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Seas Of Erin > Cecilia > Hickory dickory dock!


Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 05:54 PM
Much as he loved his daughter, even Lorenzo had to admit--privately, never where it could get back to the girl--was that she had no attention span whatsoever unless she could be deflected onto a musical instrument, where she was happy to remain for hours or until she grew hungry, whichever came first. If this had been a comedy, she would have been terrible at it. In reality, she was actually a pleasant musician, and Lorenzo had just followed the sounds of the little spinettone down the hall and now watched, in proud silence, as Constanzia picked out some playful little tune that would be popular for about a week, then fade out forever.

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 05:57 PM
And a set of small, quiet feet stepped up behind him, with a murmured "...three steps away..." And the girl's eyes popped open, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, goo--," she started, and then swallowed her words when she saw that she was interrupting the musical interlude. "Sorry!"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 05:59 PM
Constanzia lifted her hands from the keys. "Auntie Seraphima!" With a small squeal, she shifted herself from her bench and made a fast dash across the room--but slowed and jogged to a halt. Her grey eyes clouded over in confusion. "Auntie Seraphima?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 06:05 PM
"No!' Ariel answered, looking relieved that someone had caught on. "No, it's Ariel. Your Auntie, um, she was talking to me, and we sort of...got switched around? So I'm being her now," she said, looking a bit dubious at this. "But it's good to see you! I'm sorry we got carted off so suddenly!"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:13 PM
Before Lorenzo could get a word in to the situation, Constanzia squeaked again and drew the other girl forward, coaxing her toward the curving double-seated gossip's chair. "I was so worried," she said. "Where have you been? You haven't been gone all too long, really--are you in Lorrain? Oh!" She clasped her hands together. "So much has happened! Papa admitted that he was God!"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:14 PM
Lorenzo looked embarrassed at Constanzia's enthusiasm. "I am not God," he corrected. "I am not even a god. I wasn't even a god before. What has she done, exactly?" Lorenzo narrowed his eyes at Ariel. "You can't go around being Seraphima. Please tell me you just look like her."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 06:19 PM
"No, we're at sea," Ariel answered. "I mean, I'm not at sea; I'm wherever I go when I'm not visiting people, but Sera-Pipkin or whatever her name is is at sea. Headed for the Erins. With my brother, and let me just say that I for one think it's very fortunate that she's in my body and not someone else's."

She let out a sigh as she took the offered seat. "No, I'm being her," she said. "I mean, I have to do all the psychopomping until she gets back and I know...um. Not everything. Some things. I already talked to Scarlet," she said. "I was trying to find you but I found her instead. She was very nice, but she said you'd be able to help more. And she helped me save a marriage."

She smiled back at Constanzia. "Are you-- you're better now? Not upset anymore? I felt so bad."

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:27 PM
"This is so strange." She was staring at the girl as if Ariel might suddenly moult back into her usual form. "It's not you . . . but it's not Auntie Sera either, I can tell. How did you get swapped about? Can't you swap back? Who is Scarlet?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:27 PM
"Scarlet is your Aunt Rosa," Lorenzo supplied.

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:27 PM
Constanzia screwed up her face. "Auntie Rosa? The one who brings me nightgowns for St. Dove's Day presents?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 06:31 PM
Ariel's eyes popped wide. "Oh, god, I would love to see her taste in nightgowns," she said, looking utterly surprised. Then she shook her head. "That's the trouble, we can't switch back, not on our own. So I'm going to have to, um, make sure things run smoothly enough in the meantime?"

She looked up at Lorenzo. "Which is why I need help. I think I get most of it...the asking people how they are and everything...but I'm worried about doing things wrong. I don't understand why I'm doing it."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 06:42 PM
"Oh holy Dog." Lorenzo seemed to break through his glass box and scooted a footstool near to the two girls, sitting down and automatically taking up Constanzia's hand to stroke as he spoke. "You have to be switched back. As soon as possible. There is simply no way you can take up this kind of duty without putting yourself in danger. At the very least you might end this all with your memory taken away, everything related to this adventure erased, and Serendipity losing her place and being returned to the continuity. At the worst . . . child, there are things involved with the Psychopomp's duties that you are not prepared to deal with."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 07:02 PM
Ariel rolled her eyes. "Pipkin said she was offered the opportunity," she said. "I think that means she thought it was okay. Why would she...she can't lose her place when it was really Puck who did it! She just sees potentials, right? She's not allowed to affect them. So if she saw the potential this would happen and it also happened she was supposed to visit me next, that's not-- it would have been affecting things NOT to do it!" she argued.

"And besides, if I lose my memory, who's going to fill her in? What am I not prepared for? I'm smart. Scarlet thought I was all right with it."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 07:17 PM
Lorenzo sighed and gave the girl an ugly, frustrated look. "It's been moving this direction for some time," he admitted. "Up until now, we were all rather fearful of the results. But Serendipity has been bringing in outsiders for sometime now--Maalech, and now you. So it may be time to . . . " He searched around for the words. "To break a few professional confidences."

He moved the seat nearer and let go Constanzia's hand, moving to stroke her long hair instead. "For starters, the number of people you have to deal with--what the Psychopomp calls the 'sphere of her regard'--is actually quite small. No more than a few hundred people on this plane will ever require your attention. Were you the actual Psychopomp, you would know instinctively where to travel. In your case I should think we might have to find you some sort of relay service between yourself and the Primary Continuity."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 07:27 PM
Ariel frowned, tipping her head to one side. "So is that why I know everything my brother's doing and can't see a damn think about Madrigan?" she asked.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 07:30 PM
He smiled. "I don't know who Madrigan is but I'm going to assume that is correct. Your sphere of regard differs from hers. It's likely much smaller, and anything outside of it requires much more guesswork."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 07:34 PM
"You mean my sphere of regard in real life, or my sphere of regard when I'm the Psychopomp?" Ariel asked. "And to be honest, I don't think she did this to bring me in so much. If anything, I think it's so she could talk to people and be normal and not have to worry that she was influencing them in the bad way."

"So what's the Primary Continuity?" she asked. "Is that the people who are making the decisions, or the people we're making decisions about?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 07:51 PM
"From where you're sitting now? I'd say some of both: your real life and your Psychopomp duties. Most of us stay out of the main stream of things. It generally only goes bad." But strangely enough, he gave his daughter a warm look, stroked her back once more, and took his hand away. "The trouble is that whenever the Psychopomp interacts with the world, even in the course of her duties, she takes away a little more of the world with her. So far there have been several times when the Psychopomp has become so much a separate person, with ties within the world, that it's better for her--for all of us, even though I'm not involved anymore--to simply remain in the world as a normal person. Which is what I've decided to do; it's not necessarily an option for her alone."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 07:53 PM
"And then they get a new Psychopomp, like you're getting a new Grey?" Ariel asked. "So she could just stay? She could come live with us and be normal if she wanted to? Or doesn't she get a choice in it? Where do you get a new Psychopomp from, anyway? Don't they all have ties to the world?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:05 PM
"I think," he said gently, "that you're getting the impression that because you can stay yourself and do her job, that the Psychopomp is like you. There are parts of her that are missing, a lot of which have to do with independent thought and free will. Your people are born with those things. Mine aren't. We learn them from you. I learned enough that I couldn't stay anymore and still be what I was. The Psychopomp's dealing with your people constantly; that's her duty. But it also makes her more prone toward wanting to be part of the world instead of stepping into and out of it." He sighed. "I have a feeling that may be why she wanted you shuttled off in my direction. I became tired of what I was, so I asked to stay."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 08:09 PM
"Because you understand the perspective?" Ariel asked. "But the potential new gray asshole, he's from Earth. He has perspective and free will and all that stuff already. Why does it make sense for him to replace you when he's already got that?"

She took a deep breath. "And the one thing I don't understand is why. I don't know what the goal is, why we're meddling in people's lives."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:24 PM
"Because people, if they're left to their own devices, will continue in the same paths, creating the same situations, over and over and over again, until the world ends." He gave the girl a grave look. "Or rather, until it ends the world. Some people strive to break the patterns, to move forward. Those are the people who need the Psychopomp. There are some people whose fates are so clearly delineated, they can't even see her. There are some people who learn to see her. Does any of this make any sense at all?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 08:26 PM
Ariel didn't look like it did.

She frowned for a long moment, running her tongue over her teeth.

"Are you saying you're here to keep things from getting boring?"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:30 PM
Even Constanzia looked doubtful. "That is rather what it's sounding like, Papa."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:32 PM
He shrugged and acquiesced. "In so many words, yes."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 08:34 PM
Ariel scowled. "To whom?" she asked. "I mean, good theater hardly makes for happy lives."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:38 PM
"To anyone who chooses to remain here," he replied simply. "You're not just born to the world, or in your case brought here. There is always an element of consent."

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 08:39 PM
"I was born here." Constanzia looked less confused and more offended that anyone would dare imply otherwise. "Not here in this house, of course. We come from the south."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 08:45 PM
"I agree with Constanzia," Ariel replied, even though it wasn't so much a statement requiring agreement. "I know things from back home, from the other world. I even know things locked inside people's heads. This isn't just about one world. And I don't see how tiny babies have any choice, or why this has to be not-boring to them. It's like you're almost avoiding my question, or answering it differently from how I intended it. When the things we do-- they kill people sometimes, right? And maybe that's not boring, but it doesn't make things better. Whether people are choosing to be born here or brought here doesn't mean it's more interesting if people they care about die. It's worse. It's only more interesting to people who are observers, like it's funny to kick in an ant hill and watch all the ants scuttle, but it's awful for the ants."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 09:01 PM
"If that's the way you see this as working," Lorenzo said slowly, "then the real question would be, who are the observers? They're not us. We're bound by even more rules than the rest of you. As far as I ever understood it, we have more power, and less control over how it's used. Believe me, you're not saying anything we haven't run over ourselves."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 09:06 PM
"Are you saying you don't know?" Ariel asked. "Then...well. Why do you keep doing it? Why does it matter? Who gave you the rules? Did you make them up yourselves, or did you...sort of learn them by trial and error?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 09:16 PM
Lorenzo gave a slightly frustrated laugh. "I don't know about anyone else, but I was born knowing. I've always been myself, I've never been any younger than I am now, and I've always known about the Continuity--time. I know when it gets amended and adapted; I know how to balance things out when two days go on at once--which happens more often than you'd think--I know that time outside this continuity goes by faster than it does inside it. If a thousand years is as a day to God, then the reverse is also applicable. It's the same with most of us; you can ask whichever ones you want. Personally, I don't think we're allowed to know in case this very situation comes up: if we knew, we might say something."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 09:25 PM
"So..." Ariel bit her lip. "There are times when you would know today what is happening tomorrow already?" she asked. "I don't..." she looked at Constanzia. "Has he really never gotten older?" she asked the girl. "I mean, I remember my dad having more hair and all...and the time he grew a mustache."

She made a face, showing her apparently feelings toward the mustache. "Do you age now?" she asked Lorenzo. "Now that you're not Gray anymore?"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 09:32 PM
Constanzia looked badly uncomfortable and confused and nearly relieved to have a question she could answer easily. "When I was little, you had yellow hair, the same as mine," she said to her father. "And I remember the first winter your knee didn't want to work properly and you had to use liniment in the evenings just to bend it. That was only a few years ago, in the old house."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 09:38 PM
His eyes crinkled slightly at Constanzia. "And I remember you could smell that salve through the entire bottom floor." Then he sighed again. "And I still don't know how much of what we remember happened and how much was assumed, dear."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 09:51 PM
"Wait, so are you saying your memories might be getting rearranged? Like things that didn't really happen suddenly happened because you both remember them?" Ariel asked worriedly.

She huffed, frustrated. "How do we know any of this is real?!" she demanded, throwing her hands up.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 10:08 PM
"Maybe this is what reality is," Lorenzo replied.

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 10:18 PM
The girl looked a little queasy at the suggestion. "But then reality is all a bunch of lies!"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 10:41 PM
"It's all very well to say that the air's bad when you go on breathing it," Lorenzo replied, a little sharply. "There's a lot of things in this world that can be changed, but I don't think reality is amongst them. Magic, perhaps, but even that has rules."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 10:44 PM
"Well, it's not like you have any choice but to breathe the air," Ariel said irritably. "That's-- that's scary to think that maybe you did something, but maybe someone else just said you did something! It gives you no control over anything. I mean, who cares what I choose right now? Why psychopomp anybody if you can just change their decision later if you don't like it?!"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 10:52 PM
"The world doesn't change just because you know how it works. People are still people. They'll continue to live just as they've always done, day to day, and believe what they've always known because the alternative is madness." He let out his frustration with a long, thin sigh. "This is not something I'm going to try to convince you of in an hour. Bat it around, see what you can make of it. You're in possibly the best position you can be to find out why."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 10:58 PM
"Will they, though?" Ariel asked. "I mean, if you don't have to do anything and someone else is going to come along after you and pick up your mess, why would you ever do anything? If people ever found this out, they'd get sloppy. Lazy. They'd do things without worrying about the consequences."

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 11:04 PM
"They do that enough now," Constanzia noted with a small frown.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 11:07 PM
He gave Ariel a sharp look. "Can you see why we would all be just a little leery about letting this get out much further than it has? There are enough mystics in the world who believe in some sort of gods, in divine retribution or things coming back threefold. Enough people who believe it's the truth well enough that they regulate their whole lives by it. What would people do with this?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 11:11 PM
"What are they already doing with it?" Ariel asked. "The Countess is scared of you people. My brother-- he relies much too much on Pipkin. I don't know how much of it is because of what she is and how much is because he's half in-love with her, and I don't know what he'd be like if he didn't have the Countess around because he's probably be slavishly devoted to her, and you-- I assume you know about what happened to Scarlet in that other place. Hm." She blinked, not having realized she knew that. "With the cult. It's already bad. But part of why it's bad is because you're interfering, no? People don't like not feeling like they're not responsible for their own destinies. And if they have you to blame, they don't end up fixing things themselves."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 11:31 PM
"It's already getting out of hand," he agreed. "Even I'm meant to be out of the main stream of things, and it's never quite happened. As long as we exist, we can never quite not be part of the problem. Yet as long as we do exist, we do what we can. Most of us are not social aspects--we come and go, you would never notice us. The Architect's duty requires her to remain largely in the past, and mostly invisible. Mine did as well, and it will again."

He touched his daughter's hair again. "And there's you. The Psychopomp. The conductor of souls. You're not quite a player, but you're never far from the action. The contradiction of your duty is that you can't interfere, but by your very existence, you do."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 11:35 PM
""So I've noticed," Ariel agreed. "I mean, I already am part of the action, so it's a little different. I mean, seriously, what if I interfere while I'm the psychopomp? What would happen to me?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "But do you have any goals, besides not-getting-boring? Do you set things right? Make people happy? Make people better? I...you've got to understand, I don't want to help with something that could hurt someone I care about."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 29 2008, 11:50 PM
There he went very still, very quiet, and the room seemed to take on a visible chill, like frost in the air around them. "True goals take time. That was something else I dealt with: the lines that connect one chain of events to another. But yes, there are some goals that I suppose you would consider worthy. Kingdoms that need to fall so that better ones can rise. Heroes that need to be put in the right places at the right times. From the outside, it rarely looks like what it is. Fortunately, you're just now on the inside."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 29 2008, 11:51 PM
Ariel crossed her arms, settling back against her seat. "Is that why you lot have taken so much interest in my brother?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 12:02 AM
"That may be why Scarlet's taken such an interest in him," he admitted. "I know she and the Psychopomp were getting all chummy for a while over him, and they don't usually agree on anything."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 12:04 AM
Ariel frowned.

"Right," she said slowly. "Is that why the Countess is sleeping with him?" she asked. "Because of Scarlet? I..."

Her frown deepened. "This makes me uncomfortable. If Scarlet's avatar became Queen of the Erins, what's to stop Scarlet from ruling the country on her own?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 12:12 AM
"The fact that another of Scarlet's avatars is already ruling the country," the older man said wryly. "Scarlet herself is a fey creature. She won't be tied down to anything: not a person, a place, or an ideology."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 12:24 AM
Ariel tipped her head, curious. "So. Um. Is that what they are? Scarlet's people? Or...is it just some of them? The Nialls? Neely seems like he could be one, too, in male form. But they all so inbred!"

She looked thoughtful. "I like Scarlet. I'd feel better about it if I thought the Erins were...hers. Is she...not happy with that avatar? She wants a new one there?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 12:37 AM
"She considers herself the patron of the current Lady Niall. She's not related to any of them--or to anyone at all, for that matter. Some of the Archai isolate parts of themselves and set them loose in the world. It's a way to feel part of things without running the risk of interfering." He looked with some fond sadness at his own daughter, then held out his arms to her. "Come here, girl."

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 12:37 AM
Constanzia slipped out of her seat, still confused, and tipped her head to kiss her father's temple. "It's all right, Papa."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 12:44 AM
Ariel smiled quietly at the little familial affection. "What?" she asked Lorenzo. "Is that what you did?"

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 01:44 AM
"I went all the way with it. I opted out. No more worrying about interference. I just am." He scooted the girl away. "I had some good years with a woman I adored. I worked for peace while I was able. I have Constanzia--" he grinned slyly at her "--but you learn to take the bad with the good . . . "

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 01:44 AM
"Oh, ha-ha," Constanzia replied, a little wounded.

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 01:57 AM
Ariel smiled. "Hey, I'd trade my older sister for Constanzia any day," she informed them.

And then she pursed her lips. "What do I do now?" she asked.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 02:18 AM
"You're free to stay," Lorenzo said, extending his hand in offer. "You can try to move on as Psychopomp. Was Scarlet at least useful, or did she spin you 'round three times and point you to me?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 02:25 AM
Ariel grinned and bobbed her head. "I liked her!" she exclaimed. "She...she told be a bit about avatars...she just sort of started pushing me off when I asked why, and told me to come to you for that instead. And Pipkin was helpful, too," she added. "They're both very nice. I wish I could...you know. See them more often. Scarlet explained her job to me. But I don't really understand anyone else's job."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 02:34 AM
"There are three major forms of mass communication in history," Lorenzo said wearily. "And until this world develops the other two, there's Scarlet. She's probably telling one of the others right now. Either you'll run into them or they'll put themselves in your way."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 02:38 AM
"Wait, what major forms of communication are those?" Ariel asked, frowning. "They have talking and reading here."

She bounced a little in her seat.

"So you mean I'll get to meet them?" she asked.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 02:45 AM
"You don't know what you're getting into!" the man laughed. "Honestly, that lot . . . they're characters. You'll start to wonder how anything in the world gets done if you meet them." He nodded. "You might meet them, if they want to be met. There's at least two that won't much bother with you, and at least four that would."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 02:54 AM
The girl got an impish look. "Which won't?" she asked mischievously.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 02:57 AM
"Why, so you can try to go after them first?" He laughed again, then assumed the tone most people used for family members who do not get discussed at the dinner table: "Emerald and Orange. Yellow might as well, but it's more that she's shy and very hard to find."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 02:59 AM
Ariel smirked. "Exactly. Is there any one of you who can make sure I'll find them?" she asked. "Like, who it's within their sphere of regard or whatever you called it? Because I'll make friends with them, first."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:05 AM
"That would be . . . well, you. You tend to control chance meetings." He looked amused at her enthusiasm. "Again, if all else fails, try Scarlet. She's the resident busybody."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:08 AM
The girl nodded obediently. "All right," she agreed, and she got up from her seat. "Thank you," she said politely, and she nodded her head, and then turned to Constanzia, extending both arms. "It was good to see you again! I'll come back soon, if I can make it before we switch again! I miss you!"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:15 AM
Constanzia bounced to her feet and pressed Ariel against her, with a quick peck on the cheek. "Yes, do! Please? It's been lonely since you and Brother Lockwood went away." She stepped back, with an uncustomarily arch look on her face. "And if your Scarlet is my Aunt Rosa . . . watch out, she will try to marry you off, if she treats you anything like she does me."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:17 AM
"Oh. no," Ariel said with a giggle. "To whom? Oh, and I'll tell Shane hello from you," she assured her. "He's stuck inside a tiny Faerie lady this high," she said, judging Judith's height with her hand. "No joke."

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:19 AM
Constanzia's eyes widened. "They switch him, too?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:20 AM
"They switched everyone!" Ariel answered. "It's awful and hilarious!"

Posted by: Constanzia del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:25 AM
"It just sounds awful." The girl pressed her knuckles against her lips. "What happens if you never change back and you're stuck like this always?"

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:26 AM
Ariel gave Lorenzo a cautious look. "I don't think that will happen," she assured Constanzia. "But if it does, I guess I'll just have to go on being the psychopomp.

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:29 AM
"It took Scarlet approximately sixteen hours to be tired of being human," Lorenzo said optimistically. "But Seraphima's the sort that enjoys wilderness survival hikes, so I give her three weeks before she wearies of it. Around that time, mark my words, someone will get changed back."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:31 AM
Ariel giggled, and nodded at Lorenzo. "Around that time, my brother will get tired of being forced to sleep on the floor," she added. "So they had better start changing."

She gave Lorenzo a little curtsey. "Thank you, again. I'll...I'll try to stop back if I have any trouble."

Posted by: Lorenzo del Grigio Jun 30 2008, 03:32 AM
Lorenzo bowed in return. "Do take care, my dear. Just bear in mind that one day you will look back on all this and laugh. Or cringe. Either way, you'll still be looking back on it."

Posted by: Serendipity Jun 30 2008, 03:33 AM
"I know," Ariel assured him. "But right now I have a lot to look forward to."

She shut her eyes. "Excuse me. I still need to...um. The person I am about to see is three steps away."

She took a step.

"The person I am about to see..."

And vanished.

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