Well... could be worse. Could be stung by a Shelob-sized spider...
Trinais Member
STATUS: To all my RP buddies, I'm gearing up for Camp Nanowrimo in July! My RPs will be slowing down this month and next. PM me for a quick response to an RP I'm in! 11 yrs ago
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- Trinais 12 yrs ago
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11 yrs ago
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To all my RP buddies, I'm gearing up for Camp Nanowrimo in July! My RPs will be slowing down this month and next. PM me for a quick response to an RP I'm in!
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11 yrs ago
Back to the grind! Unavailable to post from 3:30 to 10:30 PM EST! Your Fortune: You will find something lost long ago!
11 yrs ago
Working tonight! Unavailable to post from 3:30 to 10:30 PM EST! Stay classy, Guildies!
11 yrs ago
Work tonight! I'll be unavailable to post from 3:30 to 10:30 PM EST! Will check threads and posts during breaks.
11 yrs ago
Work tonight! I'll be unavailable to post from 3:30 to 11 PM EST!
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Bio
Roleplay addict, I work two jobs which unfortunately cuts back on my roleplay time.
In my limited free time I GM one ONLY WAR tabletop game, play a shopaholic Zeltron in a Star Wars game, and try to resist the urge to write long stories as the aftermath usually plunges me into a dark and unhappy depressed state.
Or maybe that's normal!
In my limited free time I GM one ONLY WAR tabletop game, play a shopaholic Zeltron in a Star Wars game, and try to resist the urge to write long stories as the aftermath usually plunges me into a dark and unhappy depressed state.
Or maybe that's normal!
Most Recent Posts
IgotitIgotitIgotit... NOPENOPENOPE!
Parry nearly choked on the drool coming out of his mouth as Rikive fished around inside his enchanted Gucci bag. Parry'd had a hundred bags like this one ever since coming to the city, and they all lead to the same enchanted pocket in the Nether. It was easy for him to stash whatever he wanted for later. He was pretty sure he had a house full of diapers and an entire toy store in there.
When Rikive reached inside even deeper and gripped something that let to a quiet WHHRRRRRRRRRRRR noise, he realized there was probably a small section in that bag that could definitely be marked "Adults Only" in most states.
Don't laugh! I'd like to see you get through a hundred years without a dry spell!
Rather than letting Rikive continue to fish through the bag for all of Parry's embarrassing items (Oh god, what if she pulled out 'The Destroyer'? It could legitimately be used as a club.) Parry crawled across the carpet as fast as his pudgy limbs could take him until he reached the bag.
He grabbed the open flap of the bag, hoisted himself over its lip, and dove in head first until only his bottom and naked legs stood out.
And yet he kept falling into the bag, inch by inch, until only his toes were peeking out of the top.
The inside was completely dark but Parry tried to home in on the Cell phone inside the bag. Feeling his way around the pocket dimension, he was able to find a stuffed animal section that stank of baby powder and spilled lotion. Hanging in the pocket of a stuffed kangaroo was his old iPhone 4S.
Almost- almost got it-
Which was when Parry's legs slipped over the edge of the bag and he felt his pudgy body falling into the pocket dimension inside.
OH SHIT!
When Rikive reached inside even deeper and gripped something that let to a quiet WHHRRRRRRRRRRRR noise, he realized there was probably a small section in that bag that could definitely be marked "Adults Only" in most states.
Don't laugh! I'd like to see you get through a hundred years without a dry spell!
Rather than letting Rikive continue to fish through the bag for all of Parry's embarrassing items (Oh god, what if she pulled out 'The Destroyer'? It could legitimately be used as a club.) Parry crawled across the carpet as fast as his pudgy limbs could take him until he reached the bag.
He grabbed the open flap of the bag, hoisted himself over its lip, and dove in head first until only his bottom and naked legs stood out.
And yet he kept falling into the bag, inch by inch, until only his toes were peeking out of the top.
The inside was completely dark but Parry tried to home in on the Cell phone inside the bag. Feeling his way around the pocket dimension, he was able to find a stuffed animal section that stank of baby powder and spilled lotion. Hanging in the pocket of a stuffed kangaroo was his old iPhone 4S.
Almost- almost got it-
Which was when Parry's legs slipped over the edge of the bag and he felt his pudgy body falling into the pocket dimension inside.
OH SHIT!
Estelle didn't do it. She's not smart enough to know. But she had something to do with it. Gods, I hate one word answers!
Parry was about to reach for the 'Y' Block again when Rikive started firing off questions at him rapid fire. His attention span was shot to begin with and being reduced to only a foot tall and unable to control when he peed didn't help that fact much either. But he had to guess the answer to all those questions was 'Yes' so he went after the 'Y' block again, tossing it toward his enchanted diaper bag on the far wall.
He kept all of his valuables in there, including his phones. Rikive would have to go fishing through that portal into the Nether realm, and while she was unlikely to find anything dangerous in there, it was unlikely she'd get one of her phones on her first go.
Come on come on come on! Get the bag please.
Parry was about to reach for the 'Y' Block again when Rikive started firing off questions at him rapid fire. His attention span was shot to begin with and being reduced to only a foot tall and unable to control when he peed didn't help that fact much either. But he had to guess the answer to all those questions was 'Yes' so he went after the 'Y' block again, tossing it toward his enchanted diaper bag on the far wall.
He kept all of his valuables in there, including his phones. Rikive would have to go fishing through that portal into the Nether realm, and while she was unlikely to find anything dangerous in there, it was unlikely she'd get one of her phones on her first go.
Come on come on come on! Get the bag please.
Oh shit. She's pissed.
Baby Parry shrank back a little, or tried to, and promptly fell on his back. Arms flailing like an upended turtle, he was finally able to roll back up into a crawling position.
But at least she's on the right track with the sword.
Parry crawled back toward the Y block ever so slowly to keep his arms and legs steady. Grasping the little wooden block, he licked it one more time before casting it as hard as he could toward Estelle- sending the block flying a good eighteen inches.
Not my best toss...
Baby Parry shrank back a little, or tried to, and promptly fell on his back. Arms flailing like an upended turtle, he was finally able to roll back up into a crawling position.
But at least she's on the right track with the sword.
Parry crawled back toward the Y block ever so slowly to keep his arms and legs steady. Grasping the little wooden block, he licked it one more time before casting it as hard as he could toward Estelle- sending the block flying a good eighteen inches.
Not my best toss...
Gods dammit. Dammit all! Damn it by Odins eyes!
Parry was single-handedly the fussiest baby he could possibly be as Rikive got him "dressed" downstairs ('She didn't even use the Huggies Jeans-style I bought! I could kill it even in faux jeans!') but when she was finished, there was the brief realization that maybe this was why kids gave him the same problems when he changed them.
After that, Parry's cheeks were redder than an apple's.
Gods help her if the kids wake up, Parry thought as Rikive plopped him down on the soft carpet. Feels like I've got a dozen pillows between my thighs. Not cool. This thing makes my ass look fucking huge.
Parry was ready to give up and start crying again at the thought of being so woefully dressed- surely Gucci made onesies!- but Rikive had struck on a genius idea. The toy blocks went on the ground and while Parry's mind desperately wanted him to play with the brightly colored 'N' block, he had enough self restraint to resist the temptation.
Instead, he crawled ever so slowly toward the 'Y' block.
Picked it up.
And stuffed it in his mouth, gnawning on it with his baby teeth.
Parry was single-handedly the fussiest baby he could possibly be as Rikive got him "dressed" downstairs ('She didn't even use the Huggies Jeans-style I bought! I could kill it even in faux jeans!') but when she was finished, there was the brief realization that maybe this was why kids gave him the same problems when he changed them.
After that, Parry's cheeks were redder than an apple's.
Gods help her if the kids wake up, Parry thought as Rikive plopped him down on the soft carpet. Feels like I've got a dozen pillows between my thighs. Not cool. This thing makes my ass look fucking huge.
Parry was ready to give up and start crying again at the thought of being so woefully dressed- surely Gucci made onesies!- but Rikive had struck on a genius idea. The toy blocks went on the ground and while Parry's mind desperately wanted him to play with the brightly colored 'N' block, he had enough self restraint to resist the temptation.
Instead, he crawled ever so slowly toward the 'Y' block.
Picked it up.
And stuffed it in his mouth, gnawning on it with his baby teeth.
Over 20% of his body was now baby fat. He stank of urine. He was lifted in the air by a woman who he'd known for a little over 15 hours. Said warrior woman kicked a blade made for cleaving demons in two, forged in the heart of a dying star, like it was a Lego piece she'd just stepped on. And aside from the massive shirt hanging over his tiny shoulders, he was naked as the day he was formed.
There was no way in Hells he was going to live this down when he got back to normal.
If he got back to normal.
Yeah! It's me Riki! Look at me- I've still got the hair. Do I still have the hair? Please baby Vishnu, tell me I still have the hair! Marco works so hard on it at the salon every Saturday!
He honestly couldn't tell. When Parry tried to bring his hand up to check the top of his head, his pudgy fingers landed on his nose. Poor motor control or unused to his adjusted body type? He could deal with the first, but the thought of the second made his baby blue eyes tear up all over again.
Estelle- she had to do this. Drew some kind of charm on my sword, something tied to me so intimately. But how? She only knows how to shrink things, not make them young. Hell, de Lacy would kill for this magic alone! And why would he do this to me anyway, even if she could? She has no reason to- aside from cruel fun, and Estelle may be spoiled but she's not cruel. And if it's someone powerful enough to know how to cast a spell like this, why this spell in particular? I could've been wasted by the trap on my sword. Dead in a heartbeat.
Whatever the answers were, he was pretty sure of one thing. If Estelle didn't do this, and if there was no way to reverse it, he was well and truly fucked. It took him a solid 10,000 years to grow from Cherubim-sized like he was now into a fully formed and trained Celestial. And even then, he didn't need Pampers.
I can't talk. I probably can't write. And I definitely can't walk. So... how do we communicate and get out of this?
Parry frowned, his lips quivering as he started spilling over into tears in no time once again, his baby blue eyes squinting shut as his vision grew watery from the crying in Rikive's arms.
There was no way in Hells he was going to live this down when he got back to normal.
If he got back to normal.
Yeah! It's me Riki! Look at me- I've still got the hair. Do I still have the hair? Please baby Vishnu, tell me I still have the hair! Marco works so hard on it at the salon every Saturday!
He honestly couldn't tell. When Parry tried to bring his hand up to check the top of his head, his pudgy fingers landed on his nose. Poor motor control or unused to his adjusted body type? He could deal with the first, but the thought of the second made his baby blue eyes tear up all over again.
Estelle- she had to do this. Drew some kind of charm on my sword, something tied to me so intimately. But how? She only knows how to shrink things, not make them young. Hell, de Lacy would kill for this magic alone! And why would he do this to me anyway, even if she could? She has no reason to- aside from cruel fun, and Estelle may be spoiled but she's not cruel. And if it's someone powerful enough to know how to cast a spell like this, why this spell in particular? I could've been wasted by the trap on my sword. Dead in a heartbeat.
Whatever the answers were, he was pretty sure of one thing. If Estelle didn't do this, and if there was no way to reverse it, he was well and truly fucked. It took him a solid 10,000 years to grow from Cherubim-sized like he was now into a fully formed and trained Celestial. And even then, he didn't need Pampers.
I can't talk. I probably can't write. And I definitely can't walk. So... how do we communicate and get out of this?
Parry frowned, his lips quivering as he started spilling over into tears in no time once again, his baby blue eyes squinting shut as his vision grew watery from the crying in Rikive's arms.
Parry left Rikive downstairs to see to the kids, ascending the stairs with the utmost care, on the lookout for any witch charms Estelle may have laid on her way up. The girl was young but naturally talented with magic.
Still, Parry's wards were in place and hadn't been tripped by anything malevolent. If a demon so much as had a thought within a kilometer of the place, it would register clear as day with him.
All the upstairs doors were still closed- Rikive's, the kitchen, the bathroom- but Parry's was still open.
Bad news.
Parry broke into a mad sprint for the door, not caring that he slid down the floorboards on his socks, missing the bedroom for the bathroom door.
"If she shrank my four poster French, I'm going to-"
It was all still there. The four poster bed.
The hot pink chest in the corner.
The mountains of clothes.
Parry knew the disaster that was his room like the back of his own manicured hand. So his eyes were able to zero in on the disturbed pile of laundry by the window- atop which rested his Dawn Blade.
Which had been moved 8 millimeters down the laundry pile from where he'd originally left it.
"Girl'd crazy," Parry said, marching up to the sword. "Gonna hack off her own finger one day playing with things. But I might ask her to shrink it down before she leaves." Parry reached down and grabbed the hilt, lifting the blade. "Might be safer for-"
==============================
Downstairs in the playroom, the air pressure in the room shifted, like a plane taking off in the air. There was no roar of jet engines though, or an uncomfortable popping of ears.
But this shift in air pressure was swiftly followed by the bellowing howls of a babe from the upstairs.
Parry Magnus, bestowed the title Shepherd of the Young by his superiors, sat in a heap of his adult clothes while clutching the Dawn Blade's hilt in one hand.
Oh, My, Gods, he wanted to say, looking at his pudgy fingers with disbelief, the words coming out like the wails of a crying one-year-old. I GOT FUCKING FAT! The little witch made me fat! And Shrink! And...
Parry spared a glance down, a warm wet feeling spreading across his legs, then under them.
Oh. Shit.
Thankfully, he didn't have to do that.
Yet.
Still, Parry's wards were in place and hadn't been tripped by anything malevolent. If a demon so much as had a thought within a kilometer of the place, it would register clear as day with him.
All the upstairs doors were still closed- Rikive's, the kitchen, the bathroom- but Parry's was still open.
Bad news.
Parry broke into a mad sprint for the door, not caring that he slid down the floorboards on his socks, missing the bedroom for the bathroom door.
"If she shrank my four poster French, I'm going to-"
It was all still there. The four poster bed.
The hot pink chest in the corner.
The mountains of clothes.
Parry knew the disaster that was his room like the back of his own manicured hand. So his eyes were able to zero in on the disturbed pile of laundry by the window- atop which rested his Dawn Blade.
Which had been moved 8 millimeters down the laundry pile from where he'd originally left it.
"Girl'd crazy," Parry said, marching up to the sword. "Gonna hack off her own finger one day playing with things. But I might ask her to shrink it down before she leaves." Parry reached down and grabbed the hilt, lifting the blade. "Might be safer for-"
==============================
Downstairs in the playroom, the air pressure in the room shifted, like a plane taking off in the air. There was no roar of jet engines though, or an uncomfortable popping of ears.
But this shift in air pressure was swiftly followed by the bellowing howls of a babe from the upstairs.
Parry Magnus, bestowed the title Shepherd of the Young by his superiors, sat in a heap of his adult clothes while clutching the Dawn Blade's hilt in one hand.
Oh, My, Gods, he wanted to say, looking at his pudgy fingers with disbelief, the words coming out like the wails of a crying one-year-old. I GOT FUCKING FAT! The little witch made me fat! And Shrink! And...
Parry spared a glance down, a warm wet feeling spreading across his legs, then under them.
Oh. Shit.
Thankfully, he didn't have to do that.
Yet.
When Rikive came back downstairs with the whimpering Estelle in arms, Parry was already busy taking apart the mulberry bushes. Lily and all the other children were gorging themselves on the berries and making a mess of their faces while the pups continued snoozing in their puppy pile.
"There's the -HICCUP!- little terror." Parry thumped his chest, trying to shake whatever was ailing him.
Estelle pouted in Rikive's arms, kicking the air and throwing a tantrum to be let down to play. Parry was inclined to let her scream it out and throw a tantrum back in her face. Unfortunately, the girl beat him to it and promptly passed out from her antics.
Parry paused in place, adjusting his shirt a little to survey the damage. The garden was a mess. The kids all had faces sticky with jelly, and they had one escapee who had been returned. All in all, not a bad morning.
"Alright," Parry mumbled, "I think it's -HICCUP!- nap time for everyone. Can you keep an eye down here? I'm going to go see what Estelle touched upstairs..."
"There's the -HICCUP!- little terror." Parry thumped his chest, trying to shake whatever was ailing him.
Estelle pouted in Rikive's arms, kicking the air and throwing a tantrum to be let down to play. Parry was inclined to let her scream it out and throw a tantrum back in her face. Unfortunately, the girl beat him to it and promptly passed out from her antics.
Parry paused in place, adjusting his shirt a little to survey the damage. The garden was a mess. The kids all had faces sticky with jelly, and they had one escapee who had been returned. All in all, not a bad morning.
"Alright," Parry mumbled, "I think it's -HICCUP!- nap time for everyone. Can you keep an eye down here? I'm going to go see what Estelle touched upstairs..."
Tyler, Riley and Sandy were well in hand with Rikive. Thankfully she had the instinct and energy to keep up with the lycans. They could be annoying, but were more of a drain than a danger. On his own, Parry was able to barely keep order amongst the chaos of half a dozen paranormal children and the lycans often distracted him by constantly ripping up stuffed animals and playing too fiercely among themselves. A few times he'd left three pups in the playroom for half a minute, only to return with one wailing on the carpet as a full human, bite canine bite marks over his ear while the two other wolves tried to hide inside toy chests.
Today Parry was able to give his full attention to the other kids that showed up.
Turned out he needed the relief.
Estelle had recently come into her power and took to casting charms on toys to shrink them down to size to fit in her pockets. Parry had to keep un-doing the charms and take special care not to let her try such a thing around the other kids, rubbing prevention wards on their wrists just in case Estelle got it in her head to be disobedient.
"Don't let that wash off," PArry said after rubbing the Sharpie symbol onto Rikive's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Parry caught Estelle casting the shrink charm onto the doll house he'd set up, turning it into a tiny lego-like building. Right. No taking chances on that one. He went ahead and drew a second charm on Rikive's other wrist. "For the love of Odin, don't let that wash off."
One of the Fae, a dryad named Lily, had hidden herself inside the small collection of potted plants in the corner and took it on herself to try and play hide-and-seek there. The pots, warded against fae magic, wouldn't let her practice magic inside them. Unfortunately the pups had already broken one of the pots and Lily took it upon herself to transform a seed in the loose dirt into a tiny copse of mulberry bushes.
"Lily! Lily, no! My carpeting! Unky Parry bought this on special order from Marseilles!"
-----------------------------------------
While 'Unky Parry' was busy trying to get Lily to stop growing berries and Miss Riki played with the puppies, Estelle was left to play with her dollhouse, making it bigger and then smaller like Aunt Gilly had taught her last night.
It was a neato trick and she had all the toys in her toy chest right inside her pocket, but nobody was paying attention to her anymore. It wasn't fair that the dumb dogs got to play with Miss Riki and Mister Parry spent all his time with the dumb fairies!
He thinks you're a big girl, came a voice on the wind.
"Whossat?" Estelle asked, turning her head around every which way. But all the other kids were busy watching Lily make mulberries big as soccer balls or playing with Miss Riki.
A friend, the voice said. A special friend. Only you can hear me Estelle. Call me... Lady.
Estelle frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mumma says not to talk to strangers. She said strangers could be demons who could eat me!"
The voice chuckled. Your mommy is very smart. But I'm not a demon. In fact, I'm just like your Auntie. I want to teach you a new trick on a toy. A very special toy. But we have to go to Unky Parry's room for it.
"Will everyone else like the trick?"
They will LOVE the trick. Especially Unky Parry.
-----------------------------------------
Mulberries. I fucking HATE mulberries!
"Lily, hun, time to stop." Parry took another berry, this one baseball sized, off the vine and handed it to one of the other children to eat. He didn't care which one- at the very least Lily would keep him from having to go in the kitchen for snack time.
"Can you at least make strawberries? I can make shortcake later..."
There were excited squeals from all the assembled children. Cake? AND berries?
"NO!" Lily said, putting that idea down right away to a chorus of groans. "I want mulbewwies!"
"Lily Greenleaves! If you do not stop making mulberries in my playroom, I swear on the Fairy Queen-" that icy bitch- "that I will go to the store and buy a gallon of weedkiller so I can pull you out of there myself!"
"NO!" Lily stamped her foot behind a wall of vines and leaves. Another pair of berries fell off the tree, rolling toward the rocking chair where Rikive sat with the pups.
Parry gave her an exasperated glance.
"Would you mind using those lovely muscles of yours to, er, open a path into the brush?"
-----------------------------------------
Estelle left the grown ups in the playroom while Lily kept making trouble. Unky Parry handed her a mulberry as big as her head. Estelle took one bite and stuck out her tongue.
ICK!
Why couldn't Lily make strawberries?
She'll make strawberries for you soon, the voice whispered. When you show her the new trick. Now let's go upstairs. That a girl!
The voice guided her up the steps one at a time while everyone else was busy in the play room with Lily's mess. Estelle usually stayed away from the stairs, not because she didn't want to explore what was up there, but because Unky Parry always kept the doors upstairs and downstairs locked and no one could ever get in.
At the top of the stairs she had to stand on her tip-toes to reach the knob on the door, strained to turn it, and was ready to tell the voice "I told you so" when it wouldn't open.
Except this time, the door clicked and swung open.
Hurry! The voice whispered, suddenly much less friendly than it was downstairs. Inside. Turn right- no , other way! Other way! Good Estelle! Smart Estelle! I knew I could trust you.
That door, the open one.
Unky Parry's room was messy. Much messier than Estelle's room. He had clothes everywhere in piles and piles, fancy jewelry on the walls and a super big bed, probably fun to bounce on! She wanted to bounce on it so much she started to step toward it-
There! There there there! On the floor by the window!
Estelle stopped, looking over by the window where the voice told her to. A mountain of wrinkled fancy shirts was piled up to the window, dirty and clean, and right on top of that pile was a great big sword as big as her arm. Dark gray and all beaten up, with marks all over its side. It looked really scary...
Go touch it.
Estelle shook her head. "Swords is bad. I wanna jump on the bed!"
The voice sighed. I suppose it was too much to ask. Time to go about this the hard way.
Estelle stumbled forward as somebody pushed her from behind. HARD.
--------------------------------------
Parry's ears pricked a bit, warning bells going off in his head. The energy level in the house had shifted on his radar. He'd described it as a kind of controlled chaos once to a warlock who remarked on the aura of the home.
Someone had introduced a level of not-so-controlled chaos into his home.
"Head count," Parry snapped, giving up on the task of getting Lily out of her thorn patch. "Everyone here, say 'Me!'"
-----------------------------------------
"Hey! I-"
MOVE! The voice snarled, shoving Estelle up the pile of laundry. Up! Up! Up!
"I wanna go downstairs!" Estelle's lip started quivering. The shoves made her scrape a knee once, making it really red. Now at the clothes mountain, she felt something grab her by the neck. Something with really big nails that pinched her skin and lifted her to the top of the pile where the sword lay.
There. Not so bad, Estelle? Smart Estelle. Pretty Estelle. Let's teach you the trick. Now take your finger and draw on the sword like this...
---------------------------------------
"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine- Ah, we're short a witch. Estelle?"
Parry abandoned the effort to get Lily out of the thorn patch, thinking back. He'd drawn a ward on Estelle to keep her from shrinking herself by accident or design. And he hadn't heard the old pipes run so she couldn't have washed it off.
"Estelle?" Parry's nostrils flared as the energy level shifted in the house again. From upstairs. Witch magic. Hiccup! "Oh great..."
He'd forgotten to lock the upstairs door after Rikive came down to join him. Estelle must've gone upstairs and started playing with magic.
On the plus side, Lily's thorn patch had started to recede on its own. The girl had made so many berries she was down and out for naptime an hour early.
"Riki, can you -HICCUP!- go upstairs and grab Estelle?"
Today Parry was able to give his full attention to the other kids that showed up.
Turned out he needed the relief.
Estelle had recently come into her power and took to casting charms on toys to shrink them down to size to fit in her pockets. Parry had to keep un-doing the charms and take special care not to let her try such a thing around the other kids, rubbing prevention wards on their wrists just in case Estelle got it in her head to be disobedient.
"Don't let that wash off," PArry said after rubbing the Sharpie symbol onto Rikive's hand. Out of the corner of his eye, Parry caught Estelle casting the shrink charm onto the doll house he'd set up, turning it into a tiny lego-like building. Right. No taking chances on that one. He went ahead and drew a second charm on Rikive's other wrist. "For the love of Odin, don't let that wash off."
One of the Fae, a dryad named Lily, had hidden herself inside the small collection of potted plants in the corner and took it on herself to try and play hide-and-seek there. The pots, warded against fae magic, wouldn't let her practice magic inside them. Unfortunately the pups had already broken one of the pots and Lily took it upon herself to transform a seed in the loose dirt into a tiny copse of mulberry bushes.
"Lily! Lily, no! My carpeting! Unky Parry bought this on special order from Marseilles!"
-----------------------------------------
While 'Unky Parry' was busy trying to get Lily to stop growing berries and Miss Riki played with the puppies, Estelle was left to play with her dollhouse, making it bigger and then smaller like Aunt Gilly had taught her last night.
It was a neato trick and she had all the toys in her toy chest right inside her pocket, but nobody was paying attention to her anymore. It wasn't fair that the dumb dogs got to play with Miss Riki and Mister Parry spent all his time with the dumb fairies!
He thinks you're a big girl, came a voice on the wind.
"Whossat?" Estelle asked, turning her head around every which way. But all the other kids were busy watching Lily make mulberries big as soccer balls or playing with Miss Riki.
A friend, the voice said. A special friend. Only you can hear me Estelle. Call me... Lady.
Estelle frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Mumma says not to talk to strangers. She said strangers could be demons who could eat me!"
The voice chuckled. Your mommy is very smart. But I'm not a demon. In fact, I'm just like your Auntie. I want to teach you a new trick on a toy. A very special toy. But we have to go to Unky Parry's room for it.
"Will everyone else like the trick?"
They will LOVE the trick. Especially Unky Parry.
-----------------------------------------
Mulberries. I fucking HATE mulberries!
"Lily, hun, time to stop." Parry took another berry, this one baseball sized, off the vine and handed it to one of the other children to eat. He didn't care which one- at the very least Lily would keep him from having to go in the kitchen for snack time.
"Can you at least make strawberries? I can make shortcake later..."
There were excited squeals from all the assembled children. Cake? AND berries?
"NO!" Lily said, putting that idea down right away to a chorus of groans. "I want mulbewwies!"
"Lily Greenleaves! If you do not stop making mulberries in my playroom, I swear on the Fairy Queen-" that icy bitch- "that I will go to the store and buy a gallon of weedkiller so I can pull you out of there myself!"
"NO!" Lily stamped her foot behind a wall of vines and leaves. Another pair of berries fell off the tree, rolling toward the rocking chair where Rikive sat with the pups.
Parry gave her an exasperated glance.
"Would you mind using those lovely muscles of yours to, er, open a path into the brush?"
-----------------------------------------
Estelle left the grown ups in the playroom while Lily kept making trouble. Unky Parry handed her a mulberry as big as her head. Estelle took one bite and stuck out her tongue.
ICK!
Why couldn't Lily make strawberries?
She'll make strawberries for you soon, the voice whispered. When you show her the new trick. Now let's go upstairs. That a girl!
The voice guided her up the steps one at a time while everyone else was busy in the play room with Lily's mess. Estelle usually stayed away from the stairs, not because she didn't want to explore what was up there, but because Unky Parry always kept the doors upstairs and downstairs locked and no one could ever get in.
At the top of the stairs she had to stand on her tip-toes to reach the knob on the door, strained to turn it, and was ready to tell the voice "I told you so" when it wouldn't open.
Except this time, the door clicked and swung open.
Hurry! The voice whispered, suddenly much less friendly than it was downstairs. Inside. Turn right- no , other way! Other way! Good Estelle! Smart Estelle! I knew I could trust you.
That door, the open one.
Unky Parry's room was messy. Much messier than Estelle's room. He had clothes everywhere in piles and piles, fancy jewelry on the walls and a super big bed, probably fun to bounce on! She wanted to bounce on it so much she started to step toward it-
There! There there there! On the floor by the window!
Estelle stopped, looking over by the window where the voice told her to. A mountain of wrinkled fancy shirts was piled up to the window, dirty and clean, and right on top of that pile was a great big sword as big as her arm. Dark gray and all beaten up, with marks all over its side. It looked really scary...
Go touch it.
Estelle shook her head. "Swords is bad. I wanna jump on the bed!"
The voice sighed. I suppose it was too much to ask. Time to go about this the hard way.
Estelle stumbled forward as somebody pushed her from behind. HARD.
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Parry's ears pricked a bit, warning bells going off in his head. The energy level in the house had shifted on his radar. He'd described it as a kind of controlled chaos once to a warlock who remarked on the aura of the home.
Someone had introduced a level of not-so-controlled chaos into his home.
"Head count," Parry snapped, giving up on the task of getting Lily out of her thorn patch. "Everyone here, say 'Me!'"
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"Hey! I-"
MOVE! The voice snarled, shoving Estelle up the pile of laundry. Up! Up! Up!
"I wanna go downstairs!" Estelle's lip started quivering. The shoves made her scrape a knee once, making it really red. Now at the clothes mountain, she felt something grab her by the neck. Something with really big nails that pinched her skin and lifted her to the top of the pile where the sword lay.
There. Not so bad, Estelle? Smart Estelle. Pretty Estelle. Let's teach you the trick. Now take your finger and draw on the sword like this...
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"One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine- Ah, we're short a witch. Estelle?"
Parry abandoned the effort to get Lily out of the thorn patch, thinking back. He'd drawn a ward on Estelle to keep her from shrinking herself by accident or design. And he hadn't heard the old pipes run so she couldn't have washed it off.
"Estelle?" Parry's nostrils flared as the energy level shifted in the house again. From upstairs. Witch magic. Hiccup! "Oh great..."
He'd forgotten to lock the upstairs door after Rikive came down to join him. Estelle must've gone upstairs and started playing with magic.
On the plus side, Lily's thorn patch had started to recede on its own. The girl had made so many berries she was down and out for naptime an hour early.
"Riki, can you -HICCUP!- go upstairs and grab Estelle?"
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