The Decadence Project

[Kari Muffin]

I am posting all of this here for safe keeping. Notes included.

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Okay, so here we go. The start of an epic 50,207 word adventure. This will be a slow painful process for me... since I have to edit everything. I do hope for comments, *cute look*.

Just an interesting fact: I don't number chapters when writing. XD I have no idea how many chapters I have.

Warning. There are some mature themes and happenings in this novel. I'm not shoving bits in the mature section.

I would also like to add that if my spelling or grammar sucks... *shrugs* I care not.

We start with a bang.

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Time has no meaning. Memories are memories. They are all precious things.
This is a story about people and how they come together despite the odds. Anything is possible when you forget how small the world really is. Suspend disbelief in this fantasy world, or choose not to. In the end the complications iron out into a simplistic pattern.

-Blood Bound
+One Tragic Deed Leads to Another

Blood. That's all she could see. That's all she could feel. There was nothing left of his chest but a pile of soupy flesh. She held him in her arms, rocking back and forward, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Basil," she whispered.

She had forgotten about the man standing behind her. He was as pale as snow, with eyes as red as crimson. His long hair trailed down past his spine neatly braided and ending in a small lead weight. His clothing was white and red to match his skin, though there was an excessive amount of frill and lace. It was as if he was trying to make up for something he lacked. Either way, the man moved forwarded.

He ran his fingers through the girl's long purple hair. His sharp nails worked like the teeth of a comb. He slowly grew closer as the woman wept over the body of her darling brother.

"If he had listened he wouldn't be dead," He whispered into her ear. He slipped one of his hands over hers, carefully pulling her away from the body. The woman didn't protest physically. She simply gave him a pleading look as he wrapped his arms around her.

Of all the people to comfort her, she didn't want to deal with him. He was a heartless murder who had made her darling brother suffer so much. He had even broken her brother's bindings. Why would a heartless man be comforting her.

And yet he was caressing her hair and trying to stop her tears. Of course it didn't last for long. His hands dug into the skin on her wrist. In a quick motion he removed her gloves to reveal freshly made cuts. The writing was in a language that she couldn't read or speak, but she knew the meaning of the marks perfectly.

"Never look back," the man hissed.

She shuddered and tried to release herself from his grasp. It was a lame attempt. She could barely see or breath, putting up a fight with a full grown man was impossible at this point. She had recently gained her human form, and didn't know the full rage of motion that she had yet.

"If he would have listened, he wouldn't have had to die." The man hissed again. "You should know that, Peaches. You listened to what I said and you didn't come back. But your darling little brother wouldn't have had to die if he had listened."

She had no words.

Her arm was slowly twisting behind her. She wasn't going to put up a fight.
Two days previously they had turned eighteen. It was supposed to be a wonderful coming of age. She had managed to shift to her biped form, but her brother (of course) had managed to acquire his human form right away. They were going to go to courts at the end of the week and look for jobs.
But now he was in a puddle of blood. She got her human form. But he was in a puddle of blood.

Something inside of her knotted up. Her stomach seemed to sink the longer she looked at the blood and what used to be her brother. Her twin brother! And he was there in his human form, dead. Everything she had ever hoped for had hit the floor like a glass bauble. Was this man even going to let her go.
"If you ever set foot in my forest again, little girl, I'll kill you." He whispered before licking her cheek.

Except his tongue was different that it had been. Her eyes widened as she turned to look at the man. He stood there in his bipedal form, a frightening sight to behold. He was almost a bat, except for the scales and various rows of teeth. He also had a tail of some sort of lizard that Peaches was not about to place. She was, after all, terrified out of her mind.

"I don't want to die," she whimpered in response to his threat. For a pretty human he sure as hell was ugly as a biped.

"Oh good," He said with a smile. He ran a nail down the side of her face, leaving behind a trail of blood. "It wouldn't be fun killing you. It'd be like killing your pretty little brother again. And I don't like repeating my actions."
Peaches turned her attention back to her brother. She stared at his vacant purple eyes, and horrified expression.

When she woke up in the morning, would everything be all right? When she went to his bedroom to check up on him, would she find out this was all a dream? How could her brother be dead...?

***

She woke up screaming.

Nightmares. How could she not have nightmares after what happened. In her feline form she peaked her head out from under the bed. Thankfully she hadn't managed to wake her parents somehow.

But she had to leave. There was no way she could stay with them and the awful memories that haunted her. Everywhere she looked she saw her brother. Even when she looked in the mirror she thought of Basil.
Running away wouldn't solve the problem. Her brother would have said that to her if he was still alive. But what else could she do at a time like this? Hiding under the bed because she was afraid that the horrible man would show up to rape and kill her. If she moved he would never find her.

Slipping out for under the bed she shifted to her biped form. She really hadn't figured out how to get to her human form again. She just couldn't grasp it. Though, it was probably more that she was afraid. Afraid that the memories would catch up with her.

It had only been a week since her brother died.

It was stupid to think that all the pain would fade away in such a short period of time.She knew it. She hated it. She wanted the pain to go away and stay away forever. She didn't want to cry every time she saw herself in a mirror.
But she didn't leave that night. Her parent's didn't give her a chance to. She came to the front door and was greeted by the light of a lantern. Her ears pulled back and her eyes narrowed at the image of her mother came into focus.

"Where do you plan on going?" asked the older woman, a feline who looked close to Peaches in basic appearance, with the exception of the length of their necks and their ultimate sizes. Her mother was much shorter and had gained weight over the years, but her fur had the same typical pattern as her daughter's. Once upon a time she had been a slim beautiful cat, but now she was "just a mother" in the eyes of the other person in the room.

"I plan on leaving," she responded in a whisper.

"And go where?" Her mother asked. She had a small cup of tea sitting next to her. Her mother made tea blends for a living. She grew tea in a special little green house, picked it by hand, blended it by hand and sold it. Not to mention she made herbal medicines and doubled as a doctor for the small little village in times of need. When she spoke she generally knew what she was talking about. Of course Peaches did not see it like that, but youth is often wasted on the young.

"The Courts."

"Right. Because Ture is going to give you a job at the court of diamonds? You're a heart. And there's no way you're ready to take a job there." She crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes.
She knew full well her mother was right. She wasn't going to admit to it. "I'm going to do the best I can."

"That's just not good enough in the cut throat land of politics."

Peaches raised her eyebrow. Her mother had never spoken ill of the Courts. Peaches opened her mouth, and then closed it again. She couldn't think of anything to say in response to her mothers blunt statement.

"I just want my baby to be safe," she continued. "If I had been there for—"

"No. He would have died anyway." Peaches said flatly.

Her mother's whiskers twitched and eyes widened.

"He would have died anyway. He did something stupid that he didn't think through. There was no way he could have made it out of the situation alive. If I had stopped him long before then... maybe he would have lived. Probably not." Peaches looked at her mother with purple eyes. The few tears that escaped the corners were soaked into her fur.

"You can't blame yourself. You're just a baby."

"Mother. I stopped being a baby a long time ago." Peaches said shaking her head. "You can't protect me anymore... not like you ever could in the first place. I plan on making my own decisions."

There was silence for a long while as they stared back at each other. They said plenty of things with their eyes, none of them could be described in words so easily. It was simply something they did amongst the girls of the family. If the man of the household or Basil had been sitting with them, they would not know what to do.

"Please, just stay here for the night. I don't want you to sleep out in the cold." She said quietly. Snow two inches thick lined the streets and buildings. The winter months first snowfall.

Once upon a time, she would have enjoyed it with her brother. And they would have goofed off and made snow angels, snowballs, and a variety of other things the best they could.

But it was all gone.

"Fine."

[Kari Muffin]

I seem to be terribly ill and losing my voice. Enough that my dad made the comment that I sound like a man. Anyway. Commentary, I know you want some.

Theofilus isn't the most observant man when he places trust in someone. >_> Keep that in mind when you're reading. People notice things LONG before him.

Enjoy the fluff.

...So the board is doing something psychotic. *tries to repost*

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Lost Boy
+ Before the Death of a Man

Theofilus hated the cold. He despised it enough that he wore a think cloak around his neck that went down to the ground. It was difficult to fly in, but well worth it. Did not curse as much when he wore it.

He struggled to fly with the cloak on, along with a clipboard and pack that he had strapped to his back. His boss had given him another job away from t he firm. "Extend our reach. You're reliable, Theofilus, so you're perfect for the job," said the boss.

It was really just an excuse to get him out of the office.

Theofilus rolled his eyes as he glided close to the ground. Why they needed to extend their shipping firm to the boonies of the Lakes, he had no idea. He could see expansion to other realms, or the more populated geographical regions but this just seemed like a pointless exercise. What would anyone want to ship from here?

Theofilus' thoughts were interrupted when he passed over something that was too out of place to be normal. He flapped his wings furiously so he could stop, and then he walked the few feet back.

A sandy brown color was peaking out of the snow. The sparrow leaned forward, peering at whatever it was. Fabric? He raised a feathery eyebrow, slipping the piece of fabric in his mouth he gave it a good tug.

And an arm popped out of the snow.

He let out a horrified squawk before gathering his composure. He hurried to brush snow off of whoever was under the mess. It didn't take long to do with the help of the beating of his wings.

It was a young human boy, and he was still breathing.

This definitely wasn't what the sparrow expected to happen today. He looked down at the small and frail figure in the snow. He let out a long sigh. Apparently he was going to walk the rest of the way.

***

He had burst through the door with the boy on his back. The inn keeper had nearly dropped what he head been holding. When he had exclaimed that Theofilus was an idiot, he was promptly corrected by the sparrow who demanded a room and a doctor. It was a rare occasion that a human child would be anywhere near the establishment. Let alone one that looked so roughed up.

It took a while to find a doctor. But the inn keeper's wife and Theofilus did their best to keep the boy warm and breathing. Once the doctor arrived things went well. Thankfully the boy wouldn't lose any limbs from frost bite—he hadn't been out in the snow for very long.

Night fell, and Theofilus stayed by the boy's bedside. He had missed his meeting with his clients because of all the excitement. But it was worth it. The boy hadn't died, and the meeting could always take place tomorrow. His employer would understand, and hopefully the customer would as well.

Theofilus sat quietly and read in the candle light.

The boy stirred, shifting in the sheets. Theofilus only looked up when he heard the small cough.

The boy looked at him from under the safety of the covers. Black eyes peering at the white and blue bird.

The sparrow moved his glasses further up his beak. He smiled, though he figured the boy would have trouble telling. Some people didn't understand reading emotions on birds.He personally had a hell of at time understand human faces. Not like he would ever admit that aloud. After all, he got it when it mattered. Angry, happy, and sad were generally emotions that shone through no matter what you looked like.

The expression on the boy's face at the moment wasn't something he could read very well.

"Hello," Theofilus said, waving a wing in greeting.

The boy sank back into the covers.

"Uh..." Theofilus sighed as he looked at the boy. "I'm not good at this. I'm sorry. What's your name little boy?"

The boy remained under the covers, only his dark eyes were visible to the sparrow. He coughed again, and sniffed a bit before responding with a meek whisper, "Conway. What's your name pretty bird man?"

Theofilus couldn't help but grin. "Theofilus."

The boy's eyes narrowed. The sparrow couldn't really tell what that meant, he was thankfully when the boy spoke to clarify.

"That's a really long name."

"I suppose it is."

"Can I call you Mr. Birdy instead?"

Theofilus blinked. "Sure."

"Thank you, Mr. Birdy for helping me... I should get going now though. I can't stay here for long." He said, as he removed the covers from himself. He wore a rather interesting outfit for a young child. A rather odd suit with with a tail coat and a moth eaten cravat. Theofilus raised an eyebrow, but said nothing as he watched the boy get up and move towards the door.

Of course he couldn't walk for very long. He fell to the floor in a heap, whimpering pitifully. Theofilus shook his head before going to help the boy up. "Grab onto my neck you silly boy. You're obviously very ill so don't push yourself."

The boy's features were unusual. The color of his hair a sandy brown that bordered on dirty blond, his clothing was also a sandy color and just odd for a young child to wear. The most disturbing thing was the bracelet that he wore. It was attached to an actual muscle that the doctor had said lead directly to his spine. When they had lifted the back of his shirt and coat off he had seen the actual exposed spine. The boy must have been from the Hisstor Wastes. There was no other explanation for such a strange mutation. But he was just a boy....

Conway listened to Theofilus' direction and grabbed on to his neck. He found himself placed onto the bed, where he flopped down. Theofilus picked up the covers with his beak and slipped them over the boy to the neck. "Why were you out in the freezing cold in nothing but that?"

Conway didn't respond, he simply grasped onto the covers.

"Don't you have any family to take care of you?"

"Mom and Father are dead." He said flatly.

Theofilus' eyes widened as he looked down at the small boy. His parents were dead? That was awful... What was he supposed to say in response to that? "D-don't you have anyone else?"

"He hates me. And he took away my sister."

Damn. It couldn't get any worse could it? Theofilus swallowed the lump in his throat and gave the boy another smile. He didn't seem to be able to tell at all. Oh well. He carefully brushed a wing by the boy's cheek. There were a few tears trailing down his cheeks, even if the boy was doing his best to hide it. Theofilus wished he had hands, but he could easily do without them.

"It's all right to cry, you know. If you're hurt you shouldn't keep it all inside." Theofilus needed to listen to his own advice.

Conway shook his head. He reached up to wipe away the few tears that were still there. There was no point in crying for his family now. Not in front of a complete stranger who didn't understand anything. It was all his fault his parents were dead. It was all his fault that he would never be able to see his sister again.

And he now had no home to go to.

Conway shivered. Sitting up he looked at the bird with his black eyes, a frown on his face.

Theofilus frowned in return, even if the child couldn't pick up on it. He had to do something—anything to make the child smile even a little bit.

He looked around the room for something warm. They didn't really have extra blankets. He chirped happily when he saw the solution hanging on the coat rack. He hoped over and pulled the scarf off the rack. It was something he had packed just in case, and he was happy it could serve a purpose. Hopping over to the bed he wrapped it around the boy's neck.

"There." Theofilus said cheerfully, adding a chirp at the end of sentence. "It's not much, but it'll at least keep your neck warm."

Conway was confused. He raised his eyebrows at the bird's actions. "Why are you giving this to me?"

"Because you're cold, and there aren't any extra blankets. Plus I don't think sitting on you would get anything accomplished."

And there it was. A smile crept its way onto the boy's face. He giggled a bit as he looked up at the bird. "You're really weird."

Theofilus fluffed his feathers for a moment before taking a bow in a very extravagant fashion. "Why thank you, good sir."

Children were adorable.

"Now, you should get to sleep," Theofilus said quietly as the boy giggled. "We can go shopping for proper clothing in the morning."
The sparrow wasn't sure what to do with the boy. He wasn't sure he could take care of a child like this. But he couldn't leave him alone. The sparrow would have never forgiven himself if he let a cute little boy like this suffer more than he had to. Patting the boy on the head with a feather he went over to the chair to finish up a bit of reading.

***

"I'm sorry about yesterday, Mr. Augustus. I ran into a bit of trouble with my little friend here." Theofilus said brightly as he motioned to the boy sitting in a chair at the other end of the room. He didn't seem to like other people and had remained silent whenever more than one person was in the room.

"It's not a problem, Mr. Theofilus. You did quite a wonderful thing saving the boy's life. That was far more important that coming to a meeting with a stuff old man like myself." The bipedal canine said with a smile. He was a high ranking rich King, who owned quite an interesting bottling company.

"Yes, but you wanted to discuss shipping your water to different regions."

"Yes, yes indeed. But...." The man leaned forward.
The sparrow wanted to pull back, but he didn't want to offend a King. He was only a nine, even if he was a red suit he still needed to respect others. He didn't want to be like his mother, after all.
Augustus' voice dropped to a whisper. "Maybe we should go shopping for the young boy. I heard he doesn't have a family to go back to... so why not?"

Theofilus blinked. "Y-you would do that sir?"
Augustus gave the sparrow a tooth grin, "I always wanted children. Never got the chance, but this seems like a perfect time. We can go shopping with him and discuss the contract. Sound all right to you?"

"I suppose...." Theofilus honestly couldn't get over the spontaneity of it all, but giving into the demands of an eccentric old man didn't seem all that bad. If shopping for clothing and making a child happy were all that it took to make a deal that would prevent the firm from going under, Theofilus would certainly accept it.

"Conway," Theofilus said turning around to look at the boy. He had been twiddling his thumbs and kicking his feet silently. He was a quiet, nice and obedient boy. Why on earth would anyone hate him? He may have come from a strange realm, but that didn't mean people had to hate him. "We're going to get you some proper warm clothing."

The boy looked at him for one long moment, and then smiled. Hopping down from the chair he hurried over to Theofilus. The coat that he had borrowed from the inn keeper's family was an inch too long for the boy. The sparrow couldn't really tell his age, being that he had never met a human younger than thirty, or if he was supposed to be as skinny as he was.

They took a trip to one of the tailor shops in Augustus' carriage. It wasn't a long trip, but it was safer than walking in the freezing cold.
A fire was roaring on the inside of the tailor's shop. The man sat behind a counter mending some of his own cloths. He quickly straightened up when he saw Augustus walk in. The canine wore a lavish set of clothing and various layers. A shirt, a vest, a coat reaching the floor. He also had a top hat and cane and even wore specially made pants just for him. It was obvious that they were in one of the best tailor's shops in town.

And Theofilus felt terribly naked.

The boy reached up and squeezed Theofilus's neck as best he could. The sparrow leaned down to the boy's level. Conway seemed terribly thankful of this action, and whispered into the sparrow's ear.

"Oh, is that so?" Theofilus said looking at Conway with a smile on his beak. He looked up to Augustus. "He says he wants to have a coat like yours, only with puffy trim."

The old man chuckled. "Did you here that Taylor? You have your job cut out for you!"

"I do indeed sir," said the man as he hurried from around the counter. He raised a furry eyebrow at the human boy. This was obviously something he hadn't done before. "I need to put him on the stand so I can take measurements. The coat should probably take two days...."

"Perhaps you could go faster than that." Augustus said. "Take a preexisting coat and re tailor it for him, perhaps?"

It wasn't really a suggestion coming from the King. Even Theofilus could understand that.

"Y-yes sir! I still need measurements however."
Theofilus looked to Conway. "Go on and follow the man, we'll be right behind you.

Conway gave the man a worried look but nodded anyway. He followed the directions of the tailor and took off all his clothing except for his underclothing.

"Dear Suits," Augustus said, "He's terribly thin."

Theofilus drooped a bit. Even for a human the boy didn't look natural. But he wasn't from this region either. Everyone here in the Lakes was used to bulk, and something like Conway looked like a frail doll. "I hope to fix that." Theofilus said in reply as he watched the boy get measurements.

They spoke of all the arrangements of the contract while the tailor was modifying the coat for Conway. Everything went smoothly.Conway walked away from the shop with a brand new fur lined coat, and Theofilus walked away with a new business partner. They were escorted back to the inn a smile on both their faces.

Before they entered Augustus put his hand on Theofilus' shoulder. "Perhaps before you get going back home, you and Conway could come to dinner at my manor?"

"Of course we would! Thank you very much for the invitation!"

"Then tomorrow night I'll have a carriage pick you up."

***

"Is something wrong Conway?" the sparrow asked the young boy. He was fiddling with the fluff on his coat, looking down at his shoes—which were barely visible. He smiled at the boy, who seemed to be catching on what a smile was for a bird. He was a quick learner.

"No..." he said looking at the bird with a small smile. "I'm just a little nervous I guess."

"Mr. Augustus is rather fond of you, there's no need to be shy."

"Is that so?" Conway asked, an indescribable look on his face. The sparrow couldn't quite place the emotion beyond that of worry. Humans really were difficult to read.

"Something else is wrong then?" the sparrow asked with a furrowed brow. They had been traveling in the carriage for what seemed like a long while, and Conway had been uneasy the entire time. Theofilus understood that the boy disliked people, but it seemed like something else was bothering him.

Conway shook his head and remained silent.

This was like pulling teeth, and Theofilus didn't even have any teeth. "It's all right to tell me. I promise I won't tell anyone else."
The boy pondered the statement for a minute before speaking. "If I talk in front of more than one person, only one person can hear me."

Theofilus blinked.

"See. You don't believe me." Conway said with a humpfh as he crossed his arms.

"It's not that—well it is that. But that would explain why you don't say a word when there are other people in the room. But... that can't be true."

"Watch," Conway said as he hopped off his seat. Opening the window to the carriage he leaned out. "Mr. Cab driver! Please slow down!"

Theofilus heard Conway clearly. And expected the Cab driver to do the same. He raised an eyebrow when the pace stayed the same. The man had said he would listen to any of their requests. Theofilus nudged Conway away and poked his head out of the window. "Sir, could you possibly slow down the carriage."

The man called back, "Certainly!" And the pace slowed.

Theofilus looked at Conway. He was still skeptical. "He mustn't have heard you."

"I'll show you tonight then."

"Of course," Theofilus said with a raise of his brow. They came to a halt sooner than either of them expected. Before they knew it they found themselves being lead up a pristine white staircase.
The manor was huge, obviously expensive, and made the pair of them feel small. Theofilus could only hope to be as great and successful as that one day, while Conway could only hope to live a normal life.

They were greeted by a cheerful looking Augustus at the top of the stairs. He was accompanied by a woman, who looked to be around the same age as him. She gave them both guests a smile, however she leaned down in her biped form to look at the boy face to face.
Conway backed up a bit. One of his hands grasped Theofilus' wing out of reflex.

"It's all right," she said quietly. "I just haven't seen anyone with a human form in a very long time." She gave him another kind smile with her feline mouth. She carefully patted the boy on the head before turning to Theofilus. "How is Clari doing?"

Theofilus blinked. Wait. How on earth did this woman know Clari? "She's fine...but how in the name of the suits do you know her?"

"Oh! Little Clari is my niece! I know she doesn't speak of me often, but I thought she would have mentioned me at least..." the woman shrugged, "My name is Temperance. It's a pleasure to meet you Mr. Theofilus and Mr. Conway."

"Shall we go inside? It's rather chilly out here. We wouldn't watch to catch a cold." Augustus said as he motioned to the overly ornate door.

***

Dinner that night was strange. Theofilus had watched Conway's numerous attempts to speak up, and had watched everyone ignore him. Actually, it was proper to say not hear him. He said quite a few rude comments, that Theofilus was sure that their dinner hosts would have reacted to if they had heard.

It was the end of the dinner when they were sitting around the fireplace that Theofilus noticed something extremely odd about Conway.

He had no shadow.

It was impossible but the more Theofilus looked at the sleeping boy on the arm chair, the more he noticed how the boy cast absolutely no shadow. None.

He had to speak with Conway about that the next morning.

"It's a bit late for you to go back to the inn. Why not spend the night here?"

"That's a generous offer, Mr. Augustus, but all of our belongings are at the inn. And I have no intention of imposing on you when you so cordially invited us to dinner." He said with a smile. He was indeed refusing a King's invitation. This was something he wanted to kick himself over, but he wasn't going to spend the night in a strangers house when he had just noticed all the strange things about Conway.

He was sure someone else would notice too.
He moved over to Conway and nudged the boy to wake him up. He just wanted to get out of here quickly.

Augustus didn't look pleased. "But Mr. Theofilus, I would love it if you two would stay the night. You wouldn't want to walk in the freezing cold, would you?"

Theofilus wanted to slam his head against a coffee table. "I swear to the suits," He said suddenly. "Every high ranked person I have ever met throws around their rank like their God's greatest gift to the world. I hope you choke on a chicken bone for threatening me and a child. No man in all of the realms is as low as you." The sparrow said as his feathers puffed up with anger.

Conway was very awake at the moment, and wrapped his arms around the sparrow's puffed up neck. "You really shouldn't say stuff like that. They might get angry and do something awful to you." He didn't need to whisper. No one else could hear him. Both Augustus and his wife Temperance watched as the boy's mouth moved and no words escaped it.

The sparrow's feathers unruffled slowly as he helped the boy down from the chair.

"Good Night, sir. You can contact my employer if you have any problems with our contact." Theofilus said with his eyes narrowed. He readjusted his glasses before turning to the exit.
And so, they walked back to the inn in the dead of a winter night.
At least it didn't snow.

***

Two days later Conway disappeared. The sparrow had been ready to head home from the disaster of a business meeting with Conway by his side. But the boy had left during the night, leaving nothing but a simple note that said "I'm sorry."

Theofilus didn't know what to do.

Augustus came around as he stood outside waiting for a carriage. He had no intention of flying home with Conway, so he had gone out of his way to arrange a cab service. Theofilus eyed the canine as he stood next to him, not speaking for a while.

"I'm happy you didn't leave yet. I came to apologize to you and the boy. I was being an idiot."

"He's gone. And I'm not planing on staying for much longer."
Augustus' ears drooped for a moment. It was his fault the boy was gone, he was sure of it. He had caused so much trouble and had only now thought to apologize. "I hope, that one day, you can forgive me."

"We'll see if that day ever comes."

---

OMG! Two more chapters of this crazy project in ONE POST *gasp* Kudos to you who are still reading. <3 if you comment you'll eventually get something nice out of this.

So yes, first chapter is about Theo (which is short...ish), and the second is about Conway being a pet for two years of his life. Chapter Six will be "Accidents Happen."

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Protect This Land
+He takes charge

It was a nightmare. He knew it was a nightmare, but he couldn't wake up.

Theofilus sat at the end of a lake. His brother was sitting next to him, nuzzling him.

But his brother wasn't breathing. He was dripping wet, shivering, and covered in all sorts of plant life. Theofilus was shaking, gagging, and gasping for air. His brother had drown because no one was willing to safe "just an Ace."

He never went back. He watched his brother sink. Die. And he had done absolutely nothing. To help him. Who was the biggest monster? Him or the people who wouldn't save an Ace because Myron was an Ace.

"I love you," Myron said.

Theofilus couldn't find the words.

"Why don't you love me?"

He shuddered as he felt the wet seeping into his feathers. "I'm sorry," Theofilus whispered. "I'm sorry. I couldn't do anything. I was afraid. I couldn't even swim. I still can't."

"But why didn't you come back?"

Theofilus woke up with a start, falling off the side of his bed with a thud. Muttering to himself he rose to a sitting position. He straightened his feathers out as he climbed back onto the bed.
Really? Why hadn't he gone back? Was he that afraid to face the past?

With a mumble he flopped back onto the bed and fell back to sleep. The dream would be forgotten when morning's light peaked in through the window shades.

***

"What's wrong?" Calia asked as she sat down next to him. He had managed to acquire an apartment for the pair of them and the family in Capital City. He had been hoping for a larger one, but Zane and Ez got along well enough sharing a room. Not to mention Ceren needed time with her sister. Malc was still always the same wanderer.

Theofilus shrugged. "Nothing."

She gave him a look. It was the look he had gotten many times before that meant "You're obviously hiding something, please tell me so I don't worry about you." And he gave her his typical "I swear it's nothing." look in return.

But of course she would worry anyway until he said what was wrong. And of course there was something wrong, he was just being an idiot and hiding it. He had been hiding it for years now, and Calia still didn't know.

"I've told you numerous times that I've had a brother."

She nodded as she poured him some tea. He couldn't help but watch her. Without hands she did amazing things sometimes.

"Today's the anniversary of his death. I suppose that's why I'm depressed."

"Oh Theofilus," she said in her kind and warm hearted voice. It was amazing how two words from Calia could make him feel better. In all honesty, that's all he needed to feel better, but Calia always did so much more.

But before anymore words or motions could be exchanged, the door opened to the apartment, and Ez walked in, caring a large bag. Zane followed behind him, closing the door for his brother.

Theofilus raised an eyebrow at the pair.

"Mom!" Ez said happily, "Hi Dad." He said as an after thought while he dropped what he was carrying to hug his mother.
Zane rolled his eyes and picked up the few things that had spilled out of the bag.He eventually went to hug his mother as well, giving his father a smile.

"What are you two plotting," Theofilus asked as he looked from the bag to the pair.

"Just an art project Dad! Nothing serious! Shouldn't you be getting to work anyway?" Ez said in his usual cheerful tone.

Theofilus looked at the clock.

"Oh stars above. I should have left an hour ago."

***

Having a family was Theofilus' biggest dream. He had gotten it. Then he had joined the courts. His childhood dream had come true as well. Life couldn't get any better.

For a while it got worse. He decided to take a "Quest" on for the Queen of Hearts. The Lowlands were probably the worst possible place for him to go, and he got stuck with a psychopath cat. While things tumbled down hill at least he found his human form.

And with it his rank became that of a King. But not for long.

He took a small leave of absence from the court to recover from what happened in the Lowlands. Actually it was more for Eilwyn, the boy he had picked up from the Lowlands. He had to teach him just about everything about the world outside the Lowlands. Which was difficult. A lot more difficult than teaching his family. But at least he had plenty of people to help him.

The sparrow was staring at the ceiling. Eilwyn was asleep in the next room. They had just finished visiting the doctor yet again. Everything seemed to move smoothly, though the doctor still seemed worried about him having ailments because of conditions.
"Why is everything so bloody complicated," He muttered into his wing ash he brought it over his beak.He should try to get used to his human form... he should be responsible. Theofilus narrowed his eyes, and shifted to his human form.

He sat up so he could look in the mirror. It was odd seeing himself as a human. His glasses slipped down his nose as he leaned forward. Pushing them back up he studied his features with bright pink eyes.

Hopefully he would come off as noble. Sometimes he couldn't tell what he should dress like or act. Being blunt was easier than dancing around the maypole like everyone else. That really hadn't disappeared when he joined and worked in the courts for a while. People just gave him dirty looks every so often.
There was a knock in the door, he shifted to his biped form and went to answer it.

Zane was standing there with a frown on his beak. "Sorry Dad. I know you've been pretty stressed, but I can't find something to make dinner and I was wonder—" He cut himself off as he looked at his dad more carefully.

Theofilus blinked. "What's wrong?"

"Dad," Zane said with a raised eyebrow as he looked at his father's chest. "When did you... become a Queen?"

There was an awkward silence that filled the hallway. Theofilus stood there and looked down at his chest.

He left the door open as he walked over to the mirror to double check.

There was red "Q" on his chest instead of the red "K" that had been there earlier. Had he been so absorbed in himself that he hadn't noticed the change? Or had something else triggered it? He traced the letter on his chest.

"I have no idea." He said to Zane as he sat down on his bed.
"Congratulations though, this is wonderful Dad!" Zane said as he came into the room. He watched as his father remained staring at the mirror. It was strange seeing your logical put together father filled with utter confusion.

"Thank you." He replied quietly. The sparrow was at an utter lose. So many things had happened in such a short period of time. How was he supposed to process all the information. Not to meantion he was now a member of the courts. He couldn't retain his title of King if he was a Queen. "It looks like my break is going to be shorter than I anticipated."

"What do you mean Dad?" Zane asked with a note of worry in his voice. It was the same note his mother had sometimes.

"I mean I need to go back to the courts and clear something up." He said as he shifted to his human form, once again examining the suit. "I have a responsibility. Hopefully I'll be able to have a new court title and another responsibility soon."

"You know. You're one of the coolest Dad's to have." Zane said with a snort as he nudged his father's arm.

Theofilus didn't really have words to respond. Instead he hugged his son before exiting his bedroom. He needed to check on Eilwyn.

---

Bad Luck Boy
+After some kindness

There was a nice woman who taught him how to read and write in the Forest. She was a bit of an outcast in the place, and people often gave him dirty looks. Eventually he left the nice woman. He went from region to region, place to place. Alone. Afraid. Trying his hardest not to get caught. He learned quite a few things here and there.

And then in Capital City he ran into trouble.

Stealing was the only way he could get food. But he got caught. And he was beaten until he lost consciousness.

The major problem, however, was that he now woke up staring up at another human figure. She had silver hair and various bangles hanging from its untamed mass. Her outfit, he was pretty sure from the angle, didn't match. The boy wanted to hide, but he found that it hurt the move.

When he tried he started coughing. The girl made a worried noise as she looked down at him. "Your really should stay still. The guy hurt you pretty bad. If my Daddy hadn't stopped him you probably would have died."

Conway blinked. He looked at his hands and felt his face. Bandages. That probably meant that they had to take off his clothing to mend him.

Oh. oh shit.

But he wasn't dead. That was a good thing, right?

He glanced over at the other people in the carriage. They were both well dressed and wore ornate clothing of a blue-ish color. They both had human forms. One was a rather elegant looking woman with dark blue hair, while the man had bright silver hair that was short cropped. They were giving him a look that made him feel smaller and scrawnier than he already was. They must have known...

"Hey, what's your name?" The girl asked quietly as she leaned forward. He hair obscured his face from the view of the adults, and she began to whisper. "My parents aren't to happy about you, but I'm not going to let them throw you out. So don't worry."

He was still suspicious. "Conway," he whispered in return. Her parents couldn't here him of course, but he said it so it was barely spoken. The girl looked confused for a moment, but was able to guess his name by the way he moved his mouth. She nodded happily.

The girl leaned back up and smiled. "I'm Tabitha! Everyone calls me Tabby! It's nice to meet you Conway!"

Both her parents raised an eyebrow. Obviously they were confused as to how she got his name. But they didn't speak a word.

She continued to talk to Conway, keeping him on her lap by pining him down carefully with one hand. Apparently she didn't want him to move. That was fine with him, he supposed. Moving when he was in this much pain was trouble. "We're going to my house. It's a bit of a trip, but you were asleep most of the time. We're going to be there very soon!" She said cheerfully.

Her house huh? Conway wasn't sure about this.

"Tabby, darling. You should let the poor boy sleep," said the woman.

Tabby looked disappointed, but she nodded.
Conway wasn't sure if he was thankful or not.

***

When he woke up again he found himself on a feather bed mattress. Apparently he had been out for quite sometime, yet again. Sitting up he looked around the room. It was small, like a closet, but it had enough room for the large bed that he was sitting on. There was nothing else in the room besides the bed. There was a small window that looked like it had been placed there as an after thought.

Despite all the aching he managed to sit up and edge towards the window. Once he was settled his elbows were on the window sill so he could peer out at the surrounding area.

It was a very awkward place to build a house. All he could see was mountains. And everything was blue. He frowned as he slipped back down to the bed.

There was no getting away from this place, was there?

The door to the room opened. The image of the man from earlier was framed in the light. Conway shot up, and edged to the corner of the room. His back to the wall as the man entered. There wasn't much room for him to walk, but it was enough. His eyes narrowed as he suddenly leaned forward and grabbed Conway by his coat.

"Listen here, boy." He hissed, "The only reason why a freak like you is alive is because of my daughter. I know what you are. If you ever hurt her I'll have your head on a pike. And you will do as I say when I make requests. Understand me?"

Conway nodded. He wasn't going to struggle.

The man dropped him and walked towards the door. "She's waiting for you in her room. Find your way there. Don't think of running either. You'd never make it to town alive."

He walked out, leaving the door slightly open.

Conway sat in silence for a long while. His chin was on his knees as he stared at the open space. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. Someone knew what he was and they weren't going to let him go.

The door creaked, but he didn't look up. He looked down at his feet and he listened to someone slink into the room. He didn't look up when the woman wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him softly on the head. He could feel tears dripping into his hair. It was the woman who was supposedly Tabby's mother. Why was she so terribly sad? Why was she crying into his hair?

"I'm sorry." She said. Her voice was muffled as she buried her face in his hair. She was hugging him now. It was something that Conway could appreciate, but he didn't understand why it was so...sad? Hugs were supposed to be happy things, weren't they?
He remained silent though.

"I'm so sorry. I'm going to treat you the way I treat Tabby. You don't deserve to be treated like a monster." She said through all her tears. It was odd. Conway could feel he pressed up against him. His spine hurt because of it, but he wasn't about to make a sound of protest.

She let go. Conway turned to look at her tear stained face.
The woman looked like his mother had in human form. His heart sank. He could feel the tears streaming down his face now, and he began to cough. The bruises burned as he collapsed on the bed, crying.

She couldn't hear a sound of it. As frightened as she was, though, she still tried to comfort the boy. "D-don't cry! Everything is going to be okay!"

No. No it wasn't. Conway knew it. It was all his fault. He had been a bad person all his life so he was being punished. He deserved to be treated like a monster. His sister deserved better than him. His Uncle was supposed to hate him.

"Mommy!" the voice of Tabby called. She hurried into the room happily, completely oblivious to all the pain.Her mother straightened up, her hand was still patting Conway's back however.
Tabby noticed the boy and stopped in her tracks. She wasn't that far away, but it was still pretty dramatic. She stared at the young boy and up at her mother. "Why's Conway crying, Mommy?"
"I don't know sweetie," was her meek reply.

The girl frowned as she made her way onto the bed. She flopped down so that her face was at Conway's level. She brushed a hand over his hair and tried to make him look up. Conway did his best to ignore her and cry into the sheets.

Then she pulled his hair.

He yelped and shot up, trying to get away from the girl.
Tabby grinned. She grabbed Conway's hand and, causing him to blink in confusion. "Let's go have tea! That'll make you feel better."
It was safe to say it wouldn't make him feel better. But he was literally dragged by the girl. He was the equivalent of a living rag doll to her. Nothing more and nothing less.

This was worse than being treated like a freak and a monster.

***

"Conway!" Tabby said cheerfully as she hugged the boy from behind. After two months of the treatment he had learned that protesting just made things worse. She hugged tighter, and if her "Daddy" saw him struggle when Tabby was out to the doctor he would get a beating. Conway was nothing more than a pet.
This was not a way to live. No wonder his mother locked him away from the world.

She gave a small tug on his hair and pointed to her bed. He rolled his eyes and sat on it. Not a word had come out of his mouth since he started to live in this horrible place.

He watched as Tabby went through a large chest, sorting through various pieces of clothing. He watched as she empty the chest piece by piece. Pulling out feather boas and other odd things. Then she squealed for a moment as she pulled out a top hat.
"This'll make you look adorable! Then we can have a proper tea party!"

It was like a punch to the face. Conway's grip tightened on the bed as she place the top hat on his head. Things just couldn't get any worse.

"Tabby dear!" called her mother. "Daddy needs to take you to the doctor!"

She looked crestfallen. Conway watched as she crossed her arms and pouted silently to herself. But going to the doctor was important. Despite all her energy she was sick often. Conway had his share of illness, but he was surprised that Tabby could get up and bounce around like she did.

"I'll see you later Conway," she said with one of her smiles.
And she was gone. The boy gave a sigh of relief as he flopped on the bed. No "Daddy" to deal with or Tabby. He was left alone with her Mother. The nice woman didn't bother him since that night she came in crying.

He still wondered about that.

"Conway," said the soft voice of Tabby's Mother.
He looked up at her from his place on the bed. His eyebrow quirked as he watched her sit down on the bed. "I'm very sorry about Tabby. She just doesn't have many friends. I'm very thankful that you can play with her."

Conway remained dead silent as always.

"I was wondering if you wanted to learn how to knit. It's not much of a thank you, but whenever you decide to leave it'll be a useful skill." Her voice had fallen to a whisper.

"Your husband won't let me leave." He said flatly.
She was surprised that he spoke. All this time she had thought he was mute. She nearly fell off to bed from shock, but being the graceful woman she was she managed to pull herself together. "Of course he won't. But that doesn't mean you won't figure out a way to leave. You can't stay here forever."

"Why not. Tabby seems pretty convinced."

She snorted. That was a sound he hadn't expected. "My darling daughter is a special girl indeed. But one day she'll figure out what you are and you'll be able to leave. Now. Do you want to learn how to knit?"

"I guess," Conway said as he sat up.

So when everything was said and done. Knitting was hard. He struggled with the needles and the moving and just about everything else. She said he would get better at all of it in time, but he couldn't see how.

***

Two years. Two long years of being dressed up, humiliated, and treated like a stuffed dog. He was tired of top hats and brightly colored clothing. He was tired of tea parties and crazy kitchen experiments. He had mastered the art of knitting, and had picked up sign language out of sheer mind numbing boredom and humility.
Hugging was terrifying. Something he had enjoyed so much as a child was reduced to a repulsive act. Her father had become over bearing, and her mother had fallen in what seemed like a depression.

And then the nightmares began. Conway had dreams about his mother and father's death. The blood dripping down his mother's neck as she laid on the floor in a puddle of blood. The body of his father gasping for air and gurgling when it found none. He woke up screaming more than once.

No comfort to be found. No one could here him.

And then Tabby finally noticed something was "wrong" with him.
"You don't have a shadow Conway."

He made the motions with his hands, 'I've never had one.'
Tabby's brow furrowed. "And I didn't notice?"

Conway shook his head. Was Tabby's mother right? Had she finally figured out what he was?

"I love you, Conway."

That was brick to the face. There was no other way to describe that comment that came from nowhere. 'What?'

"No matter what you are. I love you, Conway."

He stared blankly at her for a long while. The tension hung in the air as thick as fog. This wasn't what he had expected at all. He was a twelve year old boy. She was younger than him. She was crazy. Dressed him up. Called him "Snookie" every once in a while. She had tea with him. That was not love. That was being a play thing. She couldn't even understand what he was capable of and she just said those words.

'You are an idiot.'

Tabby's eyes widened.

"You are a complete and utter moron," Conway spoke at her. "I am a monster. A horrible creature that no one has ever had the pleasure of loving. I don't have a rank. I don't have a symbol. I'm not supposed to exist!"

The girl was obviously shocked.In two years she hadn't heard him speak. In two years he had pretended to neutral to everything she did. Two years was enough time to build up all the anger and have it boil over. If it wasn't for Tabby's Mother it would have happened sooner.

"Go burn in vat of acid. I'm leaving." Conway said as he walked out of the room.

Tabby didn't follow him. She remained on the bed. Staring at the doorway.

Conway stood in front of the doorway out. There was a commotion behind him, but he ignored it. Tabby's mother was screaming, so was her father. Conway knew the consequences of leaving, but he'd like to see them stop him.

He felt bad that he didn't say thank you to Tabby's mother. She really was the kindest person he had met in a long while. Just like his mother.

A gun shot went off. Blowing a portion of the wall out of existence. Conway turned around with wide eyes. The image of Tabby's father with a musket filled his vision. Thank whatever god or gods that were out there that guns had poor aim and took forever to load.
The door flung open as Conway ran with all the speed he had. Thinking that it would be easier if he were a Spade was enough to make him go faster.

Entirely too fast.

He tripped, fell, and tumbled down the side of a small hill.

Life couldn't get any better than that.

[Kari Muffin]

Still reading? XD Thanks Vynnie.

Chapter six is about Peaches and Xiven, and Chapter Seven is about Conway (again).

Warning: I use curse words. Nasty ones. Don't read either of these chapters if that bothers you.

.... and I would like to comment: Conway stop being emo. *eyeroll* and Xiven is an adorable little kitten.

Also, next chapter will be called "Best Laid Plans" starring the one and only Theofilus! Kudos if you get the reference.

---

Accidents Happen
+The Birth of a Troubled Girl

Spying. Maid work. Tea making and serving. Making connections with the help of Warrick. Finding an old friend of the family who gave her "missions" that involved spying. Everything was working out well.

She had joined the courts. Of course she had spied on the entire palace long before she had the pleasure of going there. She needed to know everyone's name and business. Their secrets and their stories. Some were more difficult than others (that horse really did a wonderful job of covering his tracks) but she had managed.

And then Peaches fucked it all up.

How? By getting pregnant.

Of all things.

At the tender age of twenty-one she was pregnant. And when she gave birth things just got worse. Ten times worse.

A Queen, a Six and an ACE.

An Ace. How could something like that come out of her? She could feel the hatred welling up inside her. It was a useless creature that shouldn't exist. And somehow she had managed to give birth to a Queen as well. The six was the only one who stood a chance of being normal.

Covering up the birth of an Ace was difficult. Money, favors and secrets. If she hadn't been her life time goal she would have failed. But the only child that Pravus knew about was Xiven. A little Queen. A Torquehelm.

But Peaches didn't know what it meant to be a mother. It was a complicated process.

"Shit," Peaches said to herself as she looked down the hallways. She had lost her freaking child. And the Ace was currently sitting at her heals crying for her mistress Xiven.

And where the hell had her other one gone?

She kicked the wall. "This was a bad idea. I should have had an abortion!"

She looked down at the tailless Ace, drooping. That thing had popped out of her somehow. It didn't know that. She picked the little cat up by the scruff of the neck and scratched it lightly under the chin. "Fluffy. Quiet. I'll find her. And hopefully Eldy on the way."
Peaches walked down the hallway with the Ace in her arms. It was still shivering and crying, but at least it was well behaved. Unlike the two other kittens running around the palace. Of course the little monsters that had popped out of her had to have a sense of adventure. At least the Ace was trainable. Xiven and her sister were just...next to impossible.

"Mer!" said the Ace.

Peaches stopped walking around.

"She's here isn't she?" Peaches whispered into the Ace's ear. The Ace licked her cheek in response.

Peaches listened to the slight jingling of chains. She slowly turned her head. Around the corner was her daughter, her fluffy face was slightly visible as she was crouched close to the floor, butt wiggling in the air.

Oh yes. This game.

"RAWR!" yelled the Queen as she leaped out of her not so fantastic hiding place.

Peaches side stepped the Fluff ball.

"Merwo!" Xiven said as she tumbled forward, sliding across the floor.

Peaches rolled her eyes as she picked up the girl by the scruff of her neck and deposited her in her arms with Fluffy. "It's your bed time, Missy."

Xiven couldn't speak yet, so she wiggled in protest in her mother's arms. She ended up tapping the ace on the face and biting at Peaches's earring. The woman rolled her eyes and was half tempted to drop the pair of them.

Where was the third? How hard was it to find a kid with a ball and chain?

"Heeeeeeere kitty kitty," She called as she stalked down the hallways with a children in arms.

Freaking hell. Motherhood sucked.

***

Waking up next to a girl with her mouth sewn shut was the start of her troubles. They just got worse as she was older.

But this one topped the cake. She was staring at her brother, who had a rather lovely smirk on his face.

"Did that really happen?" She asked as she looked at the boy with narrow eyes.

"Oh yeah."

"You know this borders on incest."

He shrugged. "It's not like I popped your cherry."

Her ears drooped. "You are such an asshole sometimes."

"I know, but you get a kick out of it and you know it." He said with a purr as he licked her nose. It was something he did when he knew what he had done wrong. Genius that he was he could be annoying and as dumb as a brick.

"If I had front paws I would swipe you one," Peaches growled as the hair on her tail fluffed up.

He brushed it off. He knew his twin. She may have talked big, but nine times out of ten she didn't mean a word of what she was saying. To him at the very least. He gave her another lick and nuzzled her. "It was just a kiss."

"Kiss? Dear Suits. Your whole face was practically in my mouth. Not to mention the position we were in." She said, her tail swishing in frustration.

"Better me than some random stranger, you know."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. But watch it next time you turn your back to me Basil. I might push you in front of a carriage."

"I'd like to see that. I'm sure you'd be pretty upset over the blood spatter on your pristine white jacket." He said with a wave of his paw, his manacles jingling as he spoke with his paws. "I could just here you complaining about it now to Loreta."

She stuck her tongue out in response. She rolled onto her back and closed her eyes. She was tired and didn't feel like thinking about what her brother had done to violate her personal boundaries. That's what she got for letting him near the boozes. "I heard that Cream is coming to visit."

"Really now? I wonder if he has any secret missions for you," He said with a snicker as he flopped down besides her. He nudged up besides her, feeding off her warmth. She did the very same many occasions before.

"The last one was pretty weird." She said quietly as she stared at the ceiling. "I don't know what those people were really talking about, but he seemed to be pretty interested in the information I brought back. I'm glad Mom and Dad don't know about it."

"If they knew they would take away your money." Basil said, a note of bitterness in his voice. "If they knew that I play the flute for spare change, they would take my money too. That's why I can't wait until we can go to the courts."

"I suppose we could be pretty useful at the Court of Hearts. Someone who is a spy and someone who entertains. Together we could be unstoppable. You could entertain them while I rob them blind." Peaches said with a snort.

"If only you had hands, dear sister!"

"If only!"

They burst into a fit of giggles.

"But sis," Basil said once they had fallen quiet. "Don't leave without me. I don't want you to grow up and have a family, leaving me behind."

Peaches opened her eyes to look at her brother. The look on his face was troubled. It was like he knew something that she didn't and it was slowly killing him. Did it have to do with their troubles in the Wood? She shoved that back into the corner of her mind. Her paws still ached from it. She looked into his troubled eyes that mirrored hers. "I'd never leave you behind. Not even if you died."
Liar.

***
Xiven bounced on her mother's bed. She had met a really cool person with pretty yellow eyes today, and she wanted to tell her Mommy all about it. But she wasn't there. Something had happened that morning and she had wandered off to do something.
The girl got tired of bouncing and quickly rolled onto her back. She watched Fluffy who was sleeping in her cast basket. This was boring. Maybe she should look through her Mommy's things?
Hopping off the bed and stumbling on her bindings (stupid things!) she made it over to one of the locked chests.

She grinned as she put out a claw and fiddled with the lock for a few moments. With a happy pop it opened and she had access to the contents. If her mother had really wanted to protect the stuff she would have hid it like she did with all that weird tea stuff she had.

The chest was flipped open to reveal a series of stuffed things that looked like people.

Her ears perked as she picked up one of the things in her mouth. She set it on the non carpeted part of the floor to inspect it closely.
It looked a lot like Queen Serafino. It even had a little crown and stuff. Her ear twitched as she looked back into the chest. That one looked like Papa Pravus, that one looked like Mommy, that one looked like Mister Bernard. There was just about everyone in the palace in the big chest. She could even recognize some of the servants. They were all hand puppets too.

Mom had weird hobbies.

"What's this?" Xiven said as she noticed a mark in the lining of the chest. She pawed at it for a couple of minutes before pulling away the fabric.

She tilted her head to one side. There was a picture of a human. At first she thought it was Mom, but it was definately someone else. Someone who was male and didn't wear a straight jacket but had hair like Mom's.

It was weird. Why would she keep that behind the fabric of a chest. Then again it was her mother. She did all sorts of weird things.

But who was the man in the picture? The girl's ears drooped as she stared at the picture. It really did look like Mom, but if she had any relatives she was pretty sure that Mommy would have at least said something. She squinted at the image. It wasn't a photograph, it was definitely drawn, which did explain the bright colors. But it looked so terribly real.

Her thoughts were interrupted when her mother walked through the door.

"Hi mom!" Xiven said with a squeak as she scrambled to slam the chest shut.

Her mothers food made contact with the edge of the chest, preventing the lid from slamming shut. She raised an eyebrow as she flipped it back open. She noticed that the lining was missing....

"Xiven." Peaches said, her voice was almost a dangerous growl."What did you do?"

"Nothing," she said with a small whimper. Her tail tucked between her legs and her ears pinned against her skull. Angry Mommy was terrifying.

"How many times do I have to tell you NOT to go through my things without my permission. Not to mention that you ruined the lining, and... you better not have touched that picture." She hissed.

"I didn't. I swear."

She glared at the girl before readjusting the lining and shutting the trunk. She sat on it and pointed to the bed. "You sit over there."

Xiven did what her mother said. She struggled for a moment to hop on the bed, but managed somehow. She turned around to look at her mother, a rather embarrassed look on her face.

"So I imagine you're wondering about that picture."

Xiven nodded sheepishly.

"That's my brother."

Xiven blinked. "I have an uncle?"

"Had."

"Oh...."

"Don't say sorry either." Peaches said as she crossed her legs to look at the girl. "Let me explain to you. My brother, Basil, was a very bright boy. When it came down to it, however, he went into the Wood and pissed off the wrong person. He murder my brother in cold blood and threatened my life. If I ever see him again I hope to kill him, but I highly doubt I could ever be strong enough physically or mentally to over come that hurdle." She sighed and shook her head before getting up. She sat down next to her daughter and kissed her on the forehead. Xiven wasn't fond of her mother licking her, so Peaches had actually caved and got into the habit of kissing.

Xiven looked up at her mother, a worried expression painted on her young face. "But Mom... I think you'd be strong enough to defeat him."

"Sweetie. Half the palace could snap my neck. I don't think someone as terrifying as the man in my pass could be easily defeated." She picked up the girl and put her on her lap.
She didn't protest, she just continued to look up at her mother. "So one day, if I get stronger can you tell me the whole story so I can defeat him."

Peaches patted her daughter on the head. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt. But one day, if you really want, I can tell you the story. Just promise me you won't tell another living person about my brother."

"Okay Mommy, I promise!" Xiven said as she rolled onto her back to stare at her mother properly. "Can I tell you a story while you comb my fur?"

Peaches smiled. "Sounds like a plan."
She really hoped that Xiven would forget about this conversation. It would only bring trouble in the future if she remembered.

---

Trouble Maker
+A boy becomes less than a man

He was in a bar. This wasn't entirely new for him since he had left the "protection" of Tabby's family. He had suffered quite a bit with his departure. Somehow he had manged to make it down alive. Some random stranger had been kind enough to reset all of his broken bones and nurse him back to health. Then he was kicked out on his ass. Still he found himself in the Range.

So he had to make a living by stealing. It wasn't that difficult when you could change your general appearance, but it wasn't his ideal. People thought he was odd, so they stayed away. Today he had manged to make his way to a small village pass. Plenty of strangers roamed the streets. With the bit of money he had made today by picking pockets, he wandered into the bar.

A drink would have been wonderful.

The boy sat down at a table by himself. He watched the people pass by. There was a legal drinking age here, but in this part of town people didn't care as much, but he didn't want to make his move in front of the wrong people.

His thoughts were interrupted by a woman. A heavily built woman who was a cross between a feline of some sort and a bird. She had walked over to his table, pulled out a chair and sat down without a word. She set her ale down and gave the boy a smirk. "What's a littl' kid like ya doing here?"

Conway raised an eyebrow. If he spoke in a room full of people he might be screwed over completely. Instead he made a motion to his throat and made a few hand signs. He figured she wouldn't understand. Not many people knew sign language.

"Oi, so ya can't talk. Pity. Ya're a cute one." She said as she took another sip of her drink. It was strange watching some a burly woman take delicate and flowery sips.

"What are you doing to that poor boy?" said a voice. It had a certain uppity quality to it. Conway searched for the source and saw a Jack of Spades. He was a strange combination of a bird and a snake. He had a smooth scaly body of purple with words of pink and blue. His cold blue eyes didn't seem to match, along with the feathery wings and the feathers along his tail.

The bird-feline mix didn't seem as elegant. Her brown spotted fur was a wonderful sight to see, mixed with the scales and bright blue claws. Her hair was a mess and didn't seem to make it to the status of "mohawk" like a few of the others of the region that Conway had seen. Her eyes were terrifying... but that was another story entirely.

"Nothin' much. Just asking him what he was doin' in this hell hole."
The snake mix narrowed his eyes. "Sibylle, I'm sure he doesn't appreciate being bothered by you. Anyway, we have business to talk about."

"Eh. It's not like we're killin' anyone, so we can talk about it in front of him. He can't talk anyways, Leith."

This was stupid. Conway decided to tempt fate. He hadn't been in a good mood to begin with. He had wanted to curl up in a ball and die since the moment he had met Tabby to this very moment. All he wanted to do was see his sister again. He didn't want to listen to someone's drama.

"Go away you dirty whore," Conway said. Only she could hear it, of course.

The woman's ears flicked. She turned to look at the boy with narrowed eyes. "Did you just say something?"

"Siby. You're drunk. He didn't say a word."

"Yes I did. I said you should go away you dirty whore." Conway said again. The man gave a confused look when "Siby" began to growl. Conway smirked. "What? Are you just going to sit there you stupid cunt, or are you going to leave?"

Apparently that was the breaking point.

Before Conway could react the table in front of him had disappeared. He had no time to react as the woman slashed her claws across his neck. He had manage to move away just enough that only her longest claw nicked him.

The nick was deep. He slapped his hand across his throat, holding on tightly to try and stop the bleeding. He had somehow managed to get on to his feet and back up to the wall. The woman was still approaching him as the blood dripped on the floor.

So he was finally going to die?
A wicked grin crept its way onto his face as he slid down the wall. He gurgled a bit of blood, starting to cough. He watched as people tried to hold the raging woman back. Broken jaws, broken chairs, broken tables. Blood.

He laughed.

Then everything was dark.

***

Conway felt something warm on his face. It was soft, and something he hadn't felt in a long while. Fur? His eyes opened, expecting to see someone else entirely. Instead the image of a small mouse greeted him. She was much younger than him, and yet she was cradling his head with a smile on her face.

Was he dead?

He opened his mouth to speak, and found himself coughing. The girl frowned and brushed the hair out of his eyes.

Conway didn't try to move when he heard sounds that were outside of his vision. The light padding on the floor was all he could really here. "He's awake then?" said a small masculine voice. "I'll get mother. You stay here, Natsuki."

The padding faded out of the room. A door slid open and shut. Conway continued to stare at the girl looking down at him. She didn't say a word. It was strange. Most people he had met had words of wisdom or worry. They mentioned what had happened to him. She just stared at him.

At least he wasn't dead, he supposed. He might as well be. He missed his sister. He hadn't seen her in such a long time.
Tears. He could feel them welling up and dripping down his face.
Had he been hoping to meet his mother when he woke up? That was stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Why would he meet his mother? He was a sinner. A bad person. He could have never gone to the same place as his mother. Monsters weren't allowed. He needed to be punished, and this was just another way of denying something that he wanted.

He sat up, struggling by himself. The girl remained silent. And watched him. He didn't like it. What if they found out about him too. He stood up and straightened his clothing. His neck hurt like hell. The pain was mind numbing. How had he managed to make it out alive? Had this really happened?

His heart was pounding. He was in a flurry of anger and confusion. It had happened once when he was little. He had broken things when it happened. He could remember his mother scolding him for doing something so stupid.

His mother. Conway reached up to feel his neck. Why hadn't that woman killed him?

He brushed his fingers through his hair. An old panic was welling up inside of him. He needed to do something to fix this, but there was nothing here for him to do. He made an awkward sound. Something that was a cross between a whimper and a growl.
He moved towards the door.

"You shouldn't leave. You're still injured," said a quiet voice.
Conway's heart skipped a beat. That voice was almost like June's. He turned to look at the girl. What was her name? Natsuki? Had that really come from her?

The door behind her opened. An older woman appeared, another mouse from the Mid-Range. She was older and more motherly looking than the young girl with soft blue eyes. She walked over to Conway, barely the same height as he was, and didn't hesitate to invade his personal space.

"You got in a rather nasty fight." The woman said. It wasn't the same voice as before so... the girl really had spoken. "If my husband hadn't been passing by that bar you would have died. He took you too a medic back at the crossroads. Somehow you slept all the way through the trip back."

Conway tried to edge away, but the woman grabbed him by the ear. She led him to a seat next to the young girl in the room. So. He was being manhandled by a midget mouse. This day couldn't get any weirder.

Then a man walked into the room, with a small mouse besides him. This man was something that Conway had never had the pleasure of seeing before. His eyes widened as he seemed to shrink. The man was a alligator or some other monstrous lizard with sharp pointy teeth.

He gave Conway a look, but focused his attention on his wife. "Is he going to be a problem?"

She continued to look him over while he was sitting. "No, sir. He just needs a bit more rest before we send him on his way."

"Very well then. I need to practice with Ichigo. Have dinner ready by five." With that he left. The small male mouse trailing after him.
The older woman sighed. "I apologize for my husband. He's not the one for small talk. We'll send you on your way once your neck has healed. Until then it would be advised that you mind your manners around the master of this house. Natsuki will take care of you."

The woman bowed before she left.

This was a strange place. Conway furrowed his brow as he looked at the mouse sitting besides him. He hadn't seen many bipeds with clothing like hers. It was almost like a dress but... different?
She blushed a bit under his gaze. He turned away as soon as he noticed. He would have said sorry, but he wasn't going to push talking when his neck hurt so much.

"I... It's nice to meet you." She said quietly to Conway's back. "I never met anyone from outside the Mid-Range... and you're very strange."

Conway turned to look at her. She was staring down at her lap. Her hands folded on them. She really did remind him of his sister.
"Your bracelet is very peculiar."

Conway looked down at his bracelet. He had never thought anything of it. He had had it for as long as he could remember. It had always been attached to his spine—however inconvenient that was. Why did people find it strange? People didn't make much sense. Saving him and sending him off.

They were only saving a monster.

***

Everything had been going smoothly. Conway was healing nicely and was almost ready to be sent on his way.
Natsuki had been happier than ever. Her brother had even commented to Conway that he must have been a godsend. It was funny to have people praise him for doing nothing. They didn't even know his name, but Natsuki seemed to enjoy his company.
Conway found himself in the kitchen. He looked down at the knife in his hand.

He didn't deserve to live. He didn't deserve to be praised. He had hurt so many people just by existing. Worst of all he head hurt the people who had mattered. His mother. His sister. The people he truly cared about.

He placed the tip of the knife below where he had been attacked. She had missed, only barely. Of course, now that he was at point blank range, there was no way he could avoid this. He pressed the tip of the knife into his skin.

In a slicing motion he pulled the knife across his neck.
But it didn't go as planned.

He fell to his knees, blood spilling out of his neck. He heard foot steps come up next to him. A scream. Someone had pressed their hand against the wound. He protested but found that he couldn't.

Why wouldn't they just let him die?

June. He heard June's voice?

Darkness.

***

He hard a melody. It was a song he had never heard before, in a language he was completely unfamiliar with. But it still sounded soft and kind.

His eyes fluttered open to see the young mouse in a brightly colored kimono. It was her again.

"She saved your life, you know," said a male voice. Conway tried to turn his head, but he didn't get very far when Natsuki scolded him. Ichigo, her brother, came into view so Conway didn't have to move. "My sister is terribly fond of you, you know. You're the only one who she could consider a friend. Hell. She screamed for you, and Natsuki never raises her voice."

'Friend?' Conway mouthed.

"Friend," Ichigo repeated. "And friends don't say goodbye so harshly. What were you thinking?"

Conway was a little more than confused. The mouse wasn't making any sense. He couldn't be a friend to anyone. He was just something that people ended up owning. He was just a monster that didn't deserve to live. And now he was being called a friend by someone like her? It didn't make any sense. Not at all.

Tears were welling up in the corner of Conway's eyes.

And then there was a light kiss on his forehead, a whisper in his ear. "We'll never say good-bye, okay?"

Conway mouthed, 'Okay.'

It was nice to see a smile on her face.

And she would never know his name.

---

The monster continues. So this is the point in my Nano when I was spazzing pretty hard to find words.

Three chapters this time. The first is about Theo. Wulfram guest stars, as does Asha and Calia. Mentions of the rest of his family, of course. And no, I have no effing clue who Theo's birds are.

The next chapter is about Conway and Abby dearest. Abby would rape any white guy she had the pleasure of seeing. And yes, Conway managed to dodge the rape bullet by being a utter pansy. Note: I got tired of Abby's accent half way through the chapter and said screw it at three am.

And Xiven. The start of her self esteem issues. <3 Poor Esterberry gets what's coming to her years later.

Next title chapter is "My Darling Sister."

---

Best Laid Plans
+A man's mistakes

Ever since he had become a Queen, he had developed a rather strange power. Theofilus had always been interested in the occult. It was a fascinating sort of thing. Being able to tell the future from cards, or being able to tell the future by looking at the swirls in a crystal ball. It defied the logic that Theofilus had held so dear. But he still enjoyed it.

So when he discovered his Queen power, he was more than happy to use it to the best of his ability. He could see in the present and in the future, but coming up with a coherently pieced together answer was more difficult than he thought. But then again, how could he refuse.

And then things started happening at the palace. Something that he hadn't anticipated.

So he challenged the Queen. Or rather, he went to speak with her and ended up being challenged. His best laid plans had gone straight to hell. At the very least he was able to plan ahead "just in case."

He had sent Kelasia on a bit of an errand. He had told his sons to stay away from the palace for a while. He had told Ceren to visit her mother on his behalf. He didn't know if he would walk out of this alive—and he didn't want his family to see his utter defeat. He didn't want to see them suffer while he suffered himself.

Somehow he had made it out victorious and alive.

He had been blind for quite sometime after the fight. So he hadn't been able to see the man with a strange accent and sense of humor who had helped him.It wasn't until a day or two afterwards did he meet anyone. The doctor was pretty uptight about just about everything.

Kelasia was the first to visit, and the first to scold him in her own way. Then came various members of his family. The boys congratulating him, Ceren scoffing at him, and Mori hugging him (which was painful because of his broken sternum), and last came Calia and Asha.

It was awkward. The looks, the tears she was trying to hide. At least Asha was happy, and would stay happy. Now he wouldn't have to worry about someone taking her away and using her as a fur coat.

"Theofilus..." Calia said while holding Asha in her arms. "Are you going to be all right?"

"But Mama! Papa is fine! Daddy said so, and it didn't feel like anything was wrong."

Theofilus grinned. "She's right. I'm just fine. I just lost an eye and have a broken sternum." And a bruised manhood. But that was something he would keep to himself. "It only hurts to breath, so I should be just fine."

And there it was. The look that Calia gave him when she knew there was more to it. Of course there was more to it than a simple "I'll be fine." To win the Queenship he had killed someone. Of course, it wasn't the killing part that bothered him. It was a particular spell that he had used.

He really shouldn't have used it. He knew that it was nothing but trouble.

"The doctor says that he can stop babying me tomorrow or so. We'll have a nice big family dinner, if that's all right with you two?"

"Yay!" Asha said cheerfully as Calia nodded.

He smiled as he watched the leave. He carefully picked himself up from the chair, still slightly sore from the power kick. Taking a deep breath just made things worse. His sternum would bother him quite a bit after this, he was sure of it.

The doctor walked in while Theofilus was making his way out of the room. His eyes narrowed at the Queen who gave him a rather goofy smile in return.

"I still need to give you a checkup," The doctor said while crossing his arms.

"But you've given me nine checkups in the past two days. I just want to go back to my room." Theofilus said in exasperation.
"I don't want you dropping dead because I missed something and you have internal hemoraging or some nonsense. Please just sit down on the examining table."

Theofilus rolled his eyes. This was utterly ridiculous.
"Your Majesty Zeofilus, ist nice to see you doing vell," said a very familiar voice with a funny accent. Theofilus turned his head to see the door properly. This one eye thing was going to be a horrible pain. The eye patch was bad enough but his lack of depth perception made things next to impossible so far. He couldn't imagine flying again. However he did see the man who was speaking when he turned his head the right way. He was very much a Tulgey human framed by the light behind the doorway.
Well now. That was fascinating.

He also had an armband with the diamond insignia on it. Theofilus raised an eyebrow. Normal elitists wore those bands, and Theofilus had made sure of knowing about the ones who lived in the palace. Obviously he was either brand new, or didn't work in the palace.
"It's nice to meet you again. Um...I'm afraid I didn't quite catch your name after the battle. I was rather out of it." Theofilus smiled and completely ignored the scowling doctor in his peripheral vision.

"Vulfram, Your Majesty," he said with a sight bow.

Theofilus smiled. This was his way out. "If you don't mind Doctor, I'll be taking my leave. I have some business to attend to with Mr. Wulfram."

The Doctor made a huffing sound. "Your Majesty, this doesn't mean you won't get another check up."

"Understandable," Theofilus said with a smile and a tip of hat before he made his way to the door. He had to use his cane to guess where the edge of the door actually was. That bitch.
Once they were outside of the room and heading to some place less sterile, Theofilus started the conversation back up. "I've never seen you around the palace before. Are you staying with a friend."
"You could say zat. I vas wonderink about a spell..."

Damnit. Of course people would wonder about that spell. "It's not really something to explain. It was just something I came across in one of my books. It's not something that can be used on a regular basis."

"Oh?"

Dig a hole, Theo, dig a hole and sleep in it.

"It's just an old spell. I wouldn't recommend learning it. It comes with some rather nasty side effects." Theofilus said with a wave of his cane. "I only used it because I was desperate."

Before the man could say anything Theofilus stopped in his tracks. His eye widened briefly at the image of a rather fluffy looking Lakelander in the distance. "I will meet you at my office, if you don't mind." Theofilus gave a respectful nod to the Tulgey before making his way towards the cat. "What are you doing here?"

The woman, who had been speaking with a young man, looked over to Theofilus with a goofy grin. "Congratulations!"

And with that she hugged the poor sparrow while he was still in his human form. He whimpered in pain as the woman briefly picked him up. Theofilus was thankful that he wasn't spun around like they were children. "You didn't answer my question." Was the first thing Theofilus said when he was set down.

She waved a hand nonchalantly, "Your Majesty, how couldn't I come to congratulate you myself. I never thought you had the balls to do something this amazing!"

"I remember why I left." Theofilus said with narrowed eyes.
"Pish Posh," She said with a small smile. "You may be the Queen, but we're still friends. Even the boy I was speaking to scurried off." The woman shifted the purse that was wrapped around her. Opening the bag she presented Theofilus with a small package. "That's why I came, actually. You winning was just a bonus."

And she left without another word. Theofilus was left standing in the middle of a hallway alone.

Then he realized that his office space had probably changed. That's fantastic.

***

After a nice interesting chat with Wulfram, Theofilus was left to his own devices. Not really, because someone had been kind enough to slam the paperwork on his desk that needed to be done. No rest for the weary.

But for once in his life he avoid paperwork. He pulled out the package that Clari had delivered. Unwrapping it, he discovered that it was a small blank book. He raised an eyebrow at the note that was attached to it.

"For your thoughts. Love, Clari." Theofilus read allowed as he tapped his fingers on the hard cover. Why on earth would she give him a journal? He sighed and flipped open to the first page.
Maybe he should actually use it?

He tapped the pen in an inkwell, and made a motion to write. He paused, however, because of his lack of depth perception. This was going to be a bit more difficult that he originally anticipated. He had to start somewhere, though.

It took a while to get everything neatly on a page. He started simple, addressing that he was Theofilus and had managed to win a fight for the tittle of Queen. And then he was at a loss. What was a journal really for.

Maybe he should write about the spell....

He shouldn't have used it. But without it he probably would have died. No, there really wasn't a "probably." He would have been murdered. His family would have been more than disappointed. He did something reckless, but it was the only thing he could do.
And the birds would never leave. Not until the day he died. And that was if he was lucky. He snorted at the thought. Why should he be paranoid about something like that? He didn't believe in all of the superstitious things that had come from his region, or any other region. Why should he worry about dying a horrible death from a spell. Even if that book had warned him, it was only words on a page.

Nothing would go wrong. But he found himself writing down his doubts. He found himself writing everything. Not only about the birds, but about the visions he had when he used his scrying powers, his family life, all the stupid mistakes he had made when he was younger, Rogers, and just about everyone who had come and gone in his life.

Was he less of a person for speaking the truth on the page?

***

It was only a dream. He knew that. And yet he still found himself shivering in this dark and deary place. It was all his imagination. He was in his human form. He felt so frail and vulnerable in this form. It didn't help that in this dreamscape he was in the middle of nowhere.

And everything looked terribly familial. It was just like being home again.

"Home." The place where he had grown up. The place where his father and mother lived, but he had left when he was sixteen. They hadn't acknowledge his brother, so he had left. Of course, that didn't mean his father and grandfather still didn't bother him. But the scene before him wasn't happy.

It was the lake where his brother had died. The same lake where his brother drowned.

He bit his lip to the point where he was bleeding. It hurt. He felt it. Wincing he looked at the lake, tears welling up in his eyes.... eye. Apparently even in a dream he was missing what he lost. A sigh escaped his bloodied mouth as he looked around, making sure his eye patch was over his eye.

"You're an awful man," said a voice. The voice was familiar, raspy, and broken. His nails dug into his palms as he looked around for the source of the voice. He couldn't see anyone.

"Who are you?"

There was a sound, a hissing. He shifted uncomfortably. And suddenly he felt something grab him from behind, forcing him into an awkward position. Claws were pressed right across his neck. He could feel another set of claws around his stomach. This wasn't something he was thrilled about. The sparrow would have swore if breathing didn't hurt as much as it did.

"You know the answer to that, Theo," whispered the raspy voice.
He really didn't. How could he know who this monster was? "I don't."

The claws dug into his skin, drawing blood. He choked. "Oh darling Theofilus, I'm just a figment of your imagination, I suppose." There was a raspy chuckle that came from the creature.

Theofilus caught sight of whatever it was from the corner of his eye. It was a bird... with teeth for the beak and.... His heart almost stopped.

The creature's tongue trailed from the tip of his chin to his cheek. The disgusting feeling of spit soaked spin made him shudder, causing the claws to dig deeper into his neck. He was feeling dizzy, this wasn't real. It absolutely wasn't real.

"It's all your fault," was the last whisper that Theofilus heard before he shot straight up in his bed.

That was a dream unlike any other. He had been plagued with various nightmares of whispers throughout the years. The birds were monsters that tempted him on numerous occasions. That was entirely new. He slipped back onto his bed. Alone.

"I never should have used that spell. I should have come up with a better alternative."

That journal. He slipped out of bed and started to look for the journal. He wrote in it whenever he made predictions, so why not write in it now? This dream was something he didn't want to forget....

Hopefully he would never have the dream again.

---

Love, Hate, Live
+the boy with bad luck

He swore.

He had no idea where he was. No one could help him, no one could here him. He was utterly alone in a backwater place. He had no idea what he was doing or where he was going. He couldn't even remember how he got here.

Conway was at a loss.

"Please don't!" he heard a voice shriek. It was high pitched and squeaky, something that wouldn't like to deal with on a regular basis. However, it was someone. The boy squished through the wetlands, trying to find the source of the shrieking.

"Your kin' ain't welcom' he'e," said a cheery voice. It was deeper than the other voice, but still high pitched and female. Conway wasn't sure if he wanted to deal with someone with an accent.

"Please!" The squeaky voice pleaded. The young man finally found the figures that were speaking. The girl who was begging for her life was a Lowlander. A mouse of an unusual tiny build with bowed legs was on the ground. She was missing an arm and an eye, her ears were tattered to shreds. Standing above her was a large yet terribly skinny looking canine. She looked as if she were part wolf, but her ears were strangely tattered or furred, Conway couldn't tell. But her hands, for whatever reason, had webs between her clawed fingers.

The dog gave a swift kick to the mouse's shins.

The Lowlander squealed in pain.

Conway remained silent as he watched the display. The mouse got a rather nasty beating, before the canine got bored. "Mayba, I shoul' jus' slice your throat?" she asked the mouse, grabbing her by one of the large ears.

The mouse didn't even wiggle in her grasp.

But the canine didn't finish her thoughts to slice open the Lowlander's neck. She dropped the mouse when her eyes caught something. That something being the faint outline of Conway.
She growled, ears pulling back.

Conway rolled his eyes, but he could careless. He stepped out of the brush, leaning on one of the oddly shaped trees. He wasn't afraid to die. Not in this place where there was no one around.
The girl perked. Her ears going straight up, she dropped her guard completely. On closer inspection she was probably around the same age as Conway. Perhaps a year or two older, but she was much younger than most of the people Conway had met. Conway watched as her tail started wagging.

"You're pretty!" she said suddenly. The Lowlander was completely forgotten as the bipedal canine bounced forward. She had a smile on her face—one that was absolutely terrifying for someone with so many needle sharp teeth. Conway raised an eyebrow at the girl who was suddenly in his face.

"Thank you?" Conway said as he tried to edge away.
She suddenly grabbed his hands, and rubbed them on her face. As horrified out as Conway was he couldn't react properly, he was just too stunned.

"I've ne'er seen a humin befor'!"

"Oh." Conway said as he tried to take his hands away from the girl. She let them go, but then she reached up to pinch his cheeks.
Okay. This was weird, and probably topped just about everything.

"You reall' are amazing, ain't you? Are all humins as pretty as you? OH! You have scars!" She said as she stopped pinching his cheek to trace a finger of his scars she had noticed. They were still pink and obviously "new" to some degree, but it still kept her interested. She clapped her hands together. "So ya've been in fights? Thas's awe'ome! I'm Abby! Who'ra you?"

"Conway...." He said staring at the girl.

"Whass that mean?" She said with wide eyes and ears perked.

"Holy water." His mother had made a point of telling him that when he was little. He had never really forgotten. It had always seemed like a strange name choice for him. But who was he to question his mother's tastes in names.

"Holy wa'er?" The girl repeated as a question of curiosity. She shrugged it off in favor of another question. "What do humans look like when they're naked?"

"Different," was what Conway said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Canna see?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why not?" she said in a whiny puppy voice. As adorable as it was, Conway wasn't about to strip. She suddenly tugged his arm, pulling him into her. He found his face in a very uncomfortable place between both her breasts. Immediately he pulled back only to find that he really couldn't.

Damnit. A girl shouldn't be able to over power him so easily.
"I'm gonna take ya home, kay? Ya can spend the night or how'ver long ya want! It'll be great!"

"Yeah. Sure. Great." Conway said muffled from her chest.

***

She lived alone. It was a large house. It was something just as big as the house Tabitha's parents had owned in the Range. Apparently Abby's mother had died when she was young, and her father had left one day when she had turned twelve. Conway had found out her entire life story without honestly trying.
She showed him around the house. It was rather well kept for one person. Abby had apparently learned to take care of herself without help from anyone else. Apparently she hunted and even made her own blankets and sheets. It was a cozy little getaway in the middle of nowhere.

And Conway didn't feel safe.

She had left him alone in the dining room. She said she was going to go and cook something for them. She was being nice simply because he was "pretty" and happened to be company that would sooth her boredom. He didn't want to think about what she would do when she got bored with him.

He stared at the decorations in the wallpaper. It was a pretty fancy house... boring at that. He sighed as he set his head down on the table.

Abby scurried back into the room. She was carrying a set of plates with a variety of breakfast food on them. She set a place for the pair of them, and sat down across the table from Conway. He looked up at her curiously and then back to the food. He poked at it for a minute before he decided that it was safe.

It was a good meal, though it was awkward with Abby staring at him the entire time. He wasn't sure how to react. It was strange seeing someone eat while they were watching you like a hawk. Part of him wanted to make conversation, but the more sensible part of him demanded he remain silent.

Silence was golden, after all.

He finished the meal long before Abby did, and continued to inspect the wallpaper.

"You reall' are strange," Abby said suddenly. She placed her fork down on the plate as she looked at the Conway. "I've never met anyone with black eyes. And wass your region? I can't reall' tell. Humans reall' are strange."

Conway shrugged, "I'm from Hisstor."

"Oh? Isnit that the realm with all tha bones fetish things?"

"It's not a fetish," Conway said flatly as he raised his arm. He slipped off the bracelet so she could see it properly. "This bone bracelet is attached to my spine by a mucsle strand. It's a mutation."

She titled her head. "Wow. That mus' be a bitch sometymes."
It was the truth but Conway wasn't going to say it out loud.
"You don talk much. Is there a reason for that? And why don't you have a shadow?" She continued to throw questions out, one right after another. Conway wasn't sure what to do with himself. He answered some of them to the best of his ability, while others he shrugged off and hoped that she would forget.

This lasted for quite sometime. Finally the barrage of questioning stopped when Abby started yawning. She politely rose and showed Conway to the guest bedroom. With a simple goodnight she left.
Conway was skeptical that this was going to be an easy and simple night.

***

In the dead of the night Conway suddenly found his legs in an entirely awkward position. He flailed for a few moments before kicking at whatever was holding him. He sat up, squinting in the dark he saw the form of Abby. Apparently she was trying to take off his pants.

Lovely.

"Go away," he growled, "I don't want to sew the buttons back on my pants."

She whimpered. "But I want to see what a human looks like when their naked!"

"Well find someone else! Now let me sleep."

"Awwww, but come on!"

"No!" Conway yelped when she suddenly grabbed his arms. She tried her hardest to pin him down, and found that Conway was a slippery one. He rolled off the bed and out of her grasp. He reached for his coat, and grabbed the contents of his pocket. The switch blade flicked out, and glinted in the dim light.

Abby's ears went back, her teeth were bared at the boy.
Conway watched as she slowly rose, keeping her eyes on the blade. She was more prepared for this fight than he was. She also had more advantages. The boy swallowed hard. At least he could change his rank to suit the situation.

She lunged forward.

Conway hopped to the side, as fast as he could move he shifted to swing the knife.

It slashed her ear, cutting the tip clean off. She yelped and hopped backwards. With a furious expression she kept her eyes on the knife clutching her ear in desperation. She snapped her jaw once before lunging again.

Conway narrowly escaped the jaws. In teeth had managed to tear the sleeve off of his shirt completely. He now found himself pressed against the wall as Abby tried to attack his abdomen. He brought the knife down, implanting it in the canine's arm as the tip of her teeth made contact with Conway's abdomen.

And they hovered there for a moment before she whipped her head back and howled. She fell to the floor, clutching the knife that was in her arm. Conway watched as she debated pulling it out.
Wait, why was he watching? He had to get out of here! Leaping forward he grabbed his coat and went to the door. He struggled with the lock for a few moments before falling out of the room and running as fast as possible to the front door.

He didn't make it that far, however. He cursed himself for not using the Spade ability as he felt himself collide with the floor.Struggling as much as he could he tried to get up, but Abby weight quite a bit despite her size.

And then she nipped his ear. It wasn't in a violent sort of way either. It was a nip to the ear that barely drew blood.

He could feel Abby's tail wag as she pressed his head against the floor. Leaning forward she whispered in his ear, "That was a fun game. We should play that again sometime."

Conway made a sound akin to a whimper. She thought that was nothing but a game?

"Hey, how about we play another game?" Abby asked as she wiggled on top of him. "I want you to take my virginity!"
And in a brilliant display of emotions, Conway passed out.

***

He woke up in the dim light of morning. He was, thankfully, clothed and in one piece. However, he did wake up to the shock of Abby sleeping in the same bed as him. Promptly removing himself from the bed he looked around for his coat and cravat. He had to get out of here as soon as possible.

Abby rolled over in the bed still asleep.

Conway really hoped that he hadn't done anything...weird with her. He never really had sex before—he had just seen it on numerous occasions. He absolutely didn't want to lose his virginity to someone that off the wall. Hell. He would rather lose his virginity to a hooker.

He held his bracelet as he hurried over to where his belongs had been perched. Apparently Abby had even cleaned his knife off and bandaged her wound. He shrugged it off and slipped the knife into one of his pockets. He hurried down the stairs, moving as silently as he always did.

He had to find his way out of this place. How, he had no idea, but he was had to do it alone. If he had wandered his way into the place he could wander his way out—hopefully in one piece.

"Conway, where are you going?"

Conway cursed, but Abby couldn't hear it. He turned around, his hand on the front door's knob. He had been so terribly close to escaping.

But Abby was at the top of the staircase smiling down at him. She quickly hurried down. "If you wanted to leave, you should have just said something."

He blinked, confusion obvious on his face.

"What? Don gimme tha look!" She gave him a wink and lightly punched his arm. "One day your gonna take my virginity, so I outta be nice."

Conway rolled his eyes. In her wildest wet dreams he would.

At least he was getting a ticket out of this hell hole. Not like it would be all that great, he had to go through the Lowlands before he found some place that didn't suck so terribly.

Maybe he would go home? That might be nice....

Not like he had a real home.

---

Feeling Small
+ The troubled girl loses a battle.

Sometimes, Xiven was convinced, her teachers spoke in Greek or some other mysterious language. She couldn't understand what the hell they were saying half the time. She pawed at the book in front of her as her tutor rattled off conjectures and theories that had to do with something in her book.

She understood when he explained it to her, not when he read from the book the way he did. Her ears pinned back as she listend to him recite what the book said. Really. It didn't make any sense to her.

The girl sitting next to her seemed to understand everything. She was only a two of hearts, but she was an Esterberry and the daughter of the tutor. Xiven frowned when the tutor stopped reading to give her one of his looks.

"No, I didn't understand a word. You could just explain it to me without using the book and I would get it." Xiven said flatly.

"Miss Xiven, that's not how we learn things."

"Yeah, I know. You read from the book, then you explain things. It would be easier if you just skipped all the filler."

"Grammar, Miss Xiven, Grammar."

She rolled her eyes.

"Christianne, would you like to recite what I just said from the textbook?"

"Of course, sir," said the manned wolf cheerfully as she cleared her throat. She recited the book perfectly, from the first to last lines without a single moment of hesitation. Xiven stared with a disappointed look on her face. How was she ever supposed to do that?

The manned wolf Esterberry gave her a smirk, the light reflecting from her glasses blocked out her eyes. It was a look of utter victory.

***

"There's no way she's better than me Fluffy! She may be smarter than me but she's not better than me!" Xiven said as she paced around the room, chains jingling the entire way. Xiven wasn't angry often. She was normally carefree and enjoyed running around and causing some level of chaos. Right now, however she was rather annoyed by the haughty Esterberry.

"You know what she said to me after the lesson was over?" Xiven turned to face Fluffy. She was sitting in her basket hanging on every word—if she understood it or not. Either way, Xiven was happy that at least there was one person willing to listen to her. "She said that I was stupid. She flat out told me I was stupid."

Xiven sat where she was with a humph.

Fluffy got up to cuddle with her Mistress. Xiven's ears twitched with frustration as the feline wrapped around her, doing her best to make things better.
It wasn't working.

Xiven wasn't stupid was she? Papa didn't like her because she was a Torquehelm. Her half siblings didn't like her much either. There was Fluffy, Mommy and Eldy. Those were the people she could go to when troubled. Fluffy couldn't understand everything, Mommy just hugged her and said everything would get better, and Eldy just... was herself. That didn't fix the problem. That also didn't answer the question of if she was stupid or not.

Was she stupid for thinking any of this.

She whimpered and nudged Fluffy away. The other cat was confused, but Xiven gave her a reassuring lick on the nose. "I have to go and find Mommy Peaches, just stay here Fluffy."
Fluffy nodded and rubbed up against her before Xiven slipped out of the room. Xiven sighed as she trotted down the hallway, her chains ringing as she walked. Why on earth did she wear these things anyway? Brushing it off she continued to walk down the hallway.

And then she ran into a giant ball of fluff. Falling flat on her but she shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the person sitting in front of her.

"Watch where you're going, idiot!" said the manned wolf.
Xiven puffed up as she stared at the girl in front of her. A two of hearts treating her like trash. "You're the one who needs to watch where they're going!"

"Bite me! You may be a Queen but you're as dumb as a post!" She growled.

Xiven hissed. "When I grow up, I'll be a Queen and you'll be at my feet begging for mercy!"

"Yeah, right, like you're smart enough to get a Title." She snorted and rolled her eyes.

Xiven couldn't puff up anymore, and it was like talking to an insulting brick wall. One day she would be a Queen. One day she would hold power and people would respect her! Standing up she walked past the manned wolf, still puffed up.

Her fur didn't go down for a while. It wasn't until one of the maids pointed out that she looked like a powder puff did her fur go down. She paused in a corner to smooth out her fur. It was stupid. Why was she so angry over what someone said to her? They didn't know anything about her!

Her thoughts and movements were interrupted by her mother.

"What are you doing?"

"Mom. Am I stupid?"

Peaches blinked. "Last time I checked the answer was no, but that has nothing to do with my question."

Xiven didn't say anything else. Instead she stood up and started walking in the opposite direction her mother was. But she knew her mother, she would let it go for now and then bring it up when Xiven least expected it. Mom's were great. Crazy ones not so much.
But her mother had given her an honest answer. Then again she wasn't sure who else she could ask. Not many people in the palace would humor her. Not like she wanted them to. A lot of the people were scary, and she had every intention of avoiding them.

One day she would be the one people avoid. She wouldn't be looked down upon because of her region, her Papa would love her, she wouldn't have to worry about anything.

One day.

[Kari Muffin]

DAH DAH DAH! Three more chapters. <3 Thank you so much for all your comments on the 24 hour comic. X3 that made me glee.

Chapter Eleven is Conway being emo. Chapter Twelve is Theo being emo and having serious doubts that he would NEVER verbalize completely. Chapter Thirteen is my favorite. Peaches is awesome. XD And I enjoy her relationship with Xiven half the time. There is cursing where Peaches is evolved.

Next Chapter is "No Regret" which is an awesome chapter filled with violence.

*procrastinates Christmas cards some more*

*reposts because it did the retarded thing again*

---

My Darling Sister
-She means everything to him

Home. Or rather, the place where his Uncle resided. The only place he could call home, or something remotely to it. His Uncle didn't like him, but that wasn't saying much. He had been bitter since the day his passed away. He had never taken his human form since that day, even when Conway's mother begged him to do it once or twice.

Conway knew that he was lonely. He also knew that June meant the world to the old man. If she would be safe anywhere, it would be with him. Conway reached up and knocked on the door.
It wasn't long before Dhaval Rennick answered the door. He was a Persian cat with a slightly pressed in face. His fur was a pristine white, white dark markings that looked to be a cross of orange and red. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Conway standing in front of him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Where's June?"

Something in his face fell. It was a look that Conway had only seen once before. It was the same look he had so many years ago when his wife had passed away. Conway's heart skipped a beat. No, nothing horrible had happened to June, had it?

Conway's movements were sudden. He grabbed his uncle's wrists, looking up into his eyes. "What happened to June."

He whipped his hands out of Conway's grasp. The man gave him a rather annoyed look before walking into his house. The door was left open, which obviously meant Conway was meant to follow. Obediently Conway followed his Uncle.

His house was as creepy as ever. He was a Doctor. Spiritual. He was good with the more sensitive and untouched things in life. Conway had always wanted to be like him since he was little, but he never had that sort of talent. His Uncle just knew things and had the ability to do things he never could. June had been like him when she was younger... that was until all the horrible things happened.

"The only reason you're here is because of Nadia. Understand?" He said as he walked through the halls.

Conway knew that his Uncle lived for his sister after his wife's death. Mom had always been fond of him. June had been an accident, according to his mother's conversations with Uncle. He shouldn't have over heard what they said during their conversations, but he had been young.

And hearing that he was useless had been burned into his brain. His mother had defended him, she had even told her own brother to stop insulting her "darling baby."

Mom had loved him. And now she was gone.

"Sit down," ordered the feline.

Conway did what he was told, looking around the small dining room. There was no sign of June.

His Uncle sat across form him on the only other chair in the room.
The cat's fingers were laced together, a stoic expression on his face. Silence filled the little room as Conway waited for him to speak. What did the man have to say about his sister?

"I had to put her into a hospital at the capital."

It didn't register at first. Conway shook his head and remained silent for a minute. "Why is she in the hospital? Is she hurt? What happened?" Panic was welling up in his voice.

"Not that sort of hospital Conway. She's in a mental hospital because of your cursed and dirty father. She can't even look at someone who is remotely canine without screaming. She can't function normally in society. She never will be able to unless they help her." The briefly rain his hand through his fur to cover his tears. He had tried so hard, and had failed to protect his niece.

"June... is... no." Conway shook his head, "No! She can't be! She was supposed to be normal. Everything was supposed to go well for her! She was supposed to forget!"

"Shouting never solved anything, Conway. She hasn't forgotten her brother, that's for sure. She hasn't stopped asking to see you."

Conway looked up with wide eyes. She hadn't forgotten him?

"But I have to ask for you not to see her. It would be best if she didn't know that you really existed. You can only bring her pain."
"What?" Conway said flatly. His Uncle was asking him to disassociate himself with the only family he had left. The only person he had been living for. He wanted him to fade from existence.

"It would be better for her and her health."

Conway shook his head. "No. I'm going to see my sister."

"How do you intend to do that when I have the information and you don't? Are you going to run through all of the Capital trying to find your beloved sister? Grief is the only thing that you cause. You shouldn't exist."

Conway slammed his hands down on the table. He stood up and leaned forward, glaring at the man who sat before him with the same expression he always wore. "You heartless bastard! She's the only person who ever loved me and you're telling me to forget about her?"

"It's not all about you, Conway."

"You're right, old man, it's never about me. You have no heart despite the one on your chest. This is all about your need to make me miserable. So what if I'm a freak? I'm part of your family! My name is Conway Rennick! I will always belong to your family if you choose to acknowledge me or not!"

Dead silence leaked into the room. The man's expression changed to one of foreboding, it quickly vanished though. "Rennick. I see. Conway, I suppose your mother was right about you."
Conway stared at his uncle, taking a seat. He wasn't sure what to say or do.

"You're welcome to stay the night. I'll tell you where June is staying and the other information you'll need to know. Just promise me, Conway, that you'll be careful. If you're caught in that place...."
"I promise. I promise!"

"Good. Your mother would kill me if anything bad happened to you."
Conway kept his mouth shut. If his Uncle had known what happened to him, well, he would probably be terrified that his mother would come back from the dead to strangle him.

***

"Kleio, what would you do if he was here?" Dhaval asked the air. He knew the answer to his own question already. She would have treated Conway as if he were her own child. She had loved him dearly when she was still alive. Who couldn't have loved him when he was a baby. He was different now that he was older, but he had always been a monster.

She would have slapped him for that thought. Both Kleio and Nadia would have kicked him down a flight of stairs for calling his own kin such a thing. It was hard to think of Conway as family when he wasn't like everyone else. He didn't have a real rank. He didn't have the real magic. He didn't have the talent.

But he was "just a boy" to Kleio and Nadia.

They were both gone, however, and there was no way that he could take care of the boy.

"He'll be the death of me, Nadia." Dhaval said as he picked up a small container. Flipping over the lid it revealed a vertebrae. It had belonged to his sister, and he had every intention of giving it to June one day. It was just a matter of when.

He sighed as he walked through the house to the kitchen. Maybe if he made breakfast, Conway would wake up without him having to knock on the door.

To the man's surprise Conway was already in the dining room eating a rather well made breakfast.
He looked up from his meal, "I'm sorry. I helped myself."

"It's all right. I'm just surprised that you can cook."

"Of course I picked up a few things while I was on my own. Sign language is a lot harder than cooking." Conway said before taking a swig of milk. "I can make you some breakfast if you want."

He blinked. "If you really want to."

Conway gave him a grin before wolfing down the rest of his meal. He hurried up to fix his Uncle a proper meal.

It was strange. It had been years since someone had cooked for him. He had missed it, and he was surprised that Conway could cook a decent breakfast. Perhaps it had been too long since he had a real cooked breakfast, perhaps?

Once he was finished, Conway cleaned the dishes. He was happy.
His Uncle hadn't seen him that cheerful in years. Maybe he could take care of Conway? But was it too late for such an offer? The man watched as Conway came back into the kitchen, completely finished with stacking the dishes an the like.

Dhaval remained silent for a long while as he looked at Conway. He was a scrawny boy who looked mostly like his mother with the small exception of his nose and the color of his eyes. It didn't take away from the fact that he was staring at his sister. But Conway could only pretend to be normal. He never would be normal.

"I suppose I should tell you where your sister is. You've been waiting for quite sometime, and I wouldn't want to ruin your reunion," The man smiled.

He prayed that Kleio and Nadia would forgive him.

***

He sneaked into the building in the dead of night. Things were a lot easier when your made very little sound. It was difficult finding his sister's room, but after a while he managed to locate it.
He peered inside of the room, to check if his sister was indeed inside. Her faint image was outlined by the faint moonlight filtering through the bars. After a bit of a struggle with the lock, he slipped inside.

His sister's ears twitched, but she didn't move.
"June," he whispered. He didn't need to whisper of course, but it just seemed appropriate.

She shifted, he couldn't see her face, but he gathered that she was looking at him. It was terribly dark and dreary in the room. Why had his Uncle thought a change was good for her?

"Conway?" she said in a faint whisper.

And suddenly she was sitting bolt upright, her eyes bright in the darkness. It was as if she was a completely different person. Best of all, she was happy to see him. She really hadn't forgotten!

"Conway!" she said in a breath as she lept of the bed to run and "hug" him. He got down on his knees so they could properly greet each other."I missed you so much! They kept on telling me you weren't real. But you are! I am absolutely not crazy!" She exclaimed before burying her face in his chest.

Conway let out a sigh of relief as he sunk completely to the floor. Everything was okay. His sister still loved him, and she wasn't going to forget about him. He kissed her on the forehead, pulling away from her for just a bit. "You can tell them I don't exist to make everything easier. But I'll always come back to you. I promise."
June nodded as she leaned on her brother's chest. He was warm, real, and had a heart beat. She had crawled into his bed so many times when they were children she had lost count. Right now she wanted to do the same, but everything was different now.

"I brought you something," Conway said quietly as he pulled away from her.

She looked up at him, her eyes catching in what little light the room had. Conway only paused briefly before he removed the gift from his pocket. Before he had left his Uncle's he had went out of his way to sew something for his sister. It was a little stuffed wolf of an Esterberry he had seen before.

June's face lit up as she looked at the stuffed animal. "Is it really for me?"

Conway nodded. "Of course it is. I made it just for you."

June let out a small squeal as she scooped up the doll. She pranced over to her bed and set it carefully on the edge. "I'll have to think of a proper name for her! Thank you so much brother!"
Conway smiled. June was happy. That's all that mattered. He still had questions though. He frowned at the thought of asking them to her right now, but he didn't know when he would be able to come back. He couldn't stay in the city for long. People might catch on.

"Do you like it in this place?"

June shrugged as she kept her eyes on the doll. "There are a lot of nice people here. The nurses really like me, and some of the people in this place aren't all that sick. I guess it's okay. Not like being back home though. I don't know why Uncle won't let me stay there."

Conway knew why. From what he had said, June couldn't see another wolf without going to a fit of screaming and tears. She was still terrified that their father was going to get her. Suddenly the words flew out of his mouth, he hadn't expected it, but they came out anyway. "You know father can't hurt you anymore, right?"
It was silent for a while. June kept her face on the doll in front of her as she spoke. "He can. And he can hurt you. He can hurt Uncle too."

"He's dead though...."

"I doubt death would stop him from ruining our lives."

"W-what?" Conway shifted so he could stand up and walk to June. However she turned around and padded over to him. An usual expression was on her face as she leaned forward.

"Even in Death, that man we called our Father and destroy everything. I am, and will always be, absolutely terrified of him. It will never go away."

"But June..." Conway could feel the tears making their way down his cheek. His sister still had a stoic look on her face. "But June... if you stay afraid you'll never be able to get away from this place."
June snorted. Suddenly she licked at his tears and flopped onto her rump. She looked like her usual cheerful self, triumphant smile on her face."Yes I will. When I'm eighteen I can leave with you. I'm a legal adult, no one can argue with me if you come to take me out of this place. Then we can go back to Hisstor and be a proper family again!"

Conway blinked. How long had his sister been hoping for this? How long had she been dreaming of a happy family? What would happen if she ever found out that her brother was a monster who would be killed if anyone found out the truth?
He didn't want to know the answer.

---

Crystal Baller
+ A Breaking Point for A Man

Theofilus had saw something in the future. He couldn't be sure of what it was, but it was something that had caused his heart to skip a beat. He sat in his study, staring at the crystal ball tears sliding down his cheeks.

He had written all of his visions in the journal Clari had given him. He had started a new one recently, keeping all of his thoughts amongst the predictions. This one, however, he wasn't sure if he had the strength to write.

It was a while before he noticed the knock on the door. Wiping away the tears he called out, "What is it?"

"Your Majesty? Is everything all right in there?"

"Ceren?" Theofilus said as he pulled the door open. It was indeed his daughter on the other side of the door. He never had seen her with a worried look like that on her face. Suddenly, Theofilus felt worse than he had before. "Please come in."

"I... all right." She said as she walked into the room.

Theofilus sighed as he shut the door quietly behind her. His room was in it's usual pristine order. Not a single thing was out of place, so there was no reason for Ceren to be suspicious of him. But she had a look on her face that mirrored one from her youth. It was the same look he had given her when she had done something irresponsible.

"I didn't do anything," He said bluntly.

"Then why do you look like you're a guilty man?"

"Don't use that tone of voice with me young lady."

"Don't use that tone of voice with me, either. I am a titled noble too. You may be the Queen, but you're still my father. Now, what happened?" She crossed her arms and stared down at her father in her bidpedal form.

Theofilus had half a mind to switch to his bipedal form just so he was taller. Instead he shrugged it off an rolled his eyes. "I saw something that upset me. That's all."

"That's all? Then why are your eyes blood shot? What did you see? What's going on?"

She certainly was his child. "It's nothing that I can change or do something about. It simply is. I think, though, I need to go back to the Capital and talk to your mother and Zane."
Ceren raised an eyebrow. Obviously there was more to this than what her father was letting on.

"Yes, I know you want to know more about it, but I'm not inclined to explain everything until I talk to your mother. I'm sure you understand, even if it is frustrating." He waved a hand dismissively.

"I understand, but while I'm here... were you the one who decided giving sugar to Kaiesha before she went to bed was a good idea?"
Theofilus grinned. "Now why would I do that?"

***

Theofilus cursed as he kicked the door frame in his bipedal form. Whenever he looked into the present it only caused him grief. Nothing more and nothing less. And now Peter was gone, and he had that monster attached to him. Theofilus was powerless. He could try to figure out where Honker was, but it was a long shot.
The Queen of Diamonds had no power to keep his family together. He was yet again helpless. History just enjoyed repeating himself.
The memory of a phrase haunted him. "It's all your fault."

It was, wasn't it? He should have done more to protect Honker. He should have done more to be a proper father. He had failed so many times it was difficult to count. With all this power to protect people, he could barely keep his family in one piece. Maybe he should just give up completely?

No one would care. No one would notice. Well, Iria and his daughter would notice, but everyone else would completely be in oblivion to the fact that Queen Theofilus had stepped down and failed rather miserably at life.

Could he really do that to himself? To his family? Could he afford to fail again?

Did he have the strength to continue trying to change things.
He took a deep breath leaning on the wall. He had to calm down before talking to Calia. If Peter had ever seen him like this, he would have been known as "scary Daddy" forever. Peter. He prayed for his son's safety.

Once he gained his composure, he went to Calia's room.
She was still upset. Of course she was, but she looked up with hope in her eyes. He shifted to his human for to match hers. Silently he went to sit besides her on the bed, wrapping an arm around her. "I'm sorry," were the first words that came out of his mouth. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it."

"It's not you fault, Theofilus." She said as she pulled closer to him.
But it was. He hadn't been able to stop it, had he?

A sharp exhale escaped him as he forced himself not to cry. Fail. That's all he was capable of.

Being emotional wasn't going to help either, was it?

"Calia, I was thinking of doing something, but I'm not sure if it'll work."

She looked up at him with a curious expression. She seemed surprised by the change of subject, but she was willing to listen. At least, that's what Theofilus had gathered from the look on her face.

"What if I started an orphanage? I'm sure there are plenty of homeless children out there with no place to go... but I don't know if it would work at all. Anything I seem to propose or do just seems to fall through."

She kissed him on the cheek. "It's a wonderful idea, and I'll always support you."

Sometimes he wondered if she was just saying that. He gave her a light kiss on the forehead in return. "Thank you."

If he could just help one more person, maybe he could make up for all of his mistakes.

***
The birds had grown more powerful. Theofilus had deliberately learned more magic to make them as such, but he was slowly starting to regret it. He shouldn't have cast the spell in the first place and now he was building on it. There had to be a punishment waiting for him after this, but in all honesty he didn't want to think about it.

He would probably be punished when he was dead, and Theofilus was going to live as long as he possibly could.

However, he didn't realize the extent of which the birds had changed until he summoned them out of sheer curiosity.
It was a little shocking.

"Why are..." he began looking at the pair of them. He knew they could respond now, but they both kept a rather awful smirk on their faces. "What the hell." He sighed, crossing his arms to inspect them.

Huge was an utter understatement. He could probably sit on one without trouble. Though he wasn't entirely sure if he wanted to ride on one. They were still awfully terrifying and ugly to boot. Sitting on smoke didn't sit well with him either.

"No snide remarks?" He asked one of them as he brushed his fingers across the feathers made out of smoke.

Of course they made no sound. The one he had been "petting" simply turned its head to lok at him with a large smirk. Nothing that Theofilus wasn't terribly used to. He rolled his eyes. "Well I suppose this means I can't use you for sending messages to people I hate anymore. You'd probably just give people heart attacks now."

They were bad when they started, now was just a whole new level of bad. Thankfully not many people had seen the birds in action beyond the fight for the title of Queenship. He kept most of his magic under wraps. There were rumors, of course, but not much else. Calia and Kelasia were probably the only two people who knew the full extent of his power because he went out of his way to tell them.

This news, however, he wasn't sure that he could inform them of. It wasn't particular good news that two demonic birds that lived in his head on a regular basis were now ten feet tall monstrosities. How fantastic.

This day just couldn't get any better, could it? He let out a sigh. He might as well do something useful with his birds.
"It's all your fault."

Theofilus's head snapped around. It was a faint whisper, he knew it. They must have said something. His eyes widened as he looked at the creatures. Their expressions remained the same. They only spoke horrible truths. All the sins ever committed by a person were up for grabs.

But what was all his fault? Everything? Myron?

It must have just been his imagination. He shrugged it off as he turned around. It must have been his imagination.
He prayed it was his imagination.

---

Fun Times, Broken Times
-A woman plays with hats

Hatter was an unusual person, but to Peaches he was the perfect stranger. Nothing more and nothing less. She had no intention of finding out the truth about him, and if she did she would probably cry.

But today she had decided that she was going to test one of his powers by sneaking in his house. Then of course, once she was done she would visit him for tea. It would be a rather fun day if everything went as plan. She hummed to herself as she approached the mansion.

Slipping through the window she used her magic. She was a shadow, clinging to the shadows in the ceiling. And there Hatter was, sitting there and fiddling with his things. The man hummed happily as he fiddled with one of his inventions.

And then Marchie slipped into the room. They two held a rather usual conversation that Peaches wasn't completely inclined to listen to.

Until her name was said. Suddenly she found herself ass naked in Hatter's lap.

"We were just talking about you!"

"I gathered." Peaches said with a snort as she licked his cheek. "I should get my clothing."

"Aw but I like it this way."

"That's all well and good but I'm absolutely freezing, so I would generally would appreciate something to wear. A hat won't do it either," She said with a smirk as she pulled his down before hopping off of his lap. She scurried over to one of the windows, slipping out of it briefly.

Sometimes the problem with her power was finding her clothing. Sometimes it was more difficult than she bargained for. Today, however she found her clothing in a neat little pile. She hastily put everything on as quickly as she could.

Her power hadn't gone as planned, but she could at least have some tea and possibly some fun. She nearly squeed as she reentered the room, hurrying to Hatter. "Ta da!" She said happily, a top hat on her head along with a smirk on her face.

Hatter clapped his hands together with a smile on his face. "I think it's time for some tea! I'll go get Marchie!"

***

"Mom, what are you wearing?" Xiven asked as she sat on her bed reading a book required for an assignment. Her mother had come in to check if she was actually doing her work. Heaven forbid she be more responsible than her mother.

Peaches rolled her eyes."Most people call it a top hat."

"I can see that."

"Then don't ask silly questions."

"You know..." Xiven started before shaking her head and sighing. "Nevermind. Why should I even bother to use logic with you?"

"Ow. That hurts. Talking to your own mother like that!" Peaches said placing her hand on her forehead in mocking.

"I'm sorry if it's true."

"You are not. Don't say sorry if you're not sorry, that's worse than not apologizing at all." Peaches said with a wiggle of her finger.

A paw slipped over Xiven's face.

"Don't do that either, it's disrespectful."

"What can I do?"

"You tell me," Peaches said in a sing song voice before leaving the room entirely. She had to do a few things before she could relax with her daughter.

She had gotten a mission that was outside the Court of Hearts, something private. She sighed as she leaned on the door for a moment. She shouldn't be doing missions like this. They were dangerous, and had nearly gotten her killed on numerous occasions. Not to mention she had only developed the use of her magic for her own personal interests.

It was nice spying on people having sex when they couldn't see where you were.

But that was besides the point wasn't it? Peaches sighed as she slipped away from her daughter's door. The job was going to pay her quite a bit. She didn't necessarily need the money, but if Xiven or Eldy ever chose a difficult path and needed a bit of help, she would at least have one way to help out.

She turned into the hallway leading to the garden. She paused, however, in front of the door. "Maybe... I should pester Bernard."
The corners of her mouth pulled up into her characteristic smirk. Well yes, that would be lovely, wouldn't it?

***

"Oh shit," Peaches cursed as she pressed against the building. She knew why she had taken this damn job, but she was regretting it right now. If Jokers were real, she honestly wished she was one right now. That would save her ass rather quickly. She glanced around the alleyway.

The footsteps were getting quicker and closer.

Peaches honestly didn't want to fight. She made a whining sounds as she hurried down the alleyway.

Why had she agreed to deal with people who had sharp pointy knifes and horrible tempers. The only thing worse would have been if they were Lowlanders—but they were pretty damn close.
She skidded to a halt when she came to a dead end.

It was a good thing she hadn't used her ability to walk on any surface recently. Taking it to her advantage she scurried up the wall.

Once she made it to the top of the building she flopped over the edge. Waiting in silence for something. Her breath was heavy as she listened to the footsteps come to a sudden halt. If any of them were Spades she would have been dead already. The question was, were any of them Diamonds with that pesky flight ability?

"Do you think whoever that was saw anything?"

"I highly doubt it. I've made sure all the shipments were untraceable. I can't imagine the police are on to us."

"But where the hell did it go?"

"Don't worry about it, I doubt it'll come back." There was a slapping sound. He must have been hitting him on the shoulder then? Peaches didn't dare move to look. She didn't want to push her luck.
"Hey, wait, what's that up there?"

Shit. Peaches grimaced and remained completely still.

"Is that a tail?"

"It's not moving."

"Someone's mane then? Maybe you should fly up there and check it."

For the love of suits, please don't.

There was a moment of silence before Peaches found herself looking at one of the people she was supposed to be spying on. With a small curse she rolled to the side and onto her feet. She snapped her fan off of her belt, barely blocking the fist making it's way to her head. Unfortunately it was enough to make her fan whack her in the eye.

Peaches ignored the pain as she spun to the side, she whipped her fan around in a circular motion before slamming the man in the stomach as hard as she could.

He went down like a ton of bricks.

"That was easy..." Peaches said as she reached up to touch her eye. That was going to bruise. Now, what was she going to do with the person who had seen her. She couldn't walk away and risk her name being ruined by some halfwit drug dealer.

He groaned. Peaches rolled her eyes before walking over to him. "Don't open your eyes," she whispered, "You'll regret it."
The man froze, he was grasping is stomach, curled up in a tight ball. A ton of bricks to the stomach did that to you. Stood to her full height, and without a moment's hesitation slammed he boot down on the man's temple.

End of that story. Even if he did wake up, he'd never be the same. Now for the one on the ground, waiting.

She hummed to herself as she walked towards the edge, she carefully peered over. The man was looking up at her, but not really seeing her. With all those colors he must have been a Morganberry. She briefly debated jumping down. It was quite drop, but it wouldn't have killed anyone. Probably just a twisted ankle or a few broken bones. But she had a better idea. In this little world it was kill or be killed.

It didn't take her long to situation things. She managed to drag the dealer across the roof with a great deal of effort. She had to resort to rolling after a few minutes of struggling. The man below was getting anxious, and she wouldn't want him to try to come up here.
With all the strength she could muster she kicked the man's unconscious body off the roof.

As he cascaded down, there was no time for the other man to react. With a horrible thud the unconscious body landed in a trash heap. The other man screamed bloody murder as he ran towards his friend.

Peaches watched from her perch, holding back laughter. This was terribly amusing in a sadistic sort of way.

"Are you okay?" The man asked as she shook his companion frantically. "What happened?"

Obviously the unconscious man didn't answer.

"Oh man, you're still breathing!" The man said before hugging his companion's limp body. "I'll go get help!"

Peaches gave a sigh of relief as she watched the man hurry off.
The mission wasn't a complete botch.

***

"Why do you have a black eye?"

"I got into a bar fight."

"You don't drink, Mom."

"I ran into a door?"

"You're not that stupid."

"A drug dealer smacked me in the face with my fan while I was fighting on a roof top."

"Seriously, Mom. How did you get the black eye?"

Peaches sighed, "I just told you. Now let me do my work. Shouldn't you be studying or something, Xiven, dear."

"The instructor gave me a break. Anyway, how do you intend to do paperwork with one eye?" Xiven said as she hopped onto the desk, nearly falling flat on her face. Once her balance was regained she walked over to her mother's paperwork and sat on a few sheets of it. "Don't you need some help?"

Peaches sighed yet again. "As much as I would enjoy help, you aren't a Jack of the courts, so unfortunately it has to be left to me. But, you could easily go and practice your handwriting missy."

"Argh. Fine." Xiven said with a frown before hopping off of the desk.
Peaches watched her daughter trot out of the room. Honestly, if that girl knew what she did in her spare time, she was sure that there would be a lot more respect from her daughter. She snorted. Not like she would tell Xiven what she did every so often. Pushing someone off a building wasn't something to brag about.

Oh well. She had paper work to do.

[Kari Muffin]

I cannot focus on making actual!words. This includes real comments. >_> Sorry lame. But look, more useless story!

Okay. So after.... that Peaches chapter everything in this novel I hate. But that's normal. No one has to read after this point. At this point I am posting to prove that I wrote 50,000 words of something not quite totally unlike plot.

So Conway murders someone (and I had a sudden realization. Thyme is officially the only SANE woman that Conway has ever met. Congratulations Thyme.)

Xiven tortures someone.

Four characters in one chapter! Mostly Peaches stalking people in plain sight.

Xiven cute time.

Theofillus snaps at someone...which he would actually do. It is the one subject that he dislikes speaking of. And Rogers makes an appearance!

Pain and Suffering is the next chapter after this set. I do believe it is Peaches' angst.

---

No Regret
+Manhood never comes

Conway found himself standing outside of a shady bar. It wasn't something he appreciated anymore with his age. He brushed a bit of hair out of his eyes as he walked into the bar.

Dead silence followed him and proceeded to fill up the room. The sleepy patrons of the bar paid no notice to him. He sat down in the corner of the room. His back tot he wall, away from people. The bartender didn't make a move to ask him what he wanted.

The bright colors of Morganberry weren't something Conway was fond of, but he didn't want to hang around the capital for the rest of his life. He needed a job. Or something to do besides wander. Why not start in a region filled with ambitious people? Plus, it wasn't filled with Highlanders who... in all honesty were pricks with legs.

Conway had adjusted his appearance to fit in with the rest of the people in the region. His hair was a painfully bright shade of red, his clothing an odd shade of orange and reds. His eyes couldn't change color, but no one really seemed not notice if he wore glasses.

While he was inspecting all of the patrons the bartender was meandering his way over to the table. He had to stop to refill several of the other patrons drinks before making it to Conway's table. "You're new here boy," he said. "What can I get you?"

It was a room with more than one person. He made a few motions of sign language. When the bartender stared blankly at him Conway rolled his eyes. He made a motion to his neck, mouthing the words 'I can't talk.'

The man waved a hand. "I see. That's pretty unfortunate. I'll get you something special just for that."

'Thank you,' Conway mouthed as the man hurried off.

Conway put his elbows on the table, perching his chin on his palms. This place wasn't all that exciting. Most of Morganberry was filled with boring people and boring things. How was he supposed to find a job here if everyone just gave him funny looks.

His thoughts were interrupted when a woman bustled out of one of the doors behind the bar where the bartender had vanished. She looked around briefly before her eyes fell on Conway. She made a little squee sound before hurrying over to him.

She was an older woman, brightly colored, and she looked almost like a raccoon but not quite. Either way she set a drink down in Conway with a wide smile on his face. "You're an adorable young man aren't you. You remind me of my own son."

Conway looked at her, giving her a small smile. Honestly. She needed to go away.

She sat down in front of Conway, taking the pose he had taken earlier. He made an annoyed sound that went unnoticed by all the patrons of the bar. The woman continued to speak.

She babbled, Conway honestly didn't here a word of it as he sipped the drink. The alcohol burned his nose. It was stronger than anything he had ever had before. He made sure to drink it rather slowly so he wouldn't get drunk. He never wanted to let his guard down completely.

"I'm sorry, I've been ranting. And you can't even say anything to stop me," the woman said suddenly. She stood up and patted Conway on the head. "Drink's on the house for you, sweetie. I appreciate you putting up with a silly old lady's rants."

The woman scurried off, disappearing behind the bar yet again, passing by the bartender with a weak smile.

"She's a nice old lady, Barry's wife. Out there since her son died, though." One of the patron's close to him said. "You should frequent here more often. I've never seen her that happy before."
Conway blinked. Was she happy? She seemed pretty sad to him.
Ugh. Why was he feeling dizzy all of a sudden. Conway shook his head in protest as he slowly stood up.

He was wobbly. He had only taken a sip. What was wrong with him? Had that old woman put something in his drink?
Conway didn't have time to contemplate as everything fell dark.

***

He woke up in the dead of night. He shot up, staring down at his clothing. He was still a Morganberry, thankfully. However, he didn't know how close he was to transforming back. He had no watch to his name and couldn't tell what time it was in this dark little room.

Suits. Where was he?

The boy slipped off of the bed that had been laying on and wander over to the door. He fiddle with the handle for a few moments before deciding that it was locked from the outside. He growled to himself as he looked around. This room must have been someone's guest room. It had a normal looking furniture, normal wallpaper and a window.

A window!

Conway bolted over to it, and struggled to get it open. There were no visible locks, and yet he couldn't move the thing. He cursed and kicked the wall. This wasn't good at all.

His head whirled around when he heard the door click.
It was the bartender from earlier. He looked at Conway with a rather friendly smile.

"Sorry about all this, but you seem like an able bodied individual." The man said as he shut the door behind him. "I need you to do something for me."

Conway raised an eyebrow.

"You see. I need someone dead. And I think you can do it for me. You're a high ranking diamond, so I think you have enough backstabbing in you to do this sort of job, eh? I'm too old to do anything like I used to. My wife is broken from our son's death, so... so I need you to kill the bastard who ruined our lives. I'll pay you well for it." The old man said as apologetically as possible.

"You drugged me for that?" Conway said bluntly.

The man's eyes widened. But it wasn't because Conway was speaking. His colors were slowly fading back to normal. "W-what—" the man was slammed against the wall. Conway pinned him as best he could, thankfully the man was in such a state of shock he didn't fight back.

"If you tell anyone what you've seen I will make your death as slow and painful as possible," Conway whispered in the man's ears.
The old man squeaked, "Y-y-you're!"

"I'm your angel of wrath, as long as you can keep your mouth shut." Conway said with a smile. He reached down into his pocket, on the bright side the man hadn't removed any of his weapons. Pulling out his knife he placed it at the tip of the man's throat, backing up slowly. "I need you to keep a secret. Otherwise... I'll do away with you and your pretty little wife."

The man swallowed. "I-I won't tell anyone! I swear!"
Conway took the knife away from the man's throat. "Now, tell me, who needs to die. And what did your son look like?"

The man hesitated.

"You've got nothing but your life to lose," Conway said with a dangerous smile.

***

Conway stood outside of a large mansion. It wasn't what he was used to seeing buildings this large in a small town. It was bigger than most of the buildings he had seen, with the exception of the city. He shook his head.

He had rested for a day. That way he couldn't mess up his transformation. It was difficult for him to keep it going longer than twelve hours, but at least he wouldn't have to keep it going that long.

Slipping into the form described by Barry, he took on the apperance of their deceased son. Their son had been a rather elegant looking young man who had obtained his human form after quite a bit of hard work. Unlike Conway he was well kept with long flowing hair, inch thick spectacles, and a nice simplistic suit.

Conway tucked the knife into his knee high riding boots. This was going to be a fun little adventure wasn't it?

He hurried to the back of the house. The door there was easier to unlock. Slipping in, silent, he shut the door behind him.

The room was pitch black. Conway debated a moment before using the Spade ability. He navigated through the darkness, weaving his way through the building.

It seemed like forever before he came upon the proper room. He shut off the Spade ability as he slowly turned the handle. He carefully poked his head through the door, when he determined that the person was sleeping he slipped into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Wake up, Denton," Conway said in a voice that wasn't his own.

The man turned over his bed. When he caught sight of Conway he shot straight up in his bed.

"Auberon! What—How?" The man said as he started to move to the edge of the bed. He was also a human. Short cropped brightly colored hair with bright orange eyes.

Conway took a few steps closer to him. The man moving away a bit. "Denton. Why were you so jealous of me? You reached your goal, didn't you?"

Conway continued to move closer, eventually the man was frozen in place, watching Conway stop an inch in front of him. Face to face they, the thick glasses blocking out Conway's eyes thanks to the moonlight. Denton opened his mouth and shut it again. This happened four times before he managed to say something. "I... you always did everything better and faster than me. I was tired of it. I wanted to be one step above you... so I took away your girl and stabbed you in the back." He laughed. "This is just a stupid dream. I don't even know why I'm having it when I don't feel guilty."

"You have no regrets?"

"None."

Conway smiled and drew the knife from his writing boots. In one quick motion he plunged it into the man's heart. He slowly twisted the blade once before yanking it out. "That's great. Neither do I," Conway said in a sing song voice.

And now Barry and his poor broken wife had their revenge. He needed proof though. He wasn't going to walk away without taking something from the man. He reached down, taking the man's head by a scruff of hair. He placed the knife on the edge of the man's ear, carving it much like someone would do to a turkey.

Conway tore the sheet and wrapped the ear in it. It was time to make Mr. Auberon's parent's happy. As happy as a killing could get. He shrugged it off as he walked through the house without restraining himself sound wise. At least he was getting paid for this.

***

The old man sat silent for a while as he looked at the ear that Conway had brought him. When morning broke he was sure there would be news around the town about the man's death. "Right, the money," the old man said as he filled with something behind the bar. He pulled out a small bag and presented it to Conway. "It's not much, but it's all we have."

Conway slipped it in his pocket."You won't tell another living soul. Not unless you want to die... or perhaps if they need a little hired help."

The man swallowed. "I-I understand."

The boy gave him a smile before bowing his head. "It was a pleasure." With that, Conway left. Now he could actually buy himself some food and a place to sleep.

He wouldn't dwell on what he did. He would just push it out until he had to deal with it.

---

My Forgotten Truth
+Her Self Doubt

Xiven took a deep breath as she stared up at the ceiling. She had managed to get a title. It was everything she had ever hoped for and dreamed for. And now she had it.

And yet nothing seemed to be going her way. She was still forgotten, she was still just "that Torquehelm girl." It pissed her off. Her entire life she had tried her hardest not to be the stereotype that everyone though she was and now... it got her nowhere.

And Fluffy was still the only one who cared about her unconditionally.

Everyone had someone but her.

Of course there was no point in being retarded and angst ridden because of it. She rolled to the sitting position and brushed her fur straight. She looked across the room at the present her mother had given her. Her pretty "little" axe. She had been practicing with it since the day it was presented to her, and she had to struggle to lift it in her mouth.

Maybe she should go and practice.

Nodding to herself she grabbed her weapon and looked over at the cat bed. Fluffy was quietly sleeping. Hopefully she would stay in the room like she asked. No accepting Chocolate or anything from someone other than her. That was the rule now, and Fluffy normally obeyed the rules.

She slipped out of her room, locking the door behind her. With a smile sigh she headed towards the training grounds.
And found herself facing someone from her past.

Her ears pulled back when she saw the Esterberry canine. The manned wolf that had called her stupid all those years ago. She was hard to forget with her snide attitude. Of course, Xiven had forgotten her name, but she didn't forget that face.

Or the smug grin the bitch had when she turned around.

"Oh, Your Majesty Xiven, it's nice to see you again after so many years!"

"Right." Xiven said as she looked at the other person in the hallway. It was a staff member who normally took care of the gardens? What on earth were they doing out here? "John, shouldn't you be tending to the roses?"

"Yes, your Majesty! I'm sorry!" He said with a small bow before hurrying off. He seemed thankful for some strange reason.
Xiven's ears flattened when she realized that the manned wolf was still there. "What?" Xiven asked as she took to glaring at the woman.

"I heard that you only managed to get your biped form because the current Queen took pity on you."

The corner of the feline's lip twitched. Not again. She wasn't going to deal with this again. "I don't exactly where you get off speaking to me like a friend, but kindly find someone else to bother. I have better things to do than listen to you degrade me."

Xiven's claws tightened around her weapon as she turned to walk away.

"Using brute strength to solve your problems. You really are as stupid as you were back then."

The feline Queen stopped in mid motion. Her tail puffed up as she turned slowly around to face the manned wolf. A smug look was still on that bitch's face. A low hiss escaped Xiven's mouth as she looked at the woman in front of her. It was a quick and sudden motion, causing the manned wolf to stumble backwards.

Xiven had swung her axe without hesitation in the middle of the palace. Thankfully no one was around to watch.

The startled woman stumbled a bit more before looking at the Torquehelm in front of her. "Y-you just tried to kill me!"

"Did I? No. I think that was more of a warning. If I wanted you dead your head would already be on the floor."

"H-how dare you!"

Xiven snorted. "How dare I? How dare a titled member of the court defend her own name an honor from a prickish Esterberry who has her head too far up her ass to see what danger she's in? A Two of Hearts mocking a Queen. They say Esterberries are the brightest of the regions—well that's obviously false in your case." The feline had been edging closer with each word. She reached out and grabbed the manned wolf's chin. She might have been taller than Xiven, but it didn't mean the puffy cat couldn't be intimidating.
Her nails dug into the canine's face. "You really shouldn't have called me stupid."

"I-I'm sorry your Majesty! Please forgive my idiotic behavior!"

"It's too late for that," Xiven said as she released the manned wolf's chin from her grasp. "What should I do for your punishment for treating me like trash? Should I have you beg? Maybe praise the floor I walk on... or should I just kill you? Choices."

The wolf's eyes widened as she slowly tried to back away.

"Running won't do you any good." Xiven said in a faint whisper. "I'd kill you before you got a chance to gain full speed."

The woman was visibly shaking from fear. If she was anyone else Xiven would have felt some sort of remorse. Maybe she should take pity on her? Or....

A smile twitched onto Xiven's face as she suddenly moved forward, grabbing the other woman by the scruff of her neck. There wasn't much of a struggled as Xiven dragged the woman down the hallway.

She had figured out a perfect place to go. In the dungeons no one would bother her. There was a chance of running into Papa, but not much else. Once they had made it to the stairs, Xiven whipped the Esterberry around and shoved her.

She tumbled down the stairs in a flurry of purple and white fur. A snicker escaped Xiven's mouth as she watched the woman fall to the bottom. Too bad a moderate pain ability couldn't compensate for that.

Slowly she made her way down the stairs, watching the manned wolf try to regain her bearings. "It's a lovely little place my Papa has, isn't it?" She said as she stopped on the stair above the wolf. "You see, my Papa used to be one of Queen Serafino's Kings. Unfortnately when Queen Serafino died, my papa lost a few marbles. They let him play down here to keep him satisfied."
The wolf sniffed, holding her broken glasses in her hands. "You can't even remember my name... why are you doing this?"

"I may not be able to remember your name, but I remember how bad you made me feel. The pain never went away. And it won't go away even if I kill you." Xiven said as she lowered the tip of the blade to meet with the woman's neck.

"No... no..."

"Christianne, are you ready to meet your maker?"

The woman sniffed. "Please don't!"

Xiven smirk grew wider as she pressed the tip on the woman's neck.

And then she used her pain ability, quickly withdrawing the blade.
The manned wolf yelped, clutching her mouth and clawing at her mouth for a few moments. The feeling of having all your teeth pulled out wasn't something enjoyable, she was sure, but the Esterberry didn't stay conscious for long. She fell the floor in a heap, clutching her mouth.

Xiven sighed. Two of Hearts. Right.

***

Xiven sat in front of the Esterberry and waited. She wasn't going to move from the spot until the little wolf woke up. She wasn't finished making her feel horrible after all. Her tail swished as she watched Christianne slowly come back to the world of the living, so to speak.

The dungeons were always in a state of disarray. There were various stains on the floor from the torture sessions, it always had a smell of death and mildew surrounding it. That didn't bother Xiven, though, because this is where her Papa used to work. He had gone out of his way to punish people who went against the Court of Hearts. Right now she was simply punishing someone who had gone against her.

The Esterberry had no right to make her feel useless. Stupid. Day in and day out she would recite the same thing. "Xiven, you're so stupid. There's no way you could ever become a Queen."
And now she was a Queen. A Queen who obviously had no respect, which meant she needed to make someone.

The manned wolf looked around briefly as she sat up. She still held her mouth as if it were sore. Then when she spotted Xiven she let out a shriek and backed into the wall. Unfortunately for her she couldn't go that far, the chains connected to her ankles stopped her short. With a pained whimper she had smacked her head against the wall.

"Good afternoon," Xiven said in a cordial tone as she set her axe on the ground. She slowly rose, brushing her fur straight for only a few brief moments.

"W-What did you do to me?"

"Nothing. Yet." Xiven said with a smile as she walked over to the corner of the room, out of the manned wolf sight.

"Please let me go! I'm sorry I was so cruel to you as a child. I didn't mean it! I honestly didn't mean any of it! You're obviously a fantastic Queen and deserve your title. P-P-Please don't kill me!" She begged.

"Just kids, herm?" Xiven said as she walked back into view. In her hands was a red hot brand.

The manned wolf's eyes widened. Her glasses may have been broken but she could easily see that what Xiven was holding would hurt her.

The feline slowly stalked forward, brand in hand. It was a simple design of an "X" not meant for much of anything. She would have grabbed the straight poker, but Xiven had had a bit of an idea while she was waiting for the wolf to awaken. "I'm afraid you've stepped over the line. You should remember your rank before you go spouting off nonsense."

The Esterberry whimpered.

"I don't feel sorry for you," Xiven said as she hovered the poker over the woman's rank. "Just because of my region you treated me like trash. You thought you were honestly better than me."
She pressed the hot poker down over the "2" on the chest of the Esterberry. The wolf shrieked bloody murder as Xiven continued to press the hot piece of metal to her chest. She pulled back after the sizzling stopped. Tears were streaming down the Esterberries' face.
Xiven sighed.

She was far from satisfied. Even if she killed the little bitch it wouldn't solve her self esteem problems. Her ears twitched in tought as she used the brand as a cane, the red hot part smoking on the ground. "So, You're not going to tell anyone what happened down here."

She was still crying and whimpering in agony.

Xiven rolled her eyes, and grabbed the canine's ear with her free hand. "Listen up," she hissed into it. "Remember this pain well, if you ever speak of what I've done to you than you'll get to feel it again."

A whimper was a response. Good enough.

---

Open Door
+Slowly Crossing

Capital City. The center of everything. It was the place where everyone came to find answers. Today was no different than any other day. People hurried down the streets in the busy part of town. Life went on as it normal did.

Peaches sat at a quaint little cafe. One eye closed and one eye open to watch the various pedestrians. Maybe she would find someone interesting today? She gave a wistful sigh. Things weren't as interesting in the palace recently, so she had to resort to people watching.

The sight of purple caught in her eye. She turned to get a proper view of the object in question.

Her eyes widened at the sight of a long haired man. Long purple hair, a monocle, thin as a rail. She purred quietly to herself as she watched him walk down the street, inching closer to her, books in his arm. A actually pretty boy was walking past her this very moment. She'd been looking for someone to play with, this might prove to be an interesting experiment.

It was nothing but a second as he passed her. She inspected him with both eyes wide open. He really was pretty to look at. An Esterberry. If he wasn't taken by a woman he must have been gay with the way he kept himself. Not many Esterberry scholars that she had met were that well kept. There was Warrick, but that was because he had a maid.

It was an impulse, something that Peaches was never fantastic at controlling. She tugged on the back of his vest as he moved past her. It was enough to throw his delicate balance off.

He fell flat on his ass. It was a rather amusing for Peaches to watch. She choked back a giggle as she watched the man's books fall to the ground. He gave a frustrated sigh.
Peaches practically chirped as she got up from the chair. "Are you all right, sir?" She asked in a cheerful and curious voice.

The man with the monocle looked up at her with surprise. "Oh, I'm fine I suppose."

Apparently the pretty man didn't feel threatened by her, which was all well and good. She reached out a gloved hand to help him up. He took it without question, brushing himself off. "Thank you," he said with a smile. He dipped down to pick up his books. Peaches moved slightly closer.

The man blushed a bit when he accidentally looked up Peaches skirt a bit as she helped him pick up some books. It was terribly adorable. She smirked to herself as she set some of the books on the table she had been sitting at. "Would you like some tea?" She said with her same cordial voice.

"Oh, that would be lovely," The man said with a smile as he fumbled with his books for a few moments. He sat down when Peaches motioned to the chair across from her. Once he was settled Peaches waved over one of the waitresses. The cafe was a lace and doily sort of place, that generally amused Peaches. Once he had ordered tea from the french maid looking waitress Peaches went back to studying him. One hand on her tea cup and one on her check she watched him, smirk on her face.

He shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. He was a twitch sort, wasn't he now?

And finally Peaches eyes fell on his rank. Her heart skipping a beat when she noticed that the pure red "J" on his chest trailed off to black. "You seem to be an interesting sort of man, Mr. Jack." She said with a smile. "People call me Peaches, what's your name, real or fake?"

His eyes widened briefly. "W-what?"

She giggled. "You're the suspicious twitchy sort, aren't you? I doubt you would give me your real name, Mister Jack of the Red Persuasion."

His mouth opened and shut a few times, no words coming out. It was terribly adorable. Obviously he wasn't used to people like Peaches. Perception. Not many people cared to take notice unless they watched people. Not many people, she thought, watched others long enough. Everyone was too concerned with themselves.

She leaned forward over the table, her smirk painted on her features. She reached out and moved his vest to see his rank properly. He simply stared at her with a horrified expression. Peaches made a tisking sound. "Jack of Hearts. You're a trouble maker too then?"

"Your Excellency, you shouldn't harass people like that," said a cheerful voice. A rather prettily dressed woman in a maid's outfit walked out of the cafe, a tray in her hand. She set the teacup down on the table, batting the woman's hand away. She was an elegant Highlander feline, smile on her face. "Peaches enjoys playing with people. She doesn't mean any harm."

"Diana!" Peaches said as she flopped in her seat. "Don't ruin my fun! I pay to drink here, so let me harass the people I find."
"I'd rather not, I enjoy getting new customers. So stop scaring your boy toys away," The woman stuck out her tongue.

"If I were a really hard ass like half the people at the courts I would kick your sorry Highlander ass."

"Not like you could, Miss Pansy."

Peaches huffed and crossed her arm. Diana giggled and looked at the very confused man with a cordial smile. "We used to work together, I'll leave you be. If she treats you badly just call for me."
"You're a snot, you know that?" Peaches said as she stuck out her tongue at the receding figure.

The Esterberry stared blankly at Peaches. "You're in courts?"
"Why yes I am. There's more than meets the eye," Peaches said in a sing song voice as she sipped a bit of her tea. "Now, what's your name Mister Jack or should I just call you Mister Jack?"

He stared. "Mister Jack works just fine."

"Foo," She said with a snort. "Fine then. What do you do Mister Jack o' Hearts? I would imagine a pretty face like you would wander into the courts."

"The courts don't really suit me. I'm not the type of person to deal with that load of paperwork and pomp and circumstances." He gave a weak smile.

"Oh, it's not all that. For me anyway. Then again I get yelled at pretty often for not doing my job. My daughter takes hers more seriously than mine." Peaches said as she wiggled a finger. "So. An Esterberry. Do you have any wisdom to share?"

"W-what?"

"You say that quite a bit. Not used to random people."

"I suppose not...."

"Would you like to come back to my hotel with me?"

"W-what? No! I'm fine!" He said, nearly dropping his teacup. Well that proved her point only slightly. He was either taken or gay.
"I see, you have a special someone then. Pwsh. People aren't as fun as they used to be. I miss running around and watching sexcapades." She sighed as she leaned on her hand, watching him closely with her purple eyes.

He nearly dropped the teacup down his shirt this time. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Oh don't be. If you have someone to be happy with, then you have every right to be happy with her or him." Peaches waved a gloved hand before taking a long sip of tea.

"I wish it was that simple," he muttered.

She raised an eyebrow. He wasn't supposed ot be heard, but she definitely heard it. "Complicated love life then?"

And there went the teacup. At least he caught it before it spilled on his pants. Then again that might have given her an excuse to use napkins to clean up the mess on his pants. Bad Peaches. Bad. He may have been pretty but that wasn't for touching. Though watching him with his girlfriend might be fun....

"You're quite the mess," Peaches said as she reached out and set his teacup on the table. "I'm not going to pay for your bill if you break the china."

She leaned back in her chair and watched more people walk by. She listened to Mr. Jack struggle to comprehend was was happening. Twitchy. Paranoid. Asked if she was in courts even after the title dropped. He must have had a bad experience with someone in the courts. Or maybe he just had a bad experience with people in general. A lot of people enjoyed abusing their power.

"I heard the Queen of Diamonds...." caught Peaches ears. She raised an eyebrow.

Mr. Jack seemed to catch the same thing. Peaches reached up and made a quiet motion before straining to hear the conversation going on across from them.

"You really think he's going to open an orphanage for children?"

"Well, from what I hear he picks up strays as it is. I can't imagine he wouldn't go through with something like that. After all, he stopped the collection of Aces when he first got into courts. He's a family sort of man."

"I heard he had a terrifying power too. The previous Queen was murdered by giant demonic birds that he controlled!"

"No way! That's crazy!"

"...Is that lady watching us?"

"Yes, I am," Peaches said with her happy voice. "Thanks for the bit of gossip!" She turned back to Mr. Jack with a huge grin on her face. "You're very lucky, you know that. Without you here I probably wouldn't have heard that."

"You're welcome?"

"I'm glad," Peaches said as she got up, licked the man's cheek in parting. She wandered into the cafe to pay the bill before wandering back out. The man watched her walk down the street and disappear from sight.

***

Conway didn't like the capital, but things had been going badly since they day he had killed the Queen of Hearts. Well. He had met several people afterwords that he had could at least call friends. Real friends. It made him smile to himself.

He didn't blend into the crowd as well as most people, but people thought of him as invisible. He hummed quietly to himself, no sound escaping his person with the exception of the rattling connection to his bracelet.

***

Children. Eilwyn was actually having children. The thought alone was enough to make Theofilus' head spin. How on earth was his son going to take care of them? Theofilus walked down the street in his biped form, cloak covering his chest. Some people stopped to stare at the man with glasses and an eye patch, but he brushed it all off.

The Queen of Diamonds. Sometimes Theofilus wondered if he deserved such a title.

***

It was rare for Xiven to leave the palace. Work just kept her tied down. That an the love of her home. However she had decided to come to the city to get away. She didn't want to deal with emotionally challenged people, she didn't want to deal with the stress, she didn't want to be called names behind her back.
She still got weird looks from people, but that might have something to do with her region, rank and lack of bindings.

---

There is no Meaning
+ She was Once Informed

Pregnant.

Suddenly Xiven felt ill. There was only on person who could be the parent and she wasn't there.

Alone. Utterly alone.

Crying in front of people. She needed to stop doing it. She couldn't help herself now though. Swearing she left the news. Who was she going to tell. Not her parents. Not yet.

Babies. This was bad.

***

Bright yellow right in her face. "What?"

"I'm hungry Mommy."

"You just ate."

"But I'm still hungry."

"Let me take my nap and I might give you a treat."

"But Mommmmy!"

"Go bother your grandmother or better yet, bother your Daddy."

Xander drooped as he continued to shit on his mother's chest. "But I wanna bother you, Mommy."

Xiven sighed as she reached up to brush her fingers through her son's long mane. He was a trouble maker compared to the rest of the children, but each of them had some sort of crazy problem. She never really expected to have a normal family to begin with, but some of their problems were a new level of special.

Xander rolled off of his mother, flopping on the bed besides her. He snuggled up besides her, continuing to pester her in his own way.

"Harassing me isn't going to get you food."

He continued to paw it her, she ignored him even when he started poking her with his claws. This boy was persistent.
"Where's Othello?" She asked suddenly.

Xander paused in mid-motion. "I think he went off to play with Sid. Something about a club that evolves lisps."

Xiven raised an eyebrow. He was playing with one of Rai's children then. That was good. Othello needed friends. "That's nice to here. I'll have to check up on him later. Now, are you going to let me take a nap?"

"Nope."

Xiven drooped in the bed. "Can't you go to the kitchen by yourself?"

"It's scary in there, Mommy. The Staff look at me funny."

"That might have something to do with the fact that you harass them sometimes. And there was that time you stole some of the cookies that weren't for you." Xiven said as she sat up, swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. Xander instantly perked up, hopping to the side of the bed to watch his mother's feet."Fine, I admit defeat, young man."

"Yay!" He squealed as he jumped off the bed. He scurried over to the door as fast as his legs could carry him.

She watched the yellow and white feline make his way across the floor. At first they had thought he was some sort of albino Bog mix. That was until Peaches had picked him up and held him in front of a mirror for whatever crazy reason. They were shocked to discover that he was a Torquehelm, completely and utterly. Nothing could really explain the condition, along with the arms that were attached to his back. Either way, he was what he was.

The way things were going, he didn't see it that way. He wasn't particularly fond of his own reflection, and often avoided anything that could tip him off. It was a difficult thing to do, but somehow Xander did it on a regular basis. He pawed at the door, giving his mother a pleading look.

She opened the door for him, watching him scurry ahead of her. "I'm not going to rush," she called after him.
Rolling her eyes she shut and locked the door. Fluffy had been taking care of Vir, Mer had decided to bother Rhi, and Othello had managed to find a friend. Things seemed to be working out well today.

---

The Doorman
+Out of Place

Theofilus ran his fingers along the spine of the journal. He had written so many things in the book he had forgotten most of them. There were some things that were burned into his memory that he would have liked to forget, but unfortunately they wouldn't leave him. They would be forever in ink as well as his mind.

The paperwork was done for the day. All the court matters were sorted. Neil had a fun time playing his instrument. Life was going well.

But something was missing. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but he didn't fell quite right. The sparrow brushed it off as parnoia. He had worked without seeing his family for a while. Ceren had been busy with her courtly matters, Kelasia had been working at the firm, Calia had been taking care of things in the Capital. His sons didn't bother to visit him most of the time, and Mori was busy with her own life. All the children had grown up...most of them anyway.

His plans in the court had been derailed, one after another. Trying to figure out how to prevent Aces from being killed for fur coats was something more difficult than he could imagine. Then there was room, he had heard.

That a titled Queen, Xiven to be precise, was planning on develop a registry for Aces.

One step in the wrong direction.Treating Aces like pets to protect them from the black market. It was like admiting defeat. He was trying to change all of the views of society. There was no possible way of doing it.

Hopeless.

He set his head on the desk, closing his eyes, still holding the journal.

"Why did I take this job in the first place? I don't belong here. I don't hold any of the values the people do. How am I supposed to be a good ruler who makes a difference when I can barely be a good father?"

So many questions with no answers.

"You know, you sound pretty pathetic for the man who rules over the Diamonds," said a cheerful and familiar voice.

Theofilus sat up instantly. The person was cleverly standing in his blind spot. The sparrow turned his head to look at who had slipped into his office unnoticed. He blinked a few extra times, rubbing his good eye to double check his vision.

"Clari?"

"Of course. You look fantastic with your glass eye, by the way. If it weren't for the way the light was I never would have been able to guess." She said as she moved to sit in front of him. The years had treated her kindly, her age wasn't really showing. Her ears drooped a bit, but that was probably because she hadn't trimmed her hair like she usually did when she was younger. "And, you still look pretty hot in your human form. Do you wear make up?"

"I may be vain, but I'm not that vain."

"Pswh! Could have fooled me!" She said with a laugh.

Theofilus watched her quietly. Was he going crazy? He had to wonder sometimes with the way things were going. "What... are you doing here?"

Clari could sense the confusion in her voice. They hadn't seen each other for years. They had only spoken in a few letters, and conversed over the normal topics. She hadn't even seen Eilwyn or any of the kids in years. Suits and Stars only knew if they remembered her. The last few letters to Theofilus had been about his mother's death, and how he hadn't come home for either his father's or mother's funerals. His children hadn't even known them. "I guess, I came to see you in person. You're the Queen of Diamonds, so it was a bitch for me to get an apointment. Even then I had to waltz in here on my own. We've only talked over letters and... and I missed you. We were best friends when we were kids."

The sparrow closed his eyes, his head resting on the palm of his hand. "I guess I missed you too. Not many people are willing to speak to me like you do. So... did you ever, you know, find someone?"

Clari's ears twitched. "I found a lot and nothing at the same time. You're pretty lucky to have girls falling all over you. If you weren't my best friend I would have fell for you too." She said waving a paw in dismay. "But I ended up finding a man who at least wanted to have children as bad as I do. And then things went down hill from there."

Theofilus frowned. Clari had always wanted children of her own. She had started a daycare center besides her own job just so she could spend time playing and taking care of children. She was a saint, and deserved nothing but happiness.

"And I failed to have kids. Four times I had a miscarriage. It wasn't his fault. It was all me. Doctors couldn't figure out why it would always abort."

"Oh, Clari, I'm so sorry. You—"

"Yeah, yeah. I deserve to have a family too. Of all the people I don't want to here it from you."

"You always did like cutting me off. I was going to say "You deserve happiness," but never mind that. Seriously, Clari, why didn't you tell me sooner?" Theofilus expression had gone from a frown to complete and utter worry.

She rolled her eyes. "You're the Queen of Diamonds. You have bigger things to worry about—at least that's what I figured all those years. You never talked about your problems, so why should I have bitched to you about mine."

"What's done is done, I suppose."

"I suppose you're right about that. But... there is some other reason why I'm here."

Theofilus raised an eyebrow as he watched Clari. "You're not one to pussy foot around."

"You're right. This is a little different though...." she took a deep breath. "Theofilus, please come home."

"What?" Theofilus asked instantly. Home. Did she mean go back to the Lakes? Of all the places to go back to he didn't want to go back to the place where he grew up. He could never call that place home. People had treated him like trash, used him, mocked him, watched him suffer. And Clari wanted him to go back? "Absolutely not!"

Her ears drooped, her expression changing to something uncharacteristic. Theofilus hesitated for a moment. "Your Majesty... Please. You have unfinished business there don't you? And—"

"Get out. Get out now."

Clari's jumped in her seat from the sudden change of voice. "Theo...?"

"Get. Out." He said as he stood up, pointing to the door with his cane.

She left. Tail dragging on the floor.

He would never go back to that place. Never.

***
Maybe he was overreacting.

But he didn't want to go back to that place. It was the place where Myron had died, where he had been left to drown because....
Theofilus shook it off as he sat on the bed. He should just stop thinking and go to bed. When he woke up in the morning everything would be clear to him. He would forget the incident with Clari, and everything would run smoothly.

That was assuming he could actually fall asleep.

The sparrow found himself staring at the ceiling. This continued for a bout an hours time before he rolled over to his side to stare at the wall. Guilt. That's all it was. Guilt. He needed to stop blaming himself. He wasn't a complete failure if he was here as the Queen of Diamonds, was he?

And yet he was contemplating the fact.

He really needed to talk to someone. Neither Kelasia or Calia were around. That left his journal, which wouldn't do at a time like this.
Clari. He had to wonder where Clari was and what she was doing. Had she decided to leave for the Lakes or had she stayed in an inn an hour or two away from the Palace? She didn't have a room here, otherwise he would know.

No. This was ridiculous. He should just roll over and sleep.
Sleep never came.

***

"Your Majesty?"

Theofilus' good eye looked up, his glass one remained in it's proper place. He really didn't want to deal with this today. The bags under his eyes were thankfully obscured by his glasses. "What?" he said flatly as he looked at the servant. At the moment he couldn't remember anything about the staff member, just that she served tea on a regular basis.

"Uh-Miss Calia is here to see you."

Theofilus blinked. "What? Really, send her in then."

"Yes sir, but... are you all right?"
Theofilus waved a hand. "I'm just fine. Perfectly fine."

"But... I heard that you fell asleep during the meeting this morning."

Theofilus gave a frustrated sigh. He forgot how fast rumors spread. He felt like an idiot to say the least. "Just lack of sleep. That's all, if you could be a dear and get Calia for me, I would be thankful."
"Yes sir," said the woman with a smile before heading out of the room.

Theofilus raised an eyebrow in thought. There really were a lot of women in the Court of Diamonds. Two men with titles. The rest were women. This wasn't really a horrible thing. It just made him wish for male company every once in a while. Sometimes women were the most terrifying people to be around.

Calia walked into the room, a smile on her face. He got up to greet her, hugging her tightly. "You look exhausted," she said.

"You could say that," Theofilus said as he kissed Calia on the cheek. "I'm so happy you came. I've wanted to talk to you."
"Well of course I would come today! Kelasia's only late because she's been rounding up the children."

Theofilus was forgetting something, this was obvious. He gave Calia a blank look, obviously confused.

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you forgot? Theofilus. You did not forget, did you?"

"I did."

She crossed her arms, eyes narrowed. Calia normally didn't play "games" like this, which meant this was pretty important. Theofilus heart sank as he watched Calia. What had he forgotten? It wasn't the anniversary of the day they met. It wasn't her birthday, or Kelasia's or even any of the children. He hadn't scheduled any plans had he?

"It's your birthday."

Theofilus blinked a few extra times in disbelief. "Oh, no, it can't be. Can it?"

"It is."

"Oh. You scared me for a minute, I thought it was something really important."

"I think celebrating another year of life is pretty important to your kids at the very least." Calia said shaking her head. "We went all out for your party too and you didn't even remember it was your birthday."

"I've... had a lot on my mind. And uh... I was wondering if I could talk to you before this party is underway?" Theofilus said blushing slightly. Even if he had been in his other forms, the blush would have shown through his feathers.

"Oh?"

***

She had said to him that going home might be a good thing. She would support him if he did. Go with him. It didn't make him feel much better. It had been a week since his birthday had past, he was sitting in his office in the West Lake Shipping Firm, staring at the open door.

"Hey Rogers?"

"What Boss?" The German Shepard said without looking up from his paperwork at the front desk.

"Do you think I should have become the Queen of Diamonds?"
The man set his fountain pen down, walked to the door, flipped the sign over, and walked into Theofilus's office in a fluid series of motions. He leaned on the door frame with a slightly concerned look. "Does this mean I should get the scotch out?"

"That was a serious question."

"Boss, you've got to be kidding me. You having doubts is normal, but having doubts after putting your life on the line is a little strange, even for you." He walked into the room, taking a seat in front of Theofilus. "Has Rosewood not been doing his job?"

"Er...well... I've been so busy," Theofilus gave a nervous laugh as Rogers gave him a skeptical look. It was nice to know that everything was "Okay" between them now, though. Deep down he had always been worried about Peter causing trouble between them. Now that Peter had disappeared... he couldn't assume it made things better. How could Rogers forgive him for something like that anyway.

"I'm not a therapist, but I am your friend. You haven't been focusing on anything, which isn't Theo-ish at all." He said as he traced one of the picture frames on the desk with a tip of his finger. "I've been pretty worried, but you know how it is. Prying just makes you angry sometime, and as much as I'm willing to play games... I don't want to go over the edge."

"Clari came to visit me at the Palace. She wanted me to go "home" or rather the place where I grew up. Calia said that I should do it, but... I don't know if I can. I want to but I really don't." Theofilus sighed putting his face in his hands. It was frustrating being torn.
Rogers knew very little about Theofilus childhood. Not many people did. He simply knew that Theofilus hated his mother, adored his father, and his brother had met an early demise. He did know, thanks to Rosewood, why Theofilus believed that Aces were people. Of course, he wasn't about to let Theofilus know that. "I'm not great with this advice thing," Rogers said with a small smile. "Numbers are more my thing, but frankly, Boss, if it's bothering you so much it means you should stop agonizing over it and do something. And knowing you, like I know you, that means you need to face your fears and go back to that horrible place where you grew up."

That wasn't what he wanted to hear, but of course Rogers was right.

"Why does it always take a punch in the face for me to do something?"

"Actually, it normally takes a couple of shots. I'd like to see someone try to punch you with that glass eye of yours."

"Very funny."

***

He stood in front of the lake. This was the place where his life started falling apart.

It hurt.

[Kari Muffin]

And four more chapters. So... Peaches gets to meet someone from her past, and is horrified. The next chapter EVERYONE MEETS, then we have Conway falling out, and then Peaches again who finds out some horrible horrible news.

I'd say stop reading this crap but I know there are people reading. *facepalm* Editing this took forever.

"Family Ties" is the beginning of the next batch.

---

Pain And Suffering
+Someone from the past

Peaches had been minding her own business as she sat and sewed one of her latest hand puppets. Recently Xander had been so kind as to break into the trunk and root around in it. Unlike his mother, he didn't have the soft touch his mother had at his age. Actually he was more like her brother and Eldy.

She sighed. Despite his colors being mixed up, he looked a lot like her brother. If he kept that long man whenever he got his human form then... she shook her head. This was complicated.

She cursed when she stabbed herself in the finger with the needle. Sucking the wound she looked around for her thimble. It was a pain to use, but if she was going to space out like she just did she might as well protect her finger from further damage.

Her head snapped around, however, when she heard something fall. Eyebrow raised she slowly stood up, inspecting the room. Truth be told she was paranoid at times, which was generally why she blocked off the door when she was in her room. That way no one else could get from that door at the very least. The windows were locked most of the time, so she had no worry of that. However, a sound like that was abnormal for her neatly organized room.
The sound happened again. Peaches swiveled around to look at her bed. "Xander, are you under there?"

She slowly moved towards the bed, grabbing her fan off the dresser as she passed by. If she had been in her cat form, all her hair would have been standing on end. Slowly she lifted up the sheets that covered gap between the bed and the floor.

Her heart skipped a beat when a hand shot out, grabbing her. She didn't even have time to scream when she collided with the floor.

***

She woke up, her head pounding. What the hell had happened? She shifted so she could proper herself up on her elbows. She was on top of her bed, bandages around her head. Someone was sitting on the edge of her bed, looking away from her.

Long white hair. Braided. Bright red coat.

Her eyes widened. Oh no. No no no.

"It's good to see you awake, Little Kitty."

Peaches made a sound she had never made before. It was a panicked whimper as she tried to edge away from the monster at the edge of the bed. She must have been hallucinating. There was no way he could be in the courts, there was no possible way in hell or high waters that he would be here.

He turned around. There was no mistaking his face and the unusual marks under his eyes. The Tulgey Demon from so many years ago had reappeared in front of her. A smirk painted on his pretty face. His human from wasn't frightening, but what he really was....

Peaches grabbed for her fan, only to find nothing on her belt. It had been kicked across the room.

He leaned forward crawling towards her on the bed. Peaches made another distressed noise as he came closer to her. Suddenly he pinned her against the headboard by her shoulders. The smile was still gracing his face. "Don't scream," he said as he took one hand away from her shoulder to caress her face. "It'll only make things worse."

Peaches swallowed. She couldn't remember everything clearly from that time. Her brother had been murdered, torn to shreads, blood was everywhere. The man had made a threat not to go into the Wood again. She never had. "W-why are you here?"

His expression shifted for only a moment. He let her go completely, pulling back. He sat there on his legs in an awkward manner. "I wanted to tell you something important about your darling brother."
"Why would a murderer like you come out of your precious strong hold to speak to a dirty Torquehelm like me?"

He clapped his hands together, his expression more cheerful than it had been. "My goodness, you remembered your place! I'm quite surprised. But... I suppose you are one of the better Outsiders. From what I hear you have quite a few good uses." He smirked.
Peaches didn't want to think what this man's concept of good uses were. They probably involved her spying or... something much worse. How did he know this anyway? She had been careful to keep information about herself and her family away from the information dealers and informants on the street. Apparently she hadn't done enough bribing.

"Yes, but. Dirty Torquehelm or not I don't like someone playing with my kills. Tracking you down was terribly difficult, Little Kitty, and getting here was doubly so. Someone dug your darling brother up from the border of the Wood and the dreary place you used to call home." He said as his smirk faded.

Peaches jumped forward suddenly, knocking him flat on his back. She held him down on the bed, using all the wait she could manage. He didn't seem to budge as she stayed perched on top of him. "You lying bastard! I just visited his grave and everything was fine!"

"Not the last time I watched from the trees. Two months ago they were digging him up, along with several other graves that bordered my home."

"Why would you come all the way from the Wood to tell me that? Why are you here?" She was yelling, completely unaware of anything else but the monster in front of her.

"I said I don't like it when people play with my kills. Not to mention even I think violating a grave is a matter than the family should attend to." He said flatly. "Murderer or not, even I have morals however skewed they are."

"Liar! Why are you really here?" She could feel her face turning red. Tears were threatening to seep out any moment.

"Perhaps you were an excuse for me to leave the Wood."
If she were capable of using her pain ability on him, she would have. Instead she slapped him clear across the face. He merely winced as she jumped of the bed, running to here fan.

The man sat up, swinging his legs over the bed, watching Peaches prepare of herself for a fight. He smiled again, this one was slightly different than the previous one. "An Outsider should know that I have no intention of fighting outside my element. I'll be on my way, Your Excellency, if you would allow it."

Peaches stared at him, eyes wide. She drooped as she continued to watch his features and reactions. He must not have been joking. Peaches swallowed the lump in her throat as she moved towards the door, moving the obstacle that had been keeping the door closed. She unlocked it as well, opening it for the Tulgey to pass through.

As he passed by, the smirk still on is face she held out her hand. He stopped, looking at her with that picture perfect expression.

"What's the name of the monster who murdered my brother in cold blood?"

"His name is Cornell Nobel."

She took her hand away, watching the man leave.

She slammed her back against the wall. She could feel the tears streaming down her face as she sank to the floor.

Why?

---

What are we?
+Crossed Paths

Xiven walked down the street, her weapon was tied to her back under the protection of various blankets. She didn't get too many looks for her rank and region in her personal opinion, but she wasn't taking much notice to it. She readjusted the bag that repeatedly slid down her shoulder as she walked.

***

Someone was watching her, but she didn't notice. Conway was standing in the shadows of an alleyway, inspecting the people in the street. He needed money to buy some food. He hadn't been able to find any suitable work for a while... and he didn't want to do anymore killing. Not yet. Not until he had no options left.
His eyes caught the sight of a pretty Torquehelm woman. She didn't have any bindings, but that funny gold strip along her spine might explain it. He couldn't see her rank from this far away, but obviously she was rich with the way she looked. Mostly rich people were easy to take money from. They wouldn't notice at first when they were bumped into.

He slipped out of the alleyway, keeping his distance as he watched her wade through the crowd. His eyes wouldn't leave his target for anything as he moved closer to her. He had to get in front of her somehow, otherwise she would probably get suspicious. For a moment he paused in the street, why were people keep their distance?

That thought went out of his mind as he enacted his plan.

***

It was a wonderful day outside as Theofilus walked down the street, ignoring some of the glancing from his good side. It was funny how things worked like that. Why couldn't people gawk at him from his other side.

Theofilus sighed as he walked down the street, readjusting his scarf. He didn't appreciate the wind ruffling the feathers. He had so much to do today, too. He continued to worry as he hurried down the street.

***

Peaches hummed to herself as she cradled the flowers in her arms. She was plotting something nice for a change. One of her jobs had gone amazingly well and she was left with a bit of "spending" money that didn't dip into her salary or savings. So she had bought a rather expensive bouquet for her and Xiven. Of course, Xiven might not get a chance to see the flowers fresh.

She had no expectations of running into her daughter in the Capital. She normally didn't stray far from the Highlands or the Court of Hearts. Not since she was younger. And yet there she was in the distance. At least, there weren't that many fluffy purple and black cats that she knew of to begin with.

Peaches really hoped it wasn't her daughter.

***

Conway had managed to loop in front of her. He walked through the sea of people, and "accidentally" ran into the woman. Of course, the plan avoided falling flat on his ass, but he found himself on the ground, looking up at the woman. She was apparently built a little more solid than he anticipated. Looking up at her he grinned.
She raised an eyebrow, looking down at the man. "Are you all right?" She asked as she stooped down to help the man up. It wasn't everyday that someone ran right into her like that. She paused, however, when she noticed him slipping something in his pocket.

She looked at her purse. It was...open?

"You little!" Xiven said as she grabbed at his cravat, pulling him off the ground by it.

Conway choked and sputtered. He now saw the reason why people were avoiding her plane as day. The red as bright as freshly spilled blood was on her chest in the shape of a "Q" and a heart. He could understand completely why would avoid her. He choked as she put him on his feet, still holding on to him.

Xiven's ears were pinned to her skull. She didn't want to go through his pockets, he might have something unwanted in there, but she wanted to get her wallet back. As she reached into her purse with her free hand she searched for her wallet. It definitely wasn't there. Damn it.

"Empty your pockets!"

Conway shook his head in protest.
"I hate to poke my nose into such matters, but you're making quite a scene in the middle of the street, Ma'am," said a voice of a manly persuasion.

Xiven's ears perked. She had heard the voice before. It was aged a bit, though, it was still quite gentle for a man. She looked around briefly before spotting the owner of the voice. A sparrow.

A Lakeland sparrow. The Queen of Diamonds.

"Your Majesty Theofilus!" Xiven said as she let go of Conway completely. "I didn't mean to get in your way. I apologize but this young man stole my wallet."

Conway swore mentally. Another Queen. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears. The Queen of Diamonds, it wasn't something he wanted to deal with. He could run, but they had already had a good look at him. He turned his head slowly to see who had prevented his humiliation and possible beating by a raging Queen of Hearts. What man was brave enough to stand up to someone like this?

"Mr. Birdy?"

It took the sparrow a minute or two to recognize the person in front of him. His eyes widened briefly as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his beak so he could see the boy properly. Theofilus was surprised to see the bright eyed boy in front of him. "Conway?"

"You know him?" Xiven asked. She hadn't heard Conway's voice. Only Theofilus had. Her ears swiveled around as she continued to watch the pair. What was going on here? She honestly hated being left out of the loop!

"Yes, yes. I apologize for him. Unfortunately he can't speak for himself." Theofilus moved forward, placing a hand on the young man's shoulder. The boy shifted slightly at the touch, but stayed where he was. "Conway, did you take her wallet?"

Conway looked from Xiven to Theofilus. He made a small whimpering sound that Theofilus could hear before nodding. He pulled the small bag out of his pocket holding it out for Xiven to take.

The woman narrowed her eyes at the young man. He was probably older than her, but then again... she always came off as the older sort. Reaching out she took her wallet back, looking at the Queen. "Maybe you should keep him on a shorter leash?"

"No need to be snarky Xiven!" said a cheerful voice.

The feline's ears were pinned back on her skull yet again. From nowhere a purple haired woman appeared with flowers in her arms. "Hello, mother," Xiven said quietly.

"Hello, Xiven. Throwing around your title perusal? Oh! Oh my! You must be the Famous Theofilus, and who is your friend?" Peaches said jumping right into the conversation, flowers still cradled in her arms. "I'm Peaches, by the way."

Theofilus was taken aback, to say the least. Gave he a cordial smile. "His name is Conway."

"Conway," Peaches repeated, "That's a wonderful name!" She would have clapped her hands together if they weren't filled with flowers. "How about we all go and sit down and have a bit of tea!"
"I'm sure His Majesty and Mr. Conway have better things to do."
"Tea would be lovely," Theofilus said cheerfully. Unfortunately for Xiven and Conway, Theofilus could never turn away tea.

***

Xiven ended up sitting next to her and Conway. Theofilus was directly across from her, which was awkward on some level. He was The Queen of Diamonds who may or may not have had some relations with her Papa. Her mother was sitting next to him chattering away like she did sometimes. Flowers were sitting in the center of the table as a place holder, but she could see through them easily.

She glanced over at Conway, fiddling with her necklace absently. "So, you're as bored as me?"

Conway had been staring down at his tea. It wasn't fun being with a group of people and he was never fond of tea to begin with. He put his finger in it and stirred. Maybe he would put some sugar in it? It would still taste pretty badly.

He looked up when she whispered at him. He nodded. He made a drinking motion and then shook his head.

"Heh," Xiven said looking down at his drink. It hadn't been touched, apparently. "Not to fond of Tea? Maybe we should get you something sweet instead?" She smiled at the thought. He didn't seem the type for sweet girly drinks, but she'd been surprised before. The two older adults weren't really noticing the conversation that was going on without them.

She waved over one of the waitresses, who was a bit frazzled by the amount of high ranking people in one place. She nearly dropped her pad when Xiven gave her the order. Part of Xiven was terribly amused, the other part of her wanted to run off like she did when she was a child. She wondered what Mr. Todd would think of her now...? Oh, no she didn't want to think about that.

Unfortunately Xiven didn't have a writing pad, so she generally had to guess what he was trying to say. Maybe she should have picked up sign language all those years ago.

Conway was amused at playing charades with Xiven. She wasn't that bad of a person when she wasn't angry. She was actually pretty amusing. Conway gave her a curious look when a drink was put out in front of him.

"It's not alcohol, I promise."

Conway took a sip of the drink. He raised an eyebrow as he set the drink down. It tasted pretty good. Strawberries and quite a bit of sugar. A smile twitched in the corner of his mouth.

"You like it?" Xiven asked.

Conway nodded.

"You two are getting along rather well," Theofilus said quietly.
Xiven and Conway both looked over at the other side of the table with a smile. Obviously they were both pretty embarrassed by being caught.

"It's only natural," said Peaches with a wave of her hand. "It's not like we have anything interesting to say since we're old."

"That's true," Theo said with a mock sigh, "All we talk about is grandchildren, horrible court scandals and how cute our kids would look hanging of certain people's shoulders."

"You're not all that boring," Xiven said in a small voice.

"Pswh," Peaches replied before taking a long swig of her tea. "Anyway, you can Conway make an adorable couple."

Conway proceeded to choke on his drink while Xiven glared at her mother. Theofilus was quietly chuckling to himself while Peaches retorted to her daughter's glare by sticking out her tongue.
"Don't you dare start, Mom."

"Can you blame me? He's adorable. You could totally think of him as a girl if that would make the man thing a little less irritating."

"Mooom," Xiven said in a very child like fashion. Sometimes in her youth she had claimed to be adopted, but it was unfortunately obvious that she was related to her mother. Now, she very much wanted to deny her connection with her.

"I'm joking," Peaches said with a snort as she waved over the waitress for another cup of tea.

"Joke somewhere else, you're embarrassing."

"And leave you alone with that stunning young gentlemen? I think not."

---

He Should Bow His Head in Shame
+Pain never ends for a boy

He didn't like to stop by his Uncle's place. However, his Uncle had told him to return once he had finished visiting June. Being the good obedient boy that he was, he agreed to return.
Conway found himself sitting in the tiny kitchen in dead silence. His Uncle was stirring a cup of his dreadful tea. "You shouldn't see her again, Conway."

"Why not?"

His Uncle made an annoyed sound as he stirred his tea more vigorously. "I don't want her to get any ideas. You're bad luck. Nothing more than bad luck."

Conway narrowed his eyes. Had his Uncle simply been kind to him so he could take advantage of this moment? A favor for a favor? Something in Conway welled up. Anger. Hurt. Pride. It didn't matter what it was, but his Uncle was wrong to do this to him.

"I'm going to see her again, and there's nothing you can do about it."

The words came out of Conway's mouth without his realization. He honestly didn't expect himself to say something so harsh. He never had a good relationship with his Uncle. His Aunt would have supported him, but ever since she passed away things weren't the same. His Uncle had always given him looks—glares—and had dropped comments about how inept he was. Conway admitted that nine times out of ten he was an utter idiot, but even he had his redeeming moments.

And now his Uncle was treating him like he had all those years ago. Conway still remembered the words that ran through his head that moment his Uncle had found him and June. 'It's all your fault.'
The man's claws dug into the table as he suddenly slammed his hands down on the wood. He stood up to his full height, fur standing on end as he looked down at Conway. "How dare you disrespect me."

Conway looked him in the eye. That burning hatred was in his Uncle's eyes. The same one he had that night. Conway stood up, slowly, keeping his eyes on his Uncle. "Why shouldn't I when you're trying to take my family away. I'm not going to take everything lying down."

His actions were unexpected. Conway found himself bleeding across the face. He reached up, touching the cut that had appeared on his face. The swipe that his uncle had made probably wasn't intended to hurt him.

At least, that's what he hoped deep down inside. The boy started edging away from the older man.

The cut really was a lot deeper than he thought it would be. The blood was gushing out as he stumbled over a chair. His Uncle had a look on his face, one he had never seen before. Hatred had gone to something beyond rage. Conway opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out, he could only taste the blood that was dripping down his face.

"It's all you fault! It's all your fault you little bastard!" He hissed moving forward suddenly.

Conway tripped, falling to the floor. Eyes wide as he slid across it trying to get away from his Uncle. The man didn't move to grab him, he simply stood above Conway. "You should have never been born!"

It was a swift kick to Conway's side. He curled into a ball from the pain, clutching his side. Why was this happening?

Another kick came. The assault continued. This man wasn't his Uncle anymore. He was merely another monster trying to kill him.

"Stop!" Conway shrieked as he choked from the pain.

But it wasn't his voice. The cat standing above him stopped in mid motion. A look of horror on his face. "No!" he exclaimed as he backed up.

Conway remained on the floor, struggling to breath. In defense he shifted to the one person that his Uncle would listen to. The one person that his Uncle had loved more than life itself. His wife, and Conway's Aunt, Kleio.

Conway had seen her human form once or twice when he was younger, but he could remember her clear as day. She was a wonderful woman with bright blue eyes and long flowing hair that was a golden blond color. All her features had been soft. The one thing Conway had always remembered was her amazing smile.
But he could hardly imitate it at a time like this. He was still bleeding, and his bruised ribs protested. His whole body felt like it was on fire. It couldn't get much worse than this.

Except the look on his Uncle's face. Conway choked down all the pain as he slowly made his way to a standing position. With his Aunt's appearance he stumbled towards the doorway, grabbing on to it to prevent himself from falling.

The last thing he heard was his Uncle crying.

***

Kindness was a strange thing. It didn't easy the pain Conway was feeling, but whoever the person was they tended to his wounds without question. They tended to him, they treated him kindly and they let him leave without incident.

The kindness didn't follow him. He traced the scar on his face, hoping that June would never ask him where he got it from.
He hoped against all hope that his Uncle would forgive him. At the very least, he hoped Kleio would.

---

Running Out of Time
+Sweet Little Girl, Broken

"Death. That's all that's in this terrible dreary place."

"I think you're just being melodramatic," Peaches said as she rolled onto her back. Her brother was being a snot again. He had been ranting about how Mother didn't know what she was doing half the time because of her self induced high. Peaches admitted that their mother checked out just as often as their father, but at least she could hold a job.

"The curse that everyone speaks of, that hangs over our sweet little down is all in our heads. There isn't a curse, there isn't a nightmare waiting for us in our sweet little land." He said holding up a paw like a preacher. He smiled at his sister, "But then again, your binding is something you should keep."

"Is that so? The voices in my head might disagree. What if I demanded freedom? Could I lose my white wings and gain golden ones instead?"

"I think you could if you believed your own words."

"Words are merely words. Actions are what count. I could take my straight jacket off right now."

"You could. But where's the fun in that." He said with a jingle of his bindings.

"Any other plots you have in mind?" Peaches said with a yawn as she looked up at him. He proceeded to straddle her in an awkard manner, laying on top of her for no particular reason other than he was cold. She shifted so she could breath properly, but beyond that she was comfortable.

"We've established that we'll join the Court of Hearts. I'll play the music, you'll do the dance."

"This is assuming I have two legs to dance upon and two arms to flail about."

"Don't plan to foil me. If you decide to put your heart into it you'll make it just fine."

"Easier said than done."

"Such is life, Dear Sister. Such is life. It's easier to speak with a stranger about the future than it is to speak to a close friend. But we need Strangers before we can have friends. It's ironic isn't it?"
"As long as I have you, Dear Brother, I won't need either."

"Here's hoping that we'll always have each other, then." He said before licking her cheek.

***

"This has got to be a mistake," Peaches said as distress welled up in her voice. There were signs that ground in which her brother's grave was freshly broken. Her heart was pounding like a drum in her ears. She looked around at the other graves, moving closer to the edge of the Wood.

Five or six others had been touched, apparently. She looked over at the undertaker's house. How could he allow something like this to happen? She rushed over to the small house, knocking on the door frantically.

She could see through the window that he was indeed in there, with someone else. A Corvistowneian. Her eyes narrowed as she watched the man get up from the chair. A stag with strange bindings that were connected to his antlers opened the door. He was different from the other person that she had met before.

Peaches didn't pause for introductions, "Someone has be digging around in the graves."

The man blinked. "What?"

"Don't stand there like an idiot," said the Corvie, getting up from his seat inside the small little house. His look was ill tempered, but that seemed to be plastered onto his face no matter what, judging from the Undertaker's reaction. On closer inspection the man who had looked like a mere wolf had hooves. Perhaps the pair were related? "Let her in."

The undertaker stood the the side, motioning for Peaches to enter.
She gave him a glare. "I can open the door for myself. You first."
The man frowned but listened to her. Once she was sure that he couldn't slip behind her she remained standing in the small little house. The Corvie had returned to sittind down, a frown on his face. The stag had walked over to the tea kettle that had started to whistle. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Someone dug up my brother's grave!" Peaches shrieked. The Stag jumped, the Corvie remained in his place.

"That's what I've been trying to tell the idiot, but he doesn't believe me," said the Corvie. "I come all the way to this dreadful place to visit my Mum's grave and I come to find that someone broke the ground. She's been dead for years, so why the hell would anyone need to break ground near my Mum's grave?"

"I'm here all the time, both your claims are ridiculous."

"How long are you sober," both Peaches and the Corvistowneian said in unison.

The Undertaker's ears flattened against his skull. "If you can prove that someone's dug up the grave's then I'll belive you and file a complaint with the police."

"Where's a shovel?" Peaches asked, hands on her hips, a glare on her face.

The stag looked at her with an eyebrow raised high. "You're joking right?"

"No. Where's a shovel?"

***

"You've got some balls," said the Corvistowneian as he shoveled dirt away with her. "I've never met a Torque like you."

"One of a kind. Straight jacket proves it."

He snorted.

The shovels hit something solid. They both tossed them out of the sixfoot hole. Frantically Peaches dusted away the coat of dirt that was still on to of the casket. Motioning to the Corvie, they shifted sides so they could open the wooden box.

It was a struggle, but after five minutes they managed to break the box open.

Peaches screamed.

The undertaker stood above the pair of them in shock.

The body was gone.

[Kari Muffin]

Lots of typos, lots of guest appearances. >_> I'm pretty sure the last two chapters won't fit into these. I have commentary, but... you know if you're still reading at this point more power to you.

---

Family Ties
+Simple little things

"What's with the symbol that you doodle?" Ez asked abruptly as he stood behind his father taking books off the various shelves.

"What symbol?" Theofilus asked as he looked up from what he was reading.

"This one," Ez said as he turned the page in one of the books he was holding. He presented it to the older man with a curious look. It had a Diamond on its side with an X through it, and a horizon line. Faintly there were small semi-circles that looked similar a sleeping set of eyes. The image had been clearly drawn throughout some of the books.

"Oh, that," Theofilus said with a note of disappointment. "You know about masonry marks, family crests and all that I suppose?"
Ez nodded.

"That's the Giovanni's family symbol. It was passed down from generation to generation. Though I believe my Great Grandfather was the one who stopped using it. I only found out about it from rooting around in my Grandfather's attic as a child." He was content on going back to reading, but Ez prevented him from doing so.

"That's not like you, keeping interesting information from us," Ez said with a shake of his finger, nearly dropping the books in his arms.

"I didn't think something like that mattered, I suppose."

"Heritage doesn't matter?"

"Not to me."

"But Family Does."

"Don't start."

Ez stuck his tongue out. "Fine, I won't. I'm going to share this little tidbit though."

"Feel free too." Theofilus said before going back to his book.
His son rolled his eyes. The sparrow in the pink corset was amazed by the sheer volume his father could read. Frankly, as interested in learning and languages he was, personally Ez couldn't sit still long enough to learn it all properly. That's why he stuck with planning parties, he could focus on that sort of thing. Maybe one day he would pick up another hobby that would focus more on magic.
Or maybe one day he would join the courts. Of course for that to happen his father couldn't be the Queen.

Theofilus turned his head to look at his son properly. "You seem to be lamenting over something."

"Ack! Sorry Dad!" Ez said waving his freehand. "I'll get going, thanks for the books!"

"Bring them back this time."

"I will! I promise!"

***

"So..." Zane said as he stared down at the numbers in the book. "I still don't see the problem as to why things aren't adding up."
Theofilus looked over his son's shoulder, eyes wandering down the column. "You're adding everything right, that's the problem."

Zane refrained from cursing in front of his father. "I'll figure out who skimped out on who. Thanks Dad."

"Don't thank me, I should be thanking you. After all, you're the one who is helping at the firm while keeping another job."

Zane shrugged. "You are paying me."

"True," Theofilus said with a smile. He got ready to walk out in the cold weather, but Zane stopped him with a touch on the shoulder. The older man turned to look at his son with a questioning gaze.

"Dad, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"I uh... I..." Zane looked down at his father's rank very briefly before looking back at his face. The Queen of Diamonds had a lot to worry about, should he give him one more thing to add to the pile? He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry I never told you that I went to see Grandfather and Grandmother."

"It's perfectly all right," Theofilus said with a smile. He clutched the watch in his pocket as Zane looked at him with a questioning gaze. "Yes, its really that simple, now go do your work so I can pay you for real."

Zane smile. It was a wonderful sight. "All right Dad, see you later. I might visit for dinner tonight."

***

Theofilus sipped on the tea that Eilwyn had given him. It was hard for his believe that one of his youngest son's had a family. And yet he was there, not being the "cry baby" he used to be.
Well no, that was a lie, he was just better at hiding it sometimes. Theofilus smiled as he watched his son try to calm down one of the babies.

"Daaaad," he whimpered as he picked up the mouse, eagle hybrid. The child had rather strange mutations. Among them were his lack of eyes, a crown of thorns and his strange coloration. The worst part, however, was the fact when the child got emotional. They weren't regular tears.

Eilwyn still couldn't stand the sight of blood. He handed the baby to his father who managed to hush the child rather quickly. None of his children were very cuddle...able. Glass, ivy, and thorns covered them. It was strange and he knew full well that other parents didn't have these problems.

"Dad, I don't know if I can do this."

"Do what?"

"You know... be a Dad."

Theofilus snorted as he tickled the child in his arms. "You'll do a fantastic job. And if you ever have any doubts, you have Elyse, me, Calia, Kelasia and the rest of the family."

Eilwyn sighed. It wasn't really that simple, was it? He looked up in surprise when his feathers were ruffled on his head. "Wha?"

"You've made it through being blind, you've helped Elyse through a horrible pregnancy, you managed to get this far and now you have doubts? Eilwyn, you may not have confidence, but all of us have confidence in you." Theofilus smiled.

Eilwyn blushed.

And then Khloris started crying.

"Eurwen! Stop trying to eat your sister's ear!" Eilwyn eclaimed as he tried to take the two siblings apart.

***

He loved his daughters more than life itself. He was not willing to accept the fact that there was someone out there good enough for them. Iria may have been Ceren's mate, but that didn't mean anything to Theofilus. She still wasn't good enough for his daughter. It didn't matter who they were, they would never live up to his exceptions.

And then Ezekiel dropped that Mori might have someone.
The very thought was enough to make him murderous. His little girl had someone? And he knew full well that Asha was going to look for someone in the future.

He was losing his babies.

"Mori," Theofilus said as he slipped into his flower shop.
She looked up at him, bright eyed with a smile on her beak. "Dad! What are you doing here?"

"Just wanted to visit. We haven't talked in a while." Theofilus said as he moved towards the counter. There weren't that many people in the shop at the moment. He knew that she was quite sucessful at what she did, even learning magic to compliment her job.

"Well, it looks like something is on your mind. Anything spefic you want to talk about?"

A lot of things. But he was planning to keep his mouth shut.

"I suppose I could ask you how life is treating you, but that probably wouldn't be as fun as asking about flower arrangements." Theofilus said with a smile. "You're keeping healthy, I hope?"

"Dad..." Mori sighed before walking around the counter to hug him.

"I'm sorry, Sweetie, I'm just being a silly old man."

***
"Don't you dare give her sugar!"

"Foiled," Theofilus muttered as he slipped the candy back into his coat pocket.

Kaiesha pouted quietly as she looked over to Ceren.

"It's bedtime anyway," Ceren said sternly as she looked at the pair, arms crossed in typical fashion. She was a disciplinarian through and through when it came to bedtimes and care taking. Theofilus had to choke back a chuckle as he tried to return her serious expression.

"But I'm not tired! And Grandpa doesn't have time to play a lot!"

"She's right you know."

"No rebelling against me, Grandpa," Ceren said quietly as she picked up the squirming child. "If Kaiesha doesn't sleep now she'll be pestering me at the odd hours of the night. And where will you be? In your room sleeping."

"So harsh, can't even let an old man spoil one of grandchildren."

"Oh, don't give me that puppy dog look."

"Oh, but I get some wonderful reactions out of you."

Kaiesha giggled.

Ceren rolled her eyes. "Just this once. Just don't give her any of that sugar packed stuff you did the last time."

"I promise I won't."

"Yaaaaay! Grandpa's my favorite!"

***

"Neil?" Theofilus asked as he knocked on the door.

The young boy, man really, opened the door with a smile on his face. His tail was wagging frantically behind him. "Your Majesty!"
He said it out of habbit, Theofilus was pretty sure. Sometimes addressing people in the palace changed. He brushed it off as he looked at the man in front of him. "Has everything been going well for you?"

"Yes of course! Everything's fantastic! Thank you so very much for all that you've done for me!"

Happiness was a wonderful sight. It made Theofilus forget. It made him forget the horrible things he had seen in the future.

"Oh, do you want me to play something for you?" Neil asked, his tail wagging a mile a minute as he opened the door completely.

Theofilus nodded, "That would be fantastic."

***

"Pick up strays again?"

Theofilus looked up at his grandfather. A small dog was sitting in a box in front of the young boy. "I can't just leave him here."
"It's just a dirty stray, leave it alone. I don't want you to get flees or anything." The older man reached out to grab at the young boy's wing.

"But he'll die!" Theofilus exclaimed as tears streaked down his face.
The old man stopped. He sighed and slowly shook his head. "You are your father's child, I swear it." He said as he squated next to the boy. The little dog yipped happily, licking at the man's talons. "Listen, Theofilus. You can't save stray you see. One day you're going to realize that."

"Why can't I?"

"Just because. Even if you were The Queen of Diamonds, you couldn't save everyone no matter how hard you tried."
"Grandfather... One day I'll prove you wrong."

---

Connections
+Unconvergence

They parted ways after tea. At least that's how it should have been. Conway found himself staring at the Queen of Diamonds. He didn't know what to say or do. This was the man who had helped him so many years ago. He could never forget the weird bird that had talked down to a noble not because of his suit, but because of the circumstances.

"Conway, if you don't have a place to stay, you can come with me."
The Queen of Diamonds was offering him a place to stay.

"I... I'm not sure. Do you really want me to stay with you. I'm just a weird boy that you met so many years ago. A stranger. A dirty and broken stray." Conway's voice was nothing but a whisper.
"Stranger or not, you can stay with me for the night, can't you? At the very least I can pay for a hotel if you're uncomfortable." It was only a temporary solution of Conway was stealing people's wallets off the street. Theofilus, however, couldn't let him sleep out on the street in this cold. He'd probably done it many times before but...

"I couldn't just take your money like that."

"What's the point of having money if I can't help people?" Theofilus said crossing his arms. "Now, would you like to stay at my place or a hotel?"

Conway blinked. Maybe it would be Okay if he left in the early morning hours? As nice as the man was, it was dangerous.Conway didn't want to end up someone's puppet. "A hotel I guess."

Theofilus nodded. "There's a nice place no too far away."

Conway simply nodded.

***

"That boy was strange," Peaches said as she sat on the bed. Xiven was in the bathroom, brushing her fur back into order. Peaches sighed as she flopped backwards on the bed. Funny how she ended up in the same hotel room as her daughter.

"I guess so."

"Didn't you notice that he didn't have a shadow?"

Xiven fumbled with the brush for a moment before sticking her head out the bathroom door. "What?"

"He didn't have a shadow. He also didn't make sound when he moved—with the exception of that charm thingy he wore."
Xiven blinked. She had thought her mother was focusing on the conversation with The Queen of Diamonds. Honestly, she should not have been as surprised as she was. It made perfect sense that her mother would pick up on such simple things. "I noticed the sound "problem." The bracelet he wore seemed to be made of... vertebrae. At least, from the glance I got of it."

"Hisstors always have interesting things about them. I wonder if it was part of his spine or someone elses." Peaches mused aloud as she rolled off of the bed. "But speaking of odd things, why are you in Capital City?"

Xiven's ears drooped. She really hoped her mother wouldn't have asked that. "No reason."

"You're quite horrible at lying, you know that?"

"I heard a rumor. About you. I thought I would investigate it."
Peaches narrowed her eyes. A rumor about her? What could this be about? A large variety of things that she could worry over. Of course, there was absolutely no proof that any of them were real. For the most part. "You could just ask me about it."

"No. No I really can't," Xiven said flatly before returning to the bathroom to brush out her fur.

---

Dreadful Truths and Lies
+She isn't a horrible person

Xiven found herself staring at the ceiling. She had heard rumors about her mother on a regular basis. They were small and insignificant things. But ever since she had found out the truth about Fluffy she couldn't help but wonder what else her mother had been keeping from her.

And now she had disappeared yet again. It was a cycle with her, but this time she had left a note. She had traveled back to Torquehelm for an unspecified reason. It wasn't cause for alarm, for the most part, but it was odd. Her mother went to her home region once a year, and only then. Xiven never knew why, and was far too afraid to pry in her mother's business. Going there more than once a year, however, was extremely odd.

And then she had heard a rumor from one of the staff members. They hadn't known she was listening around the corner, but she heard them loud and clear. One of them had said, quite plainly, that her mother had been pregnant shortly after Xiven was born.
It was an odd rumor. She figured if that was the case her mother would have used the pregnancy to let Eldy wander around safely as another one of her children. It made sense for her mother.
But then again, why would anyone say it. People called Peaches crazy on a regular basis. In whispers, out loud, in just about every form and way—but everyone knew that she was a little "unhinged" compared to a regular Card. Why would they need to start a rumor concerning illegitimate children?

Everyone knew full well that very few people in the Court of Hearts had planned children. Many of them were a production of scandals and other shocking things.

So why would her mother hide a pregnancy? It didn't make sense, even for someone who was crazy.

"Fluffy," Xiven said quietly as she walked over to sit by the cat bed. "Maybe I'm over thinking this?"

"Mer?" The Ace said looking up from washing her paws.

"You think Mommy Peaches had some other children besides me and Eldy?" Xiven asked.

The Ace tilted her head in question.

"Silly Question I suppose. Mom didn't want any children in the first place, even if she got pregnant again she probably had an abortion."

But her mother wasn't one for letting Corvies touch her with surgical implements. If she had gotten pregnant again she probably had the children. Why wouldn't they be at the palace though?

"Mistress all right?" Fluffy asked as she licked Xiven's hand.
The woman's ears flicked back as she reached up to scratch the cat lightly under the chin. "I'm fine. Just being silly." She sighed.
Was she?

***
There was absolutely no proof. That was the only thing that really saved her mother from being found out. Even if she had illegitimate children with someone that she wasn't supposed to have children with, she had covered up the tracts completely. It was like trying to find out that Fluffy was related to Xiven. It could only be through idle speculation, there was no physical proof. Only a Corvie who specialized in DNA could prove the case without an admission from the guilty party.

This was different. There was no proof of existence. Nothing to test.
So her mother wasn't a horrible person. What did that make Xiven for doubting her though?

Xiven sighed.

***

"Empty." Peaches repeated quietly. The police were sitting across from her in the small cramped house that the Undertaker lived in. She had revealed her title and rank to the officers, and was now speaking with them about a possible investigation.

It wasn't going as well as she had planned. They didn't seem to understand the concept of grave robbers being horrible people who needed to be hunted down and caught. "I'm afraid we might not be able to do anything," said the one officer.

The Corvistowneian had been sitting next to Peaches, drinking tea like a chimney. They had dug up the grave he had come to visit, and had found it equally empty. Both of them were affected by the police. "Are you serious?" He growled, "These people stole dead bodies! That's a crime you retards!"

Peaches just continued to stare at the three men across from her. Her eyes narrowed into a glare.

"We don't have any clues as to who dug up the bodies. How do you expect us to do anything when there isn't a single clue?" said the oldest of the three men. He was a rather strange horse with bindings that laced the back of his neck.

Peaches growled. "Perhaps you should ask the Undertaker?"
The three men were of an average rank. Peaches did have a bit of sway because of her court title. They, however, were fulled with more bullshit than most of the court members. "We asked him, Ma'am, and he said he hadn't seen anything."

"Any idiot would know that he's lying. Ask him. Don't politely go up to him and ask him out for tea. I mean ask him what he has seen." Her words were slowly coming out as hisses because of her exasperation. If she had claws in her human form, she surly would have destroyed the table that she was clutching.

"What are you implying?"

That was it. Peaches had enough. She stood up and stormed towards the door in fluid motion. Kicking the door open she grabbed the man who was standing outside by his bindings. Slamming him against the wall of the house she hissed up at him.

"Who dug up the bodies?"

"I-I don't know what you're talking about."

He was a Spade. She noted the mark on his chest and smirked. She activated her pain ability.

The expression on his face was one of confusion at first. It continued to change as he felt his arms slowly moving into an awkward position. "What? I-I don't know who took the bodies."
Peaches didn't need to say anything. She continued the focus on the spell. The Corvie was standing in the doorway, the police were behind him staring blankly.

"You might as well tell her the truth," The Corvie said with a smile as he watched the man grimace.

The pressure was building. The discomfort that she had lived with for her entire life was showing on the man's uncomfortable expression. Pain. Suffering. He wore bindings but he didn't know the half of it. Being beaten for taking her jacket off, getting her jacket tightened as punishment. As much as she hated it, she loved it.

And this man could only hate the pain.

"I swear, I don't know!"

"Lies," she hissed, not letting go of her concentration.

"Your arms are going to kill you pretty soon, might want to think of answering her quickly." The Corive said as he kicked one of the police back. He may have been a low ranking card, but he had enough spunk to startle them.

"I-I don't know their names! They just come to me and offer me money to keep me quiet!"

She kept the spell activated.

"I swear to the Highland Hills I don't know anymore!"
She didn't let go of the spell until he started choking. He fell the the ground sputtering when she released him. She looked to the police, all of which had startled and horrified expressions on their faces. "I think you should ask him some more. He might appreciate a soft touch after that."

The said nothing as they filed past the man to arrest him.

"Wait," Peaches said. "Do you happen to know if there's anyone else who can take care of the graveyard?"

They all looked at her in confusion.

"Don't give the lady those looks. She's obviously asking because she's concerned about the grave robbers. What would happen if they came back tonight, for example? You should have someone here and a new Undertaker to protect the graveyard."

The police weren't fond of the Corvistowneian sprouting directions and "suggestions" to them. However when Peaches nodded they agreed. "There's a woman in town willing to do the job, I'm sure. We'll also get an office out here soon."

"Good," Peaches said quietly as she wandered back into the small cramped house.

She sat down, staring at the tea. This really was happening. Her brother's remains had been stolen... and there was nothing she could do about it. What could someone want to do with a body that was decomposing like that anyway? She shudder to think as she put her head on the table, wrapping her arms around herself.
She felt a soft hand pet her on the top of her head. It was the wolf dear with the silly mane. "Everything's going to be fine."

"You're good at lying," she muttered through her sleeves.

---

Falling to Bits
+He's left No one, no where

.

It was a lie he had created for himself. That he was alone in the world. He had met people though. Many of them he wanted to see again, but he had always been afraid. What if they found out, what if they learned his secret? Everything would fall apart in front of him like it did in his childhood.

He sighed as she sat in a tree. Tulgey Woods was a strange place to end up, but he found himself there. He had heard plenty of rumors about the inhabitants hatred of outsiders—and rumors that all the inhabitants were mad. To avoid any of it, he changed his appearance to match the region. He really wasn't fond of all the white, but he wasn't about to complain when it prevented him from dying or having any sort of hassle.

Well, he still had the hassle of where he was going to sleep for the night. He didn't want to deal with people or a hotel in the gloomy little town in Torquehelm.

This really sucked. No place to go, no one to stay with. All alone. He would ever be able to have a normal life no matter how hard he tired, so why was he sitting here and moping over it. That was stupid. He should just go out there and find someone.

He sighed shifting in the tree to get more comfortable. Would he be safe here if he spent the night?

He wondered what that girl Thyme was doing. She was a wonderful person, he just hoped that she didn't end up like her horrible aunt.

Why in the name of all the suits did that come up? What had made him think about her all of a sudden.

Conway made a frustrated noise, fiddling with the bracelet that was around his wrist. Even if he changed his appearance to match that of a Tulgey, he normally didn't removed the bone bracelet. The spine disconnected, yes, but the bracelet would definitely remain. It gave his hands something to do.

He couldn't just sit here and do nothing. The man shifted so he could jump out of the tree.

He stopped in mid-motion, however, when he found that someone was watching him. His eyes widened as he looked down at the figure. It was human, black hair, and...

It was George.

He let out a small sigh of relief. However, it would probably be difficult to explain to him why he looked the way he did.
Staying up in the tree seemed like a better idea.

He shifted again so he could sit properly out of the Torque's view. As much as he appreciated George, at the moment he didn't feel like coming up with an elaborate explanation. He really hoped that he hadn't completely seen him. That would have been terribly awkward to explain.

But from what Conway was hearing he was still standing down there, probably staring up at the tree confused as to what he was seeing. Not everyone would climb up a tree in this part of the wood, he was sure.

Oh fine. FINE. He would deal with people. Stupid fate. Why couldn't it just leave him alone for once.

He shifted back to his normal coloration before making his way down the tree. Even when one of the limbs snapped while he was getting down, he had somehow managed to land on his feet without breaking anything.

"Hi," Conway said with a small wave as he took a twig out of his pants.

***

Who didn't have nightmares? Things that were horrible happened to him over the years, but very few of them ended up nightmares.
Tonight, one of the rare nights he got proper sleep, he had woke up crying and choking.

It was a time he never wanted to recall. It was as bad as his mother's suicide and his father's murder, but in a drastically different way. He shook his head, trying to ignore all the horrible thoughts.

What was today? What was yesterday?

He made a frustrated growl as he tried to calm himself down.
It was all his fault. His uncle had said it clearly to his face. It was his fault for being born a monster then? He didn't ask to be someone's pet for two years, he didn't ask to be someone's play thing. It wasn't his fault he was different. He was born that way.
But those words wouldn't go away. They had rang true in his for years on end.

It wasn't his fault. He knew it wasn't his fault. A distressed noise escaped his mouth again. This was stupid. He was falling apart over a dream.

His heart shouldn't be pounding because of what an old man had said. His Uncle had been wrong. Conway deserved to live. It wasn't his fault his mother had died or his father was a child molester. It wasn't June's fault either. They were only children, they didn't have control over the people who gave birth to them.

They shouldn't have had.

But his mother had done everything for him.
Stupid. Stupid. Get over yourself. It isn't all your fault.
The knock on the door caused him to snap his head around, eyes wide.

Right. It was morning. No need to panic.

***
In a tree again. There he sat staring at the other tree tops, debating what to do with himself.

Why did he like high places so much anyway? He sighed as he pulled out a small ball of yarn from his pocket, along with a set of needles. He might as well do something else with his hands while he was up here.

He still had no plan on what to do. He didn't want to be a hired assassin anymore. He couldn't have a normal job because of his problem with talking around people. He couldn't do what he loved for a job because people would know him that way. He was at a complete and utter loss. He was just another stray in the world with no place to go.

And yet there were so many people he wanted to see. Maybe he should go back to Hisstor. Javaid would be there no matter what. June would be stuck where she was for a long while. George was always in the Wood, as far as Conway was concerned. That girl named Thyme was up in the air. He paused his his knitting to contemplate why she kept coming up in his head.

She was an interesting sort of Highlander. Not the typical Highlander who swaggered out of the Highlands to make a point. Elitism just didn't seem to be in her. She was strange. Not as strange at that crazy sister of hers who destroyed just about everything she touched.

Wait. Her sister was a Tulgey wasn't she?

He raised an eyebrow as he looked into the Wood.

"I could try it. It just depends on how badly I want to die today."

---

Discord
+Memories are a Burden

Keeping a record of the past was customary for things that needed remembering. Scrapbooks, albums, journals, were all things used to keep the traditions alive on paper. Words of mouth kept things alive too. Legends. Everyone wanted to leave their mark on the realms. Even the people who claimed to disappear were afraid to die. They were afraid of being forgotten.

Memories were skewed. Even the written word was proof of that. No matter what a moment in time could never be relived, no matter how strange or horrifying.

It was all just a lie. Time didn't matter. Life didn't matter. None of it mattered in The End.

But there never was an end. It was forever a paradox of continuing time, but when you were dead how would you know if time continued?

And yet Peaches was sitting and having tea with a Joker and a Rabbit.

It was a moment in history all her own. A secret that she would keep with her until her dying day. Was it a sin to keep it all to herself. Her private and skewed little world that she held so dear?
She took a sip of the tea. It was a new blend that Hatter had come up with. He looked at her with hopeful and excepting eyes, awaiting her reaction. Marchie had already given his approval. Even he was waiting for her response. She was the center of attention in a room of impossibilities and legends.

Being the center of attention was still a nightmare. "It's fantastic! I do enjoy how you used a hint of strawberry to compliment the flavor of the other fruits."

He did his typical Hatter response.

The Perfect Stranger who Shouldn't Exist.

Was this another skewed memory?

***

She didn't like days when the palace became a drudgery. She had joined the courts to have fun and do a bit of paperwork on the side. Today she was buried in a mountain of the paperwork. Peaches growled to herself as she buried her head in her arms. It wouldn't have been so big if she hadn't run off to find out about her brother's grave.

Which was still an unsolved mystery.

She wanted to talk to someone about it. Her Perfect Stranger, but when she had opened her mouth to do so she had found the words were stuck. She couldn't bring herself to speak such horrible words in front of him. She had spoken to him in more confidence than anyone, and yet she couldn't tell him about this.

He was one of the few people who knew how her brother had died.
He didn't know the whole truth, but she didn't want him to know the whole truth. What if he did something stupid? She didn't want him to get hurt.

But didn't that concern make him more than a Perfect Stranger?
She gave a frustrated growl into her arms.

There was knock on the door.

"Go away!" she called out. It was childish but at the moment she didn't want to deal with people.

"Your Excellency, I have some more paperwork for you," said the servant without opening the door.

"Go away!" Peaches repeated.

He opened the door anyway. She shifted so she could watch him with narrowed eyes, flopping the paperwork on the already massive pile. She continued to glare at him when he hovered there.

"Are you all right, Your Excellency?"

"Go. Away." Peaches said flatly, still muffled by her arms.
The man sighed, obviously he thought her childish actions were ridiculous. What did she care what he thought of her? She was the one with a title—and what was he? He was just some servant who through paperwork at her time and time again. He was a jerk for judging her.

He closed the door behind him, leaving the Jack to glared at the door and paperwork that she had been given.
This was utterly annoying.

Sighing she stood up to stare at the massive pile. It was almost as tall as she was when it was sitting on the desk. Why wasn't there someone else to do this paperwork. Sure she got some of the weird stuff that needed approving, but this was just utterly retarded. Surely one of the other Jacks could do it, she wasn't that bloody important.

Oh screw it. She'd slack off some more before doing some real work. If she wanted to she could do everything in lightening speed and have it done before the next morning's light.
She walked out of her office and down the hallway, looking for someone or something to pester.

A Corvie light bulb would have appeared over her head as she stopped in mid-motion in front of Bernard's door.

Her usual smirk appeared on her face as she slowly edge towards the door. She placed her head on it to make sure he was alone.
She knocked briefly, she didn't await a response as she opened the door and popped her head in.

"Hiiiii! What's the old man up to today?" she said cheerfully awaiting his usual 'I have no idea what to think of your crazy' face.

[Kari Muffin]

It's the end!

Warm fuzzy chapter and a ".....argh" chapter. End with a bang. <3

I'd have more to say, but I'm just happy it's over. XD

---

Song
+Trying to remain truthful

Sometimes she had to wonder what the point was. All her dreams and aspirations were bottled up into one hope and one dream, and yet... sometimes even she had doubts of if she should be here. She had power, but she couldn't change anything as long as people didn't want change.

Change, funny how she hated it, but wanted it so badly.
The feline's whiskers twitched as she sat down at the edge at her desk. She had done all of her paperwork, and was left with nothing but an empty desk. She sighed as she opened the desk draw. Pulling out a piece of parchment and a pen. She quickly sketched the the Heart Crest on the paper.

A heart with a crown. Majestic and royal. That was what the Hearts were supposed to be.

She had started a youth group to help children learn heart pride. Her own children had taken part in her teachings. She could only go so far—she wasn't a master of all weaponry. If she had something beyond her axe she was thrown off. Even if it was the same type, it wasn't quite hers. She could correct herself, but it didn't feel right.
The door clicked open, a yellow and white face peaked through the door, blond mane almost hanging down to the floor.

Another head popped through the door. Green mist floating up from the eyes. She raised an eyebrow as she looked up from her doodles. "What are you two up to?"

"Well..." Xander started.

"Mommy! I accidentally broke something again! I'm sorry!" Othello said with a small flail.

His brother opened the door all the way, catching Othello with is other hand as he tumbled over. The feline liked his mixed brother's cheek. The mixed realm shifted as he looked in his mother's general direction.

"Sorry Mom," Xander said as he padded forward. His bindings were missing yet again. He had probably dropped them off somewhere when he went to take care of Othello. His bindings "didn't get in the way" but he liked her, he often tripped over his bindings. There was something that he did that worried her though. More often than not Xander said that he wasn't a pure Torquehelm.

He bowed his head. "I was off playing with Vir, and when I came back the plates in our room was shattered. He was pretty panick ridden over it... I manged to clean it up, but Othello is pretty stressed."

"It's fine," Xiven said as she stood up to walk over to Othello. He was sitting quietly his eyes closed and his head down. He didn't want to see things in his Mommy's office. Everywhere he went the horrible visions followed him. Future. Past. Present. He couldn't tell the difference.

Xiven reached down and touched her son's head. "It's no big deal Othello. Everything's fine."

"But Mom, all I really do is mess things up. I break thinks, a-and I'm really sorry." Othello stuttered rubbed his head against his mother's hand. The look on his face was heartbreaking. It also sounded painfully familiar.

Xiven sighed as she sat down on the floor, pulling her son on her lap. He was getting to big for it, but either way he was put up no protest. Xander watched his mother carefully with a smile on his face. He was sure that not many people got to see the soft side of his mother. Xander padded next to his mother, smiling as he sat behind her.

"But...Mommy," Othello said quietly.

"Don't but me, Othello," Xiven said quietly as she scratched the boy on the chin. "You're not a normal boy, I'm not going to lie. That doesn't make you useless though. There are plenty of people who can't see. They learn to live with it, and most of those people are great."

He whimpered.

"I know you don't believe me because I'm your mother. I didn't believe my mother when she said I was great too." She sighed.

"But you're a Queen."

"That doesn't mean anything in the long run." Xiven said quietly. "I didn't have any confidence in myself when I was your age. You're just as strong as me and your Mother. You just won't realize it until you're older."

Xander hopped into the conversation. "Mommy's right!"

Othello, honestly, didn't believe her. Mommy did treat him just like she treated everyone else though. A frown twitched on his lips.

Xander's face fell.

Xiven sighed. "Of course you don't believe your mother, a Titled Queen, who knows more about you than you realize. But if you want to see things in that light, you can Othello."

He was confused. He never could understand either of his parents. They didn't make sense most of the time. Othello looked up at her with bright green eyes, he couldn't see her, but he could feel the look she was giving her.

Hopeful.

"Xiven," said a familiar voice.

Xiven leaned backwards to look at the source, even if she knew who it was. "Hello Rhi, your son is being self doubting again."

"Daddy! Daddy!" Xander said happily as he rushed towards her.
A happy family, huh? Xiven's ears twitched at the very thought. In happy families there were always secerets. She couldn't help but wonder what there's would be.

Why was it so hard to find the truth.

---

Let Us hear his Alibis
+His life is a Lie

Living in darkness. Living in fear. Living in waiting for that moment where you realize there's nothing but the end. He stood in front of the Doctor's office, his head on the door. The news wasn't what he had hoped for, but it was indeed news.

He needed to stop stressing. He needed to be careful. Everything and nothing could put him over the edge of snapping. He wondered what happened to that day where he was having teas with strangers. There were no strange looks form them, no fear of power. He had visited his beloved family before hand.

Was it all just a lie he had fabricated for himself. Had he been secretly overwhelmed the entire time, thinking about what to do next for the courts. It was going to kill him. The Courts and all his elaborate plans of trying to save Aces were going to kill him. That is assuming no one decided to come up behind him and stab him in the back.

"I'm such an idiot," he muttered to himself. He could feel his eye watering. He shook it off and stepped away from the door.
Work. Work and family. That's all he had ever had, and that's all he ever wanted.

But that wasn't true. There was that day where he promised to protect the land. He had promised with all his ideals that he needed to step up and save the world from itself. His dreams weren't crushed as long as he was still breathing. The wheels were in motion for his plan on starting an orphanage of sorts. A place where children with no families could get caring and an education.
Of course even that plan could go wrong. If he wasn't careful it could become a nightmare for anyone staying there.

Why was everything so complicated.

He walked down the hall. There weren't that many people buzzing around today. Of course, the courts had never been full since he originally joined. It was just "the way things were." They shouldn't have been that way, but it was.

Complications made life. They were a challenge to overcome. Semantics. Politics. All of it was made of pretty words.

"What happens when you lose faith in everything when you're on the top of everything?" He asked the empty hallway.

It wasn't as if he expected an answer.

This was stupid.

Every single thing he was thinking was stupid. Every little problem, every little nightmare. It was all a giant joke in the grand scheme of things. And yet he couldn't even defeat the own voices of doubt that existed in his head.

Voices and dreams shouldn't be able to control him. Nor the visions he had of his future. His death, his family walling to the four winds. None of it was set in stone, he had power over the future as long as their was breath in him.

The servant he passed in the hallway blushed and hurried past him. Someone new to the palace who bowed their head when entering a room. She was a pretty little thing with a human form.

"Excuse me," he called out as she made her way past him. She was almost around the corner when she stopped.

She gave him a questioning glance, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Could you have some tea sent to my room?"

She smiled at him and bowed, "Of course, Your Majesty." And then she hurried off down the corridors.

He watched her hair trail behind her. He was once again alone in the hallway. Alone. He turned to continue down the bend. He never expected to end up with a happy family, friends, and so much power that it seemed like it was some elaborate dream.
But when he slept he knew what was real. The birds still had voices. At night he still heard nightmares. When could he ever have a proper night of sleep? When he was dead? No. That probably wouldn't be the case for someone like him.

Did he believe in God or any force like that? He didn't know anymore. Over the years lines had been blurred. He couldn't quite understand where everything was.

He eventually found himself in his study. The journal he had been writing in was laid out in front of him. How long had it been since he had gone to see that therapist of his? Court matters had made everything so blurry. He hardly had time to worry about his health, mental or physical.

And when he did he always found out horrible news.
Of course that might have something to do with the fact that he waited until the last possible minute to seek help. Without Rogers looking over his shoulder it was hard to keep himself in check. Theofilus was old enough to know where to stop, but he never stopped there.

There was a small knock on his door. "Come in," he called out.
The girl from before slipped in. A smile on her face, as she set the tea on a small table next to his writing desk. She gave him a bow before moving to make a departure.

"Could you wait for a moment."

Theofilus watched as she froze in motion. She pulled back to look at him with a confused expression. She seemed to try to speak, but no words came out.

"I need your opinion on something."

"Y-Your Majesty?" She blinked in confusion. "I'm only a Ten of Diamonds. What would you need my opinion for?"

"Your rank has no bearing in your opinion." Theofilus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Could you tell me what you think of me?"

"W-what your Majesty?"

"What do you think of me. I want your honest opinion."

"I... I think you're a wonderful man. I-I've only heard rumors about you, but from what I hear you adore your family and treat everyone with respect." She blushed a bright crimson.

There was a knock on the door. Someone popped their head in the room before Theofilus could make any sort response. "Your Majesty! Something very important has happened! Someone...is here to see you! You need to come downstairs down now!"

The servant was speaking in a panicked tone that Theofilus had never heard before. He stood up, giving the canine a look over his glasses. (Sometimes his looks failed because of his glass eye, but this message rang loud and clear.)

They hurried down the halls. Theofilus dearly hoped that this was as important as the servant had made it.

They came to a room, the servant fumbled with the door handle. Once it was open, he gave a low bow, stepping to the side to allow the Queen to walk through the door. Theofilus looked back at the servant girl who had a worried expression on her face.
He took a step through the threshold.

And there. There before him was one of his worst nightmares wrapped up in the prettiest packages he had ever seen. A deadly packaged in the form of a Yarrow Queen.

He shouldn't have gotten up from bed this morning.