Oh yeah, the song.. well, it's really about Natalie being angry with her mom, and rightfully so! Her mom is a pretty awful person.. she is not a demon though...
Hehe, a witch has gotta keep her secrets!
Oh yeah, the kids are better left out of this.. with the way things are, Natalie, though not a perfect mother herself, would never bring the kids to visit their grandma there!
Thanks about the videos. In the first video Natalie is being very typically Natalie, where she does those hand movements, than walks a few steps before stopping to do another slight movement with the hands as if she is about to do something but not doing it and then walking again.. it is a small thing that makes Natalie very cute to watch.
In Flames – Stay With Me
Don't ever let them use you
They will bring you to your knees
I'll try to lead you for awhile
But every time I talk to you
You're too afraid to see
Open your eyes
Breathe in life
Open your eyes
Breathe in, breathe out
Oh I, I can see the light
Stay with me
Away from the darkest of nights
Stay with me
I don't know if you're ready
You should see where I have been
I don't know if you're ready
And I don't know where to begin
Stay with me
So Ingun hesitantly joined Natalie to the doctors' office. Sara had to use a make shift office while hers was closed due to the investigation of the fire.
Sara knew that it was a very complex matter in her hands now. These two sisters, Ingun and Natalie, a pair of red winged angels and their troubled background. Sara hoped to be able to heal them, to rid of their inner demons and possibly eventually fix their broken relationship with their own mother. Those other demons, if real, was something Sara could not deal with. She was a psychologist, not an exorcist or whatever she needed to be to fix that problem.
And even though the sisters came from the same background, the effect it had on them was markedly different. Where Natalie projected most of her difficult emotions outwards to the world by hurting others, Ingun projected them inwards by withdrawing and hurting herself. Ingun had over the years turned to the coping strategy of dissociation to protect herself from the inflicted pain and trauma, which eventually had developed into seperate identities within her.
One of them was a little girl with black hair and pony tails on either side of the head, and Esnebria was her name. She had others, but Esnebria was the one that showed up the most often, typically in situations Ingun felt was threatening.
And this is what happened at the doctors' office this morning. Sara met Esnebria for the first time. It didn't take much sometimes to bring her out. The rattling sound of a garbage truck emptying containers, a car honking as it drove by, or people shouting on the street outside.
Esnebria: Where am I? And who are you!?
Sara: Ingun.. it's me, Sara. You are at the hospital. I am here to he..
Esnebria: I don't want to be here! Get me out of here!!
Sara: I.. I understand you are upset, Ingun. Can you.. tell me why you want to get out of here?
Esnebria: I'm not Ingun, you idiot! Ingun is weak for letting momma beat us!
Esnebria: I hate her! I hate them both!
Esnebria: That's why I want to get out! Don't you get it? That's why I want to get out!
Sara: I am terribly sorry to hear about this, I really am, but.. your mother isn't here now. Its only me, you and Natalie.
Esnebria: Natalie! I hate her too! She left us behind! She left us behind with that monster!
Esnebria: Why did you leave us behind, Natalie? Why!? After everything I did for you!
Natalie was terrified. She thought the demon had taken control of her sister again. Sara felt her heart racing, but knew she had to do her best to remain calm to not agitate Ingun any further.
Natalie: I.. I..
Esnebria: F#%c%¤£§ answer me, you dumb [email protected]%c%¤£§ b&#$4!!
Sara: I understand that all of this is very distressing, and that.. that Natalie leaving you behind must have been a horrible experience, but this is not how we address people in my office. Please sit down...
Esnebria: But I want answers!
Sara: And I am here to help you get them, but, please, you have to calm down first.
Esnebria: And then what!? How will YOU get me the answers!
Sara: Well.. think about it this way, besides answers, what else do you want the most?
Esnebria: What do you mean!? I want to get out of.. I want to get away from..
Ingun/Esnebria found herself unable to finish the sentence.
Sara: What is it that you want to get away from?
The room turned silent.
Sara: Ingun..? Can you tell me.. what it is that you want to get away from?
"Hmm?" Ingun said with a feeble voice. She knew she was at the hospital, and she knew that the person asking the question was Dr. Sara, as they had just been introduced, but Ingun wasn't sure why Sara asked this question, nor did she know why she was standing up. Ingun had no memory of the conversation that just took place between Sara and Esnebria. So she didn't know how to answer.
Sara: Ingun.. do you remember what you just asked Natalie, and what you said about your mom? Ingun: N-n-no... did I... did I say something about m..m-mom?
Sara: Yes, you umm... you said that your mom.. that she was not treating you very nicely, and then you asked Natalie why she left you behind.
Ingun: Oh, umm.. oh, I can't remember s-saying that..
Natalie: It was the demon that got into her! Didn't you see it? That thing..
Sara: Natalie! There is no demon here!
Natalie: But you saw it, didn't you!? How she all of a sudden changed! How can she do that!? What is happening to my sister!?
Sara: Yes, Natalie, I did.. and that is why I have to talk to your sister.
Ingun: Wh-why do you always talk about this de-demon stuff, Natalie?
Natalie: Because you suddenly change into this very different.. thing.. person.. and it scares me!
Ingun: ..I.. w-what...??
Sara: Ingun.. do you often get these moments where you can't seem to remember what happened?
Ingun: Umm... w-well, I don't know.. its, well sometimes I guess.. I can be at home, and then suddenly I am s-somewhere else and I d-don't know how I got there...
Sara: Where are you and what are you usually doing when these lapses in memory start?
Ingun: I am... I am usually at home m-most of the t-time. I don't know, w-watching tv or p-practicing chess or something.
Sara: Besides that, is there something else going on? Can you think of something that could be uh.. triggering these moments?
Ingun: I.. I don't know, the only one with me at home is usually m-m-mom..
Sara: How is the..? What kind of conversation do you typically have with your mom? Do you talk about anything special?
Ingun: Oh, just n-normal everyd-day conversations, you kn-know.. about ordinary st-st-stuff...
Natalie: Ingun, I don't want you to stay with mom anymore! I want you to stay with me... I have a spare bunk bed in Aaron and Billy's room.. you can use it temporarily until we get more money.. I want you to stay with me, Ingun... I want you to stay with me...
Sara wanted to say how much she liked what Natalie just said about inviting Ingun over, but now thought the best thing to do here was to pull back and let the sisters talk inbetween themselves...
Natalie: What do you say, Ingun? Will you come home with me to our place? Give it a chance and see if you like it...
Ingun: I don't.. I don't know..wh-what about m-mom?
Natalie: Seriously, Ingun! To hell with mom! She is the reason I am asking you! Please come with me, when we are done here.. I am so.. I am sorry for abandoning you when I.. when I did.. I should have.. asked you this.. much sooner.. please, come with me...
Sara: Well, I have to say... I agree with Natalie, here. I think you should consider, Ingun..
Ingun: O.. ok, I can go.. I can c-com home with you and... and we will see...
Sara: I think that's very good Ingun...., now.... our time for today is soon up, but I think I want to schedule another session with you alone Ingun.. Same time tomorrow, if that is fine by you.
Ingun: Oh.. oh, that is f-fine.. sure... I will t-try to come..
Natalie: I can follow you if you want, Ingun...
Sara: That is very kind of you, Natalie. I will see you again also, same time next week.
Natalie: Ok, I will see you again next week, Sara. Now Ingun... lets go home, sister.. lets go home..
"Yes it's not abnormal for two completely different reactions to the same stimulus/trauma." <-- Ah, I would have thought so, but I really don't know.. it is a challenge to make a story about this, mostly because I am afraid to get something, and I am most likely am..
"I like the way you describe Esnebria." <-- Oh, thanks. Hmm, well, I don't think Esnebria showing up is really something to worry about.. she is not something bad, she is just very hurt... Esnebria loves Ingun too, as if it were her sister, because it is all part of Ingun, even if it.. umm, yeah..
Esnebria are the angry parts that Ingun herself are to afraid to express, or something I guess... so Esnebria speaks from a place of hurt, oh, ha, umm, this is actually really tough... oh me, oh my...
Oh yes, the hug is lovely, they have to hug.. the sisters do love each other, and they will have a close bond...
And so the sisters, Ingun and Natalie, left the hospital and ..well, they didn't go home to Natalies house just yet. Natalie remembered the promise she had made to Elisa, and brought Ingun up there first, so that Elisa could cast her protective spell on Ingun. She didn't want to mention Elisa anymore in front of Sara, because she kind of knew what Sara would think of such a thing.
Or, well.. Natalie tried to bring Ingun up there. If she was hesitant to enter the hospital, she was even more hesitant to go into the forest...
Ingun: I.. I c-can't g-go in t-there. Natalie: Ingun, trust me! There is nothing to worry about in the forest! I wouldn't bring you up there if it was!
Natalie wasn't entirely convinced of her own words, but she had no choice. She believed that she could protect Ingun from their mom, sure, but she didn't think she had much of a chance against the demons. Atleast not without the help of Elisa.
Ingun: I-I'm s-sorry, I j-just c-can't..
Natalie: Ok, fine... I'll call Elisa and ask if she can meet us down here instead...
Natalie: Hi, Elisa! It's me, Natalie. My sister.. She won't uh.. she won't follow me into the forest, so I was wondering.. I was wondering if you could umm.. meet us down by the road instead?
Elisa: Natalie, listen.. you have to bring your sister up here... I'm not performing protective spells in public...
Natalie: I.. I see, but I have really tried to, but she won't go.. can you please come.. come down here?
Elisa: (sigh).. ok, fine. But don't think I'll make a habit out of it!
Natalie: Thank you, thank you SO much, Elisa! I'll see you.. see you soon then? Elisa: Yes, yes, I'll be right down.. Natalie: Thank you so, so much!!
So Elisa came down the long way from her cabin to meet up with Natalie and Ingun. For some reason, not using her broom..
Ingun: Oh no.. oh no... oh no...
Ingun sees Elisa coming, and hides behind Natalie...
Natalie: Ingun, its just Elisa. She is our friend, she is here to help us!
Elisa: Hello, Ingun.. I am happy to see you. Please, step forward..
Ingun: W-w-what are y-y-you gonna d-d-do?
Elisa: I am going to cast a protective spell on you. It's going to look scary, and you will feel very cold for a while, but I promise you with all of my heart and powers, it is not dangerous. Please, Ingun, step forward..
Ingun didn't step forward, but Natalie stepped away.
Elisa, seeing how scared Ingun was, knew she had to be quick.
Elisa: Projiciam a tutela hoc carmine vobis, Ingun Gothus
Ingun: N-N-Natalie!!
Elisa: Sanctorum invocabo Agatha, in Sicilia, Elisabeth Hungariae, venerationi habitus est Petri apostoli ordinavi Ambiani
Elisa: Scutum! Protegat! Hic puer pauper et angelus a malo! Per verbum Ephesiorum...
Elisa: Auxilium puer iste fortis sit in Domino, et in potentia virtutis eius!
Ingun: Aaahh!!!!
Elisa: Exorno eam accipite armaturam Dei, ut sumeret eam sibi poterit stare adversus insidias diaboli!
Ingun: Brrr!! T-t-this is s-s-s-so c-cold.. W-what did she d-d-do? Elisa: I called upon the divine patron saints, Agatha of Goths, Elizabeth of Thuringia and Peter of the Apostles to protect you against the demons.
Ingun: W-w-what d-d-demons? I d-don't understand...
Elisa: To tell you the truth, I don't know yet...
Elisa: The spells I have cast, both on you and your sister, are only generic protective spells..
Elisa: ...but they should work for all types of demons...
Natalie: So... what you're saying is... there are more effective, and specific, spells to be used?
Elisa: Well, yes... if we know the demons name and true form, that is... but it is very unlikely that they will reveal it to us just like that...
Natalie:..but is there a chance that these spells might not work at all?
Elisa: Well, no... they will always have some effect.. but of course, some demon types are trickier than others.. and either way, the effect of the spells do wear off with time.. which reminds me..
Elisa: Its probably time that you get another round of protection, Natalie.
And so Elisa cast the exact same spell on Natalie, before saying that she had to hurry back to her cabin.. to much spell casting in public could work as an attractor for the very demons she wanted to keep away...
Elisa: I have to leave you now, but please, both of you, come up to my cabin once the rainy season reaches its midpoint.. and I will cast another protective spell on you...
Elsa: Natalie, I would suggest you bring your sister out for some walks through the forest.. only short ones to begin with.. so that she can learn to get used to it..
Elsa: Ingun, dear... the forest is a good hiding place for animals and creatures.. and magicians like me.. but is not in itself a dangerous place... I will be honest with you, Ingun.. it is not the forest that you need to fear..
Ingun: W-w-wha..
Elsa: Take care, sisters, and I will see you again before the end of this year...
And back to her cabin she went, and Natalie called for another taxi, and the sisters finally went home....
@Sprottenham the forest of palm trees is lovely with that little path. I I have seen something similar on Oahu a very long time ago. It was sand not grass in the cocopalms plantation. gorgeous!
Poor Ingun's so scared of Eliza.
Oh Lovely perfect timing getting the freakout pic of Ingun! I love it! I mean poor thing! ;p
Eliza is so amazing. I love how she casts the protective spells,( Plus it looks amazing how Natalie goes up in the air!)
@DivaDoodle Thanks. I felt this update was a little short, but that is of course, not to make other updates to long! :P
Aha, Oahu, that is on Hawaii? Hmm, well, I do have a bigger map made out of what this world looks like, too, and this town called Lagash that they live in is located in a warmer climate close to the equator of the planet they live on! The Dreamworld Planet.
I have not posted the map because it looks incomplete, and aside from this town, it is largely unmapped.. and the rest of the world here isn't to relevant for this story either, but it is not an isolated town in the middle of nowhere, of course! :P
At home Lenore was still there, now in a group conversation with Aaron and Isaac as the taxi arrived and Ingun and Natalie came back from the edge of the forest.
"Yeaahaw! I want to ride a horse!" Ingun said and imitated a horses neigh. Natalie didn't know what to say to that. As far as she could tell, her sister hadn't been particularly interested in horses. Atleast not anymore than any young girl going through their "horse phase" will do, so she took it for an exclamation of happiness, and surely Natalie was also very glad to have her sister home with her.
Once inside Inguns eyes were wide open and confused, as if she had just appeared somewhere and didn't know where she was, and poor Natalie had to check if the kids or someone else had left the stove on. Just to make sure it wouldn't catch fire.
Ingun knew where she was though, she just had one of her memory lapses on the way in from the taxi.
The sisters are very different, but they also have their similarities.. Ingun has to check the oven as well, even though Natalie just checked it...
And of course, both of them also work with cooking at The Zombie Restaurant, so it is not that strange that once Ingun begins to relax a little more they turn to discuss work and cooking recipes. Inguns life time wish is to be a master chef. That is her biggest joy in life, of which she hasn't had to many of.
Aaron is telling a story to Lenore about a pair of winged creatures that love each other very much. In good days and in bad days...
Natalie reassures Ingun that she will be safe here, and that there isn't anything to worry about. "I'll have your back, sister" she says.
Ingun feels reassured and continues to talk about cooking, it is indeed her main interest..
Billy is outside telling a ghost story to absolutely noone as a stray cat runs by..
Oy, kitty where are your heading?
Meow, meow, meow, says the kitty as it stops and stares at the door. Unfortunately I don't speak cat language, so I can't translate..
Aaron comes outside, but he walks right by the cat, because he wants to sleep in the treehouse.
The cat walks over to listen to what is left of Billys ghost story while wagging is tail at him. The cat then runs around a bit, but it doesn't want to leave the lot.
Then it walks over to investigate the treehouse where Aaron is sleeping. *purr* *purr* it says, and I still can't translate. :P It stands there for a while, before it finally runs off.
Billy, Lenore and Isaac have now gathered upstairs in Isaacs room. Billy tries to scare Lenore by telling of dreadful things from the forest, but Lenore is completely unphased.
Billy: Hi, lady... can you read me a bedtime story?
Natalie hasn't introduced them to each other, so he doesn't actually know her name..
"Oh, s-sure, I'll be more than happy to that" she says. "I am Ingun, your aunt and Natalies sister. Whats your n-name?" Billy tells her his name, and they go to Natalies bedroom.
Ingun is not so shy and timid anymore already, now that she is in a home where she can feel safe and good.
She still has a few struggles, though.
Lenore finishes her last bit of homework. Natalie is happy that she came over to visit, and tells her she is more than welcome any time she wants. It makes Natalie feel good that Aaron has made a friend from school. Ingun has a brief thought of wanting to see someones ghost... "I like you better dead..."
Eventually it gets late, and Lenore has to go home.
This is actually the first time I have seen Natalie use the tv set. She is not watching in its direction though. Her head is instead turned towards Isaac, waiting outside the bathroom to use the toilet, because Ingun is occupying it, alternating between talking to herself and feeling happy...
Isaac gave up the waiting, and went to bed.."Aunt Ingun is acting a little strange" he thinks "Why is everyone in my family so weird?"
"First time I'm using the tv, and then it breaks" Natalie laments, while she locks her elbow around Inguns arm.. The sisters like to be close.
Natalie shares her concerns to Ingun about things catching fire. "I am still afraid of these ghosts and demons" she says. "I don't want them to come back here and set things on fire again.."
Ingun still doesn't understand where this talk of ghosts and demons come from, but tries her best to comfort her sister, like she comforts her. "I am sure it will b-be alright" she says. "We d-did get that protection from that w-witch from the f-forest."
Natalie: Elisa. Her name is Elisa, and she is a magician.
As Aaron is sleeping outside in the treehouse, and Billy is downstairs in Natalies bed, Ingun gets the room with the bunk bed all to herself on her first night in the house. Sweet dreams!
Umm, well, seems like Aaron the night owl wasn't sleeping. He had awoken, fully rested to play in the treehouse instead...
And Bianka just finished practicing chess on her own, and is now looking pretty 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 off... Its way past bedtime and Ingun hasn't come back home yet...
''Meow, meow, meow, says the kitty as it stops and stares at the door. Unfortunately I don't speak cat language, so I can't translate..'' haha I wonder if they will keep the cute kitty. oh well maybe it will come back another day.
It's nice that Ingun is relaxed here at Natalie's and feels no longer shy or timid. And I like that the sisters feel close!
OH! I didn't realize that Bianka didn't know that Ingun had moved out!
@DivaDoodle Thanks for the comment! Ah yes, Natalie didn't go over to her mom's house to take Ingun with her permanently, she only went there to bring her to the doctor (and Elisa) at first. The idea to ask her to move in only came to Natalie at the doctors office when she started to feel it that Ingun staying with their mom wasn't a good thing..
I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons can't go there
So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still
And maybe I'll find me a sailor, a tailor
And maybe together we'll make mother well
So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still
---
Ingun was having sweet dreams of baking the most delicious cakes and pastries...
Aaron enjoyed his solitude staying awake at night.
After Aaron was done eating, Billy got up to eat the leftover salmon that Natalie had made yesterday for breakfast.
"Morning Billy" Aaron said, as he walked out to play in the treehouse. Billy didn't respond, he was perhaps a little grumpy this morning. The sun was already up, and soon it would be time for the kids to get ready for school, and Ingun for her first session alone with Dr. Sara...
Rise and shine, Ingun..
Her sister, Natalie, woke up downstairs at more or less the same time. She had to remember to take her medication, as usual.
The first thought on Inguns mind was to buy a new and more expensive oven. She wasn't to happy about the one that Natalie owned. "I want one that is worth atleast 1000 simeoleons!" she thought.
Natalie called the repair man to fix the broken tv.
The kids were on their way to school.
Natalie gave Ingun a hug, and Ingun felt protected and watched after. "Time to go to the doctors office, sis" Natalie said.
Ingun: O..ok, I just hope we won't meet any c-criminals on the way...
Natalie: Relax, Ingun! Its broad daylight! You know criminals usually operate in the dark.. and even if one tried something, I would kick his 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸! Come now!
Ingun wasn't all that convinced. She had a little nervous breakdown, so Natalie had to call on her a few times before she would leave the bathroom.
"Come along now, Ingun! I'm watching over you!" Natalie called for her again as she entered the hallway at the hospital.
Saras makeshift office is just up that staircase. "You go up there now, Ingun. I'll be in the waiting room watching a movie or something until you are done. Sara is very good and friendly, there is nothing to worry about!" Natalie said reassuringly.
"Good morning, Ingun! Nice to see you! Please, have a seat!" Sara said as Ingun entered.
"I moved to a new house, yesterday", Ingun said, "but I never made it inside. Why does that happen?"
Sara: What..uhh.. what do you mean? Didn't you go home with Natalie?
Ingun: Natalie..? Who is Natalie?
Sara: Your sister, Natalie. You went home to your sisters house yesterday.
Ingun: I don't have a sister. I want to go home to ride my horse. Do you like horses lady?
Sara: Horses are very beatiful animals, but.. Ingun.. of course you have a sister. Don't you remember?
Ingun: ?? No... what sister? My name is Tommy. I like horses.
Sara: Oh, oh.. I see. My name is Sara, I work here as a psychologist.
Sara began to understand that Ingun might actually be dissociating. She had read about this as a student, and heard of patients diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, but never actually met one before. She knew that this condition was typically caused by childhood abuse as a way for an individual to distance and detatch themselves from trauma. A person with this disorder would have two or more seperate identities, known as alters, with each their own personality traits, unique history, likes and dislikes.
Sara also knew that there was no real cure for the disorder. The best thing she could do for Ingun, was to make the identities aware of each other, teach her/them about the condition and how best to deal with it, as well as offer psychotherapy to help Ingun and/or her alters to deal with her past trauma.
Tommy: I'm only ten years old. I have no job. Are you a doctor?
Sara: Yes, Tommy, I am a doctor. I help people get better. Do you have any friends, Tommy?
Tommy: I have no friends. I only have mommy and my horse. We live together in a big house on a big field. Mommy is very good to me.
Sara: Oh, thats good to hear Tommy. Does mommy have a name?
Tommy: Yes, her name is Ingun. She likes to make food. She makes the best cakes!
Tommy: My mommy is a doctor, just like you, and she has said that if her boss gives her a raise, we will buy a new horse!
Sara: That sounds very nice, Tommy. Do you have a father?
Tommy: No, father has ran away! He doesn't like mommy and he doesn't like horses!
Sara: Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Tommy.
Ingun: S-sorry to hear w-what? I... ap-pologize... I m-must have blacked out for a s-second..
Sara: That's ok.. so, you don't remember anything of what we just talked about?
Ingun: I d-don't know.. I remember c-coming here, w-walking up the stairs and s-sitting down.. t-that's what I remember...
Ingun: D-do you know w-why that happens?
Sara: Well, umm.. it looks like you have a condition called dissociative identity disorder.
Sara explained everything about the disorder to Ingun, and what she could or couldn't do about it. She also recommended for Ingun to start keeping a journal as a way to communicate between her alters to make them more aware of each other, and as a way for Ingun and Sara to uncover how many there were of them.
Ingun was relieved to finally get an explanation, but also sad to have such an untreatable diagnosis.
"So.. I h-have to.... live with t-this for the rest of my l-life?" Ingun said with a sorrow in her voice.
Sara: Well, the bad news is that... yes, you do, but the good news is that it is possible to greatly reduce the impact it has on your life.
Sara: I will teach you several coping mechanisms, and together we will uncover the triggers that causes these switches between your alters, so that you can recognize when it happens and get a lot more control.
Sara: It is also very important that you have support from your loved ones, and already you moving in with your sister is a HUGE step forward! I think it is so not only for you, but also for Natalie. I think that both you and your sister need each other.
Ingun was listening intently. Sara told her about Tommy, and went on to explain in further detail what plan and strategy they should use, before the time was up and she had to dismiss Ingun for the day. Ingun would continue to see Sara daily for the next couple of months as step one of the plan, before it would be reduced to every other day and eventually only weekly. Atleast that was the plan so far.
Ingun felt better after the session was over, but became a little uneasy when she came downstairs and didn't see Natalie anywhere.
Well, Natalie hadn't gone to far, she just had to use the toilet.
Natalie: I am so proud of you from sitting through your first session alone! Tell me, what did Sara say?
Ingun explained everything Sara had told her, about the dissociation and the alters, and about Tommy, the 10 year old boy that loved horses.
Natalie: Ahh.. that explains why you shouted yeehaw and imitated a horse right after we came home yesterday!
Ingun: Wow, I r-really did that? T-that's kind of funny, in a w-way.
Natalie: Maybe we should buy a horse next!
Ingun: I w-would much rather have a new c-cooking oven!
Natalie: Hahaha, yeah, why not!? I think we can stop by and get one on the way home!
And so they did..
All of a sudden money didn't appear to be any problem for Natalie. She hadn't bought anything expensive in a good while, so she had built up a little bit of a cash reserve, so getting a new oven was no problem.. Natalie now only wanted the best for her sister, she wanted to give her everything she wanted, everything she could give her...
It was a new disorder for me to discover, I hadn't really heard about it before. I don't remember now excactly how I came across this, but I did do a lot of searching to understand mental illness and the effects of trauma on a person, so that's probably how I found it. I also found a youtube video of an interview with a woman with this disorder where she switches to at least one alter, and yeah.. learning about this and watching that video kind of blew my mind... not only is it extremely tragic, but also the lengths or own brains can go to, to preserve ourselves.. it left me with a feeling of... speechlessness.. jawdropping..
If it is of interest I may try to dig up the video again, but I think it was 20+ minutes long, or something..
@Sprottenham As soon as I saw the title 'Tommy', I immediate thought of the musical Tommy {1975) and I thought your music was going to be Listening to You, by the Who!
I love the picture of Aaron on his bike, the town is so pretty!
''Sara: What..uhh.. what do you mean? Didn't you go home with Natalie?'' ''Ingun: Natalie..? Who is Natalie?'' uh oh!
''Ingun: ?? No... what sister? My name is Tommy. I like horses.'' oh boy.... I used to read books about this in my 20's, 3 faces of Eve and Sybil. it's very interesting, the multipl personalities.
It's so great that Natalie is so accepting and supportive of Ingun, and Yay a new oven!
@DivaDoodle Hmm, interesting, though I have never been a big fan of musicals and I have never heard of that musical (especially not ones from before I was born!).
Oooh, thanks a lot about the comment on the town. Isaac is biking through the more downtown-y area. I don't remember excactly what the building to the left was - but I think it was a night club/disco or something. Which probably means they should have gone out more... if only they didn't have so many other troubles! :S
I have never heard of 3 faces of Eve and Sybil, but I'm gonna have to search for it now. :P But of course, I have always heard about "Multiple Personality Disorder", but never gone to indepth about it to figure it out, or known what was the cause (I always assumed it was genetical and extremely rare, possibly non-existant, because in my life realistically I have never heard of anyone with such a condition!)
*edit: Whoaa, I just read the beginning of the plot summary on Eve and Sybil from the wikipedia page..
In 1951, Eve White is a timid, self-effacing wife and mother who has severe and blinding headaches and occasional blackouts. Eve eventually goes to see psychiatrist Dr. Luther, and while having a conversation, a "new personality", the wild, fun-loving Eve Black, emerges. Eve Black knows everything about Eve White, but Eve White is unaware of Eve Black.
Having blackouts there is just like I wrote it too, ah, this made me feel better about my own writing, when it has already been written like that by someone else! :P So I did get something right! :P Thanks for giving me this little confidence boost. ^_^
@DivaDoodle Oh wow, an avid fan reader, that is almost to much, but thank you very much for sticking out with this weird show!
Hmm, well, I might check out the musical tomorrow when I have time, ah, and though I don't much about musicals, I guess this project is a little bit inspired by music (or musicals) and similar theatrics, atleast some idea is behind there, since I have tried to find a song for every update!
Aaron still hasn't made best friends with Lenore, like he wants to do, so he invites her over for a visit once more.
Billy was at the dining table doing his homework when a loud pounding noise was heard from the door behind him.
"Open the door!" an angry voice shouted. The pounding was heard again. "Open the 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 door! I know you're in there!"
"Who is that, mommy?" Isaac asked. Natalie recognized the shouting voice. She was here. Of course she was here. "Don't open the door, Isaac!" Natalie said. "Don't open the door!"
Aaron had just been hushed out of the bathroom by Ingun, because she needed to use the toilet. He had heard the pounding, too, and could tell that Natalie was upset about something. "Whats going on mom?" he asked.
Natalie: Stay away from the door! Don't open it!
Another round of pounding was heard. "Open the door, or I'll kick it in!" the voice from the outside shouted.
Natalie: She's here! Kids, go upstairs! Isaac: Why mom? Whos there? What's happening!? Aaron: But Lenore is co..
Natalie: Go upstairs! NOW!
A kick was heard, and the front door slammed open just as Billy was making it up the stairs. "I know you're in there!" the voice shouted.
Bianka ran through the door straight up to Natalie. "Where is Ingun? Where are you keeping her!?" she yelled
Natalie: Ingun is not here! Get out of my house! Bianka: I'm not leaving without my daughter! Where is she!?
Natalie: She's not here! GET OUT!
Ingun heard them shouting at each other and thought it was best to not leave the bathroom for a while..
Bianka: Don't lie to me! I know she's in here!
While this was going on, poor Lenore had arrived and stood outside listening to the shouting and arguing from inside. She didn't know what the fighting was all about, and where was Aaron?
Bianka: She's upstairs, isn't she?
Bianka turned around to go up the stairs.
Natalie: No, she is not! Don't you dare go up there!!
Natalie couldn't have that monster go upstairs to her children.. Now it was all or nothing!
But Bianka fought back hard this time...
Natalie: Oww... Bianka: Where is Ingun? Natalie: She is not here.. get out of my house...
Bianka: I'm not leaving without Ingun! She belongs to me!
Ragnar: Hey! What's going on in here?
Ragnar, Isaac and Aarons father (and also their neighbour) had just returned home from going to the movies with Ina, when he saw the front door open and heard the commotion from inside.
Bianka: Thats none of your business! This is a family affair!
Ragnar: I don't think Natalie wants you around here.
Bianka: Who are you to say, you 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 no-show!
Ragnar: Now you watch it! I suggest you take it easy and go home.. Bianka: I'm not leaving without my daughter, Ingun. I know she's in here!
Natalie: Ingun is not here, and even if she was, she wouldn't be coming with you! Get out of my house, or I'm calling the police!
Bianka: The police? Hah! What are they going to do! I am your mother!
Natalie: You. Are. Not. My. Mother. Now, get the 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 out of my house!
Bianka: I'm not leaving!
Natalie: You are SO leaving!
Bianka: I'm not done here, Natalie! I'll be coming back for Ingun, and I won't give up! Natalie: Just get out...
Natalie made sure to follow Bianka to the door, ready to give her a hard push at any moment if she stopped or turned around... Lenore was no longer outside. She had ran home once things got physical inside. She didn't tell her father what she had seen and heard at Natalies house until after a couple of days.
Ragnar: Whew! That was.. intense! Natalie... what the devil is going on here!?
Natalie explained everything to Ragnar, about the how she picked up Ingun from her moms house, and the visits to the doctors office. What she didn't explain, was everything related to Elisa, the demons and the spellcasting. Ingun heard that her mom had left, and hesitantly made it out of the bathroom. Natalie went up to the kids, and told them it was safe now and that they could come downstairs.
Isaac: I didn't know grandma was so mean Aaron: I hope she never comes back here! Natalie: Neither do I, Aaron. Billy: We should put her in jail! Natalie: Yeah, maybe we should...
Natalie went downstairs again, to where Ragnar was standing.
Ragnar: Its getting late, and I think its time for me to go home. Ina was quite worried when she heard you fighting inside...
Ragnar: ....but Natalie, if you get in trouble with your mom again, please don't hesitate to give me a call.. and tell the kids that they can come over to our place anytime they want! Me and Ina would love to have some kids around the house!
Natalie: Oh, yeah.. sure, thanks Ragnar. I will tell them...
Ragnar: Good to hear. Good night, Natalie..
Natalie: G-good night...
Ingun was still in the bathroom looking nervously out the window. She had seen her mom leave just that way, but wasn't sure yet if she would suddenly double back.
As Ragnar walked out the door, Natalie went into the bathroom and gave her sister a good, solid hug.
Now that things had returned to normal, Aaron walked outside to sleep in the treehouse again. Its not that he didn't like his bedroom, but he liked the treehouse more where he could be alone. Especially now that he had to share a bedroom with both Billy and Ingun.
Billy on the other hand, enjoyed his newfound auntie Inguns company, so he went into the bathroom to ask her once more to read him a bedtime story.
Isaac was upstairs being a strong and powerful dinosaur. Raawr, rawwr. No bad and evil grandmother should ever be able to lay her hands on him or his mother. He would sink his claws into her if she tried, that was for sure.
Ingun read the bedtime story to Billy, and everything seemed peaceful...
Natalie wasn't feeling so good right now, though, as the adrenaline was about to leave her body. What if her mother came back? What if she didn't only take Ingun, but took her kids as well? Natalie was very distressed.
She hoped that her sister would toughen up, and that together they could defeat their mom once and for all, so that she would never come back! Heck, Natalie didn't even care if her mom would wind up dead for all the pain she had caused....
The kids seemed to warm up pretty good to Ingun, and they really enjoyed her reading for them. Isaac also wanted a bedtime story, and Ingun was more than happy to read for him as well.
Natalie didn't feel to bad about the kids occupying her bed, as she could use the rocking chair to rest and calm her nerves for the night.
With Billy in Natalies bed, and Aaron in the treehouse, Ingun got the room with the bunk bed upstairs all to herself for this night.
Trip Around The Sun – Jimmy Buffet/Martina McBride
Yep, today is the last day of the dry season in the year of 1993 and Isaacs 13th birthday. Isaac's last transitional marking fell on the end of the wet season. In other words, the seasons have reversed pretty much completely during the course of the last 8 years.
To find the reason for this, it is necessary to zoom out and have a look at the planet they live on, Somnetia (more commonly known by its less scientific name, "The Dreamworld Planet"). Somnetia is to us an "earth sized planet", and the second planet away from their Sun on the outskirts of the Adsimulaticius galaxy. And like earth, it has an axial tilt of 23,5 degrees which is the cause of their seasons.*
* Earths axial tilt is 23,4 degrees, so its not excactly the same, but similar enough to not notice any difference.
However, it differs from earth in that it every 400 years or so, the planets axial tilt over the course of 8 years gradually slants the other way, hence the reversal of the seasons. Once this shift is complete, the seasons will not change until it happens again in about 400 years time.
The young Isaac had done really well in school, in spite of a rather troublesome start, and would graduate from elementary school (6 – 12 yrs.) with the best grade possible. This should give him a solid foundation to also do well as he begins junior high school with the other young teenagers (13-15 yrs.). Isaac has already inherited the eccentric and heavy sleeper traits from his father, and a strong dislike for anything outdoors from his mother.
Good morning and happy birthday, Isaac!
Life is good when you can have an excellently cooked grilled salmon for breakfast, thanks to there being two chefs in the house now.. if only they knew how to clean! A dishwasher for the household might be an idea.. but they need to wish for one first. Those are the game rules...
Off to school he goes. This is Isaacs day, so focus will be on him.
Outside the school yard Isaac spots his good friend, Samira Mørch-Engebakken. She has blue wings, because she is an angel-werewolf hybrid. With Isaac it is a little more complex. He, as well as his brothers Aaron and half-brother Billy, are angel-human-magician hybrids. Hmm....
Isaac is happy to go to school in such a wonderful school building. Billy and Aaron is not there, because they are assigned to the old school building.
At home Natalie thinks the place is filthy, and decides to do some cleaning. They're going to have guests over for the birthday party, so it should look clean and presentable.
Oh, I had forgotten all about it being excursion day for the kids, because of all the tumultous happenings of yesterday.. Looks like the kids are in good hands, with Teresa Mater as their teacher. Isaac is also in the bus, though he is not visible anywhere...
And I see now why Teresa was with them. They are going to the old mauselom in the Monastery Gardens. The Monastery Gardens lies between the Monastery to the north and the Nunnery to the south. The mausoleum in the garden is only for nuns and munks.
The Monastery Gardens is also home to the towns Vault of Antiquity, with lots of ancient knowledge available to the towns population.
To my surprise, Isaac leaves the excursion much earlier than the other kids. Billy and Aaron are still there. "Teresa Mater is so nice. She let me home early because its my birthday!" he says. Oh that Teresa, she is truely a saint...
Poor Ingun is still nervously looking out the window to see if Bianka is anywhere nearby. Yeah, she better not come and wreck Isaacs birthday party, that old hag..
Isaac is listening to the music box, so that he doesn't notice the ice cream truck that just parked outside..
Ragnar is in the car behind the ice cream truck, honking for it to get out of the way...
Ingun is helping Natalie clean around the house, and is doing laundry.
Aaron and Lenore had ventured away from the Teresa and the other kids in their own game of hide and seek, and had lots of fun inside the mausoleum. This finally fulfilled Aarons wish of becoming best friends with Lenore, and Aaron immediately gets a new wish to hang out with her. Is something in the air, besides the smell of old bones and mummified corpses? :P
Meanwhile at the Twilight Tavern on the opposite end of town..
"I just want to dance" Friederich, Natalies grandfather, says to the bartender. The other two people there, that you can see in the mirror, is Ecaterina Dascalu-Vasquez, a vampire, and Avigail Pammy-Vasquez.
Avigail is Isaac and Aarons grandmother, and Ragnars father. You can tell she is related, because there is no other family where those facial features are prevalent. Atleast not that I know of...
Billy and Aaron just came home from the excursion. "Wow, how clean this place is for a change!" Aaron thinks.
Isaac immediately thinks its time to arrange his birthday party. Isaac invites over all the kids he knows from school, as well as his father Ragnar and his girlfriend Ina.
A couple of human boys, Leon Sundal and Roar Tvedt are the first to arrive.
Isaac is happy about the cake. "Did you bake it, auntie?" he asks. "I wish, but n-n-no, this is one is from the c-c-cake and sweets store" Ingun answers.
Isabella Pammy-Vasquez, Icaacs cousin, is the third guest to arrive on the lot, but manages to get in the door before the two human boys, because, well, she can fly. Isabella has aged up to a teenager since last time we saw her. Isabella has yellow wings, because she is an angel-magician hybrid.
Ina is seen exiting her and Ragnars home in the background.
Lenore (in the light blue jacket) also arrived, this should make Aaron happy. Ingun finds it appropriate to laugh at Isabella for some reason.
It doesn't take long after Lenores arrival before Aaron starts getting some interesting thoughts. Really, Aaron? Really? Well, you better go over and talk to her, then..
Oh, more people arrived that weren't invited. As far as I know, they are not friends of the family, so I don't know what they are doing there... Ok, the one to the right, Annlaug Bjerknes, is a paparazzi.. who is the celebrity here!? Actually none of them is a celebrity, so why the paparazzi is there, I don't know...
Isabella is impatient and left the party, calling it boring before it had even started..
Ina wants to prepare Isaac for his teenage years by telling him about love and girls. "Good girls are like unicorns" she says. "A rare find that can show up when you least expect it!"
Ingun gets nervous from all of the people gathering. "Why couldn't Isaac just have a small celebration with only us in the household? I would like that so much better..." she thinks.
But Ingun is the first one to celebrate when Isaac is about to blow out the candles!
Isaac: Ow ow, my arms and legs are stretching out! :O
That looks like it could hurt...
Isaac inherited the inappropriate trait from his mom, and Ragnar does his best to make sure his son won't be able to hear properly on his right ear for a while.
Isaac: Oh, thanks a lot, dad...
Ina is really amused at Brit being the Queen of the Chessboard.
Isaac is not though, he thinks its stupid. "Playing queen at my birthday party! I am the king here!" he says.
The kids, as well as Ragnar and Ina, go outside to play and hang out by the seesaw. Aaron sits inside doing his homework.
And the birthday kid actually decides to go to bed early. Alright, good night then, Isaac!
"Bye Natalie and Aaron! It was a cool party, but I think I should be home now" Ina says.
I look outside again, and figure out that Lenore must have a brother. The kid to the rights name is Thorleif and he has the same last name as Lenore, Johansen-Knutsen.
Thorleif leaves the party shortly thereafter, saying he had a good time, while Samira and Lenore decide to do their homework out on the lawn. "Isaac has a nice home" Samira says.
Aaron goes outside to play with the seesaw. His father Ragnar is still there. Samira continues to talk nicely about their home. Going outside also fulfills Aarons wish to hang out with Lenore.
Aaron talks about how he wants to take a course in painting, an unfulfilled wish he has had for a very long time now, but he hasn't gotten around to ask his mom about it. Ragnar hears what he says, and promises to his son that he will pay for it, so that Aaron can finally get his course and learn painting!
I am then notifies me that Thorleif just aged up as well. So he is not just Lenores brother, he is her older brother. This is Thorleif outside his and Lenores home.
Unexpectedly Ingun goes outside to join Aaron on the seesaw, but then he goes off it, because he wants to play in the treehouse.. Ingun is afraid of the dark, and thinks the outside area could use a little more light to it. It is just barely that one her of alters now breaks through, but she has learned some techniques already by Sara to keep them from coming out. She wants to stay as Ingun as long as they have visitors.
Ingun thinks its better to go back inside again to eat some more cake. Natalie has already gone to bed.
Billy walked outside and wanted to ask Ragnar to read him a bedtime story, but was to late because now Ragnar decides to leave and go home.
"Oh, drats" he thinks, "better go inside and finish my homework then. Ingun will probably read for me later".
Lenore must have snuck off the lot without any notification, because now only Samira and Aaron are left outside (Aaron is inside the treehouse).
Well, Billy doesn't even have to ask Ingun to read for him. "I want to read you a b-b-bedtime story after you have f-f-finished your homework, B-B-Billy" she says. Ingun has learned that she loves to read for the kids. She has never had any of her own, obviously, her mom wouldn't allow it. Ingun, being a supernatural, still has a lot of life left to live, so it is by no means to late for her.
I think Samira just finished her homework, and says its time for her to go home as well, her werewolf eyes glowing in the dark. And just now I get the notification that Lenore is going home, but she has already been home a while... She is already on her way to go to bed. She just has to do what all the other kids are doing, check under her bed for monsters.
Poor Lenore has monsters under her bed...and neither her father or brother is at home to comfort her. Lenores father is a single dad, living alone with his kids.
Ingun turns on the music box for some soothing music. A tiny moment where she can dream away and forget about being nervous and anxious for a while.
Once Billy has finished his homework, Ingun reads for him as she promised. Natalie can hear her sisters voice in her sleep, and it makes her dream about cooking and food. :P
Ingun kisses Billy good night, and Natalies pleasant cooking dream is interrupted by dreaming of someone whom she thinks should be arrested and locked up...
Ingun is really happy to stay at her sisters house and to read for her children.
She just has to make sure the sink is not leaking before going to bed...
Nighty night Ingun. I hope you sleep well.. tomorrow, if Natalie remembers what Elisa told her, she might take you for a little walk in the woods...
@Sprottenham Yes I do like it because it is weird! I was first intrigued at the start with the talking teddy! Now it has gotten more 'real' but I still like it so much especially Eliza and the weirdo firey deamons! it's all just such a good read!
oh No as soon as I write that there is a pounding at the door and Natalie says not to open the door!
Oh it's the most horrible deamon of all! Bianka! Demanding her daughter!
How terrifying for poor Ingun to hear this!
''Bianka: I'm not leaving without Ingun! She belongs to me!'' oh woah there! what a sick thing to say!
yay good to have Ragnar also come in!
Poor little kids so terrified of grandma!
I especially like this ''Ragnar: ....but Natalie, if you get in trouble with your mom again, please don't hesitate to give me a call.. and tell the kids that they can come over to our place anytime they want! Me and Ina would love to have some kids around the house!''
Poor Natalie! maybe she needs to get a restraining order against her Mom! It is so not ok for her and her kids to live in fear of Granny, who kicks their door open and comes in yelling and acting so awful and threatening!
~~~
Wow! ''In other words, the seasons have reversed pretty much completely during the course of the last 8 years.'' Somnetia is a very interesting world!
Yay birthday boy Isaac!
And a field trip day with Mother Teresa! Good!
The Monastery Gardens is beautiful! I like how you combined it with the Vault of antiquity and placed it between the Monastery and the Nunnery! It looks great like that!
Yay good that Aaron and Lenore finally made besties! ''Is something in the air, besides the smell of old bones and mummified corpses?'' Cute!
Oh hahaha Thank you Aaron for having wedding ring thoughts as a kid! Now my town isn't so weird! give that boy a gift!😁
''Ina wants to prepare Isaac for his teenage years by telling him about love and girls. "Good girls are like unicorns" she says. "A rare find that can show up when you least expect it!"'' hahaha I love that!
I Love seeing the birthday party and Isaac so happy and strrrretching to grow up! amazingly good! ah he looks great I love his face!
''Ragnar does his best to make sure his son won't be able to hear properly on his right ear for a while.''HAHAHA
too funny that he doesn't want a queen at his birthday party!
is Thorleif really a name or did the game make it up?
I love the pic of the treehouse casting light below to the ground!
It is so nice that Ingun loves to read to Natalie's kids!
I really enjoyed these updates! Looking forward to the next, when you feel better! Take care!
@DivaDoodle Oh, I am very thankful that you like it enough to keep reading, it makes me motivated to continue! I do feel that this story has a very limited appeal, but... which makes me appreciate you checking in on it even more!
Oh yes, I think that Bianka would fit the description of a psychopath pretty well for behaving and saying the things that she does! Barging into someone elses house, claiming that another person is your property!
And I just found a parallell to the real world in that, which was not at all intended... say that Bianka could be a certain political leader, that just so happened to burst in the door of someones home country, because "this part belongs to me..."... not cool! It makes me pretty mad...
My views on Mr. Putin were not so bad until the past weeks, and I used to think he was actually a pretty smart man, not necessarily good, but not one to do rash and sudden things, you know, the cold and calculating type.. but this, no.. this to me makes him look like a mad man... my views on the (insert foul word) has really plummeted in the last few days.. However, I don't want a political/current events discussion here, I just came to think of it, and wanted to express this right now...
Anyway.. oh yes, a restraining order for Bianka sounds like a good idea! I actually haven't thought about that (I think..), but if she shows up again, I don't know, but I will see what happens..
Thanks about the garden! The nuns and the monks really know how to take care of their garden.
Oh, Thorleif is a real name. I actually never thought about it before, that it is a combination of the names Thor and Leif, but I do know that there are people with that name, so it is not something made up. :P I didn't name him, though, but I mostly try to use real names for my characters. :P
Thanks again, I will try to post the next update during the weekend.
The Tallest Man on Earth – Revelation Blues
.........................
Isaac woke up first the next morning, and from the looks of it, he will grow into a responsible person, helping mommy with the laundry, and other chores around the house.
"Woof!" A bark was heard outside, as a stray dog stops by outside and falls asleep by their front door.
The stray dog is gone however, by the time Aaron wakes up from sleeping in the treehouse to go inside to have breakfast. Shame, I was hoping that he would notice it and get a wish to adopt it.
Ingun is still sleeping heavily when Billy enters the room to play with the dollhouse. This immediately gives her the shy moodlet.
Natalie wakes up to take her morning medicine and have breakfast as Billy and Aaron rush out the door to go to school. Isaac has already gone, leaving an unfinished breakfast meal on the kitchen counter.
"Morning, sis" Natalie says as Ingun comes downstairs to use the bathroom. She follows her with her eyes with that sweet look on her face as she walks past. Natalie is capable of love somewhere inside, and she really feels a deep love and concern for her sister.
Natalie: I hope you are ready for a little walk into the woods today, Ingun..
Ingun: Is that really n-n-necessary? Why c-c-can't just Elisa come down t-to us?
Natalie: That's actually a good point, Ingun... though I doubt she will come down here. She prefers to keep her magic secret, I think thats why she moved into the forest in the first place.
A thunderous bang breaks through the monotonous sound of raindrops falling on the roof.
Ingun: Besides, it is storming p-pretty bad outside.. n-not the best weather for a s-stroll through the forest...
Ingun goes to the refridgerator to eat some leftovers from yesterday.
"We can always use rain coats.. and we will only take a short trip.." Natalie says while she walks over to check the sink for any leaks.
Ingun: I d-d-don't know.. w-what about the t-thunder? Standing under a lot of t-trees p-probably isn't the smartest thing...
Natalie: Don't be silly Ingun.. I'll take a shower while you finish your breakfast and then we will go..
"I really don't want to go into that forest. Especially not in this weather. What should I do now? Maybe if the weather clears up.. I hope it clears up.."
"I'm gonna need the rocking chair for a while..."
Natalie: Come along now, Ingun.. we won't go to far, just to the same spot we were with Elisa just the other day.. Ingun: Oh,. I d-don't know.. Natalie: Ingun... come now! I'm trying to help you... Ingun: Alright t-then.. but we are g-going home soon after.. Natalie: Yeah, yeah, sure...
But just as they head out for the taxi, Elisa comes running over, seemingly distressed about something..
Natalie: Hi, Elisa, what a surprise! What brought you here? We were just going for a small trip to the forest..
When Ingun spots Elisa, she immediately turns on the doorstep..
Ingun: Elisa is here, I'm g-g-going back inside..
Elisa: Natalie, I have some bad news... I think the forest isn't safe for me anymore..
Natalie: What, Elisa? What are you talking about..?
Elisa: The demons, Natalie... they came to my cabin last night and.. I couldn't see them, but I could smell their presence... like a burning sensation....
Elisa: Now, thanks to the protective spells, they can't get to you or Ingun... so they're going for me instead.. unfortunately, I can't cast a protective spell on myself, it doesn't work that way...
Natalie: So, but... how can we..? Is there anything we can do?
Elisa: Well, there's always strength in numbers.. and I could teach you to practice magic, so that..
Natalie:.. you want us to cast the spell on you?
Elisa: Something like that.. may I come in? Please....
Elisa almost begged Natalie to come in, an unusual behavior for her...
Natalie: Oh, of course.. my home is yours... please come inside...
Natalie: We have a spare bunk bed upstairs you can sleep in..
Elisa: That is much appreciated, thank you very much, Natalie!
The demons must have really scared the usually reclusive Elisa to willingly come down to town... Surely it would take a little more than just a burning smell to scare a magician of her calibre, right? I should think so...
Elisa: Now, we have no time to waste.. I should start to teach you Magic as soon as possible..
Elisa: First thing we need to do is to go shopping at the Elixir store...
Natalie: Oh.. uhm, well me and Ingun have to go to work soon... can we .. can we wait until tomorrow?
Elisa: Well, if you must.. but then we go... first thing in the morning! And I will get you the necessary books to read and ingredients to use!
Natalie: Ok, we'll do that, I promise...
Natalie had to hurry, Ingun had already left, and she was getting late. Isaac made it home from school just as she was about to leave.
Isaac: Who is that, mom?
Natalie: Its.. its Elisa, a good friend of mine. She is going to stay with us..
Isaac: Why, mom? What is this?
Natalie: I'll.. I'll explain later. I have to go now, I'm already late for work...
Elisa: Nice to finally meet you, Isaac. Like your mother said, my name is Elisa, and I'll be staying with you for a while...
Isaac: How.. how do you know my name?
Elisa: I am your great grandmother, Isaac.
Isaac:... what? Why hasn't mom told anything about this?? I have a great grandmother??
Elisa: Thats a long story... My home, my real home is the old cabin in the Forest of Illusion..
Isaac: So you're that old witch that burn people just by looking at them?
Elisa: No, Isaac.. you shouldn't believe all the rumours that people tell you...
Isaac found this all a little weird, but was happy to discover that he had a great grandmother. Aaron and Billy came home, and noticed this old lady they had never seen before standing there..
Aaron: Hello, lady, who are you? Are you an actor?
Aaron hoped that she would be an actor working at the theatre, but Elisa told the excact same thing to Aaron, as she did to Isaac. Now that she was going to stay with them, she might as well just tell it like it is. That she is their great grandmother, but that was also everything she would admit to.
----
She did live in town once, together with her then boyfriend Dominique Vasquez, and they even had two children together. But their relationship broke when she learned that he was having a side affair, and Elisa fell into a deep depression.
Picture: Dominique holding Elisas oldest child, Idun. Dominique then is Isaac and Aarons great grandfather, and Idun is their grandmother...
For months, she locked herself up in her home and did nothing but play the blues, before finally moving away from town and into the cabin in the forest... hence she has a very high skill in guitar playing...
Back to present day..
Now that Isaac was a teenager, it was sometimes his turn to read bedtime stories for his younger brothers.
Elisa quickly found herself at home in Natalies house, but now she had another concern. The kids. In particular Isaac and Billy. She was sure that they would need a protective spell cast on them too. She knew that, in fact, but she didn't want to tell them why or what it was for.. she thought it would be best to not tell them everything yet... She wanted to talk to Isaac first, as he was the oldest..
As Elisa went over to talk to Isaac, Natalie and Ingun had just finished their shift at the Zombie Restaurant. Inguns work perfomance had become a lot better now that she had escaped the claws of her mom and began in therapy with Dr. Sara, which had earned her a promotion to Line Chef and a bonus of 624 simoleons.
Elisa: Isaac, as I am your great grandmother.. you are also part magician, and I want to show you how to use it..
Isaac: Oh, oh, that sounds really cool grandma. What can I use it for?
Isaac was hoping she would answer good looks, money or being popular with the girls. Yes, Isaac was getting into that age... but Elisa had other things on her mind..
Elisa: Go over to stand by the kitchen bench, and I will run a demonstration...
"Okay... what are you gonna do?" Isaac said with a mixture of hopefulness and expectation as he walked to the kitchen bench.
"Just stand still" Elisa said and began to recite the same spell she had cast on Ingun and Natalie earlier. Isaac didn't understand a word and had no idea what she was doing, but he was really amazed at what he was seeing. He had never seen anyone perform magic before.
Then he became frightened when he realized that he was the target for whatever witchcraft she was using. "G-g-grandma, what are you doing!?" he stuttered. Elisa couldn't stop to explain once she had started, she had to keep going.
Ingun recognized the words Elisa was using, and it made her freak out.
Isaac: Mom! Mom!! What is she doing!??
Isaac: Brrr! Why do I feel so c-cold? What did you do to me?
Elisa was really happy that the spell appeared to be working.
Elisa: I cast a good luck spell on you, Isaac. The feeling of cold is only temporary.
Isaac: So..but.. now I will be permanently lucky?
Elisa: No, not permanently, it will wear off with time, and I will have to cast another one..
Isaac: Ok, and you are going to teach me this.. so that I can cast it on myself?
Elisa: I can teach you how, but you can't cast spells on yourself...
Isaac: Why not?
Elisa: Because they will invert and have the opposite effect. It would be a curse instead.
Isaac: But what if I cursed myself then? Would that work?
Elisa: Haha, no, Isaac... that wouldn't work either. Unless you actually wanted to curse yourself, that is.
Isaac: I don't get it...
Elisa: You will with time, Isaac. You will with time...
So what was it that really happened to make Elisa run away....
It was a rainy morning, and Elisa was in her cabin peacefully cooking breakfast. Alfred was sitting on the couch reading a book.
Neither of them noticed it at first, because it slithered so silently. It managed to squeeze itself through a small crack inbetween the foundation and the wood paneling on the outside.
Once inside, it slowly wiggled across the floor and up right behind Elisa was standing. It was getting ready to launch a bite as she turned around to walk over to put the pot on the oven.
Elisa wasn't an easily frightened woman, she had seen snakes many times before, but she knew that bites from some of them could be poisonous, if not downright deadly.
"Congelo!" she shouted to stun the snake for a moment just long enough so that she could put the pot down and move away from the snake.
Alfred heard her shout and got up from the couch. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Its a snake.." Elisa answered "Its a shield tale snake...".
"A shield tale? I didn't know you had any of those."
"I don't." Elisa said. "Its an intruder." The shield tale snake came back to life and prepared itself to jab Elisa once more.
"Rutrum ut interficiat angues caput!” Elisa shouted at the snake. The snake was stunned for a while, but quickly resumed its position to bite.
“This isn't an ordinary snake” Elisa said as she jumped away. The snake hit the the wall with a solid jab. The painted coating appeared to vaporize with a hissing sound outwards from where the snakes teeth had penetrated wall.
Alfred ran over to Elisa. “I'll get it” he said.
“No, Alfred! This snake will kill you!”
But it was in Alfreds nature, he had been her loyal butler for the past 40 years. He wasn't going to sit there and watch her get bitten by any snake. Alfred had handled snakes many times before, but this one was different. As he grabbed a hold of its tail, it immediately turned its body and bit him in the hand, forcing him to let go. It then launched itself up in the air right in front of him.
“Trulla ut interficias serpentes!” Elisa shouted, but it had no effect. The snake bit Alfred straight in the face and he immediately caught on fire.
“Coniuro te, Abzu, ut hunc ignem exstingue!” she shouted, but again it had no effect. Alfreds screams were heard until nothing was left of him but a pile of ashes on the floor. Then the snake went for Elisa. This certainly wasn't an ordinary shield tale snake... Probably not even a snake at all..
“Sanctorum invocabo Agatha, in Sicilia, Elisabeth Hungariae...” Elisa began, before the snake interrupted her.
“None of that is going to help, Elisa!” the snake hissed. “None of it! Now die, witch!” the snake said, its mouth wide open spewing venom.
“Soteria scutum!” Elisa shouted, before running as fast as she could out of the cabin.
Once outside, she called upon Hermes, the old god of transportation to transfer her to the edge of the forest.. she had to get away from there as fast as possible..
"Hermes, Elisam transfer ad ripam silvae!”
From there, she used her broom and went down to Natalies house as fast as she could. She knew that as Natalie and Ingun had the protective spell on them, the snake... or demon... shouldn't be able to get to close. Atleast for now...
Ingun was the first of the adults to wake up this morning, and of course, she knew what her life time wish was. When she wakes up and that is her first thought, it is clear that she wakes up as her original self, and that therapy is working.
Elisa woke up soon after, and started to clean up the toys around the house. Natalie wanted to talk to Elisa, because she wanted to know a little more about what had happened to bring Elisa to come down to town... she didn't quite believe the story she told about the burning smell... she thought there was more to it than just that... It didn't make sense for her that Elisa would be so easily scared..
Natalie: Elisa, excactly what happened yesterday?
Elisa: What do you mean, Natalie? I already told you...
Natalie: No, I don't think you did. What happened Elisa, and why isn't Alfred with you?
Elisa: Oh, Alfred, he uh... he uh..
Natalie: What happened to Alfred, Elisa?
Elisa knew she was cornered and had to tell the truth. "Don't tell the kids, Natalie" she spoke in a whispering voice "but they got him. They came to my cabin yesterday, in the form of a snake. I had cast a protective spell on him, just like on you, but... they still got him. They poisoned him with their bite, and then he.. caught fire, and.. it happened so fast, and I tried, but my powers couldn't stop it..."
Natalie: Wow, Elisa, but.. if your powers can't help, how can we...
Elisa: My powers alone can't help much anymore.. but if we stick together... thats why we have to go to the elixir store. Now.
Elisa: That means you too, Ingun.
Ingun: Oh, d-d-do I really have to?
Elisa: Yes, you do. From now on, it is vital that we all stay as close together as we can..
Natalie: But what about the kids, Elisa? Will they be safe at school?
Elisa: Yes, Natalie, they will.. I already cast the spell on Isaac yesterday, it should have some effect..
Natalie: But what about Aaron and Billy?
Elisa: Aaron is safe, and Billy too, as long as he is with Aaron..
Natalie: What? How can they be safe? Did you protect them too?
Elisa: Lets hurry up now! We haven't got much time to waste!
Elisa takes Ingun and Natalie to the elixir store...
Elisa: Come along, you two! The Elixir store is this way! Just around this corner!
Elisa: We've got no time to waste. Now, lets buy what we need and get out of here.
Elisa: I would like two Magic for Beginners in angel version, as well as two beginner wands. And uh.. an alchemy station if you have one..
Birk Birkesson (store clerk): I'll get you the books and wands you want, but unfortunately we have no alchemy stations in stock right now. We are expecting a new delivery next week, please come back then.
Further inside the store, Ingun and Natalie had gone around to explore..
Ingun: Hey, N-N-Natalie, this mirror just t-talked to me! It offered me a m-make over!
Natalie: Don't be silly, Ingun. Mirrors can't talk!
Ingun: N-Natalie! Look! I'm swirling!
Ingun: Oh, help me, what is this??
Ingun closed her eyes from the bright yellow light that surrounded her. The light gave out a strange low pulsating hum that made Natalie freak out.
Natalie: Aaah, what is that sound!? Its the demons!
Ingun: Its alright, Natalie. L-look, it gave me a n-new dress!
Natalie: Ingun, w-what happened?
Ingun: The mirror, Natalie! Its alive! It t-talked to me, and gave me t-this new dress!
Ingun: I could f-feel this light surround me, as if it c-came from some strange power above! You should t-try it, Natalie!
Natalie: But Ingun.. are you sure this isn't some kind of trick? Maybe that dress is cursed...
Ingun: But I f-feel so pretty! I have n-never felt this pretty before! I don't think this is c-cursed at all! You should try it, Natalie!
Natalie: I don't know, Ingun.. I'm not convinced.. I feel fine just as I am..
Ingun: C-c-come on, Natalie! I t-tried it and came out just f-f-fine! And I thought I was the c-c-coward here!
Elisa: I see you have discovered the mirror there, Ingun, you look absolutely delightful. Now, I have bought the things you and your sister needs.. lets hurry back home, we should be safer there..
Natalie: I told you that mirror was dangerous! Elisa: Its not the mirror, Natalie. That was a Agape, a Virtue. Hurry up now, we're going back home!
A Virtue is a type of deity that controls the elements and they are sometimes described as "the shining ones" because they appear as sparks of light.
Elisa: Behind you are the wands, I put them on the kitchen bench for you. Now, what I want you to do is pick up those wands, and the books from the living room table and read the first chapter.
Elisa: Then after reading the first book you can practice spell casting, but only then. And do NOT try to cast any spells on anyone until I say so! Do you understand?
Natalie: So.. what..? How do I practice spell casting if I can't try it on someone?
Elisa: Because you need be 100 % sure you are casting the formula correctly.. The words of the formula must be spoken the excact same way, every time! One wrong word, and who knows what effect that could have! So in the beginning, only practice on objects!
Natalie: Ok, well I don't want to get anything wrong..
Elisa: Did you get this as well, Ingun?
Ingun: Y-yes, but what if I hurt m-myself?
Elisa: Just read the book first, and follow my instructions and you'll be fine. I will be here the whole time.. now, lets get to it. The books are on the living room table..
And so the sisters picked up their wands and sat down and studied their first book about magic, while Elisa watched over them from the rocking chair. Until both of them had to go to work, that is.
Ingun: I'm s-sorry Elisa, but I t-think we have to go to work n-now!
Elisa: Oh, that is fine.. but we will continue tomorrow! No slacking!
Natalie: Yes, dictator..
Elisa: I heard that, Natalie...
With mom out of the house, Aaron decided to invite Lenore over for another visit.
And Isaac wanted to become best friends with Samira, so she was asked to come over for the evening as well. Both Aaron and Isaac was happy that neither of them declined and should be around any minute. It was only Billy (of the kids) that didn't have a wish to hang out with anyone.
Samira Mørch-Engebakken was the first of the invited visitors to arrive. Like Isaac, she has recently had her 13th birthday, and aged up to a teenager. Once on the lot, she goes over to talk to Aaron, who has already gone outside to play in the treehouse. Aaron doesn't know her very well, she is only an aqcuaintance to him. "This girl has some strange glowing eyes" he thinks "is she a ghost?"
Samira: Hi, I'm Samira. Is this your treehouse? It looks very nice.
Aaron: Oh, it's mine and Billys. We play in it a lot. I was going to hold a feast for the court. Would you like to join?
Samira: That sounds like a lot of fun! I used to play like that, too. I have a tree just like that at home, but I think I'm to old for it now!
Then a friendly voice is heard calling, and Lenore has also arrived on the lot.
Lenore: Hey, Aaron!
Lenore: I came as fast as I could, but my brother wouldn't let me leave until I had done my homework!
Aaron: My mom never tells me to do my homework, but I want to do well in school, so I always do it anyway!
Lenore: I wish I had a mom. At home its just dad and my brother, and dad is almost always out somewhere!
Aaron: Oh, having a mom isn't always that great..
Lenore: Some people have great moms! Edmunds mom makes very good cakes, and always reads for me when I am there!
Aaron: I think it is better to have an aunt than to have a mom. My aunt Ingun always likes to read for us, too. She is much better at it than mom!
Aaron: Lets play in the treehouse! I'm the king and I'm going to hold a feast! You can be a princess!
"I'm not a princess, Aaron! I'm a Queen, and one day I will rule the entirety of the worlds!" Lenore replied with determination in her voice, as if she was actually thinking about taking over the world and not just playing...
Meanwhile, Natalie had gotten a raise of 8 simoleons per hour at work, because she had discovered a new and more effective way of serving buns which greatly pleased Ramona, her boss. Isaac wasn't doing so great with Samira.. he had just made fun of his little brother Aaron, which bored her, before then he began to flirt with her, but the response was negative.
Samira: Isaac.. that's not funny..
Samira thinks he's clumsy...
Samira: ..but if you don't mind, I have been looking at this new jacket, so I was wondering if you had some money to spare.. It doesn't have to be much, only 10 bucks and I will have..
Isaac: No! No, I'm not helping you pay for your jacket! Get your own money!
"This wasn't much fun, I want to go home.." Samira thinks, before she goes to do her homework..
Then Billy complains about having to do dishes and Isaac tries to kiss Samira, but that is very unwelcome. Billy lights up the situation by bragging about his pranking skills, and maybe that worked... a little..
Samira: If you take me to the cinema, we can kiss in the dark...
Isaac: Oh, I would like that...
Then Isaac wants to kiss her once again, but gets interrupted by Billy who wants to play tag.
Lenore and Aaron are still having fun holding their royal dinner for the court in the treehouse.. umm, I mean, castle, of course. "Oh, these vegetables are most splendid. I love feasting on the most splendid. I can't get enough of it!" Lenore says. "Ah, yes, excuisite!" Aaron replies and both of them giggle and feel proud for knowing how to use such posh sounding words.
Well, Billy changed his mind about playing tag, because he got hungry, and Isaac managed to steal his first kiss. Now lets see if she liked it...
She did not. Isaac, there is this thing called timing... maybe you should have a talk with your father about, you know, girls and romance, and all that...
You should be happy its not a full moon and that the werewolf in her isn't coming out!
Isaac: Have you seen the way Aaron dresses? He's trying to hard to impress the teachers! He should know that we don't have to wear school uniforms in Lagash!
Samira: I like the way he dresses. I think he is a stylish boy.
Isaac: Yeah, but he is trying to hard. He should be more like the other kids, running around and getting their clothes wrinkled and dirty!
"Come on, Isaac..." Samira sighs "Let him dress and act however he wants..."
Samira: ...but you know, about those money and that jacket...? If you would maybe reconsider...?
Isaac: No! I told you no, Samira! I'm not paying for your jacket!
Heh, you're both hopeless... continue like this and your probably won't be friends for much longer...
Looks like the royal banquet in the treehouse didn't hold enough food for Lenore, because she went inside to help herself to a leftover birthday cake from Isaacs party. "I am so hungry" she said, before quickly finishing the cake in one bite. And then things got a little strange as she approached Elisa with the sound of heavy, stomping feet.. a sound which could not possibly come from such a little child...
Lenore: My plates are empty, and I am still hungry!
Lenores voice had suddenly deepened, and it was obvious that the voice was no longer hers, and her breath had the rotten stench of sulphur.... Elisa immediately knew who this voice belonged to..
Elisa: You! You give me my Alfred back, you evil snake being!
Demon: Can't do, witch! Father is hungry, and Alfred is his appetizer!
Demon: And He thinks He will have you for a main course!
"O Pater in Inferno, bubulam hanc porcam tibi coquam!" the demon said, now speaking with both a male and female voice at the same time, as it raised it's hands appearing to gain power from some higher entity.
Demon: Smells good already.. Our Father will be most pleased...
I guess that's the problem with demons is that they are excellent shape shifters, so you never really know where you have them. They could be standing right in front of you, and you wouldn't even know it!
And the kids certainly didn't, because they were still outside conversing, without any clue about the drama going on inside..
After the demon had set fire to Elisa, it concealed its presence by appearing to vanish into thin air. This isn't looking good for Elisa. The clock is ticking for her, and Aaron, who just came inside, is all paralyzed from his great grandma being on fire and has no idea what to do..
However, now both Ingun and Natalie is finished with their shift at the restaurant.. Ingun is already in her taxi. Natalie is a little bit behind, she just had to go over all the sinks in the kitchen before leaving, to make sure nothing was leaking.... will any of them make it home in time to see what is going on and save Elisa before she literally burns to death, or will it be to late?
And back home, the demon still in its concealed state is now heading towards the kids outside. This time wihtout making any sound, just moving forward with determination.
In the nick of time, hopefully, Ingun just came home! Please, hurry inside and save Elisa before its to late! Ingun had no chance to notice the demon outside, and neither did any of the kids as it snuck up on them.
Billy had asked Isaac for a bedtime story, so they walked inside, leaving Samira outside alone. The demon then manifested itself right behind her as it grabbed hold of her body to give her a beating, making this a visit she probably wouldn't forget so easily...
Demon: If you want to see another moon, don't come here again! Now go take yourself for a walk and get out of here, little puppy girl...
Ouch....
When the going gets tough... Ingun panicked and blacked out at the sight of Elisa burning, and Esnebria took over. Where Ingun is a coward (sorry, but its true..), Esnebria is much more hard headed and bold.
Esnebria knew everything that Ingun did, about the spells Elisa had casted to protect them, and because of that she couldn't let Elisa go up in flames! Esnebria had no idea what had caused Elisa to catch fire, she didn't have time to contemplate such thoughts! This moment only required swift action!
Natalie was almost at home too now, so maybe it wasn't to late for Elisa! Lets hope so.. but this certainly isn't looking good!
Natalie finally makes it through the door. They better put out the fire, because Elisa doesn't have much time left!
Natalie proved in this situation to be completely useless... the true hero in this situation was her sister..
Esnebria: Natalie! Help me put out the fire! Don't just stand there!!!
And it looks like Esnebria/Ingun won the battle against the fire.. this time.. but whew, that was close! Elisa was only seconds away from dying!
Elisa: Natalie! Ingun! We are in great danger!
Yes you are, the demon is right behind you!
Demon: You fat piece of pork! Looks like I didn't try to roast you hard enough...
Elisa: I won't give up that easily! We'll finish this outside!
Elisa knew that the demon wouldn't be leaving without taking someone with it... This was the only way, and she didn't want the kids to see her dying..
So the demon and Elisa went outside for a duel, and Elisa took the first shot, an ice formula to diminish the demons fiery power..
However, the demon wasn't weakened that easily.. it quickly fought back, and nearly set Elisa ablaze once more!
Elisa now called upon the saints to cast a blessing of light upon the demon. Demons are usually not particularly fond of blessings...
The blessing didn't do much but aggravate the demon, and it summoned a ring of fire around itself, which set the ground on fire right next to it, and suddenly the demon disappeared into a strange looking light..
..only to appear almost right in front of Elisa, its eyes fixed on her with an ominous stare.
Demon: Say goodbye to your world, Elisa...
Elisa got herself in position to try to put out the fire with another ice formula. Isaac had now heard the commotion and went outside to check it out.. this wasn't excactly what he had expected.
Elisa managed to put out the fire as the demon went away to dodge her blast. Isaac didn't have much time to think or figure out what was going on, before the demon warped itself right in front of Elisa once more and began to speak in a mysterious tongue he couldn't understand..
Demon: O pater tenebrarum, mater mali! Da mihi vim hanc magam ad gehennae incendia mittere!
Demon: Et semel, et pro omnibus! Et semel, et pro omnibus!
The words of the demon sent lifted Elisa up in the air and made her catch fire once again. The demon watched in glee as Elisa jumped around and began shouting in panic..
Natalie and Ingun knew Elisa was in danger, and rushed out to help, but the demon was much stronger than both of them, and they could only do so much...
There was no help in them this time, this fire couldn't be put out! All it took was one final push from the demon, to send Elisa flying..
The demons work was done, and the flames got the best of her, turning Elisa into a ghostly hologram...
The ghost of Elisa crouched to the ground, still burning in agony, as the demon warped away taking Elisa with it...
Time appeared to freeze for a short moment. The night birds bowed their heads and everything became silent. Elisa was no longer there.. now there was only a cold stone and the smell of burning skin lingering in the air..
Natalie was shocked and left in tears! Her beloved Elisa was gone!
Aaron and Billy also came out now that the demon had left. They understood what had happened when they saw the gravestone and heard the cries and howls of Isaac, Ingun and Natalie..
This made no sense to them, least of all for Aaron and Billy.. They had listened to it all in terror from their bedroom upstairs.. They knew about the monsters under the bed and had heard tales of witches that could burn things, but were never really sure if the tales were true or not.. well, now there was no doubt, unless this was some kind of nightmare, but it didn't seem like one, because usually by now they would have woken up in their bed and slept for the rest of the night with their light on..
After lots and lots of crying, bewildered and heartbroken, the kids walked inside and only Ingun and Natalie was left, still grieving. Now it seemed that all hope was lost, not only was Elisa gone, but they had lost their protector and mentor in magic! Who was now going to teach them the necessary skills, and save them from whatever terrible fate was awaiting?
Especially for Natalie, this was extremely tough, as she stood there crying and screaming next to Elisas gravestone for long into the night after Ingun had gone back into the house...
Inside Ingun went to the kitchen sink to brush her teeth before going to bed, but couldn't attempt to do anything, without once more breaking into tears..
Isaac had just gathered enough strength to read a bedtime story for Billy, but once Billy was asleep he found himself all in tears once again..
He had just gotten to know his great grandmother, and now, she had been brutally ripped away from him, just as suddenly as she had arrived into his life..
Ingun had finally made it to bed and gone asleep and Isaac had calmed down enough to be able to get himself some food.
Only Natalie was outside grieving for a good while still..
It didn't matter that she was tired almost to the point of fainting on the spot.. Elisa was the only mother figure Natalie had ever had in her life, and now she was gone... gone...
Eventually, poor Natalie finally made it to bed as the very last one...
Tomorrow was going to be a rough day, no doubt about it...
When Elisa came to herself, she found herself in what appeared to be a dining room of sorts, dimly lit with a long table and two chairs, one of which was occupied. In the back of the room was another, slightly elevated, dining table that someone was sitting behind, but it was to dark to see... The demon stood next to her, and in front of her, was the Grim Reaper himself...
The Grim Reaper (whispers): I am so sorry for this, Elisa.. this was never part of the plan..
A rumbling voice was heard from the back of the room..
Demon Father: My daughter... what is this? Why were you late for supper, and what have you done? Demon Daughter: It is Elisa, father! I brought her to you!
Demon Father: I can see that, but why now? I have no need for Elisa here and now!
Demon Daughter: But father, I thought you wanted...
Demon Father: Quiet, daughter! We will talk about this later...
Demon Son: I told you it was to soon, sister...
Demon Father: Reaper! You must bring Elisa back!
Demon Daughter: What!? But father, we can't bring her back! Not after she has seen us and where we live!
Demon Father: Then erase her memory! Reaper, if you don't mind...
Reaper: It would be my pleasure to bring her back, but I can't do so without a Death Flower...
Demon Father: Daughter, you made this happen, take her to The Chamber to erase her memory, then come back here to give The Reaper one of your Death Flowers...
Demon Daughter: But dad...
Demon Father: Do as I say!
This wasn't excactly the outcome Elisa had hoped for. If her memory was erased, everything she had learned and all of her skills in magic would go with it.. and it would take much to long to learn it all over again...then being brought back would be next to useless...
Centuries of experience gone in an instant, she had to figure out a way to be sent back with her memory intact, and she had to do it fast!
Demon Daughter: Come here, Elisa, I have to do what my father says...
Demon Son: You just screwed up big time there, sister!
Demon Daughter: Shut up, brother!
The Demon Daughter begrudgingly took Elisa with her, down and down several steps into the room they called «The Chamber»...
Down and down...
When Elisa was finally alone with the Demon Daughter, she had to stall time...
Elisa: All this fighting, travelling to your world and being burnt – twice – has made me hungry.. is it possible to get a meal before I go?
Demon Daughter: What!? No! This isn't a tavern or anything! You can eat when you get back! If you remember how to do it, of course...
Elisa: You don't have to remove all of my memory...
Demon Daughter: No! I am going to remove everything! I am going to turn you into an adult baby! You won't even remember how to talk!
Elisa: And where will you send me when you are done..?
Demon Daughter: I don't care!! I'll leave that to the Reaper, not my job! Now stand still!
Elisa noticed that this demon daughter was quite a moody one, apparently no stranger to the emotions of wrath and anger. Elisa thought that maybe she could use this to her advantage...
Elisa: ..and what are you going to do if I don't? Kill me again, maybe?
Demon Daughter: I am a DEMON! My power is endless! If I tell you to stand still, YOU WILL!
Elisa: There is no such thing as endless.. everything stops and dies at one point, even you and your powers!
Demon Daughter: You're wrong! Nothing ever dies! I cannot die! I can only be reborn! Like I always have been, ever since the beginning of time!
Elisa: Interesting... but if time has a beginning, surely it must have an end..? Or will time itself also be reborn?
Demon Daughter: Shut up!!
Elisa was really enjoying it, watching the demon daughter get increasingly agitated...
Elisa: What I'm saying is... does that mean that everything that happens now, has happened before, and just like that everything goes in a loop?
Demon Daughter: What the ****!? Just shut up!!
Elisa: You're not really all that bright, are you...?
Demon Daughter: I am as bright as bright can be! Now shut up!!
Elisa: Not only are you dim, your ego is much to big for someone your size, too...
Demon Daughter: Enough!! Circobero, magam hanc e conspectu exi! Reduc eam quo pertinet!!
Elisa: Thank you...
The Demon Daughter realized what she had just done, and desperately tried to stop the action, but it was to late. Circobero, the Spirit of travel and transportation, was already called upon to send Elisa «back to where she belonged» according to the demon daughters own words.. but where was that? Where did Elisa truely belong...?
Demon Daughter: No, wait! I didn't mean that literally! Circobero, prohibere! Profuto! Profuto!
Demon Daughter (thinking): Oh boy... what am I going to tell dad, now that I have sent Elisa away without erasing her memory? I'm going to be in so much trouble...
Dark and heavy clouds were looming over the Goth-Asli household this night after Elisas death...
Poor Isaac was still resting in the rocking chair, grieving the loss of his great grandmother.. none of them knew where she was gone, all they knew was that she was dead, that the demon killed her...
Cursed be that demon!
Isaac isn't the only being teary eyed in this moment... Billy woke up and stopped next to the bedside.. Natalie had been dreaming about Elisas gravestone all night.. Her mind desperately wanted answers as to where her beloved Elisa was now...
Though Billy was also very sad, he heard Isaacs crying bawling and wanted to comfort him, but Isaac was all filled up with sorrow and rage.. it didn't really get to him..
Then the sisters woke up, both at the same time..
There wasn't a dry eye in the house...
Natalie especially was full of grief, panic and worry.. what would they do, now that Elisa was gone?
No one was unscarred by this, Aaron had cried all the way from the treehouse and to the shower.. and even afterwards, he still stood there sobbing and drying up his tears...
Natalie wound up the music box for a moment of soothing music, and Isaac wanted to talk to Samira...
He told her all about what had happened after she left yesterday, about the demon and his great grandmothers death.
Samira was terrified, after being attacked and beaten up by the demon, but Isaac had hopes that she wasn't to scared by what happened to come visit them....He wanted to see her again....
Ingun had to repeatedly check the stove, the sinks and every dusty corner of the house for any possible demonic activity... her neuroticism was working on high gear now....
The sisters had to cry on each others shoulders. They had no real words for this sorrow, they just cried. None of them could say to the other that things would be ok. They wished for it, but they didn't believe it.. not now...
Life is cruel, and just because they were grieving, there was no time off from work...
Ingun was already on her way, but Natalie had to sit and collect her thougths for a little while longer watching her sister fly out the door, before she found herself ready to go....
Aaron wanted to call up Lenore to come over and visit. He was worried she wouldn't show up after what had happened as he still thought it was the actual Lenore that was there yesterday....
He felt happy, as happy as one can be in grief, that she said she would love to come over. Lenore didn't know what had happened, as she wasn't there at all yesterday.... So lets hope that it is the actual Lenore that shows up this time...
What looked like Lenore, and hopefully is Lenore, made it onto their lot and flew past Elisas gravestone to meet up with Aaron by the treehouse.
She was happy to see Aaron (and thought their yard was nicely decorated, Aaron has such a nice treehouse!), but Aaron wasn't quite himself today...
She asked Aaron what was wrong, but he didn't really answer. «Its raining, we should go inside» was the only thing he said.
Sure enough, she followed him there, but his behaviour was kind of strange.. Something must have been going on here, but she didn't know what it was.. She noticed the gravestone on the lot, so someone must have died, of course, she understood that much...
Once inside, she wanted to give him a hug, and asked him what had happened, if someone had died, and if there now was a ghost in their home....
Then Aaron finally found he could talk about it, and told her everything about the demon, which he called «The Dragon», and how it had come to their house, disguised as Lenore herself, and set Elisa on fire and eventually killed her, before disappearing into a strange looking light...
Billy came over as well, and wanted to share his idea about what had happened. He thought «The Dragon» had come from the forest, and that Elisa was now with «the Dragon» in a secret cave somewhere deep in the woods and far below ground. Billy thought that it would still be possible for them to go there and save her....
Lenore was terrified at what they told her, it was awful! She had heard stories of dragons and demons, but never really seen either of them, and now.. one of them even disguising itself as her!? She felt really bad for Aaron and Billy for their loss, and thought she knew about a solution...
She had heard her father once talk about a special flower that could bring people back from the dead, but she didn't know what it was called, or excactly how it would work. She promised to ask her dad about that, once she got home...
Of course, Lenore didn't know that it was actually to late, and that this flower would have to be handed to the Grim Reaper as he came to collect Elisas soul, except that the Grim Reaper never showed up to do that.. Elisa became a ghost by the demons push, before apparently disappearing into thin air as she was still burning from the demons fire. She disappeared without as much as a blink, before her gravestone appeared... Being pushed into death by a demon is far from a usual or common type of death...
Then, as the kids were talking, something unusual happened at the convenience store downtown... An orange glow appeared by the entrance, and from it a character took shape.. It was Elisa. She spawned right there, at the convenience store. Now, is that where she belongs?
Of course not, she spawned, or should I say respawned, right in front of her daughter and only child, Idun Skullerud-Morales. She turns to face her, and Iduns reaction to seeing the ghost of her mom, is immediate! «Mom!» she shouts with joy. And Elisa is very happy to see her daughter too! Idun hadn't seen or heard anything from her mom, ever since she moved into that cabin in the forest, and had since long expected her to be dead already, so seeing her mom return as a ghost was as good as anything she had hoped for.
«Its so good to see you again, my daughter!» she says «You won't believe where I have been and what just happened!».
They hug before Elisa starts telling the entire story of everything that happened to her, about Natalie, Ingun, Aaron, Isaac, Billy and the demons.
And now a few more pieces fall together, Idun is Ragnars mother, and Aaron and Isaacs grandmother. And Elisa is their great grandmother...
Elisa has gotten quite fond of Natalie and Ingun, and eagerly talks about their cooking career at Mr. Zombie restaurant, before she decides to cast a protective spell against the demons on her beloved daughter, just in case.
«Just stand still my sweet daughter, its for your own good.»
Then they have to say goodbye, because Elisa is even more concerned about Natalie and Ingun, given everything that has happened and everything she knows...
She has to stay with them, no matter where the Gods thinks she belongs...
First thing she is going to do when she gets back, is to prepare a meal.. the demons didn't excactly share any of their food with her... Apparantely, even ghosts need to eat, so if food suddenly goes missing from your refridgerator at night...
At home, Aaron and Lenore had started a game of chess, unaware that Elisa had returned and was on her way back..
And the sisters had just finished their shift at the restaurant and was heading home..
Ingun comes home and finds Elisa in the kitchen preparing a meal.
Poor Ingun doesn't know what to think!
She is in shock and is to afraid to stay inside the house, so she walks outside and faints!
And Natalie.. oh, poor Natalie, she was actually to caught up with grieving to make it much farther than just below the steps of the restaurant...
Her action says that she is going home, but she is just standing there crying.. Her boss Ramona that finishes her shift half an hour later, even passes her by to go home.. Natalie, please go home! You might be surprised.. or shocked, I don't know, but please, go home...
She stands there for so long without doing anything but crying continuously, the Narrator finds it necessary to intervene to deliver her from her crying, so that she can go home... Elisas death must have hit her really hard... much harder than anyone else...
When Natalie finally makes it home, she is shocked to find what looks like the ghost of Elisa drifting out from the bathroom wall, and up the stairs! Natalie is terrified and doesn't know what to believe! Has the ghost of Elisa now returned to haunt them?
Elisa was not only hungry and dirty from all the commotion, she was also very tired, and needed to go to sleep... Dying can certainly take its toll on you... Explaining everything for Natalie, Ingun and the kids would have to wait until tomorrow..
And she goes to sleep in Billys bed! No, no Elisa, that's not your bed! Hmm, I guess the trip to the Otherworld (or wherever the demons live...) must have done something to her memory anyway... but after all that she just went through, I'll let her sleep.. Billy can sleep with Natalie in her bed...
Comments
Oh yeah, the song.. well, it's really about Natalie being angry with her mom, and rightfully so! Her mom is a pretty awful person.. she is not a demon though...
Hehe, a witch has gotta keep her secrets!
Oh yeah, the kids are better left out of this.. with the way things are, Natalie, though not a perfect mother herself, would never bring the kids to visit their grandma there!
Thanks about the videos.
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In Flames – Stay With Me
Don't ever let them use you
They will bring you to your knees
I'll try to lead you for awhile
But every time I talk to you
You're too afraid to see
Open your eyes
Breathe in life
Open your eyes
Breathe in, breathe out
Oh I, I can see the light
Stay with me
Away from the darkest of nights
Stay with me
I don't know if you're ready
You should see where I have been
I don't know if you're ready
And I don't know where to begin
Stay with me
So Ingun hesitantly joined Natalie to the doctors' office. Sara had to use a make shift office while hers was closed due to the investigation of the fire.
Sara knew that it was a very complex matter in her hands now. These two sisters, Ingun and Natalie, a pair of red winged angels and their troubled background. Sara hoped to be able to heal them, to rid of their inner demons and possibly eventually fix their broken relationship with their own mother. Those other demons, if real, was something Sara could not deal with. She was a psychologist, not an exorcist or whatever she needed to be to fix that problem.
And even though the sisters came from the same background, the effect it had on them was markedly different. Where Natalie projected most of her difficult emotions outwards to the world by hurting others, Ingun projected them inwards by withdrawing and hurting herself. Ingun had over the years turned to the coping strategy of dissociation to protect herself from the inflicted pain and trauma, which eventually had developed into seperate identities within her.
One of them was a little girl with black hair and pony tails on either side of the head, and Esnebria was her name. She had others, but Esnebria was the one that showed up the most often, typically in situations Ingun felt was threatening.
And this is what happened at the doctors' office this morning. Sara met Esnebria for the first time. It didn't take much sometimes to bring her out. The rattling sound of a garbage truck emptying containers, a car honking as it drove by, or people shouting on the street outside.
Esnebria: Where am I? And who are you!?
Sara: Ingun.. it's me, Sara. You are at the hospital. I am here to he..
Esnebria: I don't want to be here! Get me out of here!!
Sara: I.. I understand you are upset, Ingun. Can you.. tell me why you want to get out of here?
Esnebria: I'm not Ingun, you idiot! Ingun is weak for letting momma beat us!
Esnebria: I hate her! I hate them both!
Esnebria: That's why I want to get out! Don't you get it? That's why I want to get out!
Sara: I am terribly sorry to hear about this, I really am, but.. your mother isn't here now. Its only me, you and Natalie.
Esnebria: Natalie! I hate her too! She left us behind! She left us behind with that monster!
Esnebria: Why did you leave us behind, Natalie? Why!? After everything I did for you!
Natalie was terrified. She thought the demon had taken control of her sister again. Sara felt her heart racing, but knew she had to do her best to remain calm to not agitate Ingun any further.
Natalie: I.. I..
Esnebria: F#%c%¤£§ answer me, you dumb [email protected]%c%¤£§ b&#$4!!
Sara: I understand that all of this is very distressing, and that.. that Natalie leaving you behind must have been a horrible experience, but this is not how we address people in my office. Please sit down...
Esnebria: But I want answers!
Sara: And I am here to help you get them, but, please, you have to calm down first.
Esnebria: And then what!? How will YOU get me the answers!
Sara: Well.. think about it this way, besides answers, what else do you want the most?
Esnebria: What do you mean!? I want to get out of.. I want to get away from..
Ingun/Esnebria found herself unable to finish the sentence.
Sara: What is it that you want to get away from?
The room turned silent.
Sara: Ingun..? Can you tell me.. what it is that you want to get away from?
"Hmm?" Ingun said with a feeble voice. She knew she was at the hospital, and she knew that the person asking the question was Dr. Sara, as they had just been introduced, but Ingun wasn't sure why Sara asked this question, nor did she know why she was standing up. Ingun had no memory of the conversation that just took place between Sara and Esnebria. So she didn't know how to answer.
Sara: Ingun.. do you remember what you just asked Natalie, and what you said about your mom?
Ingun: N-n-no... did I... did I say something about m..m-mom?
Sara: Yes, you umm... you said that your mom.. that she was not treating you very nicely, and then you asked Natalie why she left you behind.
Ingun: Oh, umm.. oh, I can't remember s-saying that..
Natalie: It was the demon that got into her! Didn't you see it? That thing..
Sara: Natalie! There is no demon here!
Natalie: But you saw it, didn't you!? How she all of a sudden changed! How can she do that!? What is happening to my sister!?
Sara: Yes, Natalie, I did.. and that is why I have to talk to your sister.
Ingun: Wh-why do you always talk about this de-demon stuff, Natalie?
Natalie: Because you suddenly change into this very different.. thing.. person.. and it scares me!
Ingun: ..I.. w-what...??
Sara: Ingun.. do you often get these moments where you can't seem to remember what happened?
Ingun: Umm... w-well, I don't know.. its, well sometimes I guess.. I can be at home, and then suddenly I am s-somewhere else and I d-don't know how I got there...
Sara: Where are you and what are you usually doing when these lapses in memory start?
Ingun: I am... I am usually at home m-most of the t-time. I don't know, w-watching tv or p-practicing chess or something.
Sara: Besides that, is there something else going on? Can you think of something that could be uh.. triggering these moments?
Ingun: I.. I don't know, the only one with me at home is usually m-m-mom..
Sara: How is the..? What kind of conversation do you typically have with your mom? Do you talk about anything special?
Ingun: Oh, just n-normal everyd-day conversations, you kn-know.. about ordinary st-st-stuff...
Natalie: That is [email protected]#%/, Ingun, and you know it!
Sara: Natalie! Please sit down and don't interr-
Natalie: Ingun, I don't want you to stay with mom anymore! I want you to stay with me... I have a spare bunk bed in Aaron and Billy's room.. you can use it temporarily until we get more money.. I want you to stay with me, Ingun... I want you to stay with me...
Sara wanted to say how much she liked what Natalie just said about inviting Ingun over, but now thought the best thing to do here was to pull back and let the sisters talk inbetween themselves...
Natalie: What do you say, Ingun? Will you come home with me to our place? Give it a chance and see if you like it...
Ingun: I don't.. I don't know..wh-what about m-mom?
Natalie: Seriously, Ingun! To hell with mom! She is the reason I am asking you! Please come with me, when we are done here.. I am so.. I am sorry for abandoning you when I.. when I did.. I should have.. asked you this.. much sooner.. please, come with me...
Sara: Well, I have to say... I agree with Natalie, here. I think you should consider, Ingun..
Ingun: O.. ok, I can go.. I can c-com home with you and... and we will see...
Sara: I think that's very good Ingun...., now.... our time for today is soon up, but I think I want to schedule another session with you alone Ingun.. Same time tomorrow, if that is fine by you.
Ingun: Oh.. oh, that is f-fine.. sure... I will t-try to come..
Natalie: I can follow you if you want, Ingun...
Sara: That is very kind of you, Natalie. I will see you again also, same time next week.
Natalie: Ok, I will see you again next week, Sara. Now Ingun... lets go home, sister.. lets go home..
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@Sprottenham ah ok so the Mom isn't a daemon (just acts evilly like one! ) I don't blame Natalie for her angry thoughts, what a horrible childhood!
Yes I really liked watching them in the videos, they are all so cute!
I'm glad to see Ingun accompanying Natalie to the Doc's.
Yes it's not abnormal for two completely different reactions to the same stimulus/trauma.
''developed into separate identities within her.'' Oh so the daemon identity might be a separate identity too?
I like the way you describe Esnebria. Oh dear she hates and blames Natalie for leaving her. 😬
That's nice for Natalie to have Ingun live with her! ... but I worry that Esnebria might show up!😲
Their hug is lovely!
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"Yes it's not abnormal for two completely different reactions to the same stimulus/trauma." <-- Ah, I would have thought so, but I really don't know.. it is a challenge to make a story about this, mostly because I am afraid to get something, and I am most likely am..
"I like the way you describe Esnebria." <-- Oh, thanks. Hmm, well, I don't think Esnebria showing up is really something to worry about.. she is not something bad, she is just very hurt... Esnebria loves Ingun too, as if it were her sister, because it is all part of Ingun, even if it.. umm, yeah..
Esnebria are the angry parts that Ingun herself are to afraid to express, or something I guess... so Esnebria speaks from a place of hurt, oh, ha, umm, this is actually really tough... oh me, oh my...
Oh yes, the hug is lovely, they have to hug.. the sisters do love each other, and they will have a close bond...
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Brandon Fiechter – Whispers in the Forest
And so the sisters, Ingun and Natalie, left the hospital and ..well, they didn't go home to Natalies house just yet. Natalie remembered the promise she had made to Elisa, and brought Ingun up there first, so that Elisa could cast her protective spell on Ingun. She didn't want to mention Elisa anymore in front of Sara, because she kind of knew what Sara would think of such a thing.
Or, well.. Natalie tried to bring Ingun up there. If she was hesitant to enter the hospital, she was even more hesitant to go into the forest...
Ingun: I.. I c-can't g-go in t-there.
Natalie: Ingun, trust me! There is nothing to worry about in the forest! I wouldn't bring you up there if it was!
Natalie wasn't entirely convinced of her own words, but she had no choice. She believed that she could protect Ingun from their mom, sure, but she didn't think she had much of a chance against the demons. Atleast not without the help of Elisa.
Ingun: I-I'm s-sorry, I j-just c-can't..
Natalie: Ok, fine... I'll call Elisa and ask if she can meet us down here instead...
Natalie: Hi, Elisa! It's me, Natalie. My sister.. She won't uh.. she won't follow me into the forest, so I was wondering.. I was wondering if you could umm.. meet us down by the road instead?
Elisa: Natalie, listen.. you have to bring your sister up here... I'm not performing protective spells in public...
Natalie: I.. I see, but I have really tried to, but she won't go.. can you please come.. come down here?
Elisa: (sigh).. ok, fine. But don't think I'll make a habit out of it!
Natalie: Thank you, thank you SO much, Elisa! I'll see you.. see you soon then?
Elisa: Yes, yes, I'll be right down..
Natalie: Thank you so, so much!!
So Elisa came down the long way from her cabin to meet up with Natalie and Ingun. For some reason, not using her broom..
Ingun: Oh no.. oh no... oh no...
Ingun sees Elisa coming, and hides behind Natalie...
Natalie: Ingun, its just Elisa. She is our friend, she is here to help us!
Elisa: Hello, Ingun.. I am happy to see you. Please, step forward..
Ingun: W-w-what are y-y-you gonna d-d-do?
Elisa: I am going to cast a protective spell on you. It's going to look scary, and you will feel very cold for a while, but I promise you with all of my heart and powers, it is not dangerous. Please, Ingun, step forward..
Ingun didn't step forward, but Natalie stepped away.
Ingun: N-N-N-Natalie! D-d-d-d-don't leave me! N-N-Natalie!
Elisa, seeing how scared Ingun was, knew she had to be quick.
Elisa: Projiciam a tutela hoc carmine vobis, Ingun Gothus
Ingun: N-N-Natalie!!
Elisa: Sanctorum invocabo Agatha, in Sicilia, Elisabeth Hungariae, venerationi habitus est Petri apostoli ordinavi Ambiani
Elisa: Scutum! Protegat! Hic puer pauper et angelus a malo! Per verbum Ephesiorum...
Elisa: Auxilium puer iste fortis sit in Domino, et in potentia virtutis eius!
Ingun: Aaahh!!!!
Elisa: Exorno eam accipite armaturam Dei, ut sumeret eam sibi poterit stare adversus insidias diaboli!
Ingun: Brrr!! T-t-this is s-s-s-so c-cold.. W-what did she d-d-do?
Elisa: I called upon the divine patron saints, Agatha of Goths, Elizabeth of Thuringia and Peter of the Apostles to protect you against the demons.
Ingun: W-w-what d-d-demons? I d-don't understand...
Elisa: To tell you the truth, I don't know yet...
Elisa: The spells I have cast, both on you and your sister, are only generic protective spells..
Elisa: ...but they should work for all types of demons...
Natalie: So... what you're saying is... there are more effective, and specific, spells to be used?
Elisa: Well, yes... if we know the demons name and true form, that is... but it is very unlikely that they will reveal it to us just like that...
Natalie:..but is there a chance that these spells might not work at all?
Elisa: Well, no... they will always have some effect.. but of course, some demon types are trickier than others.. and either way, the effect of the spells do wear off with time.. which reminds me..
Elisa: Its probably time that you get another round of protection, Natalie.
And so Elisa cast the exact same spell on Natalie, before saying that she had to hurry back to her cabin.. to much spell casting in public could work as an attractor for the very demons she wanted to keep away...
Elisa: I have to leave you now, but please, both of you, come up to my cabin once the rainy season reaches its midpoint.. and I will cast another protective spell on you...
Elsa: Natalie, I would suggest you bring your sister out for some walks through the forest.. only short ones to begin with.. so that she can learn to get used to it..
Elsa: Ingun, dear... the forest is a good hiding place for animals and creatures.. and magicians like me.. but is not in itself a dangerous place... I will be honest with you, Ingun.. it is not the forest that you need to fear..
Ingun: W-w-wha..
Elsa: Take care, sisters, and I will see you again before the end of this year...
And back to her cabin she went, and Natalie called for another taxi, and the sisters finally went home....
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Poor Ingun's so scared of Eliza.
Oh Lovely perfect timing getting the freakout pic of Ingun! I love it! I mean poor thing! ;p
Eliza is so amazing. I love how she casts the protective spells,( Plus it looks amazing how Natalie goes up in the air!)
Great update!
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Aha, Oahu, that is on Hawaii? Hmm, well, I do have a bigger map made out of what this world looks like, too, and this town called Lagash that they live in is located in a warmer climate close to the equator of the planet they live on! The Dreamworld Planet.
I have not posted the map because it looks incomplete, and aside from this town, it is largely unmapped.. and the rest of the world here isn't to relevant for this story either, but it is not an isolated town in the middle of nowhere, of course! :P
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Anthrax - Safe Home
At home Lenore was still there, now in a group conversation with Aaron and Isaac as the taxi arrived and Ingun and Natalie came back from the edge of the forest.
"Yeaahaw! I want to ride a horse!" Ingun said and imitated a horses neigh. Natalie didn't know what to say to that. As far as she could tell, her sister hadn't been particularly interested in horses. Atleast not anymore than any young girl going through their "horse phase" will do, so she took it for an exclamation of happiness, and surely Natalie was also very glad to have her sister home with her.
Once inside Inguns eyes were wide open and confused, as if she had just appeared somewhere and didn't know where she was, and poor Natalie had to check if the kids or someone else had left the stove on. Just to make sure it wouldn't catch fire.
Ingun knew where she was though, she just had one of her memory lapses on the way in from the taxi.
The sisters are very different, but they also have their similarities.. Ingun has to check the oven as well, even though Natalie just checked it...
And of course, both of them also work with cooking at The Zombie Restaurant, so it is not that strange that once Ingun begins to relax a little more they turn to discuss work and cooking recipes. Inguns life time wish is to be a master chef. That is her biggest joy in life, of which she hasn't had to many of.
Aaron is telling a story to Lenore about a pair of winged creatures that love each other very much. In good days and in bad days...
Natalie reassures Ingun that she will be safe here, and that there isn't anything to worry about. "I'll have your back, sister" she says.
Ingun feels reassured and continues to talk about cooking, it is indeed her main interest..
Billy is outside telling a ghost story to absolutely noone as a stray cat runs by..
Oy, kitty where are your heading?
Meow, meow, meow, says the kitty as it stops and stares at the door. Unfortunately I don't speak cat language, so I can't translate..
Aaron comes outside, but he walks right by the cat, because he wants to sleep in the treehouse.
The cat walks over to listen to what is left of Billys ghost story while wagging is tail at him. The cat then runs around a bit, but it doesn't want to leave the lot.
Then it walks over to investigate the treehouse where Aaron is sleeping. *purr* *purr* it says, and I still can't translate. :P It stands there for a while, before it finally runs off.
Billy, Lenore and Isaac have now gathered upstairs in Isaacs room. Billy tries to scare Lenore by telling of dreadful things from the forest, but Lenore is completely unphased.
Billy: Hi, lady... can you read me a bedtime story?
Natalie hasn't introduced them to each other, so he doesn't actually know her name..
"Oh, s-sure, I'll be more than happy to that" she says. "I am Ingun, your aunt and Natalies sister. Whats your n-name?" Billy tells her his name, and they go to Natalies bedroom.
Ingun is not so shy and timid anymore already, now that she is in a home where she can feel safe and good.
She still has a few struggles, though.
Lenore finishes her last bit of homework. Natalie is happy that she came over to visit, and tells her she is more than welcome any time she wants. It makes Natalie feel good that Aaron has made a friend from school. Ingun has a brief thought of wanting to see someones ghost... "I like you better dead..."
Eventually it gets late, and Lenore has to go home.
This is actually the first time I have seen Natalie use the tv set. She is not watching in its direction though. Her head is instead turned towards Isaac, waiting outside the bathroom to use the toilet, because Ingun is occupying it, alternating between talking to herself and feeling happy...
Isaac gave up the waiting, and went to bed.."Aunt Ingun is acting a little strange" he thinks "Why is everyone in my family so weird?"
"First time I'm using the tv, and then it breaks" Natalie laments, while she locks her elbow around Inguns arm.. The sisters like to be close.
Natalie shares her concerns to Ingun about things catching fire. "I am still afraid of these ghosts and demons" she says. "I don't want them to come back here and set things on fire again.."
Ingun still doesn't understand where this talk of ghosts and demons come from, but tries her best to comfort her sister, like she comforts her. "I am sure it will b-be alright" she says. "We d-did get that protection from that w-witch from the f-forest."
Natalie: Elisa. Her name is Elisa, and she is a magician.
As Aaron is sleeping outside in the treehouse, and Billy is downstairs in Natalies bed, Ingun gets the room with the bunk bed all to herself on her first night in the house. Sweet dreams!
Umm, well, seems like Aaron the night owl wasn't sleeping. He had awoken, fully rested to play in the treehouse instead...
And Bianka just finished practicing chess on her own, and is now looking pretty 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 off... Its way past bedtime and Ingun hasn't come back home yet...
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@Sprottenham love the update.
I really like neurotic sims, they are so fun!
''Meow, meow, meow, says the kitty as it stops and stares at the door. Unfortunately I don't speak cat language, so I can't translate..'' haha I wonder if they will keep the cute kitty. oh well maybe it will come back another day.
It's nice that Ingun is relaxed here at Natalie's and feels no longer shy or timid. And I like that the sisters feel close!
OH! I didn't realize that Bianka didn't know that Ingun had moved out!
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Tori Amos – Horses
I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
They say that your demons can't go there
So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still
And maybe I'll find me a sailor, a tailor
And maybe together we'll make mother well
So I got me some horses to ride on, to ride on
As long as your army keeps perfectly still
---
Ingun was having sweet dreams of baking the most delicious cakes and pastries...
Aaron enjoyed his solitude staying awake at night.
After Aaron was done eating, Billy got up to eat the leftover salmon that Natalie had made yesterday for breakfast.
"Morning Billy" Aaron said, as he walked out to play in the treehouse. Billy didn't respond, he was perhaps a little grumpy this morning. The sun was already up, and soon it would be time for the kids to get ready for school, and Ingun for her first session alone with Dr. Sara...
Rise and shine, Ingun..
Her sister, Natalie, woke up downstairs at more or less the same time. She had to remember to take her medication, as usual.
The first thought on Inguns mind was to buy a new and more expensive oven. She wasn't to happy about the one that Natalie owned. "I want one that is worth atleast 1000 simeoleons!" she thought.
Natalie called the repair man to fix the broken tv.
The kids were on their way to school.
Natalie gave Ingun a hug, and Ingun felt protected and watched after. "Time to go to the doctors office, sis" Natalie said.
Ingun: O..ok, I just hope we won't meet any c-criminals on the way...
Natalie: Relax, Ingun! Its broad daylight! You know criminals usually operate in the dark.. and even if one tried something, I would kick his 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸! Come now!
Ingun wasn't all that convinced. She had a little nervous breakdown, so Natalie had to call on her a few times before she would leave the bathroom.
"Come along now, Ingun! I'm watching over you!" Natalie called for her again as she entered the hallway at the hospital.
Saras makeshift office is just up that staircase. "You go up there now, Ingun. I'll be in the waiting room watching a movie or something until you are done. Sara is very good and friendly, there is nothing to worry about!" Natalie said reassuringly.
"Good morning, Ingun! Nice to see you! Please, have a seat!" Sara said as Ingun entered.
"I moved to a new house, yesterday", Ingun said, "but I never made it inside. Why does that happen?"
Sara: What..uhh.. what do you mean? Didn't you go home with Natalie?
Ingun: Natalie..? Who is Natalie?
Sara: Your sister, Natalie. You went home to your sisters house yesterday.
Ingun: I don't have a sister. I want to go home to ride my horse. Do you like horses lady?
Sara: Horses are very beatiful animals, but.. Ingun.. of course you have a sister. Don't you remember?
Ingun: ?? No... what sister? My name is Tommy. I like horses.
Sara: Oh, oh.. I see. My name is Sara, I work here as a psychologist.
Sara began to understand that Ingun might actually be dissociating. She had read about this as a student, and heard of patients diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder, but never actually met one before. She knew that this condition was typically caused by childhood abuse as a way for an individual to distance and detatch themselves from trauma. A person with this disorder would have two or more seperate identities, known as alters, with each their own personality traits, unique history, likes and dislikes.
Sara also knew that there was no real cure for the disorder. The best thing she could do for Ingun, was to make the identities aware of each other, teach her/them about the condition and how best to deal with it, as well as offer psychotherapy to help Ingun and/or her alters to deal with her past trauma.
Tommy: I'm only ten years old. I have no job. Are you a doctor?
Sara: Yes, Tommy, I am a doctor. I help people get better. Do you have any friends, Tommy?
Tommy: I have no friends. I only have mommy and my horse. We live together in a big house on a big field. Mommy is very good to me.
Sara: Oh, thats good to hear Tommy. Does mommy have a name?
Tommy: Yes, her name is Ingun. She likes to make food. She makes the best cakes!
Tommy: My mommy is a doctor, just like you, and she has said that if her boss gives her a raise, we will buy a new horse!
Sara: That sounds very nice, Tommy. Do you have a father?
Tommy: No, father has ran away! He doesn't like mommy and he doesn't like horses!
Sara: Oh, I am sorry to hear that, Tommy.
Ingun: S-sorry to hear w-what? I... ap-pologize... I m-must have blacked out for a s-second..
Sara: That's ok.. so, you don't remember anything of what we just talked about?
Ingun: I d-don't know.. I remember c-coming here, w-walking up the stairs and s-sitting down.. t-that's what I remember...
Ingun: D-do you know w-why that happens?
Sara: Well, umm.. it looks like you have a condition called dissociative identity disorder.
Sara explained everything about the disorder to Ingun, and what she could or couldn't do about it. She also recommended for Ingun to start keeping a journal as a way to communicate between her alters to make them more aware of each other, and as a way for Ingun and Sara to uncover how many there were of them.
Ingun was relieved to finally get an explanation, but also sad to have such an untreatable diagnosis.
"So.. I h-have to.... live with t-this for the rest of my l-life?" Ingun said with a sorrow in her voice.
Sara: Well, the bad news is that... yes, you do, but the good news is that it is possible to greatly reduce the impact it has on your life.
Sara: I will teach you several coping mechanisms, and together we will uncover the triggers that causes these switches between your alters, so that you can recognize when it happens and get a lot more control.
Sara: It is also very important that you have support from your loved ones, and already you moving in with your sister is a HUGE step forward! I think it is so not only for you, but also for Natalie. I think that both you and your sister need each other.
Ingun was listening intently. Sara told her about Tommy, and went on to explain in further detail what plan and strategy they should use, before the time was up and she had to dismiss Ingun for the day. Ingun would continue to see Sara daily for the next couple of months as step one of the plan, before it would be reduced to every other day and eventually only weekly. Atleast that was the plan so far.
Ingun felt better after the session was over, but became a little uneasy when she came downstairs and didn't see Natalie anywhere.
Well, Natalie hadn't gone to far, she just had to use the toilet.
Natalie: I am so proud of you from sitting through your first session alone! Tell me, what did Sara say?
Ingun explained everything Sara had told her, about the dissociation and the alters, and about Tommy, the 10 year old boy that loved horses.
Natalie: Ahh.. that explains why you shouted yeehaw and imitated a horse right after we came home yesterday!
Ingun: Wow, I r-really did that? T-that's kind of funny, in a w-way.
Natalie: Maybe we should buy a horse next!
Ingun: I w-would much rather have a new c-cooking oven!
Natalie: Hahaha, yeah, why not!? I think we can stop by and get one on the way home!
And so they did..
All of a sudden money didn't appear to be any problem for Natalie. She hadn't bought anything expensive in a good while, so she had built up a little bit of a cash reserve, so getting a new oven was no problem.. Natalie now only wanted the best for her sister, she wanted to give her everything she wanted, everything she could give her...
It was a new disorder for me to discover, I hadn't really heard about it before. I don't remember now excactly how I came across this, but I did do a lot of searching to understand mental illness and the effects of trauma on a person, so that's probably how I found it. I also found a youtube video of an interview with a woman with this disorder where she switches to at least one alter, and yeah.. learning about this and watching that video kind of blew my mind... not only is it extremely tragic, but also the lengths or own brains can go to, to preserve ourselves.. it left me with a feeling of... speechlessness.. jawdropping..
If it is of interest I may try to dig up the video again, but I think it was 20+ minutes long, or something..
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
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I love the picture of Aaron on his bike, the town is so pretty!
''Sara: What..uhh.. what do you mean? Didn't you go home with Natalie?'' ''Ingun: Natalie..? Who is Natalie?'' uh oh!
''Ingun: ?? No... what sister? My name is Tommy. I like horses.'' oh boy.... I used to read books about this in my 20's, 3 faces of Eve and Sybil. it's very interesting, the multipl personalities.
It's so great that Natalie is so accepting and supportive of Ingun, and Yay a new oven!
Great update!
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Oooh, thanks a lot about the comment on the town. Isaac is biking through the more downtown-y area. I don't remember excactly what the building to the left was - but I think it was a night club/disco or something. Which probably means they should have gone out more... if only they didn't have so many other troubles! :S
I have never heard of 3 faces of Eve and Sybil, but I'm gonna have to search for it now. :P But of course, I have always heard about "Multiple Personality Disorder", but never gone to indepth about it to figure it out, or known what was the cause (I always assumed it was genetical and extremely rare, possibly non-existant, because in my life realistically I have never heard of anyone with such a condition!)
*edit: Whoaa, I just read the beginning of the plot summary on Eve and Sybil from the wikipedia page..
Having blackouts there is just like I wrote it too, ah, this made me feel better about my own writing, when it has already been written like that by someone else! :P So I did get something right! :P Thanks for giving me this little confidence boost. ^_^
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I of course was crazy about it, because Rock 'n Roll! Wooohooo! 🎇🎈🎈🎈🎈🎈😄 The songs were great!
I think they made a movie of 3 faces of Eve.
Yes! you totally are spot on, in your descriptions in your great story!!! Keep going! I'm definitely your avid fan reader!
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Hmm, well, I might check out the musical tomorrow when I have time, ah, and though I don't much about musicals, I guess this project is a little bit inspired by music (or musicals) and similar theatrics, atleast some idea is behind there, since I have tried to find a song for every update!
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Hildur Guðnadóttir - Rennur Uppp
Aaron still hasn't made best friends with Lenore, like he wants to do, so he invites her over for a visit once more.
Billy was at the dining table doing his homework when a loud pounding noise was heard from the door behind him.
"Open the door!" an angry voice shouted. The pounding was heard again. "Open the 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 door! I know you're in there!"
"Who is that, mommy?" Isaac asked. Natalie recognized the shouting voice. She was here. Of course she was here. "Don't open the door, Isaac!" Natalie said. "Don't open the door!"
Aaron had just been hushed out of the bathroom by Ingun, because she needed to use the toilet. He had heard the pounding, too, and could tell that Natalie was upset about something. "Whats going on mom?" he asked.
Natalie: Stay away from the door! Don't open it!
Another round of pounding was heard. "Open the door, or I'll kick it in!" the voice from the outside shouted.
Natalie: She's here! Kids, go upstairs!
Isaac: Why mom? Whos there? What's happening!?
Aaron: But Lenore is co..
Natalie: Go upstairs! NOW!
A kick was heard, and the front door slammed open just as Billy was making it up the stairs. "I know you're in there!" the voice shouted.
Bianka ran through the door straight up to Natalie. "Where is Ingun? Where are you keeping her!?" she yelled
Natalie: Ingun is not here! Get out of my house!
Bianka: I'm not leaving without my daughter! Where is she!?
Natalie: She's not here! GET OUT!
Ingun heard them shouting at each other and thought it was best to not leave the bathroom for a while..
Bianka: Don't lie to me! I know she's in here!
While this was going on, poor Lenore had arrived and stood outside listening to the shouting and arguing from inside. She didn't know what the fighting was all about, and where was Aaron?
Bianka: She's upstairs, isn't she?
Bianka turned around to go up the stairs.
Natalie: No, she is not! Don't you dare go up there!!
Natalie couldn't have that monster go upstairs to her children.. Now it was all or nothing!
But Bianka fought back hard this time...
Natalie: Oww...
Bianka: Where is Ingun?
Natalie: She is not here.. get out of my house...
Bianka: I'm not leaving without Ingun! She belongs to me!
Ragnar: Hey! What's going on in here?
Ragnar, Isaac and Aarons father (and also their neighbour) had just returned home from going to the movies with Ina, when he saw the front door open and heard the commotion from inside.
Bianka: Thats none of your business! This is a family affair!
Ragnar: I don't think Natalie wants you around here.
Bianka: Who are you to say, you 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 no-show!
Ragnar: Now you watch it! I suggest you take it easy and go home..
Bianka: I'm not leaving without my daughter, Ingun. I know she's in here!
Natalie: Ingun is not here, and even if she was, she wouldn't be coming with you! Get out of my house, or I'm calling the police!
Bianka: The police? Hah! What are they going to do! I am your mother!
Natalie: You. Are. Not. My. Mother. Now, get the 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸 out of my house!
Bianka: I'm not leaving!
Natalie: You are SO leaving!
Bianka: I'm not done here, Natalie! I'll be coming back for Ingun, and I won't give up!
Natalie: Just get out...
Natalie made sure to follow Bianka to the door, ready to give her a hard push at any moment if she stopped or turned around... Lenore was no longer outside. She had ran home once things got physical inside. She didn't tell her father what she had seen and heard at Natalies house until after a couple of days.
Ragnar: Whew! That was.. intense! Natalie... what the devil is going on here!?
Natalie explained everything to Ragnar, about the how she picked up Ingun from her moms house, and the visits to the doctors office. What she didn't explain, was everything related to Elisa, the demons and the spellcasting. Ingun heard that her mom had left, and hesitantly made it out of the bathroom. Natalie went up to the kids, and told them it was safe now and that they could come downstairs.
Isaac: I didn't know grandma was so mean
Aaron: I hope she never comes back here!
Natalie: Neither do I, Aaron.
Billy: We should put her in jail!
Natalie: Yeah, maybe we should...
Natalie went downstairs again, to where Ragnar was standing.
Ragnar: Its getting late, and I think its time for me to go home. Ina was quite worried when she heard you fighting inside...
Ragnar: ....but Natalie, if you get in trouble with your mom again, please don't hesitate to give me a call.. and tell the kids that they can come over to our place anytime they want! Me and Ina would love to have some kids around the house!
Natalie: Oh, yeah.. sure, thanks Ragnar. I will tell them...
Ragnar: Good to hear. Good night, Natalie..
Natalie: G-good night...
Ingun was still in the bathroom looking nervously out the window. She had seen her mom leave just that way, but wasn't sure yet if she would suddenly double back.
As Ragnar walked out the door, Natalie went into the bathroom and gave her sister a good, solid hug.
Natalie: Its alright now, sister. She's gone now. She's gone now..
Now that things had returned to normal, Aaron walked outside to sleep in the treehouse again. Its not that he didn't like his bedroom, but he liked the treehouse more where he could be alone. Especially now that he had to share a bedroom with both Billy and Ingun.
Billy on the other hand, enjoyed his newfound auntie Inguns company, so he went into the bathroom to ask her once more to read him a bedtime story.
Isaac was upstairs being a strong and powerful dinosaur. Raawr, rawwr. No bad and evil grandmother should ever be able to lay her hands on him or his mother. He would sink his claws into her if she tried, that was for sure.
Ingun read the bedtime story to Billy, and everything seemed peaceful...
Natalie wasn't feeling so good right now, though, as the adrenaline was about to leave her body. What if her mother came back? What if she didn't only take Ingun, but took her kids as well? Natalie was very distressed.
She hoped that her sister would toughen up, and that together they could defeat their mom once and for all, so that she would never come back! Heck, Natalie didn't even care if her mom would wind up dead for all the pain she had caused....
The kids seemed to warm up pretty good to Ingun, and they really enjoyed her reading for them. Isaac also wanted a bedtime story, and Ingun was more than happy to read for him as well.
Natalie didn't feel to bad about the kids occupying her bed, as she could use the rocking chair to rest and calm her nerves for the night.
With Billy in Natalies bed, and Aaron in the treehouse, Ingun got the room with the bunk bed upstairs all to herself for this night.
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Trip Around The Sun – Jimmy Buffet/Martina McBride
Yep, today is the last day of the dry season in the year of 1993 and Isaacs 13th birthday. Isaac's last transitional marking fell on the end of the wet season. In other words, the seasons have reversed pretty much completely during the course of the last 8 years.
To find the reason for this, it is necessary to zoom out and have a look at the planet they live on, Somnetia (more commonly known by its less scientific name, "The Dreamworld Planet"). Somnetia is to us an "earth sized planet", and the second planet away from their Sun on the outskirts of the Adsimulaticius galaxy. And like earth, it has an axial tilt of 23,5 degrees which is the cause of their seasons.*
* Earths axial tilt is 23,4 degrees, so its not excactly the same, but similar enough to not notice any difference.
However, it differs from earth in that it every 400 years or so, the planets axial tilt over the course of 8 years gradually slants the other way, hence the reversal of the seasons. Once this shift is complete, the seasons will not change until it happens again in about 400 years time.
The young Isaac had done really well in school, in spite of a rather troublesome start, and would graduate from elementary school (6 – 12 yrs.) with the best grade possible. This should give him a solid foundation to also do well as he begins junior high school with the other young teenagers (13-15 yrs.). Isaac has already inherited the eccentric and heavy sleeper traits from his father, and a strong dislike for anything outdoors from his mother.
Good morning and happy birthday, Isaac!
Life is good when you can have an excellently cooked grilled salmon for breakfast, thanks to there being two chefs in the house now.. if only they knew how to clean! A dishwasher for the household might be an idea.. but they need to wish for one first. Those are the game rules...
Off to school he goes. This is Isaacs day, so focus will be on him.
Outside the school yard Isaac spots his good friend, Samira Mørch-Engebakken. She has blue wings, because she is an angel-werewolf hybrid. With Isaac it is a little more complex. He, as well as his brothers Aaron and half-brother Billy, are angel-human-magician hybrids. Hmm....
Isaac is happy to go to school in such a wonderful school building.
At home Natalie thinks the place is filthy, and decides to do some cleaning. They're going to have guests over for the birthday party, so it should look clean and presentable.
Oh, I had forgotten all about it being excursion day for the kids, because of all the tumultous happenings of yesterday.. Looks like the kids are in good hands, with Teresa Mater as their teacher. Isaac is also in the bus, though he is not visible anywhere...
And I see now why Teresa was with them. They are going to the old mauselom in the Monastery Gardens. The Monastery Gardens lies between the Monastery to the north and the Nunnery to the south. The mausoleum in the garden is only for nuns and munks.
The Monastery Gardens is also home to the towns Vault of Antiquity, with lots of ancient knowledge available to the towns population.
To my surprise, Isaac leaves the excursion much earlier than the other kids. Billy and Aaron are still there. "Teresa Mater is so nice. She let me home early because its my birthday!" he says. Oh that Teresa, she is truely a saint...
Poor Ingun is still nervously looking out the window to see if Bianka is anywhere nearby. Yeah, she better not come and wreck Isaacs birthday party, that old hag..
Isaac is listening to the music box, so that he doesn't notice the ice cream truck that just parked outside..
Ragnar is in the car behind the ice cream truck, honking for it to get out of the way...
Ingun is helping Natalie clean around the house, and is doing laundry.
Aaron and Lenore had ventured away from the Teresa and the other kids in their own game of hide and seek, and had lots of fun inside the mausoleum. This finally fulfilled Aarons wish of becoming best friends with Lenore, and Aaron immediately gets a new wish to hang out with her. Is something in the air, besides the smell of old bones and mummified corpses? :P
Meanwhile at the Twilight Tavern on the opposite end of town..
"I just want to dance" Friederich, Natalies grandfather, says to the bartender. The other two people there, that you can see in the mirror, is Ecaterina Dascalu-Vasquez, a vampire, and Avigail Pammy-Vasquez.
Avigail is Isaac and Aarons grandmother, and Ragnars father. You can tell she is related, because there is no other family where those facial features are prevalent. Atleast not that I know of...
Billy and Aaron just came home from the excursion. "Wow, how clean this place is for a change!" Aaron thinks.
Isaac immediately thinks its time to arrange his birthday party. Isaac invites over all the kids he knows from school, as well as his father Ragnar and his girlfriend Ina.
A couple of human boys, Leon Sundal and Roar Tvedt are the first to arrive.
Isaac is happy about the cake. "Did you bake it, auntie?" he asks. "I wish, but n-n-no, this is one is from the c-c-cake and sweets store" Ingun answers.
Isabella Pammy-Vasquez, Icaacs cousin, is the third guest to arrive on the lot, but manages to get in the door before the two human boys, because, well, she can fly. Isabella has aged up to a teenager since last time we saw her. Isabella has yellow wings, because she is an angel-magician hybrid.
Ina is seen exiting her and Ragnars home in the background.
Lenore (in the light blue jacket) also arrived, this should make Aaron happy. Ingun finds it appropriate to laugh at Isabella for some reason.
It doesn't take long after Lenores arrival before Aaron starts getting some interesting thoughts. Really, Aaron? Really?
Oh, more people arrived that weren't invited. As far as I know, they are not friends of the family, so I don't know what they are doing there... Ok, the one to the right, Annlaug Bjerknes, is a paparazzi.. who is the celebrity here!? Actually none of them is a celebrity, so why the paparazzi is there, I don't know...
Isabella is impatient and left the party, calling it boring before it had even started..
Ina wants to prepare Isaac for his teenage years by telling him about love and girls. "Good girls are like unicorns" she says. "A rare find that can show up when you least expect it!"
Ingun gets nervous from all of the people gathering. "Why couldn't Isaac just have a small celebration with only us in the household? I would like that so much better..." she thinks.
But Ingun is the first one to celebrate when Isaac is about to blow out the candles!
Isaac: Ow ow, my arms and legs are stretching out! :O
That looks like it could hurt...
Isaac inherited the inappropriate trait from his mom, and Ragnar does his best to make sure his son won't be able to hear properly on his right ear for a while.
Isaac: Oh, thanks a lot, dad...
Ina is really amused at Brit being the Queen of the Chessboard.
Isaac is not though, he thinks its stupid. "Playing queen at my birthday party! I am the king here!" he says.
The kids, as well as Ragnar and Ina, go outside to play and hang out by the seesaw. Aaron sits inside doing his homework.
And the birthday kid actually decides to go to bed early. Alright, good night then, Isaac!
"Bye Natalie and Aaron! It was a cool party, but I think I should be home now" Ina says.
I look outside again, and figure out that Lenore must have a brother. The kid to the rights name is Thorleif and he has the same last name as Lenore, Johansen-Knutsen.
Thorleif leaves the party shortly thereafter, saying he had a good time, while Samira and Lenore decide to do their homework out on the lawn. "Isaac has a nice home" Samira says.
Aaron goes outside to play with the seesaw. His father Ragnar is still there. Samira continues to talk nicely about their home. Going outside also fulfills Aarons wish to hang out with Lenore.
Aaron talks about how he wants to take a course in painting, an unfulfilled wish he has had for a very long time now, but he hasn't gotten around to ask his mom about it. Ragnar hears what he says, and promises to his son that he will pay for it, so that Aaron can finally get his course and learn painting!
I am then notifies me that Thorleif just aged up as well. So he is not just Lenores brother, he is her older brother. This is Thorleif outside his and Lenores home.
Unexpectedly Ingun goes outside to join Aaron on the seesaw, but then he goes off it, because he wants to play in the treehouse.. Ingun is afraid of the dark, and thinks the outside area could use a little more light to it. It is just barely that one her of alters now breaks through, but she has learned some techniques already by Sara to keep them from coming out. She wants to stay as Ingun as long as they have visitors.
Ingun thinks its better to go back inside again to eat some more cake. Natalie has already gone to bed.
Billy walked outside and wanted to ask Ragnar to read him a bedtime story, but was to late because now Ragnar decides to leave and go home.
"Oh, drats" he thinks, "better go inside and finish my homework then. Ingun will probably read for me later".
Lenore must have snuck off the lot without any notification, because now only Samira and Aaron are left outside (Aaron is inside the treehouse).
Well, Billy doesn't even have to ask Ingun to read for him. "I want to read you a b-b-bedtime story after you have f-f-finished your homework, B-B-Billy" she says. Ingun has learned that she loves to read for the kids. She has never had any of her own, obviously, her mom wouldn't allow it. Ingun, being a supernatural, still has a lot of life left to live, so it is by no means to late for her.
I think Samira just finished her homework, and says its time for her to go home as well, her werewolf eyes glowing in the dark. And just now I get the notification that Lenore is going home, but she has already been home a while... She is already on her way to go to bed. She just has to do what all the other kids are doing, check under her bed for monsters.
Poor Lenore has monsters under her bed...and neither her father or brother is at home to comfort her. Lenores father is a single dad, living alone with his kids.
Ingun turns on the music box for some soothing music. A tiny moment where she can dream away and forget about being nervous and anxious for a while.
Once Billy has finished his homework, Ingun reads for him as she promised. Natalie can hear her sisters voice in her sleep, and it makes her dream about cooking and food. :P
Ingun kisses Billy good night, and Natalies pleasant cooking dream is interrupted by dreaming of someone whom she thinks should be arrested and locked up...
Ingun is really happy to stay at her sisters house and to read for her children.
She just has to make sure the sink is not leaking before going to bed...
Nighty night Ingun. I hope you sleep well.. tomorrow, if Natalie remembers what Elisa told her, she might take you for a little walk in the woods...
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@Sprottenham Yes I do like it because it is weird! I was first intrigued at the start with the talking teddy! Now it has gotten more 'real' but I still like it so much especially Eliza and the weirdo firey deamons! it's all just such a good read!
oh No as soon as I write that there is a pounding at the door and Natalie says not to open the door!
Oh it's the most horrible deamon of all! Bianka! Demanding her daughter!
How terrifying for poor Ingun to hear this!
''Bianka: I'm not leaving without Ingun! She belongs to me!'' oh woah there! what a sick thing to say!
yay good to have Ragnar also come in!
Poor little kids so terrified of grandma!
I especially like this ''Ragnar: ....but Natalie, if you get in trouble with your mom again, please don't hesitate to give me a call.. and tell the kids that they can come over to our place anytime they want! Me and Ina would love to have some kids around the house!''
Poor Natalie! maybe she needs to get a restraining order against her Mom! It is so not ok for her and her kids to live in fear of Granny, who kicks their door open and comes in yelling and acting so awful and threatening!
~~~
Wow! ''In other words, the seasons have reversed pretty much completely during the course of the last 8 years.'' Somnetia is a very interesting world!
Yay birthday boy Isaac!
And a field trip day with Mother Teresa!
The Monastery Gardens is beautiful! I like how you combined it with the Vault of antiquity and placed it between the Monastery and the Nunnery! It looks great like that!
Yay good that Aaron and Lenore finally made besties! ''Is something in the air, besides the smell of old bones and mummified corpses?'' Cute!
Oh hahaha Thank you Aaron for having wedding ring thoughts as a kid! Now my town isn't so weird! give that boy a gift!😁
''Ina wants to prepare Isaac for his teenage years by telling him about love and girls. "Good girls are like unicorns" she says. "A rare find that can show up when you least expect it!"'' hahaha I love that!
I Love seeing the birthday party and Isaac so happy and strrrretching to grow up! amazingly good! ah he looks great I love his face!
''Ragnar does his best to make sure his son won't be able to hear properly on his right ear for a while.''HAHAHA
too funny that he doesn't want a queen at his birthday party!
is Thorleif really a name or did the game make it up?
I love the pic of the treehouse casting light below to the ground!
It is so nice that Ingun loves to read to Natalie's kids!
I really enjoyed these updates! Looking forward to the next, when you feel better! Take care!
.
Oh yes, I think that Bianka would fit the description of a psychopath pretty well for behaving and saying the things that she does! Barging into someone elses house, claiming that another person is your property!
My views on Mr. Putin were not so bad until the past weeks, and I used to think he was actually a pretty smart man, not necessarily good, but not one to do rash and sudden things, you know, the cold and calculating type.. but this, no.. this to me makes him look like a mad man... my views on the (insert foul word) has really plummeted in the last few days.. However, I don't want a political/current events discussion here, I just came to think of it, and wanted to express this right now...
Anyway.. oh yes, a restraining order for Bianka sounds like a good idea! I actually haven't thought about that (I think..), but if she shows up again, I don't know, but I will see what happens..
Thanks about the garden! The nuns and the monks really know how to take care of their garden.
Oh, Thorleif is a real name. I actually never thought about it before, that it is a combination of the names Thor and Leif, but I do know that there are people with that name, so it is not something made up. :P I didn't name him, though, but I mostly try to use real names for my characters. :P
Thanks again, I will try to post the next update during the weekend.
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria
The Tallest Man on Earth – Revelation Blues
.........................
Isaac woke up first the next morning, and from the looks of it, he will grow into a responsible person, helping mommy with the laundry, and other chores around the house.
"Woof!" A bark was heard outside, as a stray dog stops by outside and falls asleep by their front door.
The stray dog is gone however, by the time Aaron wakes up from sleeping in the treehouse to go inside to have breakfast. Shame, I was hoping that he would notice it and get a wish to adopt it.
Ingun is still sleeping heavily when Billy enters the room to play with the dollhouse. This immediately gives her the shy moodlet.
Natalie wakes up to take her morning medicine and have breakfast as Billy and Aaron rush out the door to go to school. Isaac has already gone, leaving an unfinished breakfast meal on the kitchen counter.
"Morning, sis" Natalie says as Ingun comes downstairs to use the bathroom. She follows her with her eyes with that sweet look on her face as she walks past. Natalie is capable of love somewhere inside, and she really feels a deep love and concern for her sister.
Natalie: I hope you are ready for a little walk into the woods today, Ingun..
Ingun: Is that really n-n-necessary? Why c-c-can't just Elisa come down t-to us?
Natalie: That's actually a good point, Ingun... though I doubt she will come down here. She prefers to keep her magic secret, I think thats why she moved into the forest in the first place.
A thunderous bang breaks through the monotonous sound of raindrops falling on the roof.
Ingun: Besides, it is storming p-pretty bad outside.. n-not the best weather for a s-stroll through the forest...
Ingun goes to the refridgerator to eat some leftovers from yesterday.
"We can always use rain coats.. and we will only take a short trip.." Natalie says while she walks over to check the sink for any leaks.
Ingun: I d-d-don't know.. w-what about the t-thunder? Standing under a lot of t-trees p-probably isn't the smartest thing...
Natalie: Don't be silly Ingun.. I'll take a shower while you finish your breakfast and then we will go..
"I really don't want to go into that forest. Especially not in this weather. What should I do now? Maybe if the weather clears up.. I hope it clears up.."
"I'm gonna need the rocking chair for a while..."
Natalie: Come along now, Ingun.. we won't go to far, just to the same spot we were with Elisa just the other day..
Ingun: Oh,. I d-don't know..
Natalie: Ingun... come now! I'm trying to help you...
Ingun: Alright t-then.. but we are g-going home soon after..
Natalie: Yeah, yeah, sure...
But just as they head out for the taxi, Elisa comes running over, seemingly distressed about something..
Natalie: Hi, Elisa, what a surprise! What brought you here? We were just going for a small trip to the forest..
When Ingun spots Elisa, she immediately turns on the doorstep..
Ingun: Elisa is here, I'm g-g-going back inside..
Elisa: Natalie, I have some bad news... I think the forest isn't safe for me anymore..
Natalie: What, Elisa? What are you talking about..?
Elisa: The demons, Natalie... they came to my cabin last night and.. I couldn't see them, but I could smell their presence... like a burning sensation....
Elisa: Now, thanks to the protective spells, they can't get to you or Ingun... so they're going for me instead.. unfortunately, I can't cast a protective spell on myself, it doesn't work that way...
Natalie: So, but... how can we..? Is there anything we can do?
Elisa: Well, there's always strength in numbers.. and I could teach you to practice magic, so that..
Natalie:.. you want us to cast the spell on you?
Elisa: Something like that.. may I come in? Please....
Elisa almost begged Natalie to come in, an unusual behavior for her...
Natalie: Oh, of course.. my home is yours... please come inside...
Natalie: We have a spare bunk bed upstairs you can sleep in..
Elisa: That is much appreciated, thank you very much, Natalie!
The demons must have really scared the usually reclusive Elisa to willingly come down to town... Surely it would take a little more than just a burning smell to scare a magician of her calibre, right? I should think so...
Elisa: Now, we have no time to waste.. I should start to teach you Magic as soon as possible..
Elisa: First thing we need to do is to go shopping at the Elixir store...
Natalie: Oh.. uhm, well me and Ingun have to go to work soon... can we .. can we wait until tomorrow?
Elisa: Well, if you must.. but then we go... first thing in the morning! And I will get you the necessary books to read and ingredients to use!
Natalie: Ok, we'll do that, I promise...
Natalie had to hurry, Ingun had already left, and she was getting late. Isaac made it home from school just as she was about to leave.
Isaac: Who is that, mom?
Natalie: Its.. its Elisa, a good friend of mine. She is going to stay with us..
Isaac: Why, mom? What is this?
Natalie: I'll.. I'll explain later. I have to go now, I'm already late for work...
Elisa: Nice to finally meet you, Isaac. Like your mother said, my name is Elisa, and I'll be staying with you for a while...
Isaac: How.. how do you know my name?
Elisa: I am your great grandmother, Isaac.
Isaac:... what? Why hasn't mom told anything about this?? I have a great grandmother??
Elisa: Thats a long story... My home, my real home is the old cabin in the Forest of Illusion..
Isaac: So you're that old witch that burn people just by looking at them?
Elisa: No, Isaac.. you shouldn't believe all the rumours that people tell you...
Isaac found this all a little weird, but was happy to discover that he had a great grandmother. Aaron and Billy came home, and noticed this old lady they had never seen before standing there..
Aaron: Hello, lady, who are you? Are you an actor?
Aaron hoped that she would be an actor working at the theatre, but Elisa told the excact same thing to Aaron, as she did to Isaac. Now that she was going to stay with them, she might as well just tell it like it is. That she is their great grandmother, but that was also everything she would admit to.
----
She did live in town once, together with her then boyfriend Dominique Vasquez, and they even had two children together. But their relationship broke when she learned that he was having a side affair, and Elisa fell into a deep depression.
Picture: Dominique holding Elisas oldest child, Idun. Dominique then is Isaac and Aarons great grandfather, and Idun is their grandmother...
For months, she locked herself up in her home and did nothing but play the blues, before finally moving away from town and into the cabin in the forest... hence she has a very high skill in guitar playing...
Back to present day..
Now that Isaac was a teenager, it was sometimes his turn to read bedtime stories for his younger brothers.
Elisa quickly found herself at home in Natalies house, but now she had another concern. The kids. In particular Isaac and Billy. She was sure that they would need a protective spell cast on them too. She knew that, in fact, but she didn't want to tell them why or what it was for.. she thought it would be best to not tell them everything yet... She wanted to talk to Isaac first, as he was the oldest..
As Elisa went over to talk to Isaac, Natalie and Ingun had just finished their shift at the Zombie Restaurant. Inguns work perfomance had become a lot better now that she had escaped the claws of her mom and began in therapy with Dr. Sara, which had earned her a promotion to Line Chef and a bonus of 624 simoleons.
Elisa: Isaac, as I am your great grandmother.. you are also part magician, and I want to show you how to use it..
Isaac: Oh, oh, that sounds really cool grandma. What can I use it for?
Isaac was hoping she would answer good looks, money or being popular with the girls. Yes, Isaac was getting into that age... but Elisa had other things on her mind..
Elisa: Go over to stand by the kitchen bench, and I will run a demonstration...
"Okay... what are you gonna do?" Isaac said with a mixture of hopefulness and expectation as he walked to the kitchen bench.
"Just stand still" Elisa said and began to recite the same spell she had cast on Ingun and Natalie earlier. Isaac didn't understand a word and had no idea what she was doing, but he was really amazed at what he was seeing. He had never seen anyone perform magic before.
Then he became frightened when he realized that he was the target for whatever witchcraft she was using. "G-g-grandma, what are you doing!?" he stuttered. Elisa couldn't stop to explain once she had started, she had to keep going.
Ingun recognized the words Elisa was using, and it made her freak out.
Isaac: Mom! Mom!! What is she doing!??
Isaac: Brrr! Why do I feel so c-cold? What did you do to me?
Elisa was really happy that the spell appeared to be working.
Elisa: I cast a good luck spell on you, Isaac. The feeling of cold is only temporary.
Isaac: So..but.. now I will be permanently lucky?
Elisa: No, not permanently, it will wear off with time, and I will have to cast another one..
Isaac: Ok, and you are going to teach me this.. so that I can cast it on myself?
Elisa: I can teach you how, but you can't cast spells on yourself...
Isaac: Why not?
Elisa: Because they will invert and have the opposite effect. It would be a curse instead.
Isaac: But what if I cursed myself then? Would that work?
Elisa: Haha, no, Isaac... that wouldn't work either. Unless you actually wanted to curse yourself, that is.
Isaac: I don't get it...
Elisa: You will with time, Isaac. You will with time...
So what was it that really happened to make Elisa run away....
It was a rainy morning, and Elisa was in her cabin peacefully cooking breakfast. Alfred was sitting on the couch reading a book.
Neither of them noticed it at first, because it slithered so silently. It managed to squeeze itself through a small crack inbetween the foundation and the wood paneling on the outside.
Once inside, it slowly wiggled across the floor and up right behind Elisa was standing. It was getting ready to launch a bite as she turned around to walk over to put the pot on the oven.
Elisa wasn't an easily frightened woman, she had seen snakes many times before, but she knew that bites from some of them could be poisonous, if not downright deadly.
"Congelo!" she shouted to stun the snake for a moment just long enough so that she could put the pot down and move away from the snake.
Alfred heard her shout and got up from the couch. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Its a snake.." Elisa answered "Its a shield tale snake...".
"A shield tale? I didn't know you had any of those."
"I don't." Elisa said. "Its an intruder." The shield tale snake came back to life and prepared itself to jab Elisa once more.
"Rutrum ut interficiat angues caput!” Elisa shouted at the snake. The snake was stunned for a while, but quickly resumed its position to bite.
“This isn't an ordinary snake” Elisa said as she jumped away. The snake hit the the wall with a solid jab. The painted coating appeared to vaporize with a hissing sound outwards from where the snakes teeth had penetrated wall.
Alfred ran over to Elisa. “I'll get it” he said.
“No, Alfred! This snake will kill you!”
But it was in Alfreds nature, he had been her loyal butler for the past 40 years. He wasn't going to sit there and watch her get bitten by any snake. Alfred had handled snakes many times before, but this one was different. As he grabbed a hold of its tail, it immediately turned its body and bit him in the hand, forcing him to let go. It then launched itself up in the air right in front of him.
“Trulla ut interficias serpentes!” Elisa shouted, but it had no effect. The snake bit Alfred straight in the face and he immediately caught on fire.
“Coniuro te, Abzu, ut hunc ignem exstingue!” she shouted, but again it had no effect. Alfreds screams were heard until nothing was left of him but a pile of ashes on the floor. Then the snake went for Elisa. This certainly wasn't an ordinary shield tale snake... Probably not even a snake at all..
“Sanctorum invocabo Agatha, in Sicilia, Elisabeth Hungariae...” Elisa began, before the snake interrupted her.
“None of that is going to help, Elisa!” the snake hissed. “None of it! Now die, witch!” the snake said, its mouth wide open spewing venom.
“Soteria scutum!” Elisa shouted, before running as fast as she could out of the cabin.
Once outside, she called upon Hermes, the old god of transportation to transfer her to the edge of the forest.. she had to get away from there as fast as possible..
"Hermes, Elisam transfer ad ripam silvae!”
From there, she used her broom and went down to Natalies house as fast as she could. She knew that as Natalie and Ingun had the protective spell on them, the snake... or demon... shouldn't be able to get to close. Atleast for now...
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria
DaniSogen - The Magic Unfolds
Ingun was the first of the adults to wake up this morning, and of course, she knew what her life time wish was.
Elisa woke up soon after, and started to clean up the toys around the house. Natalie wanted to talk to Elisa, because she wanted to know a little more about what had happened to bring Elisa to come down to town... she didn't quite believe the story she told about the burning smell... she thought there was more to it than just that... It didn't make sense for her that Elisa would be so easily scared..
Natalie: Elisa, excactly what happened yesterday?
Elisa: What do you mean, Natalie? I already told you...
Natalie: No, I don't think you did. What happened Elisa, and why isn't Alfred with you?
Elisa: Oh, Alfred, he uh... he uh..
Natalie: What happened to Alfred, Elisa?
Elisa knew she was cornered and had to tell the truth. "Don't tell the kids, Natalie" she spoke in a whispering voice "but they got him. They came to my cabin yesterday, in the form of a snake. I had cast a protective spell on him, just like on you, but... they still got him. They poisoned him with their bite, and then he.. caught fire, and.. it happened so fast, and I tried, but my powers couldn't stop it..."
Natalie: Wow, Elisa, but.. if your powers can't help, how can we...
Elisa: My powers alone can't help much anymore.. but if we stick together... thats why we have to go to the elixir store. Now.
Elisa: That means you too, Ingun.
Ingun: Oh, d-d-do I really have to?
Elisa: Yes, you do. From now on, it is vital that we all stay as close together as we can..
Natalie: But what about the kids, Elisa? Will they be safe at school?
Elisa: Yes, Natalie, they will.. I already cast the spell on Isaac yesterday, it should have some effect..
Natalie: But what about Aaron and Billy?
Elisa: Aaron is safe, and Billy too, as long as he is with Aaron..
Natalie: What? How can they be safe? Did you protect them too?
Elisa: Lets hurry up now! We haven't got much time to waste!
Elisa takes Ingun and Natalie to the elixir store...
Elisa: Come along, you two! The Elixir store is this way! Just around this corner!
Elisa: We've got no time to waste. Now, lets buy what we need and get out of here.
Elisa: I would like two Magic for Beginners in angel version, as well as two beginner wands. And uh.. an alchemy station if you have one..
Birk Birkesson (store clerk): I'll get you the books and wands you want, but unfortunately we have no alchemy stations in stock right now. We are expecting a new delivery next week, please come back then.
Further inside the store, Ingun and Natalie had gone around to explore..
Ingun: Hey, N-N-Natalie, this mirror just t-talked to me! It offered me a m-make over!
Natalie: Don't be silly, Ingun. Mirrors can't talk!
Ingun: N-Natalie! Look! I'm swirling!
Ingun: Oh, help me, what is this??
Ingun closed her eyes from the bright yellow light that surrounded her. The light gave out a strange low pulsating hum that made Natalie freak out.
Natalie: Aaah, what is that sound!? Its the demons!
Ingun: Its alright, Natalie. L-look, it gave me a n-new dress!
Natalie: Ingun, w-what happened?
Ingun: The mirror, Natalie! Its alive! It t-talked to me, and gave me t-this new dress!
Ingun: I could f-feel this light surround me, as if it c-came from some strange power above! You should t-try it, Natalie!
Natalie: But Ingun.. are you sure this isn't some kind of trick? Maybe that dress is cursed...
Ingun: But I f-feel so pretty! I have n-never felt this pretty before! I don't think this is c-cursed at all! You should try it, Natalie!
Natalie: I don't know, Ingun.. I'm not convinced.. I feel fine just as I am..
Ingun: C-c-come on, Natalie! I t-tried it and came out just f-f-fine! And I thought I was the c-c-coward here!
Elisa: I see you have discovered the mirror there, Ingun, you look absolutely delightful. Now, I have bought the things you and your sister needs.. lets hurry back home, we should be safer there..
Natalie: I told you that mirror was dangerous!
Elisa: Its not the mirror, Natalie. That was a Agape, a Virtue. Hurry up now, we're going back home!
Elisa: Behind you are the wands, I put them on the kitchen bench for you. Now, what I want you to do is pick up those wands, and the books from the living room table and read the first chapter.
Elisa: Then after reading the first book you can practice spell casting, but only then. And do NOT try to cast any spells on anyone until I say so! Do you understand?
Natalie: So.. what..? How do I practice spell casting if I can't try it on someone?
Elisa: Because you need be 100 % sure you are casting the formula correctly.. The words of the formula must be spoken the excact same way, every time! One wrong word, and who knows what effect that could have! So in the beginning, only practice on objects!
Natalie: Ok, well I don't want to get anything wrong..
Elisa: Did you get this as well, Ingun?
Ingun: Y-yes, but what if I hurt m-myself?
Elisa: Just read the book first, and follow my instructions and you'll be fine. I will be here the whole time.. now, lets get to it. The books are on the living room table..
And so the sisters picked up their wands and sat down and studied their first book about magic, while Elisa watched over them from the rocking chair. Until both of them had to go to work, that is.
Ingun: I'm s-sorry Elisa, but I t-think we have to go to work n-now!
Elisa: Oh, that is fine.. but we will continue tomorrow! No slacking!
Natalie: Yes, dictator..
Elisa: I heard that, Natalie...
With mom out of the house, Aaron decided to invite Lenore over for another visit.
And Isaac wanted to become best friends with Samira, so she was asked to come over for the evening as well. Both Aaron and Isaac was happy that neither of them declined and should be around any minute. It was only Billy (of the kids) that didn't have a wish to hang out with anyone.
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria
Torby Brand - Presence (Piano instrumental)
Samira Mørch-Engebakken was the first of the invited visitors to arrive. Like Isaac, she has recently had her 13th birthday, and aged up to a teenager. Once on the lot, she goes over to talk to Aaron, who has already gone outside to play in the treehouse. Aaron doesn't know her very well, she is only an aqcuaintance to him. "This girl has some strange glowing eyes" he thinks "is she a ghost?"
Samira: Hi, I'm Samira. Is this your treehouse? It looks very nice.
Aaron: Oh, it's mine and Billys. We play in it a lot. I was going to hold a feast for the court. Would you like to join?
Samira: That sounds like a lot of fun! I used to play like that, too. I have a tree just like that at home, but I think I'm to old for it now!
Then a friendly voice is heard calling, and Lenore has also arrived on the lot.
Lenore: Hey, Aaron!
Lenore: I came as fast as I could, but my brother wouldn't let me leave until I had done my homework!
Aaron: My mom never tells me to do my homework, but I want to do well in school, so I always do it anyway!
Lenore: I wish I had a mom. At home its just dad and my brother, and dad is almost always out somewhere!
Aaron: Oh, having a mom isn't always that great..
Lenore: Some people have great moms! Edmunds mom makes very good cakes, and always reads for me when I am there!
Aaron: I think it is better to have an aunt than to have a mom. My aunt Ingun always likes to read for us, too. She is much better at it than mom!
Aaron: Lets play in the treehouse! I'm the king and I'm going to hold a feast! You can be a princess!
"I'm not a princess, Aaron! I'm a Queen, and one day I will rule the entirety of the worlds!" Lenore replied with determination in her voice, as if she was actually thinking about taking over the world and not just playing...
Meanwhile, Natalie had gotten a raise of 8 simoleons per hour at work, because she had discovered a new and more effective way of serving buns which greatly pleased Ramona, her boss. Isaac wasn't doing so great with Samira.. he had just made fun of his little brother Aaron, which bored her, before then he began to flirt with her, but the response was negative.
Samira: Isaac.. that's not funny..
Samira thinks he's clumsy...
Samira: ..but if you don't mind, I have been looking at this new jacket, so I was wondering if you had some money to spare.. It doesn't have to be much, only 10 bucks and I will have..
Isaac: No! No, I'm not helping you pay for your jacket! Get your own money!
"This wasn't much fun, I want to go home.." Samira thinks, before she goes to do her homework..
Then Billy complains about having to do dishes and Isaac tries to kiss Samira, but that is very unwelcome. Billy lights up the situation by bragging about his pranking skills, and maybe that worked... a little..
Samira: If you take me to the cinema, we can kiss in the dark...
Isaac: Oh, I would like that...
Then Isaac wants to kiss her once again, but gets interrupted by Billy who wants to play tag.
Lenore and Aaron are still having fun holding their royal dinner for the court in the treehouse.. umm, I mean, castle, of course.
Well, Billy changed his mind about playing tag, because he got hungry, and Isaac managed to steal his first kiss. Now lets see if she liked it...
She did not. Isaac, there is this thing called timing... maybe you should have a talk with your father about, you know, girls and romance, and all that...
You should be happy its not a full moon and that the werewolf in her isn't coming out!
Isaac: Have you seen the way Aaron dresses? He's trying to hard to impress the teachers! He should know that we don't have to wear school uniforms in Lagash!
Samira: I like the way he dresses. I think he is a stylish boy.
Isaac: Yeah, but he is trying to hard. He should be more like the other kids, running around and getting their clothes wrinkled and dirty!
"Come on, Isaac..." Samira sighs "Let him dress and act however he wants..."
Samira: ...but you know, about those money and that jacket...? If you would maybe reconsider...?
Isaac: No! I told you no, Samira! I'm not paying for your jacket!
Heh, you're both hopeless... continue like this and your probably won't be friends for much longer...
Looks like the royal banquet in the treehouse didn't hold enough food for Lenore, because she went inside to help herself to a leftover birthday cake from Isaacs party. "I am so hungry" she said, before quickly finishing the cake in one bite. And then things got a little strange as she approached Elisa with the sound of heavy, stomping feet.. a sound which could not possibly come from such a little child...
Lenore: My plates are empty, and I am still hungry!
Lenores voice had suddenly deepened, and it was obvious that the voice was no longer hers, and her breath had the rotten stench of sulphur.... Elisa immediately knew who this voice belonged to..
Elisa: You! You give me my Alfred back, you evil snake being!
Demon: Can't do, witch! Father is hungry, and Alfred is his appetizer!
Demon: And He thinks He will have you for a main course!
"O Pater in Inferno, bubulam hanc porcam tibi coquam!" the demon said, now speaking with both a male and female voice at the same time, as it raised it's hands appearing to gain power from some higher entity.
Demon: Smells good already.. Our Father will be most pleased...
I guess that's the problem with demons is that they are excellent shape shifters, so you never really know where you have them. They could be standing right in front of you, and you wouldn't even know it!
And the kids certainly didn't, because they were still outside conversing, without any clue about the drama going on inside..
After the demon had set fire to Elisa, it concealed its presence by appearing to vanish into thin air. This isn't looking good for Elisa. The clock is ticking for her, and Aaron, who just came inside, is all paralyzed from his great grandma being on fire and has no idea what to do..
However, now both Ingun and Natalie is finished with their shift at the restaurant.. Ingun is already in her taxi. Natalie is a little bit behind, she just had to go over all the sinks in the kitchen before leaving, to make sure nothing was leaking.... will any of them make it home in time to see what is going on and save Elisa before she literally burns to death, or will it be to late?
And back home, the demon still in its concealed state is now heading towards the kids outside. This time wihtout making any sound, just moving forward with determination.
In the nick of time, hopefully, Ingun just came home! Please, hurry inside and save Elisa before its to late! Ingun had no chance to notice the demon outside, and neither did any of the kids as it snuck up on them.
Billy had asked Isaac for a bedtime story, so they walked inside, leaving Samira outside alone. The demon then manifested itself right behind her as it grabbed hold of her body to give her a beating, making this a visit she probably wouldn't forget so easily...
Demon: If you want to see another moon, don't come here again! Now go take yourself for a walk and get out of here, little puppy girl...
Ouch....
When the going gets tough... Ingun panicked and blacked out at the sight of Elisa burning, and Esnebria took over. Where Ingun is a coward (sorry, but its true..), Esnebria is much more hard headed and bold.
Esnebria knew everything that Ingun did, about the spells Elisa had casted to protect them, and because of that she couldn't let Elisa go up in flames! Esnebria had no idea what had caused Elisa to catch fire, she didn't have time to contemplate such thoughts! This moment only required swift action!
Natalie was almost at home too now, so maybe it wasn't to late for Elisa! Lets hope so.. but this certainly isn't looking good!
Natalie finally makes it through the door. They better put out the fire, because Elisa doesn't have much time left!
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria
Nox Arcana - Sinister Forces.
Natalie proved in this situation to be completely useless... the true hero in this situation was her sister..
Esnebria: Natalie! Help me put out the fire! Don't just stand there!!!
And it looks like Esnebria/Ingun won the battle against the fire.. this time.. but whew, that was close! Elisa was only seconds away from dying!
Elisa: Natalie! Ingun! We are in great danger!
Yes you are, the demon is right behind you!
Demon: You fat piece of pork! Looks like I didn't try to roast you hard enough...
Elisa: I won't give up that easily! We'll finish this outside!
Elisa knew that the demon wouldn't be leaving without taking someone with it... This was the only way, and she didn't want the kids to see her dying..
So the demon and Elisa went outside for a duel, and Elisa took the first shot, an ice formula to diminish the demons fiery power..
However, the demon wasn't weakened that easily.. it quickly fought back, and nearly set Elisa ablaze once more!
Elisa now called upon the saints to cast a blessing of light upon the demon. Demons are usually not particularly fond of blessings...
The blessing didn't do much but aggravate the demon, and it summoned a ring of fire around itself, which set the ground on fire right next to it, and suddenly the demon disappeared into a strange looking light..
..only to appear almost right in front of Elisa, its eyes fixed on her with an ominous stare.
Demon: Say goodbye to your world, Elisa...
Elisa got herself in position to try to put out the fire with another ice formula. Isaac had now heard the commotion and went outside to check it out.. this wasn't excactly what he had expected.
Elisa managed to put out the fire as the demon went away to dodge her blast. Isaac didn't have much time to think or figure out what was going on, before the demon warped itself right in front of Elisa once more and began to speak in a mysterious tongue he couldn't understand..
Demon: O pater tenebrarum, mater mali! Da mihi vim hanc magam ad gehennae incendia mittere!
Demon: Et semel, et pro omnibus! Et semel, et pro omnibus!
The words of the demon sent lifted Elisa up in the air and made her catch fire once again. The demon watched in glee as Elisa jumped around and began shouting in panic..
Natalie and Ingun knew Elisa was in danger, and rushed out to help, but the demon was much stronger than both of them, and they could only do so much...
There was no help in them this time, this fire couldn't be put out! All it took was one final push from the demon, to send Elisa flying..
The demons work was done, and the flames got the best of her, turning Elisa into a ghostly hologram...
The ghost of Elisa crouched to the ground, still burning in agony, as the demon warped away taking Elisa with it...
Time appeared to freeze for a short moment. The night birds bowed their heads and everything became silent. Elisa was no longer there.. now there was only a cold stone and the smell of burning skin lingering in the air..
Natalie was shocked and left in tears! Her beloved Elisa was gone!
Aaron and Billy also came out now that the demon had left. They understood what had happened when they saw the gravestone and heard the cries and howls of Isaac, Ingun and Natalie..
This made no sense to them, least of all for Aaron and Billy.. They had listened to it all in terror from their bedroom upstairs.. They knew about the monsters under the bed and had heard tales of witches that could burn things, but were never really sure if the tales were true or not.. well, now there was no doubt, unless this was some kind of nightmare, but it didn't seem like one, because usually by now they would have woken up in their bed and slept for the rest of the night with their light on..
After lots and lots of crying, bewildered and heartbroken, the kids walked inside and only Ingun and Natalie was left, still grieving. Now it seemed that all hope was lost, not only was Elisa gone, but they had lost their protector and mentor in magic! Who was now going to teach them the necessary skills, and save them from whatever terrible fate was awaiting?
Especially for Natalie, this was extremely tough, as she stood there crying and screaming next to Elisas gravestone for long into the night after Ingun had gone back into the house...
Inside Ingun went to the kitchen sink to brush her teeth before going to bed, but couldn't attempt to do anything, without once more breaking into tears..
Isaac had just gathered enough strength to read a bedtime story for Billy, but once Billy was asleep he found himself all in tears once again..
He had just gotten to know his great grandmother, and now, she had been brutally ripped away from him, just as suddenly as she had arrived into his life..
Ingun had finally made it to bed and gone asleep and Isaac had calmed down enough to be able to get himself some food.
Only Natalie was outside grieving for a good while still..
It didn't matter that she was tired almost to the point of fainting on the spot.. Elisa was the only mother figure Natalie had ever had in her life, and now she was gone... gone...
Eventually, poor Natalie finally made it to bed as the very last one...
Tomorrow was going to be a rough day, no doubt about it...
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
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Adrian von Ziegler – The Crimson Gate
When Elisa came to herself, she found herself in what appeared to be a dining room of sorts, dimly lit with a long table and two chairs, one of which was occupied. In the back of the room was another, slightly elevated, dining table that someone was sitting behind, but it was to dark to see... The demon stood next to her, and in front of her, was the Grim Reaper himself...
The Grim Reaper (whispers): I am so sorry for this, Elisa.. this was never part of the plan..
A rumbling voice was heard from the back of the room..
Demon Father: My daughter... what is this? Why were you late for supper, and what have you done?
Demon Daughter: It is Elisa, father! I brought her to you!
Demon Father: I can see that, but why now? I have no need for Elisa here and now!
Demon Daughter: But father, I thought you wanted...
Demon Father: Quiet, daughter! We will talk about this later...
Demon Son: I told you it was to soon, sister...
Demon Father: Reaper! You must bring Elisa back!
Demon Daughter: What!? But father, we can't bring her back! Not after she has seen us and where we live!
Demon Father: Then erase her memory! Reaper, if you don't mind...
Reaper: It would be my pleasure to bring her back, but I can't do so without a Death Flower...
Demon Father: Daughter, you made this happen, take her to The Chamber to erase her memory, then come back here to give The Reaper one of your Death Flowers...
Demon Daughter: But dad...
Demon Father: Do as I say!
This wasn't excactly the outcome Elisa had hoped for. If her memory was erased, everything she had learned and all of her skills in magic would go with it.. and it would take much to long to learn it all over again...then being brought back would be next to useless...
Centuries of experience gone in an instant, she had to figure out a way to be sent back with her memory intact, and she had to do it fast!
Demon Daughter: Come here, Elisa, I have to do what my father says...
Demon Son: You just screwed up big time there, sister!
Demon Daughter: Shut up, brother!
The Demon Daughter begrudgingly took Elisa with her, down and down several steps into the room they called «The Chamber»...
Down and down...
When Elisa was finally alone with the Demon Daughter, she had to stall time...
Elisa: All this fighting, travelling to your world and being burnt – twice – has made me hungry.. is it possible to get a meal before I go?
Demon Daughter: What!? No! This isn't a tavern or anything! You can eat when you get back! If you remember how to do it, of course...
Elisa: You don't have to remove all of my memory...
Demon Daughter: No! I am going to remove everything! I am going to turn you into an adult baby! You won't even remember how to talk!
Elisa: And where will you send me when you are done..?
Demon Daughter: I don't care!! I'll leave that to the Reaper, not my job! Now stand still!
Elisa noticed that this demon daughter was quite a moody one, apparently no stranger to the emotions of wrath and anger. Elisa thought that maybe she could use this to her advantage...
Elisa: ..and what are you going to do if I don't? Kill me again, maybe?
Demon Daughter: I am a DEMON! My power is endless! If I tell you to stand still, YOU WILL!
Elisa: There is no such thing as endless.. everything stops and dies at one point, even you and your powers!
Demon Daughter: You're wrong! Nothing ever dies! I cannot die! I can only be reborn! Like I always have been, ever since the beginning of time!
Elisa: Interesting... but if time has a beginning, surely it must have an end..? Or will time itself also be reborn?
Demon Daughter: Shut up!!
Elisa was really enjoying it, watching the demon daughter get increasingly agitated...
Elisa: What I'm saying is... does that mean that everything that happens now, has happened before, and just like that everything goes in a loop?
Demon Daughter: What the ****!? Just shut up!!
Elisa: You're not really all that bright, are you...?
Demon Daughter: I am as bright as bright can be! Now shut up!!
Elisa: Not only are you dim, your ego is much to big for someone your size, too...
Demon Daughter: Enough!! Circobero, magam hanc e conspectu exi! Reduc eam quo pertinet!!
Elisa: Thank you...
The Demon Daughter realized what she had just done, and desperately tried to stop the action, but it was to late. Circobero, the Spirit of travel and transportation, was already called upon to send Elisa «back to where she belonged» according to the demon daughters own words.. but where was that? Where did Elisa truely belong...?
Demon Daughter: No, wait! I didn't mean that literally! Circobero, prohibere! Profuto! Profuto!
Demon Daughter (thinking): Oh boy... what am I going to tell dad, now that I have sent Elisa away without erasing her memory? I'm going to be in so much trouble...
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria
Audrey Horne - Afterglow
Dark and heavy clouds were looming over the Goth-Asli household this night after Elisas death...
Poor Isaac was still resting in the rocking chair, grieving the loss of his great grandmother.. none of them knew where she was gone, all they knew was that she was dead, that the demon killed her...
Cursed be that demon!
Isaac isn't the only being teary eyed in this moment... Billy woke up and stopped next to the bedside.. Natalie had been dreaming about Elisas gravestone all night.. Her mind desperately wanted answers as to where her beloved Elisa was now...
Though Billy was also very sad, he heard Isaacs crying bawling and wanted to comfort him, but Isaac was all filled up with sorrow and rage.. it didn't really get to him..
Then the sisters woke up, both at the same time..
There wasn't a dry eye in the house...
Natalie especially was full of grief, panic and worry.. what would they do, now that Elisa was gone?
No one was unscarred by this, Aaron had cried all the way from the treehouse and to the shower.. and even afterwards, he still stood there sobbing and drying up his tears...
Natalie wound up the music box for a moment of soothing music, and Isaac wanted to talk to Samira...
He told her all about what had happened after she left yesterday, about the demon and his great grandmothers death.
Samira was terrified, after being attacked and beaten up by the demon, but Isaac had hopes that she wasn't to scared by what happened to come visit them....He wanted to see her again....
Ingun had to repeatedly check the stove, the sinks and every dusty corner of the house for any possible demonic activity... her neuroticism was working on high gear now....
The sisters had to cry on each others shoulders. They had no real words for this sorrow, they just cried. None of them could say to the other that things would be ok. They wished for it, but they didn't believe it.. not now...
Life is cruel, and just because they were grieving, there was no time off from work...
Ingun was already on her way, but Natalie had to sit and collect her thougths for a little while longer watching her sister fly out the door, before she found herself ready to go....
Aaron wanted to call up Lenore to come over and visit. He was worried she wouldn't show up after what had happened as he still thought it was the actual Lenore that was there yesterday....
He felt happy, as happy as one can be in grief, that she said she would love to come over. Lenore didn't know what had happened, as she wasn't there at all yesterday.... So lets hope that it is the actual Lenore that shows up this time...
What looked like Lenore, and hopefully is Lenore, made it onto their lot and flew past Elisas gravestone to meet up with Aaron by the treehouse.
She was happy to see Aaron (and thought their yard was nicely decorated, Aaron has such a nice treehouse!), but Aaron wasn't quite himself today...
She asked Aaron what was wrong, but he didn't really answer. «Its raining, we should go inside» was the only thing he said.
Sure enough, she followed him there, but his behaviour was kind of strange.. Something must have been going on here, but she didn't know what it was.. She noticed the gravestone on the lot, so someone must have died, of course, she understood that much...
Once inside, she wanted to give him a hug, and asked him what had happened, if someone had died, and if there now was a ghost in their home....
Then Aaron finally found he could talk about it, and told her everything about the demon, which he called «The Dragon», and how it had come to their house, disguised as Lenore herself, and set Elisa on fire and eventually killed her, before disappearing into a strange looking light...
Billy came over as well, and wanted to share his idea about what had happened. He thought «The Dragon» had come from the forest, and that Elisa was now with «the Dragon» in a secret cave somewhere deep in the woods and far below ground. Billy thought that it would still be possible for them to go there and save her....
Lenore was terrified at what they told her, it was awful! She had heard stories of dragons and demons, but never really seen either of them, and now.. one of them even disguising itself as her!? She felt really bad for Aaron and Billy for their loss, and thought she knew about a solution...
She had heard her father once talk about a special flower that could bring people back from the dead, but she didn't know what it was called, or excactly how it would work. She promised to ask her dad about that, once she got home...
Of course, Lenore didn't know that it was actually to late, and that this flower would have to be handed to the Grim Reaper as he came to collect Elisas soul, except that the Grim Reaper never showed up to do that.. Elisa became a ghost by the demons push, before apparently disappearing into thin air as she was still burning from the demons fire. She disappeared without as much as a blink, before her gravestone appeared... Being pushed into death by a demon is far from a usual or common type of death...
Then, as the kids were talking, something unusual happened at the convenience store downtown... An orange glow appeared by the entrance, and from it a character took shape.. It was Elisa. She spawned right there, at the convenience store. Now, is that where she belongs?
Of course not, she spawned, or should I say respawned, right in front of her daughter and only child, Idun Skullerud-Morales. She turns to face her, and Iduns reaction to seeing the ghost of her mom, is immediate! «Mom!» she shouts with joy. And Elisa is very happy to see her daughter too! Idun hadn't seen or heard anything from her mom, ever since she moved into that cabin in the forest, and had since long expected her to be dead already, so seeing her mom return as a ghost was as good as anything she had hoped for.
«Its so good to see you again, my daughter!» she says «You won't believe where I have been and what just happened!».
They hug before Elisa starts telling the entire story of everything that happened to her, about Natalie, Ingun, Aaron, Isaac, Billy and the demons.
And now a few more pieces fall together, Idun is Ragnars mother, and Aaron and Isaacs grandmother. And Elisa is their great grandmother...
Elisa has gotten quite fond of Natalie and Ingun, and eagerly talks about their cooking career at Mr. Zombie restaurant, before she decides to cast a protective spell against the demons on her beloved daughter, just in case.
«Just stand still my sweet daughter, its for your own good.»
Then they have to say goodbye, because Elisa is even more concerned about Natalie and Ingun, given everything that has happened and everything she knows...
She has to stay with them, no matter where the Gods thinks she belongs...
First thing she is going to do when she gets back, is to prepare a meal.. the demons didn't excactly share any of their food with her... Apparantely, even ghosts need to eat, so if food suddenly goes missing from your refridgerator at night...
At home, Aaron and Lenore had started a game of chess, unaware that Elisa had returned and was on her way back..
And the sisters had just finished their shift at the restaurant and was heading home..
Ingun comes home and finds Elisa in the kitchen preparing a meal.
Poor Ingun doesn't know what to think!
She is in shock and is to afraid to stay inside the house, so she walks outside and faints!
And Natalie.. oh, poor Natalie, she was actually to caught up with grieving to make it much farther than just below the steps of the restaurant...
Her action says that she is going home, but she is just standing there crying.. Her boss Ramona that finishes her shift half an hour later, even passes her by to go home.. Natalie, please go home! You might be surprised.. or shocked, I don't know, but please, go home...
She stands there for so long without doing anything but crying continuously, the Narrator finds it necessary to intervene to deliver her from her crying, so that she can go home... Elisas death must have hit her really hard... much harder than anyone else...
When Natalie finally makes it home, she is shocked to find what looks like the ghost of Elisa drifting out from the bathroom wall, and up the stairs! Natalie is terrified and doesn't know what to believe! Has the ghost of Elisa now returned to haunt them?
Elisa was not only hungry and dirty from all the commotion, she was also very tired, and needed to go to sleep... Dying can certainly take its toll on you... Explaining everything for Natalie, Ingun and the kids would have to wait until tomorrow..
And she goes to sleep in Billys bed! No, no Elisa, that's not your bed! Hmm, I guess the trip to the Otherworld (or wherever the demons live...) must have done something to her memory anyway... but after all that she just went through, I'll let her sleep.. Billy can sleep with Natalie in her bed...
~~~~~
I filmed this video of Natalie outside the restaurant, because I was hoping to catch her going home by herself, but she just wouldn't do that...
Blog: The people of Simbria where I repost chapters from the beginning.
Story threads in the creative forum:
The people of Simbria