Previous Post "Er... is this about what happened with the washing machine?" Griffin asked carefully, poking his head into the warmly decorated study of the Willingham Lighthouse.  His parents (well, two of them) were standing within, waiting for the children to arrive in response to the summons that had been sent via their comm cards.  "...Because once you know the whole story, you'll see how that really can't be considered my fault..." "Oh, I know what happened with the washing machine" Hallie assured him levelly, "...and when the time comes, we'll have a lengthy discussion over exactly how much of it can be considered your fault.  But this isn't about that.  Yet.  Now please be a gentleman and get the door for your sister." Griffin gulped and pulled his intangible head back through the large (closed) doors of the study.  There was a loud "clack" as the wrought iron doorknob was turned and the latch released. "Um... what happened to the washing machine?" Visionary asked the holographic woman in hushed tones.  "I need to do socks." "I have no idea" Hallie whispered back.  "But either way, I told you that bunyip in the linen closet was a bad influence." Visionary felt that was unfair, as the Woolly Gabbo was always on time with the rent and rarely threw any loud parties, which in the Regular's opinion made him a rather good tenant.  Plus, thanks to his advice, the family's whites had never been whiter.  Still, it was an argument for another time. Instead, he turned his attention to his young offspring who were both entering the room with expressions of curiosity tinged with wariness.  Visionary couldn't really blame them... announcements on this island were rarely of a completely benign variety, and this one was sadly no different. "Come on, sit down..." he coaxed them, gesturing to the couch in front of him.  "Nobody's in trouble." Hallie gave Griffin a meaningful look to assure the boy that this statement came with certain qualifiers for after the family meeting. "Is this about Godmother Dancer and Mr. Nats?" Maggie asked as she sat down on the sofa, pulling a throw pillow protectively into her lap.  "About them losing their powers?" "Partly" Hallie admitted unhappily.  "But all of the medical scans have come back showing that they're healthy, just powerless.  They're going to be just fine... and you don't need to worry about yourr father.  He wasn't affected at all." Visionary nodded reassuringly.  He would have happily gone through additional scanning to double check that fact, as the glowing green laser lines that had emanated from the mysterious machine behind the powers-loss had been really disconcerting at the time of the exposure, but Al assured him that while the sinister device had no notable side effects, the same could not be said of the radiation put out by the scanning machine in the infirmary.  It was information that the Regular wouldn't have minded hearing before the testing commenced, but then he supposed the large lead apron Al was wearing should have been an adequate tip-off. "Is it about... about what happened with Icy?" Griffin ventured. Visionary sighed.  "I tried to talk with him about it" he told them.  "What happened was tragic, but he did help save a lot of people.  The ones who fought... they had to be stopped.  What they did to those children was monstrous."  He drew a deep breath.  "I think Icy just needs some time to deal with what happened... but I wouldn't worry.  He has a very good heart.  He'll be back again someday." Magweed looked down, her good hand ruffling the fringe of the pillow she cradled.  "Mr. Clancy and Glory haven't come back" she noted quietly. "Oh, honey..." Hallie sat down next to the girl and stroked her long brown hair back from her young face.  "I keep the search programs running 24/7.  We don't give up hope, do we?" The young princess blushed and looked up to her mom.  "Never" she agreed. "That's my girl" Hallie noted with approval. Griffin was chewing his lip in thought.  "If it's not any of that... There's something else then, isn't there?" he asked finally.  "Something worse."  "Yeah, there's something else" Visionary admitted wearily, then took a deep breath.  "And you're both old enough that we're not going to hide it from you.  We're going to face the news together, as a family."  He was proud of the way they both looked to him, nodding in agreement.  "Camellia is back.  Here.  On Earth" he announced.  "Goldeneyed and Alcheman ran across a new operation of hers outside of the city." Alarm flashed across both of their faces, only to fade and be replaced by something else.  With Griffin it was a simple, angry determination.  With Magweed it was harder to identify, but it ran deep in her eyes as she absently rubbed the back of her weaker hand.  "You're not sending us away to Lemuria... are you?" she finally asked. Visionary looked into those thoughtful eyes.  "I'll use every option available to me to defend my family" he admitted to her.  "That's on the list... but it's far from the top."  "Right now, I'd say that when our paths next cross with Camellia, she's the one who had better have a retreat planned" Hallie hissed.  "This is our home dimension, and we're not ceding so much of an inch of it to that faerie bi... woman." "However" Visionary said, "She does represent a direct threat, and so that means..." "New security measures" Griffin groaned. "New security measures" his mom confirmed.  "For starters, your father and I are hiring Joan Henry on as dedicated security for the Lighthouse and especially for you two.  She will know your whereabouts at all times, and in the event of any attack on this island her only concern will be to account for you both and get you to safety.  She's meeting with Sgt. MacHarridan now to coordinate the details." "Isn't she a little... big?" Griffin asked.  "I mean, I like Joan--she tells good jokes--but she doesn't always fit through a door so good.  Why not Ms. Chiaki or Anna?" "Anna has problems enough of her own right now" Visionary answered.  "And Chiaki will be training Joan in the finer points of body guarding."  "Besides" Hallie added, "What's Joan made of?" The twins exchanged glances.  "One fist of Iron" Griffin answered, "...The other of steel..." Maggie nodded.  "If the right one don't get ya then the left one will." "Spot on" Hallie noted coldly.  "We'll see how the Fey like dealing with her." "Yes" Visionary agreed.  "And on the plus side, size-wise, you both fit through doors just fine. She'll give you your space during the day, but in an emergency you go directly to where she tells you and do exactly as she says.  I know being young can mean tweaking authority, but don't make this difficult on her...  She's on parole, and being employed is part of what keeps her from having to go back to jail.  She's willing to put her life on the line for you, don't stress her while doing it." They nodded earnestly. "Next... Maggie, there's something we want you to have" Visionary said, reaching behind an upholstered chair to pull out a large object under an ornate cloth.  He set it on the coffee table before the children. "Reluctantly agreed to let you have" Hallie clarified. Magweed hesitated, then withdrew the cloth to reveal an ornate birdcage.  Inside there flitted a small pewter knife on wings like a hummingbird.  The knife was neither large nor particularly sharp looking, but it shone like silver and made a ringing sound clear as a tuning fork. "She gets a knife?  One that flies?  She gets a flying knife?" Griffin asked, his mouth hanging open.  "Sjelknuser" Visionary introduced the magical butter knife. "It was a compromise" Hallie frowned, watching as Maggie opened the cage and the knife flew to her outstretched fingers.  "Your mother Miiri wanted to pass on her ceremonial Houri daggers a few years early." "What about me?  Do I get an Ausgardian weapon?"  Even his sister raised an eyebrow at this idea.  "Do you remember the incident with Mr. Kenny's hedge clippers?" she asked him.  "I remember the incident with Mr. Kenny's hedge clippers." "That hardly required any stitches at all" he answered grumpily. "Sjelknuser's your responsibility now, so take good care of him... he helped take on Camellia before, and there's no love lost there" Visionary said, holding out his hand to allow the knife to settle into it.  "And you take good care of her" he told it.  "I'm trusting you both." "But nobody trusts me?" Griffin asked. "I'm sure the washing machine gave you the benefit of the doubt..." Hallie noted.  "Look where that got it."  She smirked at his wounded look, ruffled his hair fondly then hugged him close.  "No one could have a more loyal or brave brother.  We know that if you're in danger, you can turn intangible and be safe... but we also know you'd never abandon your sister." "So... that's what we know for now" their father stated.  "Are you scared?" he asked. "Yes" Magweed said.  "And angry" she admitted.  Sjelknuser's pitch shifted to a lower ring as it hovered over her shoulder.  "Me too." Visionary admitted.  "But you're both remarkable kids, and we all have the best support system of friends and family anyone could ask for" he noted.  "As scary as she may be, when you get down to it all Camellia has is power... just power, that's all.  No family.  No friends.  I know where I've always placed my faith between those two options, and I've never regretted it."  "You know..." Griffin said, looking at Sjelknuser with a speculative eye.  "Odoona said that when Maggie was old enough for daggers, I would likely get training with a Plas-gar Sword..." "...Not that a system of family and friends doesn't have drawbacks of its own." Hallie noted wryly.

Gotta love those two kids eh? And it's always nice to see things through kids eyes. Like their worrying about Mr E and Glory.

Nice new role for Joan too.

All this story lacked was a picture.

Al B.