Chattering Monkeys

Darth · Guest

Adajia was by far one of the quietest kingdoms in all of Uchuu. It’s history was not marred by that of bloody conflicts, like the Neo-Russians, or of inner-turmoil, like the Neo-French. No, when one spoke of Adajia, they spoke of peace.

In the lands past, to keep this harmony, eight individuals were chosen to embody eight different elements: water, fire, ice, forest, light, dark, wind, and lightning. Each were giving eight sacred weapons to help channel these powers and their elements were at their command. They were known as sages.

Centuries told of these warriors that protected the land. They destroyed all conflict, all turmoil, before it reached the ears of their countrymen. They fought in wars outside their own lands, even becoming generals in the Great War of the gods. The sages were unstoppable.

But alas, where there is power, there is corruption.

The sage’s powers are passed down through blood. Though granted with eternal life, even when their powers have been given to their chosen offspring, these warriors would grow weary, as any would, with such a stressful life. The passing of the powers…it was tradition.

But a thousand years ago, a set of the sages refused to give up their powers. They threatened the lands with their unearthly strength, almost overthrowing the king. But his table of knights, trained from birth, defeated them…and were forced to kill them. So bent on domination, they did not produce children…and the sage power floated around aimlessly without a possessor.

A century passed and the sages were remembered as nothing more than a tale. Their shrines were left to decay and the safety of the kingdom was left solely on the shoulders of the knights. They did well, but disputes came more often and weren’t dealt with nearly as quickly. But the new generations knew no better.

A prince was born to King Sai and Raitalya Esperanza. He was a blessing, loved by the kingdom and all those around him. The Prince Tate Esperanza. He was followed by his sister Rei Anya Esperanza whom in which their mother tragically died giving birth to. King Sai, selfishly consumed with depression, sent her away to another manor away from the Adajian castle, raised only by her governesses.

Tate grew, taking on the responsibilities of being the future king. He assembled his table of knights amongst those that had not proven themselves in a typical fashion, but had confirmed themselves as being the perfect choice. His first knight was Adrian Uzumo Valentine, an Italian born with the blood of a falcon. His second was Jynrei Li, a Thai/Korean man whom forced himself to have amnesia to forget the horrors of the death of his family. The third knight was Ryan Adams, a British born orphan who found his father was the very man that ran the orphanage he was raised in. Fourth was Emaurri Kauffmann, also known as ‘Tesstory’, a German con artist who was reborn as a knight of Adajia. Fifth to join was Lakyle, who on some cases took the last name ‘Cehimiar’, a man born in the Kelic race who needed the extra knight money to form his rock band. The last was the youngest, Tidus Fay, a Neo-American catboy who was awed by the knights and was intent on becoming one. Tate had completed his table and had the most dysfunctional but loyal group known in Adajian account.

Tate was to set out to be married at the young age of 16, or, at least to find his bride. He met many but settled on one of the only one’s he saw fit to be with him for eternity: Rekha Mure. They talked often through the use of magic…but one day, unfortunately, she just vanished.

Heartbroken, Tate’s father forced him to marry his choice of wife: Mira. Seductive to a fault, Tate gave her the benefit of the doubt. But one dark evening, he found she’d been pregnant in the most morbid of ways and her nonchalance to the loss left him dismayed. The knights recognized their king’s depression and took it upon themselves to take him away to the other side…attaining a mansion in one of the quieter areas in New York, they set out of the find Tate’s first choice: Rekha.

A tale so different yet so similar was spun on a separate place. Born of a family that had mafia blood going back for endless decades, Lysa wanted no such life. Her father understood, gave her a heart-shaped ship, and she sailed away. The ship was lonesome but she slowly gained crewmates, each story different than the next.

Caitlin was abandoned, for the most part, because there was not one of her. One moment she could be a raging battle-hungry Skyla, a seductress Kaitlyn, or the strangely happy ‘Tiger’. She was alone…but Lysa accepted her onto her ship and they sailed.

But in another world, on the other side, three others lived, seeking a new place to go. They were in school, junior high, a place none of them wanted to be. They all left the home they’d known for 12 or 13 years. For Andrea, it was a way to escape all the repercussions of something she couldn’t control. For Van, it was to just be free. And they both dragged Laura there in the end.

They ended up in Japan, wandering about to find a purpose. After a few months, they found a lone man, a samurai, something that had long vanished in their own world. He taught them how to fight, how to use weapons, grew fond of them…much later, fate would take him away. But he enabled them to set out on their own…when the three saw the heart shaped boat sitting on the shore, they asked to join, to see the rest of this new place.

Andrea’s family came to join her for a spell. Tamar, someone they’d all known back in the old world, came as well. But then they picked up another…

He was too small to really remember…he would assume that Jesse adopted him because he was an orphan. Though for all he knew he did still have parents and he was just kidnapped. But he couldn’t remember…

Jon would always remember the cabin. He’d remember the smell of wood burning in the fireplace, the papers scattered across the floor, the ink that stained the wooden desk…but most of all he remembered he’d lost his innocence in that place, anywhere that Jesse saw fit.

It was the only life he knew. He knew that Jesse probably cared about him more than anyone else would…

But somewhere along, some time that he didn’t quite remember, he got fed up.

He didn’t remember how…he didn’t remember the why…but he remembered the flames. They engulfed that damned cabin and he watched emotionlessly before turning away. He remembered the flames…

And he remembered that they took Jesse away.

He didn’t know where he would go…he was 12, what else could he do? He needed to survive…

For a while, he did odd jobs while training himself. He taught himself how to fight, how to handle weapons, things that would help him to protect himself. Soon, it became more than that…he became a mercenary.

He became well-known in that area, the first one that an employer would turn to. One day, though, he was hired to kill some pirates that had been wreaking havoc, stealing at whim. So he went on his way as any other job.

And it would have been…had it not been a setup.

There were men posted to kill the pirates AND him. It was rather infuriating that someone wanted to off him as well…

The captain, a smaller woman, unleashed a chain with a sickle at the end, impaling the men effortlessly. The odd combination of ninja and samurai took down a good amount as well. He aided out of vengeance and soon enough, all the assassins were eliminated.

The captain walked to him, demanded what he was doing on their ship in the first place. He admitted that he’d been hired to kill them and he still had some intentions of doing so. She seemed almost hurt. But he had no idea how to handle this situation. Another of them questioned why it seemed he was going to be killed along with them then. Were those men not with him?

It was a good question. What had he done to make someone want to kill him? It didn’t make sense…the captain, though, made him an offer to come with them. He was a mercenary so he could go off and make his money while on the ship and also escape anyone trying to kill him. It only seemed like a reasonable idea at the time because he planned to go through with his job when they least expected it. He just hadn’t gotten around to doing it yet.

They sailed about aimlessly, pillaging at will. They picked up another crewmate, a girl apart of a guild of thieves called the Kitsune. It surprisingly didn’t take much for her to abandon them and join the pirates. She simply shrugged, saying she was bored with that anyway. Her name was Donna.

The final main member they gained oddly…they were pillaging a village in Asia. A girl, Sree, had been wandering around, saw them, and began stealing with them. They weren’t sure what to make of it but when she joined their crew, they asked no questions. They were pirates now, after all. And they were a team.

They sailed as they always did: without destination. But they found themselves low on supplies. Sree spotted an island and they decided to go. But not without knocking Lysa off the ship first. And to top things off, she burned down the ship and they were thankfully rescued by a returning from a mission Jon, Van, and Donna.

They found Lysa caught up in a mission to defeat the reining warlord Malik. And they also found Tate and the knights who’d been searching for them for a year. Attacked by unknown fighters, the knights invited them back to New York, where everything changed.

The pirates and knights were one. They all became an individual unit, eventually bringing down the source of the attacks against Tate and his country: Mira. And not only Mira, but his father, who’d been apart of a plot to bring him home. He’d pretended to be dead. Mira went along with this but took it a step further…she wanted to kill Tate and take control of his kingdom, one way or another. A showdown had them meet in a tower in the castle where she’d captured Sree, Tate’s former fiancée… but when she found herself on the losing side, she jumped out of the tower, taking herself and the unborn heir of Adajia to a watery death.

But the pirates were not meant just to be pirates. The drifting power of the former sages found themselves drawn to them. They chose them. And soon, the pirate’s new strengths were unleashed. Van became the Sage of Water, finding the scythe, Aquarius, in a watery battle with Jynrei’s brother, Khin. Andrea, the Sage of Wind, found the Tai Chi blade, Sirocco in a fight against one of Malik’s own scientists. Laura, the Sage of Earth, or, Forest, found her longbow, Labyrinth, in a battle against one of Mira’s many hired men. Donna, the Sage of Fire, found her rapier, Pyre, when caught in a revenge attempt against Tesstory. Jon, the Sage of Ice, found Tsurara, the changeling sword, while rescuing Tidus. Lysa, the Sage of Light, found her sickle-glaive, Illumina, while rescuing a Calian village. And finally, Caitlin, the Sage of Darkness, found her arm-blades, Nocturne, while battling with a demon from Grrangr.

The pirates were the legendary sages now…the knights stood side by side with them. The sages were now to protect the land, like those before them.

And everything was well again.

Tate closed the book, staring outward, wondering if he’d covered everything. He had recorders for such things but he felt only he could truly describe such a story. After all, he had lived it.

He felt uneasy after a moment. Though he had to wonder if another one was going to begin…this…this was entirely unsettling. He’d sent Adrian and the knights to find out what was going on, as not to alarm the sages too early.

Yes, it was there job, but if he alarmed the sages, he alarmed Sree.

He sighed, idly staring at the stack of papers beside him containing everything she wanted for their wedding…a cave and a chocolate fountain…was nothing easy anymore?

“Yo.”

Tate’s head shot at the sudden voice.

Adrian Valentine.

Tate stood, “Hey…did you find anything?”

Adrian, wearing dark shades, was unreadable, remaining quiet. That irritated Tate. This was important to not only Adajia, but all of Uchuu. There was no time to wait.

But the redhead walked over to window and stared out, resting his hand absently on his hip. Tate scowled and walked over, remotely mimicking his stance.

“WELL?”

“It’s not looking good, man.”

Tate grimaced, “What do you mean? What did you find?”

“All the high priests and priestesses said that the whole realm of Shakraita has vanished.”

“That’s impossible. That’s billions of demons running around, Adrian” Tate shook his head in disbelief.

“Well, as the system goes, they just go back to Grrangr. However, I used one of Lysa’s resources. Cassandra, Jack’s mother?”

“Yes…”

“She said that even Grrangr seems a little unsettled. And that though it’s strangely crowded, all the eternally damned can’t be there.”

“This might seem like a really farfetched question, but didn’t another of Lysa’s companions have a…heavenly connection? Is everything all right in Shaliam and Vezea?”

“Czar Darien said when he contacted Ezranaiya that he found nothing out of the ordinary in either places. But honestly, if there were problems there, I wouldn’t be as concerned.”

Tate swallowed, mumbling, “Should we leave this to someone else? I mean…is it our duty to take on something like this?”

Adrian looked displeased, “The hell? What happened to the Tate who said he’d jump into action, unlike his father?”

“That’s war. This is supernatural.”

Adrian rolled his eyes, “I’ll have you know that my fiancée and the rest of your fiancee’s crew are pretty supernatural themselves.”

“So you’d throw them into this.”

Adrian went silent for a moment, “I don’t want to, if that’s what you’re asking. But…I also know that they will end up fighting this eventually. Why not do it while it hasn’t escalated?”

Tate was surprised, “Because it already IS big. All the demons that Shakra has taken care of since the creation of Uchuu are gone? Are they really that powerful?”

Adrian sighed, “I don’t know, Tate. I’m not saying this is going to be a walk in the park, I’m just saying we should get it out of the way now.”

“…I don’t want to mess with this” Tate shook his head, “My kingdom has already had to deal with Mira’s tyranny. I won’t throw them into some unnatural war.”

“Damn it all, Tate” snapped Adrian, “You’re making a mistake! We know about it NOW. We have the power to take care of it now!”

“I’ve always listened to your advice, Adrian, but this once I think this is the best way” sighed Tate.

“Tate, these are DEMONS we’re talking about. We need to tell the sages. They can decide for themselves if they want to pursue it.”

Tate scowled, “You will do no such thing. I don’t want the sages to know a thing about this.”

“What? What are you keeping from us NOW?”

Tate and Adrian jumped a little out of surprise before glancing towards the door.

Andrea and Sree stood there, staring at the two questioningly. Tate felt a tad alarmed, wondering how much the two had possibly heard.

Sree wouldn’t take this happily if he was lying to her but he really didn’t want to make a big deal out of this. Any of the other kingdoms could have the problem taken care of in a matter of weeks. So why involve themselves?

Adrian rubbed his chin, remarking, possibly cutting his eyes at Tate, “Oh, just a surprise for the wedding, is all. I thought it’d be one of those things he’d want to run past you guys first, but y’know Tate.”

Tate narrowed his eyes at Adrian, somehow maintaining his smile, irritated he’d have to find some huge surprise now, “Yes…”

Sree didn’t look so sure. She walked closer and smirked, “I’ll stab you in the eye with a pencil if you’re lying, TTATE!”

Tate grimaced and Adrian smirked as well, brows raising, “Well, take that into thought, King.”

Tate scowled darkly at him as he wandered over to his fiancée. Tate turned back to his and pasted on a bright smile, pulling her into a hug.

“Really, dear, it’s a surprise…”

“I don’t want a surprise.”

”Well, you’ll have to have one. I’ve been planning for a while…”

Adrian crossed his arms, glancing at his wife, “Look at those two, making out right in front of us. No shame.”

“I know, seriously” Andrea joked.

“You” Sree said threateningly, pushing Tate away.

Adrian laughed and turned back to her before cocking a brow, taking her hand, “So….you weren’t wearing your engagement ring while I was away, eh?”

“More like it was sliding off my finger every second of the day.”

He sighed, “So you lost it?”

“Of course not. It’s at the market being fitted now. Sree and I were on our way there to go shopping with the others. I’ll pick it up then. I just wanted to see if you were home…”

He smiled some, “For the moment. I’ll call you when Tate and I are done chatting.”

“Right…I’ll talk to you later then.”

Sree waved at Tate and the two exited. Adrian and Tate watched after them in silence for five long moments when Tate murmured.

“Do you really want her or the others to be involved in something so dangerous, Adrian? Do you know how much their lives would be at risk?”

Adrian remained silent for a moment.

“Maybe.”

Weird Pictures that happen randomly

Well, I was testing out all the reactions and expressions and I needed Tate to hold still while I messed around with us…and I used the ‘I’m going crazy’ animation. Lol, it’s weird.

Darth · Guest

“Oh, c’mon, Jon, tell me!”

“Nope.”

It was one of those fall days…not too hot, not too cold. It was raining, which didn’t bother any of them and it was just perfect. The sages orchestrated a trip to the Adajian market to shop and have lunch. Jon had come previously with Tidus so he’d seen all this particular store had to offer so he just leaned against one of the beams. Donna, however, saw it fit to question him over an argument he had had with Tidus as he was meeting up with them.

Lately, the younger knight had seemed displeased, claiming that Jon didn’t take their relationship seriously. Jon knew that this was only because he saw that Adrian, Tesstory, and Tate were going to get married soon. But Jon couldn’t marry Tidus…he was only 15, there was plenty of time…

And that may not have been the only reason…

Commitment this early seemed like it’d only lead to trouble. He’d wondered if Lysa, Donna, and Andrea saw that but whatever.

Donna shot him a pout, interrupting his muse, “You never tell me anything.”

He sighed, “It wasn’t important Donna.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the others as a show of ignoring anything else Donna would have to say. Laura and Caitlin were chatting about something or the other, Van and Sree were browsing statues and jewelry as Andrea and Lysa browsed clothes. He really hoped that Tidus would get over this soon though. These little fits he threw weren’t like him at all.

The cashiers stared at Sree, almost as if in awe. The future queen of Adajia…wandering about, doing her on shopping. It almost made Jon cringe, thinking about her in some royal position. He wondered if Tate knew that hell would have to freeze over twice before she became anything close to acting royal. But he supposed that didn’t matter…

Donna was still questioning him but he hadn’t really heard anything but ‘why’ and ‘who’ so it was best not to ask, he’d assume.

The cashier called Andrea over, a box in his hand.

“Sweet, it fits…” she commented, trying to ring on.

Replacing it in the box, she paid the man for his services. Laura crossed her arms, shaking her head.

“I still don’t see why you’re getting married so early. YOU just turned 18.”

“Eh, nothing better to do” she commented, offhandedly.

Laura shook her head and Caitlin pondered, “Well, you can go to school.”

“Ha, that’s funny.”

“Yea, that definitely wouldn’t be cool” she agreed.

“I’M getting married too, y’know! I want to get married NOOWWW” Sree interjected loudly.

“I feel so bad for Tate” teased Laura.

“Hey!”

Lysa laughed, readjusting her purse, “I know, what made him go after you again?”

“You bitco!”

Sree chased after her and she laughed, running out of the store. Andrea shook her head, “Those two…but I am starving. Let’s go get something to eat.”

“Pregnant again?” Jon said casually.

“Whateverrrr” she stuck out her tongue.

Soon, they were seated at the outside bistro. They all chattered away, going from one conversation to the next. The ‘pregnant’ comment, though, brought up an interesting topic.

“I definitely don’t want kids” Laura said plainly.

“Me either” Caitlin agreed.

“Loozahs!” proclaimed Sree, “You have to reproduce so the universe won’t DIE!”

“But what if you just have a bunch of kids instead?” Laura countered.

“So what? Those are my kids, got it?!”

“My babies will be so cute” Lysa said happily, sipping her drink, “They’ll be half-elves.”

“Oh yea, I forgot about that” Jon replied.

Andrea stared at her menu absently, “I don’t think Adri wants kids…”

“WHAT? Kill him!” declared Sree.

“I don’t know. It’s Adrian. He’ll probably always be so self-conscious and he’s so freaked out that our kids would look like him” she sighed, dropping her menu.

“Well, hypothetically speaking, all your kids would look like you, wouldn’t they? All his traits are recessive” Laura added.

“I told him that once but he doesn’t believe me” she sighed, playing with her straw.

“What about you, Jon?” questioned Donna, “Any kids?”

Jon hadn’t thought about it in a while. Children seemed like a big responsibility. But he did kind of want to be a dad…

“Maybe.”

“See, Caitlin, you and Laura are the only ones that don’t want to have kids!” Donna suddenly shouted.

Andrea scowled at the loud noise and Laura didn’t particularly pleased at this piece of information being blurted out. But Caitlin simply shrugged.

“If you guys want kids, that’s cool…and look, you didn’t ask Van.”

“Well, not too many” Van admitted.

“SEEE?” sang Donna.

The food arrived and the conversation turned from children to marriage. Donna was questioned about how she thought Tesstory would be as a husband.

“Fun, duh! That’s all that matters. And he bought me a monkey!”

“IS that all that matters?” questioned Caitlin, “I’d think it’d be a bit more than that.”

“I think as long as you can actually ENJOY being married, then it shouldn’t be too much of an issue” Andrea shrugged, “And if fun makes Donna enjoy her marriage…”

“Hell yea!”

“I just know that Tali would do anything for me” Lysa said happily, “And he makes me feel safe so that feels like it’s enough.”

“I think I like that I feel comfortable around Adrian. I mean, I guess it would be weird if I felt awkward around him but still” Andrea added.

“I like that I can control Tate!”

Andrea smirked at her, “You’re going to be a great wife, Sree.”

“No! I mean I can control him but he’s still not controlled!”

Laura blinked, “I don’t think I get that one…”

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one” Donna smirked.

“What do you like about Tidus, Jonnnn?” Sree sang.

This gave Jon pause and he began to ponder. Well, before he became so upset that they couldn’t married yet, he liked that he was so happy and oblivious, that things didn’t get him down so easily…he was innocent….

It wasn’t the first time that he had to wonder if he was like Jesse was with him. He didn’t want to be like him with Tidus. But…

“Oh, I like that he’s adorable” he answered after a moment.

“Well duh, Jon, is that all?” asked Donna.

Jon went silent, wondering if that WAS all. Andrea, though, stood.

“All righty, enough of that. Let’s get some ice cream.”

They went to another section a little closer to the son to have dessert. Laura paused when her cell phone rang. She answered and waved that she’d be right back.

“I can’t wait for my wedding though” sighed Lysa, “March just seems so far away!”

“Why not have it in November like Sree and Tate?” questioned Donna.

“Because it’ll be cold and I want my wedding to be outside!”

“Yea, sleeved wedding dresses are no fun” joked Andrea.

“Exactly!”

“I just want to say I got married in April. It’s always June. April is sweet” Andrea commented.

“I know, that’s my birthday month” clapped Donna.

“Well, I don’t know if that part is sweet…”

“Ugh, I love you too” Donna snorted.

Andrea smiled smugly and Van giggled, “I want a summer wedding so we can all go swimming.”

“That’d be cool with the whole water sage thing” Andrea nodded.

“YEA!” Sree exclaimed.

Laura came back over, dragging her chair out.

“Ugh, Ryan said that the knights all wanted to go to a club tonight. I’m so not going.”

“Aww, c’mon Lauri, you have to!” Sree proclaimed.

“No.”

“We’ll pretty you up and find some really scanty top to put you in” teased Lysa.

“Definitely not. It wouldn’t look good on me.”

Lysa waved a hand before standing, “Let me call Tali and see if he can go.”

“Ha, she’ll bring Tali so she can act like a donuttt!” Sree proclaimed.

“Hey!” Lysa glared back at her.

Sree giggled sinisterly, “Well, it’s okay to be a donut. I bet Tali-o likes it.”

“Oh, you know it” sighed Lysa airily, walking away.

Jon sighed. Tidus hated when he went to the club because he couldn’t go and thought Jon was doing something. He’d convinced him that he wasn’t, luckily, and Tidus believed him. Now he just got upset because Jon was leaving him alone…he sighed again.

Standing, he stuffed his hands into his pocket and put down the few rlirs for his sundae.

“I have to go make a call. I’m over here.”

They all nodded and he walked back over to the shopping area.

He walked towards the rings to look at the promise rings. A promise ring would have to make Tidus a little happy, right? An engagement ring was the next step up so he wouldn’t complain anymore…right?

“S-sir!”

Jon’s head shot up at the male cashier’s sudden exclamation. The man looked absolutely horrified and was staring at something right behind Jon. Jon started to call Tsurara as he turned around.

…Nothing.

“…Um, something wrong?” he finally asked.

“I-it was…I mean…” the man stuttered.

Jon stared at him a moment longer before walking away. Weird.

Weird things that happen

Jynxy drove us all to the market for this scene in a Suburban I downloaded and he looks so small in it ^^;

Darth · Guest

Adrian leaned against the wall of the club De’Mere. He sighed, glancing to the side, shaking his head. He didn’t know why it was his fiancée and her posse couldn’t show up on time, but…he sighed.

Tate sat awkwardly at the table and Adrian really didn’t have much to say to him. He was firm about not doing anything about this and Adrian felt it to be a foolish decision. However…

“Adrian…” he mumbled, staring at the tablecloth of the club booth.

“What?”

“What if we…inform the sages after all the weddings? Y’know, that way…we can have some calm. We had three years of trauma…just…give them some time to rest” Tate murmured.

Adrian glanced back at him, surprised, before thinking about it for a moment. It would still practically be a year of waiting but a year was definitely better than never so Adrian nodded.

“I’m so glad you guys could sneak me in!” said Tidus, excited.

Tidus Fay was always upset he couldn’t come to places like these with the others, especially Jon. While he still wasn’t old enough, a bouncer that Jynrei and Adrian were friends with started working there so they got him in. He was so excited!

“Yea, well, you watch your back, little buddy” Tesstory warned, “ ‘Gay’ is pouring off you in that outfit.”

Tidus pouted, “But you leant this to me!”

“Well, you might have been okay if we were at a rave or something, but you’re bound to get some boy’s attention.”

Tidus opened his mouth the protest, but sure enough…

“Hey…you must be new around here” he said cheerfully, “You wanna dance?”

Ryan blinked and saw that Tidus was squirming so he tried to interject, “A’tually--”

The boy sent him a glare, “I wasn’t talking to YOU.”

Ryan pursed his lips, muttering something and giving Tidus a commiserating look.

Tidus watched Ryan for a moment, angry that this guy was yelling at his friend. He turned back to say he wasn’t interested but found his hands out, offering to help him up. He was at a loss of words…Oh, why was he such a pushover?

“Sorry, he’s with me.”

Tidus jumped and glanced behind him. Jon had appeared out of nowhere, dressed in a white zip-up sweater that was open at the bottom. Tidus was delighted. The guy walked off, angered.

“It’s about TIME. What took you so long?” questioned Tesstory.

Tidus glanced at all the girls and was a tad taken back. He’d never seen them dressed quite like THIS before. Lysa and Van were giggling as Laura hid her face. Ryan blinked.

“In’resting sha’t ya’ got thurr, Lau.”

“Grr” she mumbled, embarrassed.

“Definitely an interesting shirt you got there too” Adrian commented, raising an eyebrow at his fiancée, “And you walked here in that?”

“Yuppp, have a problem with that?” Andrea questioned.

“Damn skippy.”

She laughed and hugged him. Tate rolled his eyes around, smirking, “And I was making out, huh…”

“Shut up. I can still beat you up” Adrian threatened.

“You’re such a horrible knight” Tate stuck out his tongue.

Adrian just grinned and took her hand, “C’mon, I haven’t seen you in weeks.”

They wandered off to the dance floor with the others following. Tate sat there, a tad glum that soon, the sages would be thrown into something like this again. He didn’t want that.

“What are you doinnnggg? Let’s dance!”

Tate jumped, hardly noticing that his fiancée was sitting right next to him. He smiled brightly, “Uh, let’s just sit for a while, chat a bit.”

“About what??”

“About…anything. Are you happy?”

“NO, we’re not DANCING.”

“Like everyone ELSSSEEEEE.”

He rolled his eyes but couldn’t help smiling, “I mean, on a whole, Sree…do you have everything you always wanted?”

“Nope, but close.”

Tate had to chuckle, “I guess considering some of the things that you do want, that’s not bad.”

“You’re not telling me something” she said suddenly.

He stared at her, wide-eyed, before sighing.

She took his hand and glared at him. He sighed again, entwining her hands, “It’s just some kingdom business bothering me, Sree, and I don’t want to worry you with it before our wedding.”

“You! I care.”

“No you don’t” he said nonchalantly.

“Hey!”

He laughed softly and looked to the side, “Let’s just relax, okay? I just want to pretend that everything’s okay.”

He looked to his knights who were dancing on the floor, in their own little world. He pulled Sree into his side and smiled some. Yea…some calm.

Tidus was having a lot of fun. The music was enthralling. That J. Lo song was playing and everyone was dancing. He found it kind of funny, he’d never seen his fellow knights quite this…loose. He turned back to Jon happily, yelling over the loud music.

“This is great! I want to do it again.”

Jon smiled and nodded and Tidus glanced to Lakyle who was really into it with Caitlin. He giggled, “How was your day?”

“Hmm? Oh, it was good. The sages and I went to the market so Andrea could get her engagement ring fit.”

Tidus blinked cutely, “I’m so happy Adrian’s getting married. He said he wouldn’t for so long.”

“Yea…”

Tidus shifted his eyes, questioning slowly, “Sooo…did you look at rings too?”

“Dropping hints again?”

“I’m just saying! I mean, I can’t wait to get married and have kids, Jon….”

“Tidus…we have plenty of time for that.”

“Why though?” he whined.

“Well…you’re still too young, Tidus” sighed Jon, “You’re only 15. You still have a while before we can get married and have kids.”

Tidus’ happy mood instantly turned into rage, “I knew it! You think I’m just a kid and that’s why you don’t want to be with me!”

“What?? No, that’s--”

His rage turned into upset in a blink of the eye, “I’m not, you know? I know how I feel! Why don’t you believe me?!”

Before Jon could get another word in, Tidus darted from the club. Adrian, who’d stopped dancing, grimaced, and ran after him.

“Tidus!”

Jon just stood there, not exactly sure what just happened. Andrea, Donna, and Caitlin walked towards him.

“Well…that was something” Donna said after a couple moments of silence.

“Yea” mumbled Jon.

“Well, Jynxy…he may not have wanted to hear it, but it’s true and he’ll see that it’s a good thing you recognize that.”

“Maybe…I just don’t know if I want to deal with it anymore” he said glumly.

He walked out as well and the other’s stood, watching after him. Tesstory, Jynrei, and Van walked up. Jynrei sighed.

“He always got what he wanted. His parents spoiled him and even we did…he’s just not used to being told no. But he’ll understand. He’s a bright kid.”

Tesstory was silent for a moment before sighing, “Yea…”

Weird stuff that happens

Well, I just had pieces of lands that we would stay on when we’re needed on a set. Well, it was raining and thundering and we were standing outside while I got us ready for this scene…and out of absolute NOWHERE, Caitlin got electrocuted O_O And uh, you’ll notice that I quickly put a house up around us ^^;

Darth · Guest

Mechanical Bunny · Site Admin Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 223

Hey! That's awful I got electrocuted! I blame whoever controls the lightning element (or close). Or something.

This is great! You can delete my comment if you want it to be a clean story all the way through. Makes me want to do a story with the Sims... (^_^; )

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Lol, that's okay, I found so many typos that this will have to be a beta version. But sorta ironically, Sree is the Lightning sage. She probably would just shock people for fun XD But she never fights with us, sooo...

It's actually kind of fun but extremely time consuming O_O It's easier to just build 'sets' rather than full houses and that doesn't take long but setting the sims up for these scenes is not easy. x.x They're very uncooperative creatures.

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

"I don't think Tate's going to be happy about this."

"Don't worry, Tate's never happy."

Adrian lied on his stomach, his eyes shut as he lied blissfully on the beaches of Akarado. Andrea was beside him, creating a sandcastle. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"You say that..."

"That was cruel" he admitted, "I just don't think he'll mind if I took a brief vacation...without telling him."

She chuckled, "So why are we on vacation again?"

"Too much going on back in Adajia" he mumured, closing his eyes, "Tate's crazy wedding, Tidus..."

"And you've tried talking to him? I mean, you have to see that it's unreasonable for him to expect to get married when he's 15."

"Of course, and usually he'll listen at least a little but he's being a stubborn teenager...of course, I'm not his dad."

"Yea...but that can't be the only reason you took this trip either, Adri."

Adrian went silent on that. No, it wasn't...he'd agreed with Tate when they were at the club. Waiting until everything was out of the way seemed reasonable...until he started getting reports from other countries. There was an unusual increase in violence. Rapes, robberies, murders...it wasn't at an alarming rate...at least, not to those who didn't know. But Adrian knew...Tate knew...he just wanted to wait until it was suitable to their lives. That just didn't seem like the right decision anymore...

He'd heard that in Akarado, demons were known to run a bit rampant. While he didn't want his fiancee to get hurt here or anything, if a demon just happened to pop up, or, even a few popped up, then maybe something could happen and he wouldn't necessarily have broken his word.

It was underhanded, sneaky even, but before he outright betrayed his friend, he would try anything.

But...

No sooner had Andrea and the others had their lives completely turned around by becoming sages, that Mira, who'd been trying to kill all of them for three years, did something else like this pop up? He didn't say he wanted to agree with Tate's who submissiveness to this but God, was there no peace sometimes?

Andrea stood after a moment, having apparently finished her castle.

"Let's go and swim then. I don't think we should be away too long, especially with Sree and Tate's wedding in a month. We've probably missed a bunch of dress rehearsals already."

Adrian groaned, "I don't think I'll miss that part, baby, they're three hours long even as rehearsals."

"True" she agreed, watching the water.

He stood, folding up the towel.

He watched as she trudged out into the water, following slowly. The last question he'd started to ask himself was did they want turmoil along with their peace? If they got married while this demonic prison break went on, how was that any better? Why not finish it now? While they could...

He'd done all he could...if Tate wouldn't listen to him, then so be it. He was angry about having to throw Andrea into this. But along with hoping that a demon would pop up, he would hope that another thing would happen...

That she'd have a dream...

Before she became the wind sage, her dreams were utter nonsense. And after...they were utter nonsense. But in the nonsense, there was sometimes something else...

A vision.

She'd been having a faint dream about back to the pirate days. Lysa and Sree had been conversing about chocolate, Van was with Abenzio (which didn't make sense as this was before she met Jynrei), Donna was singing loudly, Caitlin was charging about in her Tiger persona, and Laura was reading a book... Jon was relaxing in the crow's nest. It was weird because she was pretty sure she'd never seen him actually sit up there for long periods of time...

But out of nowhere, it erupted in flames.

If it were reality, she would have completely freaked out. But she watched as the blue sky scene melted into darkness.

The flames remained, and behind them, was a completely black demon. She reached for Sirocco out of reflex but it wasn't there...

The creature started to look over it's shoulder at her...but the scene immediately turned back into the pirate setting. And everything was normal...

...What?

[center]@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@[/center]

"I'm glad you can just pick of and leave without a care in the world, Lord Valentine" grunted Tate as he walked around in his red room, watching as Jynrei walked in.

Adrian grinned a little as he watched Andrea make the bed, "How'd you find me?"

"You honestly think I can't find you, wherever you go? I practically own you."

"Sounds rather disturbing."

Tate leered at Jynrei who looked smug, "Well, whatever. I'd like to just put it on the table that you can tell ME things too. Telling Jynrei is well and good..."

"I know, I know...I just thought you'd stop me."

"As long as you didn't go there for the reason I thought you did."

Adrian stared before glancing at Andrea as she walked to the deck, "I'll let you talk in private."

He opened his mouth, a bit startled, but she'd already shut the door. He scowled after a second and grumbled, "Hear that? She's already suspicious."

"I wonder why" scoffed Tate, "One would be suspicious if you act suspiciously."

Adrian snarled, "I don't like lying, especially to her. I won't tell her anything, only out of loyalty to you, but I'm sure as hell going to drop as many hints as possible."

Jynrei, standing nearby, added, "I think your plan should be changed to after your wedding. None of ours are at least for the next few months so we have plenty of time to bring things under control."

Tate scowled, "You hear that, Adrian?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Well, it doesn't to ME. Sree will very well know that I held off until after our wedding."

"And whose fault will that be?" Adrian countered, "Let us and the sages take care of it now and everything will be fine."

"How can you be so sure? Demons, Adrian. The sages have only been sages but a year. They've been demons for centuries."

Adrian glanced outside. She was dancing around, listening to her iPod as she waited for their room service to arrive. He glowered back at the phone and muttered.

"Can we talk about this later? I sort of wanted to get away from this, at least for a while."

"All right" Tate resigned, sighing, "Just think about it for a bit longer, Adrian. This isn't going to be as easy as you think, no matter when we take care of it."

"Yea, yea...bye."

Tate remained on the phone a bit longer despite the fact that Adrian had hung up. Jynrei watched before glancing to the window.

He saw the red shadow lurking, but he decided not to comment. If Tate could ignore the fact that billions of demons were walking around, then he could ignore that he was being watched.

Adrian started to walk out just as the food arrived. He wasn't sure what to think anymore. It was ridiculous...

Tate was right. It wouldn't be easy. Billions, if not trillions of thousand year old demons, against seven newly powered young adults? The idea made Adrian tremble.

He sat, smiling faintly as they ate pancakes peacefully before she finally asked.

"Is something wrong?"

"Huh...? Oh, no, just enjoying this...did you sleep well last night?"

"...Yea."

"What is all this, Jiessen?" demanded Shio, a white bald demon that once was a doctor who'd practiced morbid sciences in his life.

"Yea" snarled Akire, "This plan of yours is a waste of time! Why wait?"

Atop a hill stood a pure black demon with strangely blond hair and blue eyes. His arms were crossed and he looked calm against the leaders of individual packs. It amused him greatly that they would turn so easily against the one that helped aid their escape from hell.

"Good things come to those who wait, don't you think, Akire? You might not have died when you did if you'd followed that rule."

Akire scowled, a fallen warlord who'd swarmed villages back in Japan and was destroyed by a fleet of soldiers, "What will waiting accomplish? Why not take over this land NOW? It's rightfully ours."

Exasperated, Jiessen blew outward, "Do I really have to explain? Are you all really so ignorant? This land is full of people far more powerful than you. Hell, I heard that the Czar of Russia is a reborn GOD. We're in no position to fight until we've all rallied."

Akire crossed his arms, irritated, "Why listen to you? Why not do as we please and attack as we want? We could easily destroy you..."

Jiessen sighed, "Oh, could you really now?"

His hands lit abruptly in flames, the same flames of those that killed him only six years ago. The demons watched, perplexed, and out of nowhere, Jiessen sent the flames flying at Matthew, the one who had paid them no mind.

Quiet in his after-life, thinking in his arrogant thoughts that they were all below him, he shrieked as the flames devoured him, sending him back to Shakraita where Shakra would punish him eternally for his escape. The other demons watched emotionless in facade alone. Inside, they were terrified.

Jiessen turned around, glowering over his shoulder, "Is that reason enough to follow me or does another of you need to fall?"

They all stood, silent for a moment, before Akire muttered, "We shall wait, Jesse, but do not try us either..."

Jiessen smiled darkly, "My allies, you will not regret this."

He stared out at the mountains, knowing that he was being watched. Not in a physical sense, but in someone's mind. Jiessen smiled at them before slowly melting into his original form before he was burned alive by his beloved.

He'd retained some of his futures as a demon, avoided becoming a mnedda because he'd not killed and also because of an unnatural thirst for vengeance...and because he intended to get his beloved back.

At all costs.

The ancient ship used to sail into battle in the Great War was a museum, still swaying on the seas of Akarado. Andrea had had a vision but the creature's words were muddled...it had disturbed her when the leader actually turned around and smiled as if he knew she was there. But whatever.

She narrowed her eyes, noticing that she was surrounded by a red fog. Just what was going on here?

Walking down the steps, she pulled the cutlass that was in one of the nearby barrels and swung it downward, ready for a fight...

But the red disappeared and instead she was replaced by the vision she'd had in her sleep.

"Baby? What are you doing?" Adrian called from the crow's nest, puzzled.

"...Nothing. Let's go back to the ruins" she replied, droppng the cutlass.

They returned to the alter of Gretanavai and he watched the waterfall. Adrian glanced to his fiancee who was sitting silently on the edge, staring away. He finally dared to ask, only hoping slightly that she'd figured things out.

"What's wrong?"

"...I'm not sure."

Mechanical Bunny · Site Admin Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 223

Jynrei is hott (@_@)

Also, it's strange that making a story is hard. Originally that was the creator's idea for the Sims. But it can't be too hard to set things up for pictures, since you can just use the move cheat and move them around as needed. Maybe I'll actually patiently fire up the Sims 2 and try it myself...

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Yea, I like how the knights wear bondage leather ^^; Darn not having good knight clothing!

I actually wonder if that WAS their intention now, honestly. The cheats are, of course, really useful but then sometimes the boolprop SnapObjectsToGrid false will turn them sideways and have them in midair when i try to get them close to others and I'm ready to kill something. (that cheat that enables them to actually intersect things instead of stand a mile off) And then, I have to use an outside cheat to get the right interactions and even then, the Sims like to do their own thing, even with my free will turned off. @_@ I guess it could be a lot more difficult but it certainly ain't easy. But you should give it a shot XD

Next update should take a bit...since Scene 5 would be battle scenes and I don't have any sage clothes for the teens, I'm just going to write it without images. And scene 6, I'm almost done with the images.

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Or not ^_^; I finished Scene 5 and it's a really weird scene so it needs SOME kind of imagery so during my hour downtimes during school I'm going to illustrate it (of course, I put IA first Rolling Eyes

Naturally...)

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Scene 5
(Writer's Note: I find this extremely horrible but yea...I drew about two pictures for the song part before getting bored...^^; I might post them one day. Wall to wall text, just for this one because there's a battle scene. Tomorrow, two picture updates!)

"So...how long have you known about this?"

Adrian glanced back at his wife-to-be as she leaned against the elaborate fences surrounding the Adajian Castle. He frowned softly, shaking his head.

"Known about what?"

"The demons."

He grimaced to himself before staring up at the setting sun, "...Maybe a week before I left."

"I see...so Tate's going to keep something else from us, I guess?" she questioned, unreadable.

"It's so not like that, baby, you know that" Adrian insisted, "He's just...worried that you guys would be overwhelmed, that...that these demons could--"

"Could what? Kill more people" she said dryly, "God forbid."

Adrian sighed, walking over to her and crossing his arms, "You're mad at me, aren't you?"

"No, of course not."

"The hell you aren't" he grunted, "Tate told me not to tell you."

"And since when have you ever listened to Tate?" she demanded silently, "You listen when it's actually something important. God, Adrian."

The wind teased their hair for a bit as they stood in silence before he murmured, "I'm selfish...I don't really care about such things unless they get close to me."

"Adrian--"

"And I'm sorry, but I'm also worried that you'll get hurt...catch me?"

"So why take me to the beach, Adrian? You had to have known that there were attacks there and I know you had other motives."

"Well...if you found out on your own, it wasn't like I actually wasn't listening...and it's up to you how you handle the situation, you'd never listen to me regardless" he murmured.

She shook her head, frowning, "It's different now, Adrian..."

"Why...? Because we're getting married? You'll be as stubborn as ever" he rolled his eyes.

"Meh."

"So how are you going to handle this? Have you and the sages decided?" he questioned.

"How else? We're going after them."

Adrian stared at her for a moment before blinking, "What?"

"What, are we going to wait for them to come here?" she questioned, "We'll be doing the chasing."

"You guys...are going after...billions of demons?" he shook his head, "Maybe Tate was right..."

"Don't give me that crap" she mumbled, walking towards the entrance of the castle.

Adrian followed quietly before grumbling, "Then I'm coming with you. There's no way I'm letting you go off by yourself."

"Don't bother, you'll be safer here."

This gave Adrian pause...when had the tables turned so much that the knights weren't the ones protecting them but...feeling almost insulted, he huffed, "Now I'm definitely coming."

She glanced back at him, sighing, "I'm not offending your manhood or whatever, Adri, we're just not dealing with normal things here."

"And I'll be right by your side" he said firmly, "I'll help in any way I can...one for all, all for one kind of thing, y'know?"

"I guess."

He rolled his eyes again, "You could be a little bit moved."

She sighed, waving her hand, "It's not that, Adrian, I just have to wonder..."

"Hmm?"

"How did that many demons break out?"

Adrian shook his head, unsure of that himself, and she planted her hands on her hips, shaking her head as well.

"I guess it doesn't matter now, as long as they're put back."

Adrian watched her in the rising moon and scowled. She was thinking something...but that wasn't it.

"ADRIANNNNNN!!"

Adrian grimaced, opening one eye at the loud voice. Tidus...he looked alarmed.

"What?" he grumbled, closing his eyes again.

"Jon and the sages left" Tidus wailed.

Adrian snapped up, "WHAT?"

Damn it all, she had been plotting.

Dressing as quickly as he could, he found all the other knights outside waiting, disgruntled about being risen at these early hours.

"I think it's a lie" yawned Tesstory, rubbing his eyes, "There's no way that lot got up this frickin' early."

"I should've known something was up" Adrian muttered, "She went to bed at TEN. What is that?"

Lakyle shook his head, rubbing his face, "Well, whatever, they've already gotten a head start on us so I don't see why we just don't go back to sleep and search...when the sun's actually up."

"'E's got a point, Adrian, it's fa' too dark, not ta' mention I can pinpoint 'em pretty easily. We should pack and catch up with 'em later" Ryan added.

Adrian groaned, looking at the huge clocktower above all other points in Adajia, "5:30... we head out in three hours. Any complaints?"

"Nope" Jynrei grumbled, "And what will we do when we find them?"

"I have some ideas but it's too early for Tess's inuendo" Adrian said plainly.

"Heh."

Departing to get some rest, Adrian glowered. Listen to him. Right.

Adrian had been preparing something to tell her what he thought about this blatant dismissal of all they'd talked about. He'd been working on it for hours in his head, even knowing where the punctuation went...however...

"Adrian, I will KILL you. I woke up at 4 in the flippin' morning so you wouldn't come and what do you do? You follow. What part of 'you're safer THERE' don't you understand? I should kill you!"

So the tables were violently turned.

The sages walked ahead of them, irritated, and Adrian almost felt like he HAD done something wrong. He groused. Ugh.

They suddenly stopped in the center of an empty plain and Laura suddenly murmured, "Hmm..."

Lysa glanced to the side, "Can you feel that?"

"...Yea" Caitlin responded.

"It's big" added Van.

"I feel hungry, is that what you mean?" questioned Tesstory dryly.

Donna smirked at him, "That's not quite the feeling we're going for here, Tesstory."

Jon, silent since the knights, or, really, Tidus got there, murmured, "The temperatures different here..."

Laura knelt and felt the ground, "They're underneath us."

"I think we should invite them up then" Donna replied, summoning Blaize, her chakram match to Pyre.

"And how do we do that?" Lysa questioned.

"We can try summoning them with a song like that last time randomly" Andrea suddenly replied, raising an eyebrow.

The knights cocked a brow as the sages shifted around a bit. Donna questioned, "And if it doesn't work?"

"We'll think of something, no big" Andrea shrugged.

"Who's singing?" questioned Laura.

"What are we doing, karaoke?" demanded Tesstory, "What is this about singing?"

"Just watch, Tesstory" Lysa waved, "But I'm not singing."

"I haven't tried the guitar trick in a while" Jon replied.

"So I guess I will..." Andrea murmured, "Probably best that way, wind will carry...

"...I think they're fallen" Lysa suddenly said softly.

The sages glanced back at her, blinking, before Van murmured, "Fallen...as in...?"

"...I see. Okay then, I guess we can work with that" Andrea responded.

The knights were still confused as the sages were in a semi-circle, a huge space in front of them. Andrea walked up before glancing back, "Stay back, guys."

"What's going on?" questioned Adrian, completely exasperated.

"Just watch."

Some of them summoned their weapons, except Andrea, and they glowed strangely. To the knights surprise, they turned into...instruments? Jon had an ice guitar, Lysa had a harp, Laura had a wooden flute, and Donna had drums...that was a new one.

They started to play the song they would listen to occasionally back at home...it was an other world song so Adrian still was confused. But... Jon strummed gently, the tempo slowly rising, the ethereal humming of Lysa's harp sounding disturbing and ghostly. Donna then came in on the drums, Laura lightly blowing into her flute.

And in a voice that was not her own, Andrea sang:
So glad to see you well...
Overcome them, completely silent now.
With heaven's help.... you cast your demons out.

The harp and flute synchronized into a haunting sound as Andrea continued, And not to pull your halo down...around your neck and tug you off your cloud...

She closed her eyes, But I'm more~ than just~ a little~ curious how you're planning to go about making your amends...to the dead. To the dead...

She paused in the break, opening her eyes as Jon and all the other instrument players continued. Andrea closed her eyes again, opening her mouth, singing with her altered voice.

[i[Recall the deeds as if they're all...someone else's... atrocious story.
Now you stand reborn before us all...so glad to see you well.
And not to pull your halo down...around your neck and tug you to the ground.[/i]

Adrian's eyes widened as the wind picked up, a lavender gray color surrounding her, a light blue around Van, a very faint blue around Jon, pink around Lysa, gray around Caitlin, green around Laura, and red around Donna, the wind setting the sages and hair into motion as Andrea sang louder, the instruments sound increasing as well.

But I'm more than just a little curious how you're planning to go about making your amends...to the dead... To the dead.

And like that, out of absolute nowhere, something started to burst from the ground.

The knights leapt back, hands instantly drawing their weapons. The sages, on the other hand, stood, still playing, as if nothing was happening. Adrian was horrified as right before the strangely oblivious group a black energy source seeped upwards, huge.

With your halo slipping down...your halo...slipping. Your halo slipping... down...your halo...slipping down.

The knights stared, almost to the point of dragging the sages to a retreat as it kept...growing. As the song went into a round, a spirit of of some sort, partially in the shape of a small human, singing the overlap.

"Your halo slipping down..."
I'm more than just a little curious how you're planning to go about making your amends
"Your halo...slipping"
I'm more than just a little curious how you're planning to go about making your amends
"Your halo slipping down..."
I'm more than just a little curious how you're planning to go about making your amends
"Your halo...slipping."

They slowly started to stop playing, the beast flexing and growling menacingly as she murmured, "Your halo...slipping down. Your halo slipping down..."

And she drew Sirocco in the same motion, her actually voice pulling through, "To choke you now."

As if it took no effort for them, the former musician's instruments transformed in an instant back to their original forms and the sages darted into the air at the black mass. Adrian, still for the most part, dumbfounded, noticed black shadows in the sky..

Slowly coming into view, a mass of winged demons flew towards them, perhaps companions of whatever this nearly shapeless thing was. Adrian scowled and summoned his silvery black angel-like wings. Tesstory frowned.

"There has to be a good ten thousand of them" he muttered, "They're blocking out the sun."

Jynrei suddenly smirked, "What's that movie where something similar happened? 300?"

Tidus pouted, drawing his sword, "No one would let me see that movie!"

"It'd give you nightmares, sweetie" cooed Tesstory jokingly.

Tidus pouted more and Adrian cracked his knuckles before drawing La'Voce, "Whatever, guys, they're coming...and I don't think I want to fight in this kind of shade."

Leaping, he spread his wings, soaring upwards towards the creatures, shrieking incessantly, claws drawn. Adrian pursed his lips, narrowing his eyes, and swung horizontally, slicing the nearest one in half, grimacing as blood splattered. He had to wonder why something that had once been apparently dead had blood...

On the ground, Tesstory reached into his pocket, retrieving cards, murmuring softly under his breath 'feuer entzunden', the cards lighting up in flames as he tossed them. Because the cards consisted mostly of metal, they stabbed into the demons before ultimately engulfing them in flames.

Lakyle, armed with a gun, shot precisely with bullets made of aura rather than metal as Ryan and Jynrei scowled.

"I guess we can't help you with this one..."grunted Jynrei.

"No matter. Go help the others, we got this" waved Tesstory, pulling out another set of cards.

Jynrei and Ryan nodded before darting at the whatever they were fighting, drawing their weapons. Tidus, pretty much at a lost, decided it was best to just summon his spirits and let them decide what was the best course of action. Gripping the base of his dagger, the red jewel lit up and glowed.

"Zohar, Kali" he commanded.

The twin summon spirits of light and darkness appeared in a beam of brightness and shadow.

"Attack at will!" Tidus exclaimed.

The two shot into the air, aiding Lakyle, Adrian, and Tesstory in their aerial battle. Tidus frowned, wishing he was physically stronger...then he might be of some--

Adrian glanced back downward, finishing off the last nearest monster. He was momentarily puzzled at the strange shadow...what? It was getting closer to...

"Tidus!" he yelled.

Tidus looked to him, startled, before the dark shadow appeared underneath him, growing larger. The younger knight screamed as the shadow grew arms of darkness, wrapping around his neck, arms, and legs.

Jon looked away from the battle, alarmed, before rushing off in that direction. What the hell was that...? Andrea stood back, holding Sirocco defensively before glancing to Lysa.

"Lysa, go with him. You can kill whatever that is easier."

She nodded, "Right."

Laura said suddenly, "Shall we finish this?"

"Yea, this is nothing. Let's take care of it" Van said.

Jynrei and Ryan looked to them, after finding that pretty much nothing they'd been doing was any use, shocked.

"Nothing?? What is this thing?"

"This thing is the whole reason we wanted you guys to stay behind" sighed Van.

"What...?"

Andrea put Sirocco back in it's sheath before glowing a pale lavender as Van glowed blue, "Just stand back."

Confused, the looked up as a strong wind threatened to pull them off the ground...and out of nowhere, a mass of water appeared. Jynrei and Ryan watched in amazement as the two combined into a mighty whirlpool. It engulfed the creature, trapping it, horrific screams ripping through the water. Laura darted forward, thrusting the tip of her bow into the ground. And completely without warning, underneath the drowning creature, the earth opened up, swallowing it back down into the pits of Hell, back where it belonged with Shakra, before closing up. The sages started to go and see what happened with Tidus before Jynrei mumbled.

"W-what happened? Isn't that where you guys summoned it from?"

"In this point on Uchuu, we are closer to the core, where Shakra resides. I opened up the floor enough that he probably is getting checked back in" Laura explained.

"And...you can't do that for all the others?" Jynrei questioned.

"The earth is thin here. Everywhere else, it would take too much energy."

Still vaguely amazed by the sage's strangely infinite amount of techniques, they quickly followed to find Tidus.

The catboy was horrified when the shadow started to strangle him...he was even more horrified when it started dragging him into the earth. He screamed, cried, wailed, terrified, What was this...? Why was he the only one not getting attacked like this?

He yelped, startled, when arms grabbed him, dragging him away from the shadow's grasp. His eyes shut tightly, he only dared open them when he was in someone's warm arms. Looking up, he sobbed when he saw it was Jon, hugging him tightly.

"That was so scary!"

Jon rubbed his back soothingly as Lysa easily took care of the dark based shadow. Frowning, she looked at all the dead demons scattering the ground, shaking her head. The sages grouped and Donna sighed.

"Now see why we didn't want you guys around?"

Tesstory huffed, "I was doing fine."

Andrea shook her head, "That youkai was nothing compared to how the other's will be. The real reason was this is not something physical attacks will do much against. Adrian being able to fly is useful...and so are Tesstory, Tidus, and Lakyle, but..."

"I think I want to go home, just for a little while" murmured the frightened teen.

Adrian crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes at his wife who stared back at him. Silent for a moment, he grunted, "Very well. We'll leave this damn thing to you guys. But you better call us if something comes up, got it?"

She nodded and they all parted...Jon was extra affection with the traumatized Tidus. After he left though, he frowned.

"What...was that that attacked him?"

"I don't know..." murmured Lysa, "But it felt oddly...human."

They all glanced at each other, confused, knowing that whatever it was couldn't be described as such, but...

In the distanced, Jiessen watched, vaguely irritated that he wasn't able to capture Jon's new interest...he watched the sages before smiling darkly.

But then...Jiessen watched as Jon walked on with his companions to conquer more of Jiessen's army that had blatantly disobeyed his commands to stay hidden...

It didn't matter much if he hadn't captured this...'Tidus'.

He could always follow them anyway.

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Adrian frowned as he walked through the sage headquarters, unsure if this rumor was true. It couldn't be though...she'd come to see him if they were back, right?

But, sure enough, there they were...playing video games. He scowled and walked over to her, crossing his arms, as she played 'guitar'.

"Y'know, I, and I'm sure most of the other nights, were pretty, um, worried? And yet you come home and go straight to playing...Rock Band" he said dryly.

Andrea laughed, "Sorry, we were feeling pretty violent so we thought we needed to have some calming time first."

Adrian smirked but understood what she was saying. They'd been gone for about a month...all of November. They did the Thanksgiving thing without them however, it just didn't feel right...they all thought that but Tesstory had had some odd preoccupation with the pie part...

"Adrian, what are you doing? We were going to grab something to ea-- oh, I know you" Tesstory stopped, staring at Donna.

"Yes, I'm Donna" she said, nodding.

"And I'm Tesstory. I actually think we're engaged or something" he replied, stroking his chin.

"Really?"

Tesstory knelt down to kiss her and Adrian blinked, still not sure if he was used to Tesstory being...affectionate. But the blond stood and clapped, "Well, since they're back, let's celebrate!"

"Yay!"

They all abandoned the game, for the time being, and Jon frowned, "How is Tidus...? He's okay, right?"

Adrian sighed, "If by okay, you mean scared of his own shadow, then yea..."

"Great..."

"He's a tough kid" Adrian shrugged, "He'll get over it eventually...did you run into anything like that later?"

Andrea shook her head, "It's the only time we saw anything like that...which is saying something, we saw some crazy stuff."

"Weird..." murmured Adrian.

"LOOZAHS! You monkeys are back!?"

They looked up where the rest of them were standing, Sree not looking pleased.

"Oh yea, Sree..." Andrea laughed some.

"We kind of forgot about you" Jon admitted.

"Hey!"

Tate sighed and looked at them wearily, "The demons?"

"Found all we could, which was a lot" Laura replied.

"If there's anymore, they'll have to be handled by that country" Caitlin added.

"Good...now, I think I've had a wedding postponed for a whole month now" Tate sighed, "Let's move on with life."

"What the hell is wrong with your country?" Adrian demanded.

Tate rolled his eyes, sighing, "Adrian...I really DIDN'T come up with these wedding outfits for the knights, honestly."

"Yea, see, it'd be fine WITHOUT the turban" Adrian grunted, messing with it, "But then, maybe it's just my hair color..."

"No, we just look like we're apart of the dark society...or what's those bad guys in Kingdom Hearts?" Tesstory questioned.

"Guys" groaned Tate, "You've seen in the wedding portraits going back ten generations that those outfits are the traditional dress of the knights at the king's wedding. It's just...unfortunately...tradition."

"Whateva' tha' case, I'm ready ta' get this going!" Ryan declared, totally out of character.

"I forget often why we don't give him sugar" smirked Tesstory, munching on a cookie provided.

Tidus was nauseous...he'd seen the crowd below them and he wasn't sure he wanted to go out there. He was scared...

Over the time that Jon was gone, he'd finally started to consider what he and all the other knights had been trying to tell him. Marriage was a huge commitment...not something he had to rush. They both had A LOT of time to do that so there was no need to hurry. Thing was, Jon seemed pretty nervous around him probably because of the previous arguments...he had to apologize.

Tate stood at his armoire, frowning, before murmuring, "A father is supposed to be at a son's wedding, right?"

They all looked at him before sighing themselves. King Sai Esperanza, Tate's father, had been thought to have died, thus dragging Tate back to be king...and Mira setting him up to steal the throne. They had all been horrified to discover that Sai had schemed the whole thing with her (not the steal the throne part though) and had really been alive the whole time...Tate, already declared king, sentenced his own father to life in prison...the man ran away and Tate hadn't seen him since.

"It's okay" Adrian shrugged, "I don't think any of our father's will be at our weddings..."

Tate sighed, "I know, it's just...I know."

They were silent for a moment longer before Lakyle glanced to the side before smirking, "They're really loud..."

Adrian smirked as well, "By themselves, they're quiet, but get them all together like that..."

Tate groaned, slumping down next to them, "How do you think Sree's holding up? Nervous as I am?"

"Um...sure."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"WHY are we wearing orange?" demanded Laura.

"Because I hate red!"

Andrea raised an eyebrow, "I don't think that's a sound argument..."

"I hate red, you guys wear orange, and I want chocolate!!"

Lysa laughed and Andrea smiled, shaking her head, "Definitely not a sound argument."

"If you hate red though, why are you wearing red?" questioned Donna, taking a cookie.

"Because!"

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway. It's kind of late to go back now" Andrea shrugged.

"Then why isn't Jon wearing the same thing as us?" whined Donna.

"Well, for one thing, that'd be pretty weird..." Caitlin replied.

Jon, busy adjusting his turban, shrugged, "I like what I have."

"But pooh" Donna pouted.

"Donna, there can be cross-dressing at your wedding, leave Sree's alone" Lysa sighed.

Donna 'nyahed' and there was a knock at the door, "Lady Rekha, it's time to go to the roof."

The others quickly finished their snacks before breaking through the crowd to the private roof where Sree's wedding would be. The knights were already there and Jon blinked as Tidus nervously made his way over.

"Hi" he whispered.

"Hey...is something wrong?"

"I...uh, just wanted to say sorry" he murmured.

"For what?"

"For being dumb about the wedding thing" he pouted sadly, "I know that we have a lot of time..."

Jon smiled, "We'll get married when the times right...for now."

Tidus nodded and Jon kissed him...

A wind blew through the procession and Jon looked up, frowning. It felt...strange. He glanced to Andrea who looked just as puzzled.

It went away and all the sages looked faintly disturbed but forced smiles as they positioned themselves around the wedding event. Jon, though, felt it was too...familar.

...Or was he imagining it?

So Sree and Tate were the first to get married...Rekha Mure Esperanza

Lysa and Tali were second...Marlysa Mowan Terra.

Andrea and Adrian were third...Andrea Turner Valentine

Donna and Tesstory were fourth to follow...Donna Owen Kauffmann

Van and Jynrei were fifth...Van Tran Li

Caitlin and Lakyle were sixth...Caitlin Cehimiar

Laura and Lakyle was seventh...Laura B Adams

And....

Two years later, Jon and Tidus made a trip...to Russia.

Jon wasn't sure what he felt around Adajia, but it reminded him of...here.

He was a bit surprised that these few scraps of wood was left of the cabin that he burned down...there was even ash. But...that feeling of Jesse was still there. He didn't understand but...it was reassuring. Maybe he was just imagining things back at home.

But being back here made him feel numb...it'd been so long ago, but it still...

He jumped a little as a warm hand slipped into his. Glancing to his side, he smiled some at Tidus. TIdus looked concerned though...

"Maybe we should go?" he murmured.

"Probably" sighed Jon, "I did this...I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't killed him..."

Tidus frowned, shaking his head, "You'll never know. He was wrong too, y'know? You were a child..."

Jon didn't comment on that but said softly, "Like you were..."

Tidus sighed, "But you didn't force me, Jon, that's the difference...and you even made us wait for a really serious commitment, so..."

Jon went silent again before replying, "I think I'm ready for that..."

Tidus blinked, "What...?"

The catboy was stunned when Jon proposed to him in the place where he suffered so much...he said yes, without question, heart throbbing painfully.

So is that what Jon wanted?

Bastards...proposing where he KILLED him? Tactful indeed. But no matter...

Jesse escaped to make their lives a living hell...

Just wait

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

"You and Adrian are always influencing Tidus, God!"

"Tidus needs to stop being influenced then, jeez!"

Two or three years had passed...the knights and sages were contently married, for the most part. They all had their own dream homes and right now, all the sages were sitting around the Valentine home, eating Chinese and pizza. Van blinked at Jon.

"What did Andrea influence Tidus to do again?"

"He wants a baby..."

Andrea rolled her eyes, "This isn't our first baby. He wasn't inspired to have a baby then, was he?"

"Well, we weren't maried then" Jon sighed, taking a bite.

Adrian and Andrea's first child, Shien Valentine, had tragically been killed when he was just six months old. Of course, it left the two extremely heartbroken, especially Adrian...his own issues led him to question Shien as his child up to the very moments before his death...Adrian really didn't seem all that pleased about the one being carried now either...

Andrea sighed, eating, "It's ridiculous how he's acting. I just don't get him."

"Well, he did barely have time to cope with the loss of his first child...I don't see how you're so okay with it either" Laura replied.

"...Yea."

"I think Adrian will be fine" shrugged Jon, "Just give him time."

"Yea, and we were talking about Tidus anyway" she waved her hand, dismissing the previous subject.

"Oh yea...he wants a baby."

"Well, that's easy right, you're going to adopt, aren't you?" Lysa asked.

"That's just it, he doesn't want to adopt..."

"Surrogate mother?" Caitlin questioned.

"Said it wouldn't be the same."

"Then what the monkey is he going to do?" questioned Sree.

"It really doesn't sound like he wants them that badly if he won't take the only options you have" Andrea shook her head.

"My thoughts exactly. It's way too early to have kids anyway, unlike some of you..."

"Shuddup."

"Then or now, it still doesn't sound like he's willing to do the things that are available to him" pointed out Van.

"Ooh, ooh, I know!" Donna exclaimed.

"Uh oh" Sree replied.

"Hey, shut up, it's a good idea...m-preg!"

Jon managed to choke on his food as the others stared at her, stunned.

"M-preg??" demanded Caitlin.

"Good lord" Laura mumbled.

"What's that?" Lysa questioned.

Andrea shook her head, smirking, "Donna, this is not a yaoi fanfiction."

Jon stared down at his carton of Chinese and shivered, "That'd be too..."

"Disturbing?" Andrea finished.

"Yea...."

"WHAT'S m-preg?!" demanded Lysa.

"It's male pregnancy, Lysa" sighed Laura.

"WHAT?? Is that possible? Where would it come out?!" she demanded increduously.

They laughed, amused, and Andrea stood, "Well, on that note, be right back."

It stood to reason that for the most part, m-preg should be out of the question...but he knew that that was exactly what Tidus wanted. If that's what he wanted though, Jon would rather it not happen at all then. But he did want to be a father...

"Sree, you suck. You're carrying, what, quadruplets, and you're tiny. I'm like a freakin' bus" scowled Andrea, wandering back.

"Ha, loozah!"

It was weird seeing his friends like this, really. After spending years with them, he'd never imagined them actually having children.

Of course, Andrea was pregnant...but so was...

Sree. She was carrying more than one child but they must have been extra tiny because even at seven months pregnant, she had only gained a few pounds. It would cause some concern but apparently was normal for a Spindren mother...

Lysa, on the other hand, was carrying twins and definitely looked like it. She didn't seem to mind though.

Even Van, at about six months...it was hard to even imagine Van getting to that state, but...whatever.

He looked down, sighing to himself. He wanted to be a father but...

Maybe it wouldn't happen.

A month later, in October, Lysa had her babies. Two twin boys...

Steven Amory Terra and Connor Jeremy Terra

Born a day after Adrian's birthday, Andrea had their second child. Adrian changed a bit and was a bit happier about having him before.

Strangely, he was born with Adrian's eyes, but as a few months passed they turned brown. They named him Dante Demetri Valentine.

Sree had her baby in the isolation of a house near the castle, to properly have the heir to the Adajian throne. He was born in March and Tate named him Valyan Alik Esperanza.

And last of the four to have her child was Van...she had a daughter: Lei Yen Li.

The four were pretty preoccupied from then on and Jon usually didn't see them unless sage duties called for it. They loved their children...

He walked into his home, confused at the darkness but warmth permeating from the living room. Standing at the doorway, he stared for a moment before sighing.

Tidus sat, staring at the fire, seeming a thousand miles away. Jon was pretty sure that Jynrei, Adrian, and Tate having children had just made him want kids even more. Walking over, he sat beside his spouse and they sat in silence for a while.

"I got to hold Dante today" Tidus said suddenly, "And Valyan too."

"Oh?"

"They're sooo cute..."

"Yea..."

Tidus turned to Jon, looking hopeful, "That's why I want one, Jon!"

Jon grimaced, quickly waving his hand, "Tidus, a baby is a lot more than 'cute', you know that, right? It's a lot of work."

Tidus looked glum, "But I still want one...I wouldn't mind working to raise our baby."

"But you don't want to adopt or have someone else raise the baby, so--"

"Oh yea, I saw Donna today!"

...

"She told me that she read about some method where I could have the baby myself! Isn't that cool."

He could kill Donna, right? Ice could kill fire...

"Tidus, that's just so..."

"Cool?"

"...No. But can't there be some OTHER way?"

"Please Jon, I want to so badly!" Tidus cried.

"...All right" Jon relented, albeit miserably.

Tidus flew to his feet, looking extra excited, "Yay! This will be so great, Jon, just wait! They'll be the cutest babies in the world!"

"...Babies?"

The catboy skipped off without answering, "I can't wait to tell Yura and the other knights! This will be so great!"

"Wait, Tidus, babies??"

Still humming as he went to use the phone in the kitchen, Jon stood there, a bit dumbfounded.

Smiling nervously after a moment, he had to wonder what had he just done?

Jon couldn't be exactly sure how the knights took the whole thing but he was pretty sure they took it the same way as he had...weirded out. They awkwardly congratulated him and Jon didn't think Tidus saw how strange it was for a guy to become a mother...

He lied around a lot during his pregnancy. Naturally, as a male, his body just was not set up for such a thing and it probably took it's toll on him. He was moody too, because of taking this more female role and having miscellaneous hormones that weren't supposed to be there. Jon tried to stay away from him as much as possible, in fear of getting caught in one of his mood swings.

But it was a cold November day as Jon ran to his home. It was snowing...

He'd been on a mission with the other sages when word came that some time during the day, Tidus had been forced to have their children. He'd wanted to at least be there and he wondered what circumstances came up to force them to cut the babies out...

He walked into their bedroom where apparently the doctors had brought him to rest after the little surgery. He inhaled sharply, preparing himself...

"Of come on, you can't hog ALL the attention...even though you're really cute. Your brother needs to be held too though!" whined Tidus.

Jon watched as Tidus held a baby in his arms, chattering to the tiny infant as though they would understand. Jon walked over as Tidus looked up, smiling brightly.

"Look! Daddy's home!"

Jon smiled and looked at the baby before feeling a bit startled, "It's a girl?"

"Uh huh...this is the girl, the boy's in the cradle."

So he had a son and a daughter...not bad.

The infant girl looked at him with amber catty eyes like her 'mothers'. Jon introduced himself and waved at her which he couldn't be sure, but she seemed to like. This one liked attention...

After a minute, he wandered over to the cradle and looked down at his son. They were definitely twins. They looked exactly alike...

Jon lifted him from the cradle and stared into his amber eyes as he stared back. Jon murmured, "Have you named them yet?"

"Nope, I thought I'd give you the honors" Tidus smiled contently.

"All right...the girl...Tifa."

"Tifa?"

"Yep..."

"And our son?"

"...Vincent."

Tifa Olivia McCue...and Vincent Elliot McCue were born in November.

And on the roof, the angry demon Jiessen seethed with rage, his dark blood boiling. He'd make them suffer...

Just like him.

Weird Stuff that Happens

I haven't done these in a while but I found this curious...so Jon's sim just walked away randomly while I was upstairs taking these pictures and I'm like hey you, get back here *shakes fist* but I find a disturbing icon in his actions...

...

What is it with Jon's family and fires in fireplaces? ^^; I think I've had this happen ONCE to any other sim, at least, with a fireplace x.x Maybe Jynxy should've been the fire sage ^^;

Dark · Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 261

Chapter 8

A year passed and before the sages knew it, everyone was having a new addition...

Donna and Tesstory were going to have their first child...

Tesstory named her...Jubilante Victoria Kauffmann. Ironically, Tesstory was a good father...

Lakyle and all Caitlin's forms (except Tiger who didn't have much of an opinion on the matter) didn't want children...but that's what led to the centuries without having sages so the fates took it upon themselves to set them in the right direction.

Caitlin wasn't able to do much during this time so spent much of her pregnancy in her bored state, 'Tiger'. Might have helped pass the time which was good...maybe not so much for Lakyle.

They had a little boy, the next dark sage. Vicious Cehimiar.

Laura was in pretty much the same boat as Caitlin but since Ryan seemed more wanting of being a father, she MIGHT have been more compliant, they couldn't be sure. But in her first stage, she was huge...

Mostly because she had triplets. Matt William Adams, Artemis Dionne Adams, and Karin Katherine Adams.

And for a time, all the sages were well...

Tidus sat by the fireplaces with his two twins, both playing contently. He loved times like this...he adored his children. They'd grown so fast, something he'd heard often from parents but hadn't understood until he was one himself.

The door opened and he looked up, the twins glancing to the doorway as well.

Jon had arrived home from the Ice Shrine...but in his arms was a little boy around Vincent's age.

Tidus stood, confused, as Tifa toddled over curiously to her father.

"Who's that, daddy?" she questioned.

"Hmm, I don't know. I found him outside my shrine...I checked all the reports at the castle but no missing child has been reported. He must have been abandoned..."

"That's horrible!" gasped Tidus.

Vincent stared at the boy for a moment before frowning. Tidus rushed over to Jon and took the young child from him.

"The poor thing...let's take care of him!"

Jon was surprised, "But...we have Vincent and Tifa already."

"They can just have a little brother!" Tidus insisted.

"...All right" Jon agreed reluctantly, "But if someone claims him--"

"Yay!" proclaimed Tidus, not listening to the rest.

Jon sighed as Tidus blinked, "Why don't you show the kids the snow while I get this little guy settled, okay?"

Jon nodded and the kids leap to their feet, excited.

Tifa took Vincent's hand as the three walked outside, Tifa proclaiming her content over having another little brother.

Tidus smiled, pleased, "Hear that, little guy? Oh...I guess I should give you a name though...unless, you can tell me?"

A sinister grin was suddenly on the child's face, shocking Tidus. Opening his mouth, the child replied darkly, "Avri."

Tidus felt his mind slip away, his conscious fall asleep, his body denying him...he was dazed and a part of him that he didn't know whispered back.

Avri[/i]

Orpheus · Joined: 20 Apr 2007 Posts: 250

Vincent never remembered where it all went downhill. He supposed it had always seemed like it'd been like that. Time passed, he grew, which was of course a normal thing but...

He went to a semi-private school with Tifa and Avri, one that still maintained it's down to earth public school ways but the seclusion of a private school. All the sage children went there...

He was 8...it seemed like ages ago to him now. He could barely remember a time where he was sitting beside his sister in the study hall...but those times were great...well...maybe not. But...he liked school then. School took him away...school put him with people who didn't...hate him.

Mae Li was one of his friends, daughter of the Water Sage, Van. She was one of those really cool people he knew that had a lot of qualities that made her fun to be around. She was always happy and peppy but wasn’t the type you should mess with or take too lightly…

There was Vicious Cehimiar, son of the Dark Sage, Caitlin. While Vincent had found him fairly creepy, Vicious was fun to be around. Quiet and intelligent, it was fun when they could get him to act oddly…

There was Raylin Terra, daughter of the light sage, Lysa…eww, how he loathed Raylin. He could definitely not remember what started their rivalry but it’d existed forever. There was Jubilante Kauffmann, the rebellious zany one, daughter of the Fire Sage, Donna.

Artemis Adams, daughter of the Forest Sage, Laura, was one of three triplets. Her siblings were assigned to another work hall though. She was smart and reserved, like Vicious, but could have her entertaining side as well. Adriana Valentine, daughter of the Wind Sage, Andrea, was probably the youngest in the hall at six…she was okay, for a little girl.
And…

He glanced at the blonde elf sitting in the corner. She looked up and smiled at him happily. He smiled back. That was Raihn Terra, Raylin’s twin but a hundred times better than her counterpart. Raihn was pretty, he’d always thought…he remembered feeling bad for thinking this. She wasn’t a boy, after all…
But she was still pretty…he remembered when they first met that he’d been so embarrassed around her that he told her she had a funny name to have a conversation. ‘Oh yea, you have a funny name…Rain’. Raylin screamed his head off for being an idiot and he felt pretty humiliated. But Raihn, in such an articulate voice replied.
“True, but it’s Rain with an ‘h’.”
That’s why he liked her the most…she made him feel like less of an idiot.

Vincent paused and wondered if it was okay…his mother raised for him saying he liked being with the girls…he didn’t know why back then.
Those were the better days.

Vincent had one other friend, a year older than him, and the brother of Adriana.

Dante Valentine. He had funky hair, he remembered thinking, but he was cool. Him and Mae were good friends back then too…
He always minded his own business on the recess fields, chatting and playing with his own friends…but it always happened. This bully, a really ugly guy he recalled now, named Gary…he always messed with Vincent, even calling him back then ‘queer’ or something cruel. Today was no different…

Gary shoved him, his crony in the back, laughing tauntingly at him. Vincent grimaced, “Come on, guys, stop!”
“Or what, you’ll cry to your mommy…? Oh right, you don’t have one!”
Vincent bit back tears. He knew that…they didn’t have to rub it in though. He had a mother…it was just a little different than them.

Dante darted over, glowering, “Hey, what’s the problem?”
The guys snorted, not paying him any mind, which was a bad idea…

Dante snatched him by the shirt and threw him to the ground roughly. Tifa came over, kicking him in back.
“Jeez! Why don’t you leave my brother alone, jerks!?”

His friend, coming to his rescue, came and punched Vincent suddenly in the face. Vincent groaned, not out of the pain but knowing that it will mark…darn! Mae this time came and dropped him like a ton. The crowd quickly disappeared as the teacher rushed over. Vincent felt numb. Great…

Vincent was sitting across from Vicious at lunch after, sadly. Glancing at his goth friend, he mumbled.
“How bad is it?”
“…Honestly?”
“Honestly.”
“Pretty bad” grimaced Vicious.
“Great…” sighed Vincent.
“Well, your parents won’t get mad since you didn’t fight back right…?”
“…Yea” Vincent lied.
He always lied to his friends about why they couldn’t come over, why he couldn’t come over to their house’s…

Vincent felt Raihn’s concerned eyes on his back and he smiled sadly. Yea…

Walking home with Tifa and Avri, he felt more and more sick as he got closer to his house. He tried to convince himself that he wouldn’t be angry, that he’d listen to him for once.
But…

“WHAT happened to your face?!” demanded Tidus, grabbing his shoulder roughly.
“Some g--” started Vincent franctically.
“You got into ANOTHER fight?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Why are you always embarrassing me?!”
“N-no one saw, mother!” he protested.
“Really, mother, no one saw!” Tifa added, “And Vincent didn’t throw a single punch!”
Tidus glared her into silence before stalking into the kitchen, “Come on, dinner’s ready.”
Avri followed readily leaving Vincent to stand there dumbly.

He clutched his head, a migraine coming, something someone his age shouldn’t know anything about. Tifa comforted him.
“Don’t worry about mama, Vincent, he wasn’t there.”
Vincent knew that but…

Tidus glared at them, “TIFA, come eat NOW.”

Tifa kissed her brother’s cheek gently before darting into the kitchen. Vincent continued to stand there though.
What WAS wrong with him? Why could he never live up to his mother’s expectations? Why was he such a failure…?

If he’d been older, he would have wondered why he didn’t think it was strange that he contemplated suicide at 8 years old.