Kamenwati walks over with Ammy perched on his shoulder, held in place by spindly stone legs. Kam has his wings out and behinds his barbed tail flicks back and forth, narrowly missing people as they pass. Other than those two things he looks like any other human.
"Ammy said my sister-in-law wanted to meet me?"
"You can go ahead and call the family if you want, I'm not really running away from families anymore." He says with a grin.
Ephebe impulsively hugged Kam.
"Hi, I'm Ephebe," she said, grinning. "Sorry, I guess that was a bit much...."
"Look, you have to understand....we've got sort of a.....ummmm.....trying to explain.....empathic link comes closest. Anyways it's between all the members of our family, but strongest between Taron and Jiminy and me. On account of our being triplets and all. I've never really gotten anything from Taron before. He was always just this blank space, but now he feels happy and well....I just couldn't help but hug you since you made my brother so happy."
"As for the other thing, Taron....it's not the no kids thing. They're okay with that. And Mom had a few suggestions of course.....You know she never met a problem she didn't try to solve. Forcefully. It's the other thing. About Kam being a demon. Er, part demon. Whatever. After everything that went down with Uncle Chan and Other-Jimmy, Dad's having a real hard time with that. You know how protective he can get where Mom's concerned. He'll get past it. Grandma did, and it takes more for her I think."
"I wasn't born like this you know." Kam grumbles.
"I wasn't born like this you know." Kam grumbles.
"Neither was Other-Jimmy."
"Neither was Other-Jimmy."
"Other Jiminy was a clone that had no choice."
"I kind of forced Grandma to get over it. Something along the lines of never wanting to see her again if she couldn't."
"Dad should learn to stop worrying sometimes, it'll be good for him."
"Look, Taron, if you haven't figured this out yet, it's time somebody filled you in. Other-Jiminy wasn't a clone. He was altered, yeah, but he was real, just from another timeline. And he did try to make another choice. But the demon caught him again, and by the time that they got to him....Look, just take it from the girl who got caught in a really bad time loop, it was really, really bad. It's also why Mom is on your side. And try and cut Dad some slack, okay? I know you're doing all your teenage rebellion stuff in one fell swoop, but you don't have to be a jerk about it."
"Oh, and nobody forces Grandma to do anything. Also, she's a really good actress. And she still has crystals attuned to each one of us. That she can watch whenever she wants. Uncle Ryo pretends he's forgotten about them cause it's safer that way."
"So.." Kam says as he watches the show-down of siblings. "How, um.. often does she check those crystals?"
"So.." Kam says as he watches the show-down of siblings. "How, um.. often does she check those crystals?"
"As far as I know, a lot. But I think Mom kind of put her foot down about being watched in certain situations...if that's what you were worried about."
|
The duo finally take their eyes off of the scrying bowl. Nodding in satisfaction, they turn in their single body to the chamber itself. A command word is spoken and lights reveal the enormity of the lab. Rows of black cylinders go on as far as the eye can see. The demoness/sorceress head down a row, stopping occasionally. Looking into each one, Jiminy, in various conditions and ages, lies in stasis. She finally stops at a large cylinder. Inside is Jiminy as a grown man, draconic wings resting on his back, his face almost angelic.
"So close, my love. But you still have traces of 'impurities'. Your new brother has been purged of them. Your sacrifice was not in vain. I love you."
Another command word is spoken, and the form within the chamber is disintegrated. The dust swirls into the air as it too is destroyed.
"Look, I know Dad's going to have a hard time with this, it's one of the reasons I kept it a secret. I really didn't think he need anymore stress at the time."
"Come on Kam, even if they're not here we've still got other songs we can play."
"I really can go get them and bring them here if you want, Taron. And I don't know why you seem so....angry with me. Look, Dad will come around. It'll take him a little to get used to it, but he loves you so he'll get over it. Come on, Tare, you know I haven't said anything awful. I'm being really nice and supportive and I'm looking forward to getting to know my brother-in-law better, okay? And I think that's pretty much how the rest of the family feels too. The more they get to know him, the less awkward things will be. So, just for once, can I not be the scapegoat?" she asked dejectedly.
Taron glanced over his shoulder as he walked toward the stage.
:Ephebe, if I was mad at you, you would know it. After all, anger is such a different mood than my usual, isn't it?: He thinks with a smile.
Once both he and Kamenwati are ready, they play.
Ephebe stands near the stage as they start playing. Her eyes widen as she hears the lyrics and she laughs in delight.
"Still not talking to me?" Canis says as he quickly folds up some paper and tucks it away in a pocket.
"Guess not. No worries though, I'm not quite ready to apologize." He says with a wink. Arielle catches 'hurricane that started' in his thoughts as he winks.
Arielle glances after him curiously. She wasn't about to let him off the hook just yet, but it was so hard to stay mad at him. And now she was worried....
"Don't tell me you guys are still fighting? I mean, sure, you argue all the time, but this has to be some kind of record...the same fight for more than five minutes," Danae said with a wink as she moved past, tray in hand.
Arielle stuck out her tongue at her friend's retreating back. Well, she was a bit at loose ends. She found a stool to sit on and listen to the concert. The new girl looked a lot less cranky now.
*whirs around the club delivering appetizers*
After a few more songs, Taron and Kamenwati take a break. A moment of checking to see if Arielle is watching later and LK is at their side, talking in hushed tones. Whatever they are talking about, they all seem to be in agreement. A few moments later and Taron taps LK's forehead.
Then they all sit in a booth to relax and tell jokes.
Arielle grinds her teeth in frustration. She goes over to where Danae was working.
"Okay, so I'm going totally crazy right now. Help?"
She chuckled. "Still haven't got things sorted yet? Geeze, Arielle, you two are a mess, you know that?"
"Most people don't punch a guy when they tell him they like him, you know," she added with a wink.
She blushed. "There was some context there you're missing."
"So...you think I'm being unreasonable?"
"So...you think I'm being unreasonable?"
"So...you think I'm being unreasonable?"
"Now, I wouldn't go that far...he does need to ease up on the pranks a little...."
"You want me to talk to him?"
She laughed at Arielle's eager nod.
"Okay, but I'm not promising it will work."
She sauntered over to the table with LK, Taron, and Kam.
"Hey, guys, how's it going?"
They all stop talking and look at Danae with a "we-swear-we're-innocent" look on their faces.
"Pretty good so far. Arielle's a bit vexed with me at the moment, but I have a plan."
"A bit vexed? She's about one step short of a nervous breakdown," she said, laughing. "That plan of yours better be pretty good."
"A nervously broken down storm in a building.. yep, time to get this going." Taron says as he gets up. Kamen follows quickly, but LK takes a moment to say something to Danae.
"Tell her she can start speaking to me soon."
He then walks off into the crowd and manages to disappear from view. A couple minutes late and Taron and Kam are back on stage. They start to play again, but this time, they aren't the ones signing.
"This is for the butterfly."
There's no one else on stage, but someone is still singing into the microphone.
Oooookay....that was different. She wasn't even sure if it was supposed to be an apology or what, but at this point she'd pretty much take anything. The disembodied voice was definitely a bit odd...and wher was Canis?
"He said to tell you that you'll be able to talk to him soon. I'm guessing this is part of whatever scheme he's up to now.Just so you know," she said quietly from just behind Arielle. She gave her friend an encouraging smile and moved on, clearing tables as she went.
Garble comes back inside. He glares at the singer and mutters something about human music. Then he pulls out a small slate and seems to make a note with an invisible piece of chalk.
As the music ends Arielle feels a tap on her left shoulder. When she looks, there is no one there, but then LK speaks from her right.
"Something about singing infront of a crowd really didn't sit well with me." He says as he taps the headset he's wearing(no turned off). "It's very hard to work anything about a butterfly into a song."
He kisses Arielle quickly and draws back to look her in the eyes.
"I am sorry."
Her whole body visibly relaxes as he apologizes.
"No, I'm sorry. I mean, yeah, I was angry, but that was a dumb way to handle it. Just...please back off on the pranks a bit? I already have two little brothers who are more than happy to play tricks on me. You....you're supposed to be on my side."
"I am on your side. I run your brothers off just about every time and, last I checked, they are currently in a net at the Oasis."
"I guess what I'm trying to say is, your brothers pull pranks to be mean. I'm just trying to get a laugh. Of course, ice water may not have been the best way to go about getting one..."
"Yeah, that one kinda seemed more mean than funny, love. I guess what I'm saying is there's easier ways to make me laugh."
"Yeah, like trying to sing." He sighs. "I don't think I'm good at making songs either."
"I like your singing," she said, smiling. "I'm not sure the lyrics made any sense to me at all, especially the chorus. When you were young? Technically I'm only ten years old, and I had to borrow my dead half-sister's memories just to know what childhood was like....Either I'm still young or I never was...I'm not sure which," she added wrinkling her nose as she tried to suppress laughter, her eyes twinkling with amusement. She kissed him on the nose. "See, I told you there were better ways to make me laugh."
"And I told you my songs would do it."
She giggled and leaned her head on his shoulder.
"I hated not talking to you. Even for such a short time."
"Same here. I tried not to show it though."
"Sleeping must be a very trying time for you. Not many people can talk when they sleep."
She smiled. "I can. And do. So consider yourself warned. My family tells me I have whole conversations in my sleep."
"Usually with my sisters. Which makes sense since I only see them in the dreamlands."
"I envy you then. I don't dream much, and I don't talk to people when I do."
"I apologize in advance for any future eavesdropping."
She chuckled.
"I'll keep that in mind. And try to remember not to say anything I wouldn't mind you overhearing."
Garble starts going over his spellbook again.
Garble starts going over his spellbook again.
Garble starts going over his spellbook again.
