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Post by Rae on Aug 1, 2010 2:47:43 GMT 7
The Devil's Rest. A cabin so secluded that only those with an invitation can find it. Sparda gave it to his eldest before the birth of Augustus, Atticus, and Ginerva. Since then, the peaceful silence has been nearly nonexistant with the numerous fights that break out. If you can survive this less-than-functional family, it might be a good idea to swim in the river or lake a few miles away. Or it might be fun to take a nice walk through the woods. But be wary. Nymphs populate the lake and various demons wander through the trees. Oh...and a note about the trees...they occassionally move...and are sometimes not trees.... Maybe it's safer to stay inside, eh? |
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Post by Basil on Aug 1, 2010 3:16:14 GMT 7
“Tomtom! Where are you?”
A tiny tonberry ducked out of Ginevra’s bedroom and plodded down the hallway. It didn’t like having ribbons tied around it. It wasn’t fair! Its mistress refused to wear the itchy things herself, so why must it? It shuffled to the next room. It peered in the open door. The coast was clear! No one was in that room. Not even its mistress’ brothers. It darted towards the bed and hid under it. It covered its tiny mouth with its hand. It appeared to be giggling! Its mistress will never find it here.
True enough, it heard footsteps running past the door. It peeped from underneath the bed. It could see the soles of its mistress’ pink sneakers. It pulled the quilt a little lower so that edge of the quilt was skirting the floor. It sniffed the air. It wondered why this bed smelt familiar. Could this be the mistress’ stoic brother’s bed? It froze. Its eyes widen! Didn’t the snake live here too? It edged slowly towards the foot of the bed. It gulped. Snakey better not be there. It didn’t want to be lunch! It wanted to live long enough to eat some of those chocolate cookies the older mistress was making.
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Post by Rae on Aug 1, 2010 3:25:17 GMT 7
Augustus made his way back to his room, ignoring Atticus as he went. Atty seemed more...cheery than usual. Maybe it was the cookies? Or maybe Uncle Dante took him out again? He mentally sighed, wondering why Uncle Dante never took him out.
Abruptly, Augustus held his hand out to silence his younger brother.
"Au? Wha's--" Atticus stopped and stared at the door for a long time. It was slightly open. Gus never left his door open. Someone in there, Au?
I hope not, Augustus thought back, frowning as he pushed the door open.
Silas slid out of his tank and dropped onto Augustus' bed. It blinked curiously and slithered towards the edge of the bed.
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Post by Basil on Aug 1, 2010 4:11:58 GMT 7
Tomtom perked up when it heard the boys. The noisy one was talking. The stoic one wasn’t replying. It guessed that the stoic one pushed the door open. Suddenly, something landed on the bed with a soft thud. It could smell snakey. It whimpered slightly. Snakey was slithering over to the edge of the bed. It didn’t want to be eaten! It wanted its mistress! It bolted up from under the bed. It didn’t look where it was going. It ran smack into one of the boys and fell backwards. It blinked as tears formed in its eyes. Its head hurt.
Footsteps echoed down the hallway. They were heading towards the room. A fluffy pink thing bounced into the room. It was Eva. She was wearing the pink frilly dress that her Mommy forced her to wear this morning. Her ribbon was coming loose.
“Gus! Atty! Have you seen Tomtom?”
Suddenly, there was an ear-piercing squeal. “Tomtom!”
The poor tonberry was lifted up into the air and hugged so tightly that it began struggling for air. It gestured pathetically to the boys. It wanted them to make its mistress stop. It was going to die at this rate. It kept flailing, but its mistress didn’t seem to notice.
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Post by Rae on Aug 1, 2010 4:23:55 GMT 7
Atticus caught sight of his sister and burst out laughing.
"E-va!" he choked out, leaning on the wall for support as he continued laughing.
Augustus bent down to remove his sister's death grip from Tomtom. The tonberry had crashed into him earlier and Gus was curious about why he hadn't really felt it. He gave Silas a look and nodded towards the tank, mentally telling it to go.
Silas seemed to pout then slithered on top of his tank and stared around.
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Post by Basil on Aug 1, 2010 16:43:21 GMT 7
Tomtom snuggled closer to Gus. It loved the stoic boy, but of course, it loved its mistress more. The stoic boy was nice and quiet. The noisy one scared it. It keened happily. It hoped Gus wouldn’t let go. It didn’t want to play tea party anymore. It hated how the tea exploded in its face every time it tried to take a sip. It was also scared of how the dollies seem to lose their heads after sometime. Its mistress loved slashing the dollies with her training sword.
Eva grinned and crossed her arm. She noticed the tail end of her ribbon falling across her face. She tried to blow it away, but she couldn’t. She reached out and ripped it off. She winced as her hair came cascading down. She pushed her hair back. Why can’t she cut her hair as short as Atty or Gus? It was annoying how Mommy and her sisters like playing with her hair. Grandma was okay, but she doesn’t see her that often.
“So, shall we play? I think Tomtom is bored of playing tea party with me.”
Suddenly, the whole house shook as the remaining tea exploded in her room. She laughed. “Ooops, I think that was the last of the tea.”
She shrugged. “Oh well, I better check on the casualties! Erm... back in a sec!"
She fled to her room. She could hear her Mommy's voice from the kitchen. She hoped she could clean the things up before her parents came in. She didn't want them to see what she did to her new dolls. She pushed her door open and looked around. Thinking quickly, she lifted up the edges of her white and pink lacy quilt and dragged the rug over. She shoved the rug and the remains of the tea party under the bed quickly and pulled the quilt down until it covered the mess underneath. She jumped onto her bed and opened a book. She stared at the pages as she pretended to read.
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Post by Rae on Aug 3, 2010 11:45:24 GMT 7
Augustus patted the tonberry thoughtfully. He rather liked Tomtom. It never seemed to try and get on his nerves or intrude upon his private thoughts. Unlike Atty, who Augustus was unsure whether he truly liked or just felt...obligated to like.
Atticus grinned at the explosion and watched as his sister wandered out of the room. He saw Eva's irritation at her hair and thought back on his plan to make it shorter. Atty would simply cut it off while everyone was sleeping. Though, perhaps it wasn't a foolproof plan...because his father always put the scissors out of reach.
"We're too much like them," Gus told him, catching the thought and nodding out the door. "Father probably remembers when he was a kid."
Atty frowned. "Yeah...whatever. You're such a nerd, Au."
"It's called listening," Augustus retorted, matching his brother's playful tone.
The smile returned to Atty's face. He was going to get the scissors even if he had to trick Uncle Dante to get them.
"Le's go find, Eva," the younger boy said, tugging on Gus' shoulder. "Maybe we can hide her before ma gets to her."
"That's unlikely," Augustus muttered as he got to his feet, sat Tomtom on the ground next to him, and headed to the door.
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Post by Basil on Aug 5, 2010 14:34:21 GMT 7
Eva tried not to squirm as her Mommy braided her hair. She hated pigtails even more than a ponytail. She winced as Selena tugged a little too hard on one of the strands. She tried her best not to scowl. She knew she shouldn’t argue with Mommy after what she did. Arguing would only make her Mommy more suspicious. It was icky under her bed. Even Tomtom wouldn’t want to crawl underneath. The tea had curdled. It looked worse than something Tomtom spat out the last time it choked! She suppressed her giggle. It’ll be fun splattering people with it!
“Mommy, can I go now?”
“Not yet. I’m still tying your hair.”
Eva kicked her legs. She was careful not to kick Selena. She tugged at the finished pigtail. She was tempted to pull away the pink ribbons, but Mommy said she had to wear it. They were expecting someone over later. She shouldn’t have been so happy about the cookies. Mommy only baked them when someone was coming. She wondered who it was. Maybe Gus knows! He knows everything.
She looked up when she heard a familiar shuffling sound. She beamed. “Tomtom!”
She waved to her brothers. She should help Atty get those scissors soon. She was dying to see how short she can cut her hair. She bet it’ll be easier now that they were in pigtails. Gus was tall, so by standing on his shoulders, they should be able to reach it. But she knew persuading Gus was the hard part.
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Post by Rae on Aug 5, 2010 14:44:37 GMT 7
Augustus watched Selena and Eva for a long time. I'll distract mother and you get Eva out, he thought to his brother, wandering into the room before Atty could reply. He tapped on his mother's shoulder.
"Mother? Who's visiting?" Gus asked quietly.
Atty snuck partially into the room, ready to pull his sister out.
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Post by Basil on Aug 5, 2010 15:14:53 GMT 7
Selena looked up when she felt Nero tapping on her shoulder. She deftly tied the last ribbon and placed Eva onto the bed. She hoped that the pigtails will still be tied by the time their guest arrived. She smiled as she turned to her eldest son.
“You’ll see.” She said with a smile.
“Not many people know about this place, so there’ll only be a few people who will visit…”
She sounded as though she was trying to convince herself rather than Augustus. She knew she couldn’t bluff her eldest. He always managed to figure things out. She decided to evade the question for now. Her sixth sense was telling her that she wasn’t going to like her unexpected guest. She wasn’t referring to Erin, of course. She knew beforehand that Erin was coming. She got up.
“I’ll be off to check on the barrel of dead voles.”
She sighed. “I hope Tomtom didn’t steal any.”
She went back to the kitchen. She didn’t notice Eva trying to sneak out of the room with Atty. Eva quickly stepped out of the way and turned to look at her younger brother. Mommy seemed a little odd today. The little girl turned to Gus. “What’s wrong with Mommy?”
She hoped Tomtom didn’t give Mommy another lovely present. She remembered Mommy freaking out when Tomtom put a dead chameleon on her pillow while she was sleeping. She never knew Mommy was afraid of lizards. Strange though, she believed Mommy was the one who bought her Tomtom and Tomtom looked like an overgrown lizard.
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Post by Rae on Aug 5, 2010 15:36:49 GMT 7
Atticus shrugged and went about undoing Eva's pigtails.
"Dion's coming to visit," Augustus drawled, looking awkward. He fidgeted slightly, thinking this would be interesting. "Want to come outside with me?"
Something about staying indoors made Gus uncomfortable. If he was inside...he had to be constantly busy or sleeping. He couldn't relax unless he was outside.
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Post by Basil on Aug 5, 2010 16:08:00 GMT 7
Eva gave a start when she felt someone tugging at her pigtails. It was Atty! She grinned as he untied one of them. Taking his lead, she undid the other one. She ran her fingers through her hair and watched as her hair unwound slowly. She hugged Atty and whispered. “Do you think we can ask Gus to help us?”
Gus mentioned Dion was visiting. She can’t remember who that was, so she brushed it aside. She grabbed Gus’ hand and pulled him along. “I don’t mind! But can we get the scissors first? Please!”
She pouted. It was her best weapon. Most people would give in when she did. Well, unless Papa made up his mind that it was wrong. She wouldn’t even dare try it out on Mommy. Her mother wouldn’t fall for it. “Please?”
She saw the scissors this morning. They were on the top shelf. She didn’t remember seeing anyone move them. They should still be there! She can’t understand why the adults made such a fuss about them. It was okay if you knew how to avoid the pointy ends.
~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~
Tomtom sniffed around Eva’s room. It went over to her bed and lifted up the quilt’s edge. It turned a delicate shade of green. It quickly dropped the quilt and shuffled out of the room. That will be the last time it ever drank tea from its mistress!
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Post by Rae on Aug 5, 2010 16:17:34 GMT 7
Gus stared at his younger siblings. Sometimes he really hated being the eldest.
"Fine," he muttered. "But don't look at me when mother grows your hair back."
Atty tackled him, hugging him tightly and repeatedly saying he was the best big brother ever. Of course...in ten minutes, that would definitely be forgotten.
"Where are they?" Gus inquired, trying to get free of Atty.
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Post by Basil on Aug 5, 2010 16:34:44 GMT 7
“Top shelf in Mommy and Papa’s room!” Eva answered promptly.
“Mommy was working on… something last night.”
She tried to block Gus out of her mind. She didn’t have the same level of connection her brothers had, but she knew that Gus was very psy-kick. She heard her parents saying so. Mommy didn’t want her to tell her brothers what it was. She stepped back and let Tomtom rush out of the room before she grabbed her brothers’ hands and led them to their parents’ room.
She pointed to the shelf on wall. It was a good distance away from the foot of the bed. She bet it was deliberate. It would be easier to reach for things on the shelf above the bed. All they had to do was jump. The bed was nice and bouncy.
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Post by Rae on Aug 5, 2010 16:43:44 GMT 7
Augustus sighed, looking up at the shelf. He wondered if his father had mentioned to mother where to hide the scissors, or it it was mutually agreed upon. Gathering himself, he teleported up towards the scissors...only to suddenly find himself on the floor and on his back.
"Ow...." Wards.
Gus laid there a moment, in pain, then got to his feet with Atty's help.
"Now what?" the slightly younger boy asked.
They really needed someone tall...someone like....
"Verge? You in here? I heard a crash. Don't tell me you hurt yourself with Yamato...I'll have to teach you how to use a sword," a careless voice called from the other side of the door.
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