Welcome to Gaia! ::

A plethora of colours and sounds mingled and burst all throughout town. Marvellous sights and all sorts of wares clamoured for attention. Enticing scents wafted through the streets, tickling nostrils and stirring up interest or hunger depending whether they were the scents of smoke and magic or foods and beverages. People jostled, laughed and chattered. The atmosphere bounced with a jovial feeling.

There was a festival on in town!

Not only that, Ixchellia and Sanqui were allowed to go. They hadn’t even had to ask. Their maid, Daniella had read about it in those newspapers she was always reading.

Seeing the twins’ excited grins, she had asked if they wanted to go and things had been arranged.

So here they were at the festival, Ixchellia wearing one of her favoured dresses; a spring green satiny fabric with a bustle skirt and ribbons, paired with a creamy-white lace edging plus her button-up boots and a sparkly hairpin. And Sanqui…well, she forgot what he was wearing because he ran off already with some friends.

Not that she minded. There was so much to see and do, she was sure she’d be having tons of fun with Daniella. Alice was keeping an eye on her brother/s, so she had the maid to accompany her today. As much as she would have loved to, she wasn‘t allowed to roam about the festival on her own.

Her dainty boots pattered over trampled-grass as she trotted obediently beside Daniella, hand-in-hand, giggling and chattering away. The small girl’s gaze darted this way and that as she tried to take in everything at once, swinging her guardian‘s hand like a bell. The people, the items, the weird foods; she had to see them all!

“Danni, Danni, Danni!! Please, c’n we try one o’ those? Or one ‘o those perhaps! Ohh, look at that! What are those? What are these?!” Ixi exclaimed fervently, ogling at a stall whirling with rainbow pinwheels. They were so pretty.

Pressing her fingers to her forehead to suppress a faint ache, Daniella sighed as she was bombarded with babbling whilst being tugged every which way. She didn’t attempt to answer the girl’s stream of questions, knowing Ixchellia was far too distracted to pause long enough to hear the answers just yet.

With a soft chuckle, she allowed herself to be pulled over to the shimmering pinwheel display.

Festivals weren’t exactly the maid’s cup of tea. She found them intrusive; too loud, too much kerfuffle and far too bright, among other things. If she ever came to them, it was usually to visit the tarot or the palm readers or the stalls of the crafters and pick up spells to try, perhaps blessed stones or jewellery.

However, she wasn’t here for herself today. She was willing to put up with it. Danni had a soft spot for the twins, like most of the other staff and didn’t really mind watching the little girl. She could understand the toddler’s enthusiasm. It was rather cute actually. If she were that age, she’d probably find it as fantastic an experience as they did. Unfortunately, she wasn’t and she didn't but that didn't mean she wouldn't let others enjoy it. Thus, she stood by the multihued stall and observed unfolding events with some amusement - paired with slight detachment.

Ixi’s head whipped around at the voice that sprang up beside her, not having noticed the older boy until he spoke. As twirls of dark hair bounced gently around her face, she had a fleeting moment of pleasant surprise…then she beamed back at him with a delighted exclamation “Pinreels!? Ohhh, so that’s what these called!” What a neat name these had! It was a fun word to say too. “Pin-reels, pinreels~~!” She tried it out a few more times, almost singing the word as it bounced off her tongue.

“Yes, they are!” Ixchellia nodded emphatically in reply to the boy’s question, unable to take her red-and-green gaze from this colourful person. His hair looked like flame!

A brief pause as her manners came back to her and she averted her stare, closed her mouth and gave him a brief curtsey.

“Hello! My name is Ixchellia Allura Song…” she stumbled over those words slightly, pronouncing her mouthful of a name slower than the rest.

“It is nice to meet –chu! Do you like pinreels too? I like your eye colour! Your hair is pretty!”

This earned her a firm yet gentle reprimand from Daniella. “Young mistress, it is not polite to overwhelm someone with too many questions. It is proper to give the other person time to reply. And when you give compliments, remember…one at a time, alright?” the maid laughed softly as she tsked her, “Try not to talk so fast!”

“Sorry Miss Danni! I will try an’ talk slower.” Ixchellia giggled, though she remained nonchalant as ever and seemed not the least bit sorry. a sparkle of mischief danced in her eyes.

Turning back to the boy, she asked, very slowly, as though her voice was on slow mode: “Arrrrre yooooou goooiiiing tooo buuuy aaa pinreeeel?” She was a cheeky ratbag sometimes, for all her manners and pretty clothes.

Ixchellia would have corrected her pronunciation, had she known she was saying it wrong. Though, at her age, words tended to twist around on you somehow and come out sounding a bit different anyway. It didn't matter to Ixi. She liked playing around with words and sounds. So long as she could speak and be understood, she was happy. Her language would improve as she grew, although reading books did help a lot.

The tot didn't seem to mind the intensity of Fremere's gaze, too busy admiring how pretty those fiery orange orbs were. She got the sense of sparks, glowing, warm colours and feelings, playfulness, fire, 'guarding' or 'guardian'... Again, she could sense that odd familiarity from when she had met other Curios, though as usual, she didn't understand what she was sensing, so she ignored it and carried on.

Her face looked the picture of astonished delight when the boy promptly returned her greeting with a bow. No one she'd greeted in this manner had ever done that except Murray the butler at home and only to humour her. Others usually just repsonded with words and perhaps a smile. This was much more fun~!

She simply watched when he took her hand and kissed it, blinking once in mild curiosity. That was new. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, though the smile never left her face.

"Fremere! Akay, I will 'member that" Ixchellia nodded decisively, knowing such a name would be hard to forget when attached to such a person.

Goodness, he was answering all of her questions too. Daniella must have been worrying too much because her reprimand made no sense now. Fremere had plenty of time to reply. Maybe it was just adults who you had to speak slower for.

She replied to his answers almost as soon as he gave them, brightly and confidently. "Me too! Maybe we c'n share dem. Nuh-uh, both are pretty!" Ixi disagreed emphatically with a bubbly laugh, shaking her head at his comment. It was a 'you're prettier...no, you're prettier' sort of thing. Of course, she didn't quite realise she was complimenting herself too. She liked how she looked and saw nothing wrong with that.

Noticing his inquisitive glance, the girl looked behind her to see what had caught Fremere's attention and saw her ever-patient guardian standing there, slightly bored. Turning back to the person she now considered a friend (instant friends, yay!) she offered an explanation. "That's Danni. She cleans our house. She came with me so I wouldn' get lost" Peering past Fremere, she looked around to see whether there were anyone who came with him also. "Did you bring anyone? Make sure they don' get lost akay?"

She couldn't see anyone who might belong to him, and the 'pinreels' were beckoning. Her attention returned to the rainbow whirlygigs and she eyed one with green, white and pink that was spinning enticingly. Suddenly, she had another idea. Maybe Sanqui would like one of these too! Hmm...but what should she get for him? Laughing as Fremere played along with her game and ignoring the exasperated sigh from Daniella, she responded just as slowly. "I waaaant threee! Heelp meee chooose?" Ixchellia collapsed into laughter. It was nice to be silly every once in a while.

She liked the sound of that. Buying armfuls of the spinny treasures would be splendid! Then again, there were a lot of things she wanted to see and do here. Decisions, decisions...

She decided to use their gold wisely. Daniella was carrying her share; just enough for a lovely outing but not to the point of being overly extravagant.

'That's it!' Ixi nodded as she thought. She would buy gifts for her friends and one for herself, then hope they had money left to ride rides, play games and try strange foods.

Oh yes - ‘they’. If possible she was going to drag her new friend all over this festival so they could do fun stuff together. It was just more interesting that way. It didn’t occur to her that the things she thought fun might not be so to Fremere but the boy seemed fairly easygoing. Besides, she and Sanqui did everything together! Why should this be different?

At his compliment she gave a very pleased smile, with perhaps the tiniest glow of a blush. “It’sa truth! Thank you for sayin’ so. I always try ta be nice”

Watching the look on his face when she introduced Danni, Ixi hid a tiny giggle behind her hand. She wasn’t sure why he was so surprised. Didn’t everyone have someone to clean the house for them?

She managed to tear her attention away from the pinwheels yet again when she realised he was showing her something, dual eyes following where he pointed towards a woman and girl. Ever curious, Ixchellia regarded them with interest, drinking in various details. Again she sensed…‘something‘…from the girl this time, along with that familiarity she could never quite place. The small one admired the other girl’s calm black eyes and unique appearance without fear. Seidh did look different but that didn't mean 'bad' to Ixi!

Her gaze alighting upon the woman’s hair however, reminded her of some animals she’d seen in a book she read recently. “I see! Your fam-ly looks nice. Your Mommy’s hair is amazin’ - all sharp like that. If any monstas tried ta eat her, she c’d poke them an’ get away - like those hedhods!” Translation: Hedgehogs: those cute animals she saw in that book Fremere had probably never read.

“Is it tricky dod-ding the spikes when she hugs you? My Mommy’s at home today but she might come here later. I has two brothers too! But one’s a furry snake an’ he’s cranky” the tot giggled again good naturedly. She, of course, still loved Belha.

The maid smiled back when she was introduced, acknowledging the boy as she greeted him properly, also taking note when he pointed out his guardian. “Very pleased to meet you, young Fremere. My name is Daniella. I am the housekeeper, or maid if you like.” she let out a soft chuckle, patting Ixi’s head affectionately. “But I am young mistress’ guardian for today” Oh well, the girl was trying her best. Daniella couldn’t fault her for that.

When Fremere joined Ixi’s laughter, she noticed he covered his mouth also. He had such good manners, it was almost princely! Laughing together felt good, reinforcing her idea they were already friends. After it subsided, Ixchellia nodded energetically ‘yes-yes-yes’, smiling away as he continued their game.

Thinking of what colours she liked distracted her though and she replied fairly normally to the next question, expression rapturous as she stared over all of her choices. “I liiike…purple an’ gold a’n greeeen~!” Ixi cheered, bouncing on her tiptoes. Green was her most favourite of all.

Seeing the kids almost ready to make their purchases, Daniella fished around in her garments for the coin purse she carried, (she didn’t store it any place that a normal person would store it. That was Danni for you) picking out money to hand to Ixi; pinwheels didn’t cost much after all.

Looking down, she handed a handful coins to the girl, pressing them into her palm. “Here you go. Now young mistress, you buy whatever you like. Remember to pick the ones you like best, I’m not sure we can change it later”.

“Thank you Miss Danni” Ixi chirped merrily, carefully closing her little fist around the gold. “I will!”

Wow, this was so much~. Let’s see…maybe she would buy that one with purple hearts on green, white and gold spokes, or that one with pink, red, gold and silver spokes with the streamers for Fremere, or for Sanqui, the acidic blue, violet and bright crimson with the black starburst streamers like spiky explosions on stems.

Then again, she liked the purple, leaf green and white one with stars on it…

Oh wait, maybe San would like the orange, black and silver one instead. It had matching streamers and reminded her of Ranj.

“Ummm…” she chewed her lip with furrowed brow, caught in indecision. This was hard.

Ixchellia nodded her agreement. Niceness was something you had to practice at, or you might forget how to do it. It was something she was still learning.

The toddler watched him burst out laughing and found herself joining in, not sure why this time, except for the simple explanation of being caught up in the other’s emotions.

“Brilliant, brilliant!” she clapped in appreciation for Fremere’s mom. If she frightened monsters just by looking at them, she must be incredibly powerful, like those characters in stories where good trumps evil. When he mentioned that the spikes weren’t sharp but soft rather, Ixchellia’s brows angled lightly and a finger went to her lip in a considering manner. “Hum…soft spikes” she murmured, That was a peculiar contradiction if ever there was one. Entirely possible of course, now that she thought about it. “So, her eyes make up for her hair being soft” she came to the conclusion with all the certainty of one who’d researched it their entire life.

Secretly vowing to hug Fremere’s mom or find a way to touch her hair, Ixi grinned at his remark that she was funny. “I am? Thank you” she chirped. To her it was a compliment. She didn’t see how she was being funny but if her friend gave her praise like that, she’d accept it as truth. ‘Cause why would he lie? Being funny made people laugh, and laughter was good. Not that she didn’t believe him about the hair; she just HAD to know. It was that bold curious streak that demanded to be satisfied.

The grin melted away as her expression shifted to one of surprised interest at the mention of San. “Y-yeah. San-ki-ki is my my twin brother. He came with me when I was born” she beamed, speaking of him with playful affection. She wondered how this boy knew him but could guess they had met while Sanqui was out and about. He was always meeting all sorts of people.

Then it was back to the ‘pinreel’ dilemma. Yet, with a few simple words and a miraculous announcement, her spell of indecision was broken by the flame haired one. A squeal of glee escaped her lips as she gave a little cheer. “Problem solveded, problem solveded!” She sang happily with a bubbly laugh. “Good on ya for spottin’ that sign - now I know what to pur…to purk…to buy!” Politely, she waved over the salesman behind the counter, “Accuse me…we are ready to choose now please.”

Yay, now she could choose everything she wanted. She paused in pointing out pinwheels to the salesman to shake her head at Fremere’s offer of help with a soft smile. “No thank you. Eight is plenty an’ tons! Thank you, Fremere” Once she’d paid for her purchases (all eight of them), she wandered over to the boy, a bouquet of spinning sparkles whirling in her arms, and held out the pink, red, gold and silver coloured one to Fremere “Here-here! This one’s for you” Her eyes sparkled along with the pinwheels as the fragile toy spun in the breeze.

Eyeing all the pinwheels young mistress had purchased, Daniella groaned. She was going to end up carrying all these at some point. Merely looking at that much glittering colour was worsening the slight headache from just being here.