footsteps echo off the wall, though maybe it was just anxiety, and nervousness.
Airaka raised a sun kissed finger, and dropped it on the book. Bouncing back, admitting a small shriek, arms swirling around, falling to the floor, as the book flipped through pages, caught up in its mystical wind. When the book stopped, Darius raced forward, and read what it said out loud. He turned to her, blinking at her, a look on his face which asked an unanswerable question, yet one which was most likely going to be asked by Airaka in a couple seconds, and Airaka stood up, and read what the book said for herself. She shook her head and looked over at Ianna.
''Why me?''
Darius shook his head, that wasn't the question she should have asked. She was sometimes kinda dense. When Airaka opened her mouth a second time, she asked,
'' And how does a child come out of a wand?''
Darius smiled, and nodded his head up at her, before turning, and staring at Ianna, waiting for an answer at least to the last one.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 6:58 pm
The woman giggled childishly at the shrieking and flailing and the woman falling. It was quite humorous to her - and she certainly needed humor in her current predicament.
"Why you? I can't rightfully answer that, you see. The wand spirit chooses the one they think will take care of them best - love them best. It is the spirit that chooses you, not I." a small nod of her head. "And I had no idea you would be getting the Wyvern." she reached for the golden wand and slid it towards her, over the desk.
"As for the second question, " she paused to listen to Matilda and shook her head. "Shush. As for the second question, It emerges as a spirit - something akin to smoke. The first stage is a wisp, and then it solidifies into somewhat of a spirit baby. That then takes on the shape of a human child."
Satisfied with her response, she waited for the others.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:16 pm
Airaka blinked. A wyvern. Great dragons from Europe? In that wand?! It was so small! Like it could actually hold a dragon. She coiled her fingers around the wand, and raised it, blinking at the jewel. The wand was very shiny. A small grin came to her face, and she blinked down at Darius. She almost dropped the wand.
''I can't. I mean really, I really, really, really can't. I work all day long taking care of children. There just isn't enough hours in the day for me to take care of another one,'' she chocked, words becoming softer, weaker as it neared the end of her 'speech'.
Darius was still confused how a baby could come from a wand. He had found out a year early that babies came from women. The boy was remembering what his mother told him, how people did it, and winched. Whatever, this way was much, much better. He backed back over to the shelves, and started digging through the artifacts.
Airaka's eyes bounced from the wand to Ianna, the to Darius, before back to Ianna, and she shook her head with as much finality as she could muster. She always wanted a child of her own... But that was later, when she was ready. She felt she was still at a ripe age, at least that was how she felt.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:25 pm
Ianna's eyes hardened. "It doesn't matter if you can't, Airaka. The soul in the wand depends on you. You see, they have lived before. This is their second life. Their last one...Well, they died rather horribly. Matilda, my daughter, was the first. Coailiann," she pointed to the sidhe baby in the playpen gnawing on crayons, "Is one as well."
At the sound of her name, Coailiann gurgled happily and stopped gnawing on her crayon. "Hiiiii!"
Ianna turned her head and smiled at her daughter, silver eyes coming to life and sparkling with love for the little one. "Hi to you too baby," a pause as she turned back to Airaka. "Right now, they're stuck half way between life and death. Without you...They remain there, or die. Without their second chance...You would kill them, again."
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 7:45 pm
Airaka felt utterly dense, and as if her heart had been jabbed rather horribly. She coughed, and blinked at the wand. Ianna had hit her rather hard with the comments. There was no way she could let something die again. Her head bobbed up and down,
''I ... I'm sorry. You're right.''
She clutched the wand in both hands, and lowered her head again. When her blue eyes raised again, and flicked over to Darius, who had just sneezed, and staggered back. His back pack slipped uncomfortably more to one arm, and he slid it off so he could readjust it. He pushed the brown hair from his eyes, and stared at the wand.
''So, your keeping it? That's cool. It is the smarter way anyhow.''
It took a minute for Airaka to figure it out, but when she did, she stuck her tongue out a him childishly, and shook her head.
'' I'm just saying...''
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:00 pm
Ianna smiled slightly at the decision. "Well, Matilda would thank you for it, if she could muster up enough strength to project her voice. Unfortunately, the wands...See, we found three of them at once." a wince. "Well, it just hurt her badly. So..." a shrug of her shoulders.
"I'm sure you'll do fine. It already seems as though you're good with children." her eyes flicked to the boy.
Coailiann squeed. "HIIIII!" trying to get more attention.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:13 pm
So Matilda was a real person then. Or about as real as the children projected from the wands could get. Which must be pretty real, if they were like the girl. After 'unconfusing' herself, Airaka said,
''So, Matilda gets hurt every time one of the dead beings decide they wish to live again?''
At Ianna's second comment, Airaka smiled warmly, and glanced over at Darius as well. Darius blinked at them, and an uncomfortable look came to his face. He averted their gazes, and moved to another group of boxes.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:28 pm
"Yes. But that's really all I can say." she tilted her head, hearing a mental scolding. She wasn't even supposed to say that much, apparently.
"She's the one who brings them back. She brought HERSELF back...She is the only Ancient one there is, though it is her hope there will be more."
Ianna's eyes glittered slightly. "They're truly a joy to have, you know," said eyes looked down to Coailiann.
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Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2006 8:38 pm
Airaka 's head bounced up and down, acknowledging her understanding. Her eyes followed Ianna's to Coailiann, then they floated to her own wand. A smile came to her face, and she gazed back up at Ianna, sapphire eyes sparkling.
''I believe you.''
Then she blinked, a sudden thought hitting her smack in the forehead.
''Can they... Will they be able to use magic?''
Her voice hinted some worry, even if it seemed Airaka tried to hide it.
Darius blinked over at the little girl, then stared at the wand in Airaka's hand. From what he had heard, a baby like this one, would come from Airaka's wand. He wondered if Airaka would be allowed to a maternity leave, or whatever they were called. Would she still come after school, and pick them up? Most likely... But he still wondered what would happen if she didn't.
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