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The Elven Heritage Legacy, 1.10




      Tremors
Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewoooooop! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWOOOOOOOOP!
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWOOOOOP! BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWOOOOOP!
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWOOOOOP!
The laboratory‟s only resident jolted from her unintended nap,
scattering books everywhere, and flailed for her alarm clock
unsuccessfully before realizing that not only had she been asleep on the
couch, the strident klaxon was coming from a different kind of alarm.
Her eyes flew wide, all traces of sleep forgotten, as her eyes fell on the
row of machines lining one wall.
“Oh no,” she breathed, “this cannot be happening. Not again!”
  She dashed to the computers and started to type and mouse furiously.
  “Override!” she yelled at the apparatus hooked to the computers,
“Override!”
All she achieved was a shrill whine from the machine as she frantically
flipped open all of the safety valves, cut power to all but the most essential
circuitry, and initiated the failsafe procedure. The screen was scrolling through
data at a lightning pace, but she didn‟t have to look at the incomprehensible
squiggling graphs to know that what they showed was no good news.
There was an irritated banging from the far side of the wall.
   “Keep it down in there!” yelled a voice, “It‟s two A.M.!” the voice went
completely ignored as she hunched over her computers.
   “Come on,” she muttered, “come on, nearly there – what? NO!”
   She had about ten seconds warning before the apparatus on the far wall
exploded into a shower of sparks, throwing her across the room.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Oh dear,” she said, looking at the gaping hole in the wall, through which
the glow of an unnatural aurora could be seen, “That‟s never a good sign.” A
moment later, collected herself, she became aware of a pounding on the outer
door. She sighed.
    “They‟re going to charge me for damaging the room, aren‟t they?”
                            *         *       *
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Haldir would never be entirely certain, but he was prepared to swear that
everything about his life looked different now. The last party in his house had been a
full nine months ago, and that had been in what was, to all intents and purposes, a
different house. It would be months before they were fully moved in: there were still
boxes everywhere.
      Nine months ago Ariadne had been barely more than a newborn. Aranel had still
only been looking at colleges, not accepted to Sim State with full honors and ready to
throw everything in a suitcase and leave as soon as possible, already thinking ahead
past graduation. Achenar had barely been old enough to drive, and Ana had been just
a little girl.
This is going to be the dining room,” Viridia was saying to Chalimyra,
Eluisa and Midina, who were playing the part of appreciative audience members
for the tour of the new house, while Haldir, Talon and Makir tagged along, “as
soon as I can find a big enough table.”
She caught Haldir‟s eye from across the room and smiled. Haldir smiled
back, happy that she was taking all of this so well. Learning that the old house
had been unsafe for habitation had been a shock to them all, but Viridia always
worried far too much. She would lie awake at night unable to stop thinking
about what could have happened, and everything that could have happened
was grounds for worry. He didn‟t know how she‟d survived that latest
earthquake, especially with everything that had happened during the last one.
It had been a good thing that the earthquake had come when it had,
though, because that was the only reason that they had learned that a flaw in
the foundation had led to enormous structural damage during the last
earthquake. They had decided to start fresh, and though it had been hard on
everyone‟s nerves while the house was literally going up around their ears, the
results had been worth it.
     Haldir yawned.
     “Kids wearing you out?” Talon asked from where the two of them were
standing in the doorway.
Haldir just shook his head. “Extra shifts at the hospital,” he explained,
“We‟re just finishing up all of the non-essential surgery that was put off until
we could sort out all the storm and earthquake victims – people had to
reschedule when the hospital was flooded with patients, and we‟re finally
getting the last of them done now. I replaced four hips yesterday. It‟s finally
the end of all this chaos.” Maybe he‟d finally get a decent night‟s sleep. And
maybe it would actually be at his home, in his bed, with his wife.
Talon shook his head sympathetically. “Tell me about it. I‟ve been
rebuilding the Elkthorn Inn from the ground up,” he said. “In a new building,
of course – everything on this side of the road was damaged, and there wasn‟t
enough left to rebuild out here in Lake Valley – and it‟s as if they had to put
the whole town back together down in Riverblossom Heights.”
     “Hmmm.” Haldir really was tired, but Talon, as ever, was filled with
energy.
“You should come by some time, when you manage to be off work,”
Talon continued, “The new store is bigger – we have some different
merchandise now – and to top it all off, Elirand and Calla have turned out to be
naturals at sales. Achenar‟s not bad either. Of course, the three of them are
very good at distracting each other from the work, but you‟re only young
once.”
    “That‟s true,” Haldir replied tiredly. There was a moment before he
managed to pick up a new thread of conversation. “We should call them in for
lunch soon.”
“You want to do what?” Calla asked.
     “Well, it‟s not really a big deal, it‟s just that we‟ll be in our senior year soon
and we haven‟t done anything too exciting since… well, since forever, at least
since freshman year.”
     “We‟ve been a bit busy, haven‟t we?” Elirand replied, “What with working at
the store and everything else.”
     “Come on, Elir, you know your dad will let us off for a weekend or so. Even
if it is a long weekend.”
“Yeah, he probably will,” Elirand admitted, “And don‟t get me wrong, I
like the idea, it‟s just -”
    “Strange coming from you,” Calla put in. Elirand made a face at her for
finishing his sentence. “But the more I think about it, the more that I like it.
This could be the best idea you‟ve had all year. It‟s certainly better than when
Elirand thought we could get out of personal finance by -”
    “Hey, I thought we agreed not to discuss that!”
    Achenar rolled his eyes at his two best friends. “It‟s not like we‟d be
hitchiking to Strangetown or anything,” he said. “But both of you like it?”
“We,” said Calla, definitively, “are in. You know that these mountains are
part of the same chain that goes through Three Lakes?”
    “As long as we don‟t meet a sasquatch, Calla, I could care less,” Elirand
replied, prompting his sister to display her maturity by sticking her tongue out
at him. “This is going to be great – just the three of us again and no worries
about anything.”
    “Besides the centipedes in your sleeping bag, that is.”
    “Oh, shut up Calla. Anyhow, yes, I am definitely in. If this is going to be
our last big thing before college, we need to go out with a bang.”
“So, all we need to do now is ask permission,” Achenar said. He looked at
Calla with a smile, “I think that if our secret weapon goes around to ask…
Hardest one is going to be my mom.”
    “Don‟t worry about it,” Calla replied, “How hard could it be? And you‟ll be
with us, it‟s not like anything could possibly happen… Oh, don‟t answer that,
Elirand, you know that even if sasquatches exist, there‟s none around here.”
    And Achenar got to listen to the inevitable sibling bickering as they got up
and headed outside. It was interrupted only by Elirand‟s announcement that he
needed the bathroom and his subsequent disappearance.
“Wow, I swear your back yard‟s gotten bigger,” Calla said to Achenar when
they emerged into the bright spring sunlight, “And that‟s even though your
house has grown.”
    “Not all of it‟s ours, exactly,” Achenar replied, “We just moved closer to
the woods… it‟s kind of hard to tell, but the lot line is actually pretty close to
us on the other side of the stream, except it‟s lost in all the boulders and trees.”
    “Well, it‟s beautiful out here anyway.” Calla laughed, suddenly, “You‟ll
have to remind Elirand to get interested in building projects, because we‟re
starting to feel jealous of all your green woods.”
“What about you?” Achenar asked, “You‟re already plenty interested.”
   Calla threw up her hands. “Come on, everyone knows that Elirand‟s
inheriting the family business,” she said, “he‟s daddy‟s perfect little businessman
and all of that. Besides, he wants it, which is far more than I can say for the good
old Elkthorn Inn. He‟ll be the one who moves back into the house after college
too, probably – our parents want to keep it in the family, for the sake of tradition
and everything.”
   Achenar laughed. “It feels really strange to be talking about traditions that
haven‟t even started yet.”
“Hey, you‟re the one whose family is so big on tradition.”
   “I never said they weren‟t.”
   “Achenar,” Calla said, suddenly serious, “I wanted to know – have you
been considering being heir? I mean, I know you have three sisters who might
want the position, but…”
   “Anariel won‟t want it, I can already tell you that.”
   “You never know, she might grow up – she‟s not that far from being a teen.
Ariadne‟s probably way too young…”
   “Unless my parents want to wait another twenty years until the heir comes
home from college, then yeah, probably.”
“It‟s really just between you and Ara, isn‟t it?”
   “Yeah, most likely,” Achenar replied, a little awkwardly, “I haven‟t really
thought about it like that before – I mean, it‟s always been something that was
a possibility -”
   “Yeah, and I really shouldn‟t have pried -” Calla began, trying to wrap the
conversation up quickly.
   “No, it‟s ok,” Achenar said, “I mean, you‟d want to know, especially if both
me and your brother were inheriting -”
   “But, like you said, it‟s all in the future, right?” There was a moment‟s
awkward pause.
“So,” Achenar said brightly, “Camping. It‟s going to be fun. And, you
know, everything else that‟s going to happen this spring… like…. Um…
Prom… and stuff.”
   “Oh, yeah,” Calla agreed, far too quickly. “Prom. We‟re going, right?”
   “Well yeah, probably. We‟d have to get Elirand on board, but if he can
manage to not get shot down by Meadow, I‟m sure he‟d be all over the idea.
And we can go in a really big group or something, just in case people don‟t
have dates.”
   “…Yeah, a big group.”
“You don‟t want to go with a big group?”
     Calla‟s enthusiasm was less than breathtaking. “Prom is something of a
date dance, Achenar.”
     “Yeah, but nobody should be left out if they don‟t have one, right? I mean,
it‟s not like they have prom every year…”
     “I never said that a group was a bad idea.”
     “I never thought that you did.”
     “Right.”
     Achenar seized on the one idea left in his head that might explain Calla‟s
sudden lack of enthusiasm.
“Calla, I‟m sure that you‟ll be able to find a date,” he said generously,
“You‟re pretty, you‟re funny – there‟s a lot of guys at school that think you‟re
great. If anything, there‟s going to be a line of guys waiting to ask you out.”
    Instead of cheering her up, however, the words seemed to make her even
less happy. She looked as if she were about to say something, but at that
moment, Elirand came strolling out the door.
    “Hey guys, what did I miss?” he asked, “And what‟s this about a line of
guys waiting to ask out my sister?”
“You have no idea how good it is to not have screaming kids around,” Ara
declared to Rean the moment they‟d managed to find a secluded corner of the
house. “Twelve and two are not good ages.”
    “I thought that Ariadne wasn‟t two yet?”
    “Okay, same difference. And Ana‟s thirteen, almost fourteen but I‟m
beginning to doubt that she‟ll ever act older than twelve. She just keeps saying
that everything‟s “not fair,” even though she‟s the one who hasn‟t been getting
any extra chores and is allowed to go over to her best friend‟s house whenever
the heck she feels like it. I‟m certain that I wasn‟t that self-centered in middle
school.”
Rean gave a crooked smile. “Actually…”
   “All right, all right, don‟t give me specifics,” Aranel replied hastily, “I
know that me and the princess of disdain were probably holy terrors. My point
being, I‟ve been thirteen, and nothing is that big of a deal, but Ana doesn‟t
know how lucky she has it.”
   “You didn‟t get in a big fight with her again, did you?”
   “Well, if she keeps it up, I probably will. Having separate bedrooms is the
only thing that‟s keeping me from dunking her in some good cold common
sense.”
“Aranel Elvensong, a campaign slogan every minute.”
     “And don‟t you forget it. Though really, we should have one discussion at a
time, and trust me, you do not want me to get started on the Llama party today.
Or the Status Quo‟s.”
     “I actually do read the newspaper now.”
     “They‟re acting like morons! Religion should not be a political platform,
it‟s like grabbing a time machine and throwing everyone back into the middle
ages! They don‟t need a bucket of good cold common sense, they need a lake!”
     “Keep extending that metaphor and you could write an opinion column.”
“Yeah, well, I might. The only good thing the Changeists are doing right
now is keeping their heads down among all this silliness. It‟s not even election
year yet!” There was a moment‟s silence as Aranel changed gears. “Anyhow,
you never told me what that thing with your sister was about last week.”
    Rean brushed some nonexistent dust off his knee. “Oh, Ida just wanted -”
    “I meant, she of the ridiculously large rumor mill, not she of the really
strange circle of friends.”
“Oh,” Rean‟s face fell, “That.”
   “Yeah, „that.‟ Don‟t think I didn‟t notice that your own sister stole your
lunch money.”
   “Eh… it was more of blackmail than theft, really.”
   “What could she possibly have to blackmail you about?”
   Rean smiled sheepishly. “Well… I mean, it‟s not like the whole school
doesn‟t already know. So it shouldn‟t be a really big deal, except… well, my
parents are pretty old fashioned. And what am I supposed to do, announce at
dinner „hey, the family name isn‟t going to get carried on, because I‟m your
only son and I just don‟t like girls that way?‟ That‟ll go over well.”
“All right,” Aranel said, “let me get this straight: you haven‟t told your
parents yet, so your own sister is blackmailing you in installments of about
seven simoleons apiece.”
   “… More or less.”
   “She really does need a good punch to the face, you know.”
   “My dear Aranel, I happen to be a pacifist, and even if you aren‟t I‟d hate to
explain that one.”
   “Last time I checked, the dictionary definition of „pacifist‟ wasn‟t „doormat.‟
And all you really need to do is tell her to take a hike. Actually -” a sudden idea
came to Aranel, and she couldn‟t help but grin, “I know what‟ll take the wind
out of her sails. You tell them first.”
“Yeah. Ara? Bad plan.”
    “Why? Once they know – and Rean, I‟m not entirely certain they‟ll be
surprised – you can stop worrying about it, your sister won‟t have a chance to
spin it, and even if she tries they‟ll believe you because you told them the truth
first. So, once the initial shock is over, everyone goes back to their lives, and I
no longer bring two sandwiches in my bag. Everybody wins, except Nymea.”
    “You don‟t know my parents,” Rean began. “Ara, they‟re not really like
your mom and dad at all. I mean, your mom‟s strict and all, and it‟s not like
she‟s going to let any of you run wild in the streets, but she at least respects
your views.”
“Every time the news is on the radio or my parents read the newspaper, I‟m
supposed to agree with them whether or not I really think that way. They keep
talking about sometime way back in Elphemerea, when our family was rich
and important and all that – maybe my dad was head dog catcher, I don‟t
know. The important thing is, even though we‟re doing decently now, my
parents don‟t see it that way. They think that all this „modern thinking‟ is
holding us back from everything we could have, and that the world is falling
apart because so many people don‟t follow their „traditional values.‟”
    Rean took a breath, and Aranel nodded.
“Anyway, ever since I could remember – keep in mind that I‟m the only
son – my dad has been really fond of pointing things out in the newspaper to
us, and giving us his opinion, and expecting us to agree. Mom‟s more or less
the same, because anyone who was „raised right‟ should have the same values
as her and anyone else was „raised wrong,‟ and that‟s really all there is to it.
Religion, political views, whatever – you‟re in the wrong, but it‟s not your
fault, because your parents were in the wrong and they taught you the wrong
things.”
    Aranel snorted.
“Yeah, I know, it‟s crazy,” Rean replied, “but that‟s how it is. You know the
whole marriage debate that‟s going on?”
    “Which is ridiculous, because denying a person the right is just discrimination
and prejudice dressed up as religion – as if one person‟s religion were any excuse
to discriminate against someone else or deny them equal rights --”
    “Yes, that one. It was a rhetorical question, Ara.”
    “Don‟t ask if you don‟t want an answer.”
    Rean rolled eyes. “Anyway, long story short, the reason that I know my parents
will have an issue with this is because that came up in the editorial section.”
“Ah. I think I know where this is going.”
   “You‟d be correct. I had to sit through breakfast one day a few weeks ago
with my dad holding court on „deranged perverts,‟ and „against the natural
order,‟ and „ought not to be in decent society.‟ Of course, I‟ve known for a long
time that he wouldn‟t be exactly pleased with… well…”
   “The fact that you have no interest in boobs?”
   “You‟re extremely crude, Ara. But accurate, yes.”
   “Hey, at least I didn‟t say „prefer –‟”
   “Anyway,” Rean interrupted. “Alliteration will not be necessary, thank you.”
“For a dude, you‟re an awful prude.”
    “And for a girl, you‟re very rude. You‟re not the only one who can rhyme
amusingly.”
    “Fair enough. Anyway, your dad and probably your mom won‟t be too pleased
with that fact, even though it‟s hard to think of something more natural than
hormones, except maybe manure.”
    “And people would prefer not to deal with manure either. That was actually
the day that Nymea threatened to tell them – I should have known, the way mom
went around that morning saying „absolutely right dear,‟ and „listen to your father,
children, this is important,‟ while Nymea just sat there smirking.”
“Nymea smirking is never good.”
    “Yeah, well, you try living with her.”
    “No thanks. Though I might trade you Ana for Idalese, if only for some
peace and quiet.”
    “Thanks, but no. So, fifty something simoleons later, I‟ve figured out that
sooner or later, not ratting me out is going to stop being worth the money for
Nymea, or I‟m going to run out of cash.” Rean shrugged. “With all of us going
off to college in a few months, I‟m hoping that I can outlast the summer,
but…”
“But if she does tell, your parents will have a cow, not least that you‟ve
been keeping a secret from them this long.” Aranel summarized. “Dude – you
have to tell them sometime.”
    “No, I really don‟t,” Rean replied, “for one thing, I‟d rather keep the
freedom to actually go out and do things, without them being frantic about who
I‟m doing them with, even if it‟s something as simple as coming up here to
hang out with you.”
    “They‟ll get over it,” Aranel told him wisely, “I mean, how could they not?
You‟re their kid.”
    Rean sighed. “I hope you‟re right, Ara,” he said, as they headed back to the
party.
“Don‟t tip, don‟t tip, don‟t tip… hey, I made it!”
    “Yay!” Delphina clapped enthusiastically from the far end of the table, and
the three near-teens shared an eye roll. Still, she was only just in kindergarten,
and all games fascinated her.
    “It isn‟t nearly as difficult as you think,” Lydia told Ana, adjusting her new
glasses self-consciously.
    “I know how to play don‟t wake the Llama, Lydia,” Ana replied. “It just
looked chancy for a minute, that‟s all.”
    “I wasn‟t talking about the game.”
“Then what were you talking about?”
   “Waiting.” Lydia selected her straw with care. “I mean, we‟re not little kids
any more, a couple of days aren‟t exactly the end of the world -”
   “It‟s just not fair, that‟s all,” Ana grumbled, “you get to go off to high
school without me and I‟m stuck in middle school for another whole rotation.”
   “Yes, but it‟s not like we even go to the same school to begin with,” Lydia
replied patiently, “I mean, you‟ll see me every day, or at least as much as we
see each other now, and it‟s only a little while that we won‟t be in the same age
group.”
“Darn it,” Lydia said, as her inattention to the actual game caused half the
tower to fall.
    “Smooth, Lydia,” said Orion, and she shot her little brother a look of
annoyance.
    “Don‟t go teaching the kindergartner sarcasm.”
    “What‟s sarcasm?” asked Delphina, almost immediately.
    “Ask your brother.”
    The youngest of the group shrugged. She would put up with a lot in order
to play with the big kids. “Come on, Orion, they‟ve got a tower on their
playground!”
“Fine,” he said, and followed his little sister out the doors, leaving Ana and
Lydia at the table.
    “So,” said Lydia when the others were safely gone and Ana was staring up
into space, “What‟s really the problem?”
    Ana heaved a huge sigh. “Well, apart from the fact that you‟re going to be a
teenager and be having fun for a whole rotation without me…”
    “And the fact that it‟s not really that long, and that you‟re going to be
having way more fun in private school than I am in the public high school…”
“But it‟s not the same, Lydia! What if you suddenly make new friends, and
what if you start hanging out with them because they can do teenager stuff
with you and I can‟t? What if we end up with completely different
aspirations?”
    Lydia tried very hard not to roll her eyes. “It‟s not like becoming a teenager
changes everything about you,” she said, “I mean, we‟ll still be interested in
the same stuff as we are now, just be able to do more things and we‟ll be
figuring out what we want to do with our whole lives. And I‟ve never heard of
aspiration stopping anyone from staying friends.”
“You‟re always so reasonable, Lyds.”
   “And you say that like it‟s a bad thing? One of us has to be, at any rate.”
Lydia picked up a straw and absently put it back on top of the pile.
   “Ha ha. Lydia, I‟m serious. You‟ll be exploring new places, learning to
drive, allowed to go out on your own… and it‟s not going to be the same
without you.”
   “Well,” Lydia replied with a smile, “I promise that I‟ll tell you all about it.
And besides, I‟m not going to be too free to wander around – my mom and
Makir are finally getting married, more or less immediately after my birthday.”
“Besides, have you seen the list of subjects for high school? I guarantee
you I‟ll be too busy finding my locker and trying to finish my homework to do
too much before you grow up.”
    “Yeah, but that‟s school stuff. You‟re going to get to do everything before
me – drive, go out -”
    “Get babysitting duty when my parents want to go out…”
    “Oh come on, at least there‟s no toddler in your house any more. All you
have to do is give „Phina a box of crayons and make sure that Orion doesn‟t
fry any circuts.”
“I‟m just saying, it‟s not all fun and games, Ana.”
   “And I‟m just saying, I wish our birthdays were closer together.”
   “We‟ll be able to see even more of each other once we‟re both teens
and can drive and don‟t have such early curfews – It‟ll be worth the
wait.”
   “Yeah. Ever thought about getting into private school, Lydia?”
   “Well, yes, but my mom and Makir probably -”
   “Can‟t afford it for all three of you, I know.”
“Nothing wrong with public school.”
    “I never said there was. I‟d leave private school to be with you, Lyd, you know I
would.”
    “Well,” Lydia paused for a moment, flicking back one of her thick braids.
Everything about her was different – the new glasses, growing out her bangs, the braids
– and Ana knew that it was about to get even more different, while she‟d be stuck as a
freckle-faced little girl. “What do you say to enjoying the days we have, then? I asked
for chocolate cake at my party – you know that one‟s your favorite, and you don‟t
exactly have to wait long to eat it.”
                                *         *         *
It was impossible to have a small party, not with the sheer amount of
people who were in some way connected to Lydia, her mother, and Makir, but
it was, at least, a quick gathering. Most of the people invited were actually
either the adults, or friends of Orion and Delphina. She and Anariel were
stranded between the teenagers and the little kids.
    Lydia didn‟t really care. She was all for a good party, but the fact that this
one was swarming with everyone else‟s friends wasn‟t a problem with her
either.
    There was really only one person whose presence mattered at this party.
“See,” she told Anariel, “I told you it would be quick.”
    It felt strange to be this tall. It especially felt strange to be looking so far
down at Anariel – Ana had always been shorter than her, but she‟d never been
this much shorter. But Ana wouldn‟t be that much smaller than her for very
long, and it was better not to say anything about how strange this felt.
    “Are you going to hug me or not?”
    Yep. Growing up didn‟t seem to change much. She leaned down and gave
Anariel a quick hug.
“Tomorrow,” she promised, “we are definitely going to talk.” Then she
pushed back her falling sleeves. “First, though, I have to get changed.”
*   *   *
“I already told you, Gabriella,” Ginger said tiredly, “The answer is no.”
    “But I‟d be perfectly safe with friends -”
    “That doesn‟t change the fact that we need you here after school,” Ginger
told her. A late dinner, now long cold, sat on the table, but none of the three
teenagers was really hungry anymore. It had been a long day, and Ginger and
Gavin still had homework waiting for them, long after the kids had gone to
bed.
    “There‟s two whole hours between when my school lets out and when they
do,” Gabriella protested, “That‟s plenty of time, and I promise I‟ll get back.”
Ginger wanted to say yes. In any other family, an afternoon at the roller
skating rink would have been a perfectly harmless request, one that any parent
would have been happy to grant. Of course, those were families with parents,
not with just her and Gavin trying to muddle through.
    “Gabby, now that you‟re a teen, I have to start looking for a job,” she said.
“We‟re already dipping into mom‟s trust fund far too much, and until Gavin
turns eighteen and can get a full time job, we‟re going to need to stretch every
last simoleon. I‟m not saying you can‟t ever go out -”
    “Oh really?” Gabriella muttered. “That‟s not what it sounds like.”
Ginger sighed. “Gavin, it wouldn‟t hurt for you to back me up, you know.”
   “Yeah,” Gabriella piped up, “Tell her that she‟s not being reasonable – I‟ll
be home at two thirty, max.”
   Gavin looked from one sister to the other. “Gabby,” he said, slowly,
“money‟s tight. What are you going to use to rent your skates?”
   “The extra couple of simoleons that I‟ve saved from my lunch money,”
Gabriella replied promptly.
   “That money is for feeding you,” Ginger cut in quickly, “You need the
nutrition far more than you need an extra couple of bucks for fun.”
“Everyone‟s got to have a little fun sometimes,” Gabriella protested,
“You‟re only stopping me because you‟re jealous. I have the money, I have the
time, and I‟ll be perfectly safe, so there‟s no possible reason that you can
justify saying no.”
    “That doesn‟t make the answer yes. Those two hours between when high
school lets out and when you have to get the kids from the bus are for
studying. While I‟m looking for a job and Gavin‟s at work, you‟re not going to
have time for homework when the kids are home, because we‟ll be relying on
you to pick up the slack around the apartment.”
“Look,” said Gavin, who couldn‟t bear the look on his younger sister‟s
face, “I promise that you‟ll get to go bowling sometime -”
    “It‟s roller blading.”
    “Roller blading, then. Just not tomorrow. You‟ll have to wait a bit, until
either we have some extra money or I have a day off work.”
    Ginger glared at her brother out from under her bangs. “Gavin, you
shouldn‟t promise her things that we might not be able to do,” she said
reproachfully.
    “Promises are hope, Ginge,” he said as he rose from the table and headed in
to the boy‟s room. “I think we all need some right now.”
There was momentary silence when the door shut behind him.
   “Now, Gabriella -”
   “He only said no because you told him to,” Gabriella accused her sister. “My
reasons are as good as yours. You‟re just jealous of me.”
   “He said no because he knows that we just can‟t afford to let you do that
right now, regardless of whether we want to say yes or not,” Ginger replied
sharply.
   “You do not want to say yes. You say you do, but you really just want me to
be stuck here with no friends!” Gabriella didn‟t raise her voice – she would have
woke the whole family – but that didn‟t reduce the amount of venom in her
words.
“Oh, now I’m the villain here,” Ginger hissed back, “Just because you
didn‟t get what you wanted. How dare I tell a fourteen year old that the
security of this family is more important than her social life?”
   “You‟re barely seventeen. What gives you the right to decide things for
me?”
   “A court ruling.”
   “Well, screw the court!”
   “Do you want to go back to foster care? Because that‟s the alternative to
having me in charge.”
“Maybe I do! It‟ll get me away from you!”
   “Of all the ungrateful -!”
   “Grateful? I‟m supposed to be grateful that we live stacked up on top of
each other in an apartment where there‟s barely enough space to turn around?
I‟m supposed to be grateful to come home to burned dinners and permanent
babysitting duty?”
   “You‟re supposed to be grateful to have a family and a home!”
   “Family? Family? You‟re not mom! And you‟re doing a pretty piss-poor
job of replacing her!”
The apartment door rebounded off the wall, leaving a dent in the ancient
brown and tan wallpaper, but Gabriella didn‟t care. She stormed out of the
apartment and down the steps, her bony arms folded tight across her ribs. She
was every bit as grown up as Ginger was, so why was Ginger still treating her
like a child? She‟d always been bossy, even when mom had been alive, but it
wasn‟t until Gabriella had become a teenager that she realized that Ginger was
mean as well. And she always had to be right – oh no, god forbid anyone else
ever be right, because she‟d just keep ignoring it and insisting that she was the
one who was really right – which meant, of course, that Gabriella always had
to be wrong.
“Gabby!”
    Gabriella ignored it. It was a stupid nickname. How had she gotten it?
Because her own family had insisted that she talked too much. Clearly they‟d
all rather that she‟d just shut up so that they wouldn‟t have to spend their days
pointing out that she was wrong even when she was clearly right.
    She continued marching down the steps as fast as possible, still stewing.
Her teenage years stretched out in front of her like an inescapable tunnel, one
where she would never have the kind of life that her friends and her classmates
took for granted.
The reality was that Ginger was never going to let her do anything, because
it was her turn to suffer or something like that. It wasn‟t like she‟d been a
difficult kid. She hadn‟t asked for any of this – none of them had, so why did
Ginger have to punish her for the fact that none of them got to have a normal
childhood anymore? The idea of being protected, of being provided for, of
being safe and loved had been dangled in front of them all just for a few brief
years before being cruelly snatched away. If Gabriella had her way she‟d lock
all drunk drivers up for a thousand years – what gave them the right to take
away the only mother she‟d ever known?
The world was always taking, never giving, only that once which had lasted
for such a short time. The others might be young enough not to remember
orphanages and foster care, but Gabriella knew. She knew that there was a big
dark ugly pit in the center of the world where people got thrown away as easily
as candy wrappers, as easily as dead squirrels on the side of the road. That was
where her life had been, not because of anything she‟d done but because she
hadn‟t been wanted. Nobody really wanted her or ever would, no one except
mom, and let‟s face it, Mom was dead, run down like a squirrel on the side of
the road by an asshole too drunk to remember to dial for an ambulance until it
was too late. To Ginger and Gavin she was a responsibility, part and parcel of
the elusive dream of family that they were trying so hard to grasp.
Anyone who loved you, anyone who was decent – they ended up in a box,
leaving you behind. Everybody else just kept throwing you out, while you
sank from dumpster to dumpster, unwanted like a pair of ugly socks. You just
kept losing – and though Gavin and Ginger might be trying to put a brave face
on it for the kids, the reality was that they were still losing.
   And safe behind their cozy little windows, the lucky ones who never had to
lose mocked her with their saccharine dreams.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
*   *   *
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Lydia was woken in the morning by the distant ringing of a telephone. She
rolled out of bed, yawning. Judging by the scattering of Delphina‟s toys on the
floor, and her sister‟s unmade bed, she was probably the last one in the house
to wake up. Sure enough, she heard Delphina‟s voice floating in the windows
just a second later.
    The telephone rang again.
    With another yawn, she opened up the door, stepped over the large pile of
magazines that had somehow drifted away from their proper basket, and
crossed the room, picking up the telephone.
“Hello.”
    “Good morning,” said an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line, “Is
this the Fairmaiden residence?”
    “Shadeson residence,” Lydia said automatically. Years of being reminded
by her mother never to give her real last name when she answered the phone
kicked in before she could even think about it. Then, the gears clicked over in
her sleepy brain.
“Oh. Well, I‟m calling for a Lydia Fairmaiden -”
   “That‟s me,” Lydia blurted out quickly, her heart beating fast. Looking for
her – her mind leapt immediately to the only conclusion that she could
possibly reach. This phone call had to have some connection to all the things
that her mother would never tell her about. And it was a man‟s voice too –
what if…?
“In that case, I am pleased to announce that you have been accepted as a
finalist in the Landgrabb memorial scholarship competition,” the man on the
other end of the line continued, and Lydia had time to feel a crushing sense of
disappointment before the real meaning of his words caught up to her brain.
    She had a chance to go to private school. For free.
    There was only one problem with that, though: she‟d never entered the
competition.
She chewed on her lip for a moment, gazing around the room as she
thought about it. How many times in her life was an opportunity going to drop
into her lap like this? Private school meant scholarships, scholarships meant
college would be easier, not just for her but for Orion and Delphina too – and
there was, of course, the fact that the school she had a chance to go to was the
one that would, in a few short rotations, contain Ana as well.
    But… she hadn‟t earned it. She hadn‟t entered the competition, and maybe
it was some other Lydia Fairmaiden, or maybe they had the wrong list, or…
Knowing that she was going to regret it, but knowing that she‟d also regret
it if she didn‟t say it, she forced her mouth open. “I don‟t think I ever entered
the scholarship competition,” she said in a quiet voice.
     “Well, your name is on the list,” the man on the other end of the line said,
“and some students were submitted by their teachers for their achievements. If
you‟ll hand the phone to one of your parents, I‟ll make an appointment for
your home visit with the deputy headmaster.”
All right,” Lydia said, then, remembering her manners, “Thank you very
much, please hold for a moment.” She lasted until she‟d hit the hold button and
very carefully hung the phone up before she couldn‟t contain herself anymore.
“Mom! Mom! Mom!”
                   *   *   *
“… so after that, the plumber says „no, impossible. That would be too much
of a coincidence!‟”
    There was laughter all the way around the table after Rean finished his
joke, and he took a long moment to bask in the warm glow of the Elvensong
family. He‟d been having dinner with them a couple of times a week for
months now, and apart from a brief, but intensely uncomfortable first dinner
where Aranel‟s mother had assumed that he was going out with Ara, he‟d
never felt more at ease anywhere than he had in their kitchen, new or old.
    “Thank you for dinner, by the way, Mrs. Elvensong. It was delicious.”
“Oh, no need to thank me dear, all my recipes feed six. It‟s just nice to have
you over. It‟s been so hard to get the whole family to one meal in the last few
months.” She sighed, looking more than a little lost. Rean really liked Ara‟s
mother: she was nothing like Ara, which was probably a good thing, as he
couldn‟t see Ara cooking spaghetti, but she was warm and welcoming, and as
sharp as her daughter was, though less prickly around the edges.
    “It‟s good to have everyone home,” she said.
    “Well, they‟re here now,” Rean said brightly. He felt a short, sharp pain in
his shin. “Ow, Ara,” he said, reaching down to rub the spot.
“What my mom‟s too polite to say is that you were included in that
statement,” Ara said, looking entirely unrepentant for having kicked him. “And
you‟re invited to dinner again, you know, whenever.”
    Coming from Ara, who tossed invitations about and generally never made a
big deal about anything like this, it was one thing. Coming from her mother…
Rean had often felt guilty for wishing that Ara‟s mom was his mom, even
before Ara had set her straight about his sexuality in her usual, tactless fashion.
But Viridia had been nothing but supportive to him, ever.
Not like his own mother, who was sure to have a cow if – when, he
reminded himself, he was going to have to tell them sometime – she found out
that the precious male heir of the family had no interest in girls except as
friends.
    Ara‟s dad had taken some convincing that Rean and Ara were just friends,
but sometime between his third and fourth dinner at the Elvensong house,
Viridia had clearly sat him down and explained things to him. By now, both
Ara‟s parents were a comfortable spot in Rean‟s routine, and so were her
brother and sister. Anariel was currently rolling her eyes at Ara.
“Ara, you make everything so plain,” she complained. Then she turned to
Rean with a sunny smile on her face. “Everyone talked about it, and you‟re
welcome here any time,” she said, putting on a voice that was clearly an
imitation of her mother for the last part.
   Haldir, sitting in between his daughters, nodded. “We like having you
around the house,” he said.
   “Yep!” Ana said, “and you‟ve gotta come to my birthday party next week,
got it? You‟re like an extra big brother.”
“Hey, I thought I was your only big brother,” Achenar objected, mock-
insulted. “I thought you liked me best.”
    “You‟re always out with Elirand and Calla,” Ana replied, sticking her
tongue out at him. “Rean‟s my extra for when you‟re not home.”
    Aranel quietly snorted into her plate. “And everyone says I’m tactless.”
    Rean and Achenar turned to look at her. “What?” she asked, “Just wait until
her teen birthday, she‟ll stop being cute enough to get away with it.”
    Talk turned to Anariel‟s upcoming birthday party as everyone finished up
the last few bites on their plate and Rean and Aranel stacked dishes.
As Rean left, Aranel followed him to the door.
    “See you at school, then.”
    “Yeah, you too. Hey, by the way, is everybody going to prom?”
    Aranel shrugged. “I honestly haven‟t been paying attention. Why, is there
some big group going or something?”
    “Well, a few people. But it will be a big enough group that we won‟t be
smushed by all the couples, since nobody‟s really taking anyone to prom –
officially, that is.”
    “All right, cool. I‟ll make sure to get some tickets.”
                             *         *       *
Lydia picked at the sash of her dress. It was very warm and sunny, with
only a bit of breeze. Typical late spring weather, really – when a cloud passed
over the sun you were cold, and when it left you were hot.
   She tapped her foot impatiently, shifting her bouquet. It was probably the
roses that were making her itch, not the dress.
   The children were in the front row and kicking their feet – Ana looked torn
between the indignity of still sitting with the kids and the responsibility of
minding Delphina, which she shared with Orion.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
The ceremony itself was quick and simple. The important thing, as Midina
had said, was to have friends there. Lydia couldn‟t stop her mind from
churning, however, in the short time it took her to watch her mother get
married.
    Makir was now officially her stepfather. She didn‟t have a problem with
that, exactly. It still seemed odd that she called him Makir while Orion and
Delphina called him “Dad,” but even as a little kid learning to talk she must
have known that he wasn‟t actually her father. Now she was the only person at
the wedding without two parents who were married to each other. On the
surface, it changed nothing, but way down deep, what did that really mean?
Lydia wondered if she‟d feel any different at the wedding if her mother had
been marrying her father. Not that she wasn‟t happy for them, but maybe, just
maybe, she‟d have been as enthusiastic about the wedding as her “aunts”
Eluisa and Chalimyra were. She just felt that the wedding was simply a show
to confirm something that everyone knew anyways, and she felt terrible for
thinking it. Shouldn‟t she be deliriously happy for her mom, finally marrying
the man that she loved?
Shouldn‟t she be prouder to be a part of the ceremony? Shouldn‟t she be
thinking only of her mother and stepfather‟s happiness, not how wrong it was
that she was using the moment to analyze her own feelings, comparing Makir
to a father that she had never known? Shouldn‟t it all just mean more, after
how important everyone else seemed to think a wedding was? The way Ana‟s
mother had talked, it was the single most important moment in her mom‟s life,
and she hadn‟t paid attention to the whole first part, because they were almost
done with the vows now.
Maybe, she suspected as Makir slipped the ring onto her mother‟s finger,
she was simply too practical and not romantic enough to fully appreciate the
moment. The flowers were lovely, even if their smell was very slightly damp
and earthy, the air was only chilly when the breeze picked up, and everyone
around her was watching the wedding. Her eyes treacherously sought out Ana,
to share a conspiratory glance – even if she didn‟t know what the glance really
said, Ana would – but Ana was watching the wedding with rapt attention.
    Well, it was nice to know that someone found the ceremony absorbing.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
After the cake, Lydia was just thinking that she should rescue the
camera from Orion so that someone could take decent pictures when
Ana yelled for her to come over for the bouquet toss.
It wasn‟t as if Lydia was going to argue with tradition. Nobody really
believed girl to catch the bouquet would be the next to get married. She
already had flowers, and anyway she wasn‟t getting married any time soon.
But she didn‟t try very hard to catch the bouquet, all the same. The other girls,
with the possible exception of Ana‟s sister Aranel, were all eager to try.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
And with the boquet toss, the wedding was almost over. Some chipper
dance song came on the CD player as Calla‟s mom started to congratulate her
on having caught the bouquet. Lydia felt Ana tug her wrist.
   “Dance with me, Lydia? Pleeeease? Nobody else will.”
   “Nobody‟s dancing except for your parents being sappy,” Lydia replied.
   “But I like this song. Pleeeeeeease?”
   “All right,” Lydia said, and she took Ana‟s hands – it still bothered her how
much shorter Ana was than her now, but it wouldn‟t be for much longer – and
they started to sway more or less to the music.
“Your brother said I had cooties when I wanted to dance,” Ana informed
Lydia, who laughed.
    “Clearly, he still has the mind of a six-year old even if he is twelve. Just
wait until you‟re a teenager, you won‟t be able to get rid of him then. He
pesters me every day about high school, at least when he‟s not busy trying to
get himself killed on Gallagher Newson‟s skateboard.”
    “When we‟re grown up and get married, I want you to be part of my
wedding too,” Ana said, out of the blue. “We can dance too.”
“Don‟t be silly, you‟ll be dancing with your husband,” Lydia replied. “But
yes, I‟ll be maid of honor or something if you want.”
   “Good,” said Ana, “And I‟ll be your maid of honor at your wedding,
right?”
   “Of course.”
   “That way even when we get married we can always be together.”
   “Pfft. As if I‟d let marriage stop us from being friends. Don‟t be such a
pessimist, Ana.”
“I didn‟t mean it like that. I‟m happy that you‟re going to start private
school with me as soon as I grow up – it‟s only a couple of days now. But I just
want you to know that you‟ll always be my most important person before
we‟re both teenagers and all sorts of things start happening.”
   “What about your family?” Lydia asked practically, even though she could
feel a smile unrolling inside her.
   Ana thought for a moment.
“They‟re important too, obviously,” she said, “Family has to be, just
because. But you I got to pick.”
                           *      *         *
“Calla, I need your help,” Achenar said, having found her in the back room,
“And you can‟t tell Elirand – he‟ll laught at me. Plus, it‟s about girl stuff – I
mean, stuff related to girls - so I need your honest opinion and advice as, you
know, a girl who knows what a girl might -”
    “Achenar,” she interrupted, “You know I‟ll help you with whatever it is.”
    “Right,” he said, running his hand through his hair nervously, “Well, there‟s
the dance coming up – Prom – and there‟s this girl.”
“Thank you, captain obvious.”
    “Calla.”
    “Just get on with it, would you? I can‟t help you if you don‟t explain the
problem.”
    “Okay. Well, anyhow, I like this girl. A lot.” Achenar started to gesture with
his arms, pacing back and forth a little. “She‟s smart and she‟s funny, and she‟s
got these eyes, just – wow – and all this thick black hair that smells amazing,
and legs…”
Suspicion dawned on Calla. “Are you saying what I think you‟re saying?”
Achenar stopped waving his arms abruptly. “It‟s that obvious, huh?”
Calla smiled. “A little.”
“Do you think she knows?”
“Oh, I‟m sure she knows.”
   “Ah. Well, that‟s good then. So…”
   “She might,” Calla suggested, “even say yes.”
   Achenar made up his mind, darting forward to seize Calla by the
hand. “Calla,” he said, “would you please get Arcadia Ebadi to say if
she‟ll go to the dance with me?”
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
*   *   *
“Yeah, so then the bottle rocket blew up, and Mr. Pfeiffel dove behind the
dumpster, while everybody was running around like chickens, screaming their
lungs off. It was great.”
    Calla just shook her head, “Junior year Geology hasn‟t had an explosion
yet.”
    “That‟s because physics is awesome. Not some of my classmates, though.
Two of them were complaining the whole time about getting water and plastic
in their hair. Most of the other girls spent the whole time talking about prom.
Oh, and getting fake nails, which is kind of disgusting to listen to.”
“So, you‟re not going to prom?”
   “Well, yeah, but not with a date or anything, just with a bunch of people, Rean
and a lot of seniors. We‟re going to eat ourselves silly at the pancake house and
dance badly until somebody pukes on the DJ. Nobody in the group‟s really with
anyone, so we‟re basically going to swarm the dance floor and annoy the
couples.”
   “Sounds like fun. I kind of wish all of our friends would do that, but
everybody‟s just pairing up, even though we‟re all going together.”
   “Yeah, but you‟re not dating anyone and neither are your brother or Achenar.”
Calla let out an irritated sigh. “Yeah, but Elirand‟s spending all his time
trying to pick up Meadow Thayer – don‟t ask me why, he‟s a moron – and so
he‟s either going to be a total moron about her, or pick up some other girl in
time for the dance. Oh, yeah, and Achenar is asking Arcadia Ebadi, so the
whole night‟s going to be a disaster.”
    “Wait, what‟s wrong with Arcadia? She‟s not a giggling moron, or wasn‟t
last time I talked to her. I thought you liked her.”
    “I liked her better a couple months ago,” Calla said, making a disgusted
face.
Calla wasn‟t the only one to be irritated with her brother.
    “And now Orion doesn‟t wanna play with me because he‟s too big,” Delphina
finished complaining to Ariadne, “But you‟re still little, and you‟ll be my new friend
when you grow big, won‟t you?”
    “Wanna play peek-boo!”
    Delphina sighed, but covered her face with her hands anyway. There was something
less than ideal about having a playmate who was only a year old. Ariadne giggled, and
Delphina got up.
    “I‟m gonna go find my sister.”
Anariel opened the door to the extra room, having looked everywhere else
for her best friend.
    “Hey Lydia, I‟ve been looking for you, I want your opinion on whether I
should give this bear to Ariadne…”
“That is so stupid,” Lydia was saying, “and he really said that?”
   “Yup. Apparently, I‟m a different species.”
   “More like he‟s a sasquatch.”
   “Yeah, that‟s what Aranel said, but hey, technically none of us are human.
Anyway, he apologized for it later, but that was my first day of private school.
Yours will be fine.”
   “I really hope so, it‟s kind of odd growing up during such a long break and
not knowing what to expect.” Lydia finally turned around and noticed Ana
standing there. “Oh, is it time for the cake, Ana?”
Getting everyone into the kitchen for the cake turned out to take a
ridiculous amount of time. In fact, despite the kitchen being much bigger than
before the house was remodeled, it seemed like there was even less room for
the guests. Nevertheless, everyone was squeezed into the kitchen behind the
counter, waiting for her to blow out the candles and become a teen.
Except for Aranel.
   “Hurry up Ana, I want caaaake.”
   “It‟s your sister‟s birthday, Aranel,” Viridia scolded her oldest daughter,
“Don‟t rush her.”
   Ana found that she didn‟t actually mind so much. “It‟s okay mom, I‟m just
waiting for everybody to get in here.” She took a look around the room, and
found that one of the guests was staring at the sink, but decided not to
comment on it. She must be someone that one of her parents knew.
There was no delaying any longer, everyone was in the kitchen, shifting
about and wielding their noisemakers. It seemed kind of childish to Ana, but as
she was only going to be a child for a couple more seconds…
   Lydia‟s party horn sounded, sharp and tinny, in her ear as she stared into the
candle flames. She had thought that she had a wish, but she‟d forgotten it. The
only one she could think of was extremely childish.
What did she want more than anything? To be braver? It seemed somehow
small and hollow, now. She knew that she could speak up, even in front of
strangers, and she knew now that Aranel‟s teasing didn‟t mean that her sister
hated her, just that she didn‟t know what would upset her. She wasn‟t bothered
by the large crowd in the room and saw no reason to be, since it was full of
people she knew and who liked her. Trying to carry her childish concerns into
her teenage years suddenly didn‟t strike her as a very good idea.
    She wouldn‟t wish for bravery. She wouldn‟t wish to change herself.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
As soon as cake had been eaten, Anariel dragged Lydia up to her room to
talk. Lydia perched on Ana‟s pillow, swinging her feet and looking around the
room. It was a little bare still, but Ana knew that Lydia would be helping her to
collect more posters soon enough.
    “So,” Ana said as soon as she had shut the door, behind her, “how do you
tell what your aspiration is?”
    Lydia shrugged. “I don‟t know. I think you just… know.”
“Well, how did you know that you were a knowledge sim?” Ana
demanded.
    “I don‟t really know, I just… I guess I went with what felt right,” Lydia
confessed, “What mattered to me was, well, knowing that things would turn
out, knowing why things happen… maybe I just want to be certain about
everything.”
    “It figures that I would get you telling me that you just „knew‟ what to do.”
    “Hey, what do you want? I don‟t live between your pointy ears, Ana, I can‟t
tell you what to do.”
“You could, there‟s just no guarantee I‟d do it,” Anariel said, “And your
ears are pointy too.”
   “Not as pointy as yours, though,” Lydia‟s irritation never lasted long.
   “You‟re just jealous of the ears,” Ana smirked a little.
   “Feeling better about joining the world of the near-adults, then?” Lydia
asked, leaning back against the headboard, “sit down, it‟s your bed, not mine.”
“A bit,” Ana confessed, taking the other end of the bed, “Mostly, I‟m glad
it‟s all over and I don‟t have to wait any more. I‟ll deal with school when it
happens, but anything‟s better than just waiting to change.”
     “Mmm,” Lydia replied as she swung her feet up onto the bed, “High school
will be fine. We managed elementary, didn‟t we? And we‟ll be in the same
place for the first time. It‟ll be good. Don‟t worry about it.”
“I‟m not worried, really. Just kind of curious. I mean, both my brother and
my sister go to the school, but I still don‟t have a very good idea of what it‟s
like.”
    “Elementary school, sized extra large, with people sized extra large and
legally allowed to drive.”
    “Lyds, you know what I mean.”
    “If you‟re relying on my ESP, the only channel I‟m picking up is the one
that declares that your mom makes one great cake.”
    “I mean, I don‟t think I know what it‟s like to be a teenager yet.”
“Mmm, cake. Though, I suppose that‟s very reasonable of you, considering
you‟ve been one for less than half an hour.”
    “Lyds, I‟m not sure that I‟m ready.”
    Lydia cracked open an eye. “Of course you‟re ready. Don‟t go doubting
yourself everywhere, Ana. And even if you‟re not, life happens, you‟ll be fine.
It‟s not as if you can go back. Just because you haven‟t decided your goals and
aspirations yet doesn‟t mean that you‟re not ready, it means that you want to
think about things instead of just jumping into them.”
“Well, like I said, I‟m not worried, because I‟ve got you and we‟re finally
going to be in the same school and the same classes.” Ana bounced a little on
the bed, “Also, did you know that prom‟s in three weeks? We should go.”
    “I don‟t know if freshmen are allowed.”
    “Now who‟s negative? I‟m pretty sure we are, though, and I want to go,
so will you come with me?”
    “All right, I‟ll go if you can get tickets,” Lydia said, “but let‟s not start
buying dresses until we‟re absolutely certain. We‟ve got all of school to get
through tomorrow.”
“So, do you guys want to hear some good news? Arcadia said yes.”
“Pass me some mojo then,” Elirand replied distractedly, though Achenar
was too excited to notice his friend‟s lack of attention. “And remember to get
her ticket, they go on sale soon. Hey Calla,” he said a little louder, calling up to
the top of the play structure, “Do you remember when they‟re selling the
tickets?”
“Next week on Thursday,” Calla replied distantly. She didn‟t even turn
around.
    “Is that for us or the Seniors?” Elirand asked.
    “Both.”
    “Good, that way we‟ll be sure of getting tickets,” Achenar said, “I mean,
the underclassmen will have another chance to go to prom, but we won‟t, so I
guess selling tickets like this makes sense.”
    The only response he got out of Calla was a shrug.
“What‟s up with her?” he asked Elirand in an undertone. Elirand shushed
him.
   “Hey Calla,” he called, “You wanna come down and fish in the pond?”
   “Not particularly.”
   “Or we could see if we could bring Don‟t Wake the Llama out of the
basement.”
   “That game‟s for kids, Elirand.”
   “All the more reason to enjoy it now.”
“I‟m good up here, thanks.”
                       *      *   *
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
“That sucks, that we don‟t have advisory together,” Ana said as she stared
at the selection on the snack machine. It was the first day for both of them:
Lydia‟s transfer had only just been completed. Unfortunately, being finally in
the same school did not necessarily mean that they had compatible schedules.
In fact, it was sort of the opposite.
    “We‟ve got lunch… and trig.” Lydia wasn‟t entirely happy with the new
arrangement either. “We‟ll probably have better luck next semester.”
“Yeah, probably.” Ana didn‟t sound too convinced. Somewhere off in the
distance, the warning bell rang.
    “I guess I‟ll see you at lunch, then.”
    “Yeah, see you,” said Ana, waving cheerily as she walked away.
    Lydia started on down the long hall alone, stopping only when she was
confronted with a door.
    Room 108. Her first day of private high school.
Lydia plastered a smile on over her nervousness and chose a seat in the back, next
to a guy who was busily drawing in his notebook. She couldn‟t resist just a peek at the
sketch.
    “Captain Hero, huh?” she asked. He looked up and snapped the notebook shut.
    “Yeah,” he replied, looking a little embarrassed.
    “It‟s a pretty cool sketch,” Lydia said, not knowing what else to say. “He doesn‟t fly
exactly like that, though, his ankle bends a little…”
*   *   *
The first day, and then the first week, slipped past in a tumult of laughter
before they knew it.
                            *         *        *
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
“So,” said Elirand as he hit his seat, looking very pleased with himself,
“She said yes.”
    “Who said yes?” Achenar asked, while Calla stabbed carrots with her fork.
    “Elizabeth. She‟s going to prom with me now.” Elirand puffed out his chest
a little as he spoke.
    “Well good job then,” Calla said, a little more forcefully than she needed
to.
“Uh, Calla? You‟re kind of making carrot sauce there,” Achenar said,
taking the fork out of her hands. She‟d been acting weird the past few days and
eating smashed carrots couldn‟t be helping.
    Instead of speaking or even looking at him, she crossed her arms and
leaned back in her chair. It was at that moment that Vince Jalowitz came to
breathe some life into the dying conversation.
“Calla,” he said with a smile and a very British accent, “Would you mind
talking to me in private for a moment?”
    “Got something to say to her that we can‟t hear, Jalowitz?” Elirand asked.
    “As a matter of fact, yes.”
    “Shut up, Elir. Yes, of course, Vince.” She got up without sparing the boys
a backward glance.
“Wonder what that‟s all about?” Elirand asked, but since Calla‟s bad
mood was infectious, Achenar didn‟t answer except in a shrug. He
didn‟t much care, really, what it was about – probably some notes or
something. He took Calla‟s fork and started murdering more carrots,
but couldn‟t focus on them. He looked up. There was a long moment
where he watched Calla through the glass of the door.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
“So, what was that about?” Elirand asked immediately as she returned to
the table and Vince strutted off into the cafeteria like some sort of peacock.
“Oh, nothing,” Calla replied arily, “Vince just asked me to prom, that‟s all.”
*   *   *
Lydia made a beeline for the usual table, getting there long before any of
the other girls, and dropped her tray with a sigh. It was strange that no one else
was there yet, but then, she‟d been at the front of the lunch line.
     She waved at Briar, who was passing by with his own tray. When he
caught sight of her, he swerved over towards her table.
“Hey, Lydia,” he said as he approached, “I was wondering something.” He
didn‟t say what he‟d been wondering, however, just left it hanging there.
    “Well?” Lydia prompted, “What were you wondering?”
    “I… Well I was wondering if…” Lydia stared at him, unblinking, waiting
for him to finish, while he shifted from foot to foot. “I was wondering if you
thought that the biology test was easy,” he finally blurted out.
    Lydia shrugged, “Well, as long as you remembered which ones the
Eukaryotes were, I dunno, it should be okay…”
“Yeah, Eukaryotes,” Briar replied with a forced laugh, “It‟s actually the
prophase and anaphase that always confuses me, really.” He spotted the girls
arriving out of the corner of his eye, and he changed tracks abruptly. “Well, I
should get going, I guess. Are you doing anything next weekend?”
    “Probably studying for the memorization test in English,” Lydia replied
absently. “Why? Is there something going on?”
“Oh, nothing, nothing…” Briar disappeared across the lunchroom as
Lydia‟s usual table mates closed in.
   As usual, Christy came flying in first, already talking, but in this case, she
was leading a pleased-looking but very red Anariel and talking full speed.
   “Lyds! You‟ll never guess what happened in the lunch line!”
Christycrowed, turning Ana an even brighter shade.
“Dinosaurs attacked,” Lydia replied, “And you stoned them to death with
the hamburgers.”
    “No! Not that! Tell her, Ana!”
Ana shrugged a bit, very pink in the face. “I just got asked to prom,” she
said, unable to wipe the stupid grin off of her face.
*   *   *
Viridia looked into the bedroom and saw, much to her surprise, that Haldir
was already asleep, though it was less than an hour after dinner. She would have
had to be blind to not have seen how tired he was during the last few weeks, as
things at the hospital finally settled down and returned to normal, but she had
never thought that he would still be this exhausted. Fervently, she hoped that he
hadn‟t caught anything. Although, if he had, or even if he hadn‟t, taking some
time off of work would be good for him. He didn‟t get to spend as much time
with Ariadne as he ought to, and Aranel would be off to college before long.
They hadn‟t spent much time together since the earthquake – he had been
at the clinic night and day at first, and she had been busy enough with
everything, including the building of the new house and fulfilling her duties as
Dean of Students at SSU. So many people had been afraid of the aurora storm,
and the damage that both it and the tremors had caused, that she‟d hardly had
time to worry about her own concerns. Then there had been Midina‟s wedding,
which had been put off by the earthquake after being delayed so many years.
Everyone, it seemed, was moving on or growing up, and all of the constant
things in her life were settling quietly into their age, like rocks sinking into the
mud of a riverbed. She wondered if she too, had settled, become a part of the
scenery that pushed quietly on from day to day. If she was starting to fade into
memories, or maybe just into her husband‟s well-deserved dreams.
    With a smile, she turned and shut the door behind her.
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
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Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
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Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
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Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
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Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors
Author‟s Note
    Yeah, so everything looks different now. For those of you who don‟t know,
I had a pretty massive rebuild – extracting lots, installing a clean version of
Riverblossom, the whole nine yards – and I got some new CC while, in the
process, dumping some really old stuff, mostly stuff I found on the exchange.
    You may have noticed:
- Shiny new Enalya skins that I really ought to geneticize soon on the elves.
- Hairstyles. I need to fix for recessives, but people at least got their right
visible color genes this time around. Of course, I had a lot of hairstyles that
went because of mesh issues or colors (xmsims colors, anyone? The only thing
worse is helga‟s poster paint red.)
- New plantsim default! Gorgeous, no? „tis from Garden of Shadows
(specifically, Almighty Hat) and it‟s my new favorite. Well, that and having
plantsims with real hair. Now they look a little more dryad-ish.
- People grew up while you weren‟t looking. This is because they needed to
be exported (Ariadne) or were close enough to their next age that it didn‟t
matter (Delphina, the Greenmans) Oh, yeah, and because I am thoroughly sick
of going into extensive detail about birthdays, because there are too friggin
many of them.
- I got Pets and M&G. Now the only remotely useful things I don‟t have are
three or so stuff packs. Okay, technically I bought Pets in September, but I
figured if I was already rebuilding, why not just mix everything up?
Oh yeah, and the house.
    I hated the old Elvensong house very, very much. It once took Aranel 45 sim
minutes to get from the dining room to the bus, because routing was a spaghetti
mess and the bridge… oh, the bridge. People did laps around the house to get
into the next room. The moral of the story is to never make a house around a
lake, or one with two or more staircases. Ever. The router immediately drops 40
IQ points.
    Anyhow, a much more modern, rather better looking house, which will get a
lot more interior paint eventually, but for now doesn‟t look too bad, especially
the kitchen. And everyone has their own bedroom, for which I‟m sure all the
kids will thank me. Also, does anyone know how to stop the ceiling tiles being
blue? It‟s annoying the heck out of me. I‟ve replaced them 20+ times.
Oh yeah, Ariadne‟s age is something that‟s going to require constant
fudging from here on in. She gets to stay a tot for a little longer than usual
because of the rebuild shennanigans. Canonically, the ages of the Elvensong
kids are as follows right now:
    Aranel : just turned 18 (Rean‟s seventeen but a senior.)
    Achenar: 16 (something like a year and a half in between the oldest two)
    Anariel: 14
    Ariadne: About 18 months.
    Fortunately, I learned to tweak an aging hack, so game ages will line up
better with canon, and my version gives seniors a hugely variable age range,
with deaths between 60 and 90. It hits everyone at their next age transition, so
it won‟t be very visible for a while.
And thank you to the makers of GIMP, which is free and pretty much my best
friend right now. Broken glass was easy in concept, but required a lot of tweaking
in the end. The version to your left came out too chalky with lighting that was too
bright. Not making a tutorial right now, but anyone who likes can pick my brain
on the process for any of the chapter‟s broken glass if they PM me, or on the
(almost invisible) tears from Gabriella‟s scene, or the lightning/sparks, which was
also really fun to draw.
     Heck, I just like to draw, but anyone with a fairly steady hand and a wireless
mouse can manage the lightning and glass. Actually, I did it with an attached
mouse.
     There‟s more I could say, given that it‟s been months since my last update, but
I‟ll save it for the spam, yes?
     No, I‟m not going to tell you what‟s going on in the end yet. Figure it out
yourselves. 

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Elven Heritage Legacy 10: Tremors

  • 1. The Elven Heritage Legacy, 1.10 Tremors
  • 3. The laboratory‟s only resident jolted from her unintended nap, scattering books everywhere, and flailed for her alarm clock unsuccessfully before realizing that not only had she been asleep on the couch, the strident klaxon was coming from a different kind of alarm. Her eyes flew wide, all traces of sleep forgotten, as her eyes fell on the row of machines lining one wall.
  • 4. “Oh no,” she breathed, “this cannot be happening. Not again!” She dashed to the computers and started to type and mouse furiously. “Override!” she yelled at the apparatus hooked to the computers, “Override!”
  • 5. All she achieved was a shrill whine from the machine as she frantically flipped open all of the safety valves, cut power to all but the most essential circuitry, and initiated the failsafe procedure. The screen was scrolling through data at a lightning pace, but she didn‟t have to look at the incomprehensible squiggling graphs to know that what they showed was no good news.
  • 6. There was an irritated banging from the far side of the wall. “Keep it down in there!” yelled a voice, “It‟s two A.M.!” the voice went completely ignored as she hunched over her computers. “Come on,” she muttered, “come on, nearly there – what? NO!” She had about ten seconds warning before the apparatus on the far wall exploded into a shower of sparks, throwing her across the room.
  • 13. Oh dear,” she said, looking at the gaping hole in the wall, through which the glow of an unnatural aurora could be seen, “That‟s never a good sign.” A moment later, collected herself, she became aware of a pounding on the outer door. She sighed. “They‟re going to charge me for damaging the room, aren‟t they?” * * *
  • 17. Haldir would never be entirely certain, but he was prepared to swear that everything about his life looked different now. The last party in his house had been a full nine months ago, and that had been in what was, to all intents and purposes, a different house. It would be months before they were fully moved in: there were still boxes everywhere. Nine months ago Ariadne had been barely more than a newborn. Aranel had still only been looking at colleges, not accepted to Sim State with full honors and ready to throw everything in a suitcase and leave as soon as possible, already thinking ahead past graduation. Achenar had barely been old enough to drive, and Ana had been just a little girl.
  • 18. This is going to be the dining room,” Viridia was saying to Chalimyra, Eluisa and Midina, who were playing the part of appreciative audience members for the tour of the new house, while Haldir, Talon and Makir tagged along, “as soon as I can find a big enough table.”
  • 19. She caught Haldir‟s eye from across the room and smiled. Haldir smiled back, happy that she was taking all of this so well. Learning that the old house had been unsafe for habitation had been a shock to them all, but Viridia always worried far too much. She would lie awake at night unable to stop thinking about what could have happened, and everything that could have happened was grounds for worry. He didn‟t know how she‟d survived that latest earthquake, especially with everything that had happened during the last one.
  • 20. It had been a good thing that the earthquake had come when it had, though, because that was the only reason that they had learned that a flaw in the foundation had led to enormous structural damage during the last earthquake. They had decided to start fresh, and though it had been hard on everyone‟s nerves while the house was literally going up around their ears, the results had been worth it. Haldir yawned. “Kids wearing you out?” Talon asked from where the two of them were standing in the doorway.
  • 21. Haldir just shook his head. “Extra shifts at the hospital,” he explained, “We‟re just finishing up all of the non-essential surgery that was put off until we could sort out all the storm and earthquake victims – people had to reschedule when the hospital was flooded with patients, and we‟re finally getting the last of them done now. I replaced four hips yesterday. It‟s finally the end of all this chaos.” Maybe he‟d finally get a decent night‟s sleep. And maybe it would actually be at his home, in his bed, with his wife.
  • 22. Talon shook his head sympathetically. “Tell me about it. I‟ve been rebuilding the Elkthorn Inn from the ground up,” he said. “In a new building, of course – everything on this side of the road was damaged, and there wasn‟t enough left to rebuild out here in Lake Valley – and it‟s as if they had to put the whole town back together down in Riverblossom Heights.” “Hmmm.” Haldir really was tired, but Talon, as ever, was filled with energy.
  • 23. “You should come by some time, when you manage to be off work,” Talon continued, “The new store is bigger – we have some different merchandise now – and to top it all off, Elirand and Calla have turned out to be naturals at sales. Achenar‟s not bad either. Of course, the three of them are very good at distracting each other from the work, but you‟re only young once.” “That‟s true,” Haldir replied tiredly. There was a moment before he managed to pick up a new thread of conversation. “We should call them in for lunch soon.”
  • 24. “You want to do what?” Calla asked. “Well, it‟s not really a big deal, it‟s just that we‟ll be in our senior year soon and we haven‟t done anything too exciting since… well, since forever, at least since freshman year.” “We‟ve been a bit busy, haven‟t we?” Elirand replied, “What with working at the store and everything else.” “Come on, Elir, you know your dad will let us off for a weekend or so. Even if it is a long weekend.”
  • 25. “Yeah, he probably will,” Elirand admitted, “And don‟t get me wrong, I like the idea, it‟s just -” “Strange coming from you,” Calla put in. Elirand made a face at her for finishing his sentence. “But the more I think about it, the more that I like it. This could be the best idea you‟ve had all year. It‟s certainly better than when Elirand thought we could get out of personal finance by -” “Hey, I thought we agreed not to discuss that!” Achenar rolled his eyes at his two best friends. “It‟s not like we‟d be hitchiking to Strangetown or anything,” he said. “But both of you like it?”
  • 26. “We,” said Calla, definitively, “are in. You know that these mountains are part of the same chain that goes through Three Lakes?” “As long as we don‟t meet a sasquatch, Calla, I could care less,” Elirand replied, prompting his sister to display her maturity by sticking her tongue out at him. “This is going to be great – just the three of us again and no worries about anything.” “Besides the centipedes in your sleeping bag, that is.” “Oh, shut up Calla. Anyhow, yes, I am definitely in. If this is going to be our last big thing before college, we need to go out with a bang.”
  • 27. “So, all we need to do now is ask permission,” Achenar said. He looked at Calla with a smile, “I think that if our secret weapon goes around to ask… Hardest one is going to be my mom.” “Don‟t worry about it,” Calla replied, “How hard could it be? And you‟ll be with us, it‟s not like anything could possibly happen… Oh, don‟t answer that, Elirand, you know that even if sasquatches exist, there‟s none around here.” And Achenar got to listen to the inevitable sibling bickering as they got up and headed outside. It was interrupted only by Elirand‟s announcement that he needed the bathroom and his subsequent disappearance.
  • 28. “Wow, I swear your back yard‟s gotten bigger,” Calla said to Achenar when they emerged into the bright spring sunlight, “And that‟s even though your house has grown.” “Not all of it‟s ours, exactly,” Achenar replied, “We just moved closer to the woods… it‟s kind of hard to tell, but the lot line is actually pretty close to us on the other side of the stream, except it‟s lost in all the boulders and trees.” “Well, it‟s beautiful out here anyway.” Calla laughed, suddenly, “You‟ll have to remind Elirand to get interested in building projects, because we‟re starting to feel jealous of all your green woods.”
  • 29. “What about you?” Achenar asked, “You‟re already plenty interested.” Calla threw up her hands. “Come on, everyone knows that Elirand‟s inheriting the family business,” she said, “he‟s daddy‟s perfect little businessman and all of that. Besides, he wants it, which is far more than I can say for the good old Elkthorn Inn. He‟ll be the one who moves back into the house after college too, probably – our parents want to keep it in the family, for the sake of tradition and everything.” Achenar laughed. “It feels really strange to be talking about traditions that haven‟t even started yet.”
  • 30. “Hey, you‟re the one whose family is so big on tradition.” “I never said they weren‟t.” “Achenar,” Calla said, suddenly serious, “I wanted to know – have you been considering being heir? I mean, I know you have three sisters who might want the position, but…” “Anariel won‟t want it, I can already tell you that.” “You never know, she might grow up – she‟s not that far from being a teen. Ariadne‟s probably way too young…” “Unless my parents want to wait another twenty years until the heir comes home from college, then yeah, probably.”
  • 31. “It‟s really just between you and Ara, isn‟t it?” “Yeah, most likely,” Achenar replied, a little awkwardly, “I haven‟t really thought about it like that before – I mean, it‟s always been something that was a possibility -” “Yeah, and I really shouldn‟t have pried -” Calla began, trying to wrap the conversation up quickly. “No, it‟s ok,” Achenar said, “I mean, you‟d want to know, especially if both me and your brother were inheriting -” “But, like you said, it‟s all in the future, right?” There was a moment‟s awkward pause.
  • 32. “So,” Achenar said brightly, “Camping. It‟s going to be fun. And, you know, everything else that‟s going to happen this spring… like…. Um… Prom… and stuff.” “Oh, yeah,” Calla agreed, far too quickly. “Prom. We‟re going, right?” “Well yeah, probably. We‟d have to get Elirand on board, but if he can manage to not get shot down by Meadow, I‟m sure he‟d be all over the idea. And we can go in a really big group or something, just in case people don‟t have dates.” “…Yeah, a big group.”
  • 33. “You don‟t want to go with a big group?” Calla‟s enthusiasm was less than breathtaking. “Prom is something of a date dance, Achenar.” “Yeah, but nobody should be left out if they don‟t have one, right? I mean, it‟s not like they have prom every year…” “I never said that a group was a bad idea.” “I never thought that you did.” “Right.” Achenar seized on the one idea left in his head that might explain Calla‟s sudden lack of enthusiasm.
  • 34. “Calla, I‟m sure that you‟ll be able to find a date,” he said generously, “You‟re pretty, you‟re funny – there‟s a lot of guys at school that think you‟re great. If anything, there‟s going to be a line of guys waiting to ask you out.” Instead of cheering her up, however, the words seemed to make her even less happy. She looked as if she were about to say something, but at that moment, Elirand came strolling out the door. “Hey guys, what did I miss?” he asked, “And what‟s this about a line of guys waiting to ask out my sister?”
  • 35. “You have no idea how good it is to not have screaming kids around,” Ara declared to Rean the moment they‟d managed to find a secluded corner of the house. “Twelve and two are not good ages.” “I thought that Ariadne wasn‟t two yet?” “Okay, same difference. And Ana‟s thirteen, almost fourteen but I‟m beginning to doubt that she‟ll ever act older than twelve. She just keeps saying that everything‟s “not fair,” even though she‟s the one who hasn‟t been getting any extra chores and is allowed to go over to her best friend‟s house whenever the heck she feels like it. I‟m certain that I wasn‟t that self-centered in middle school.”
  • 36. Rean gave a crooked smile. “Actually…” “All right, all right, don‟t give me specifics,” Aranel replied hastily, “I know that me and the princess of disdain were probably holy terrors. My point being, I‟ve been thirteen, and nothing is that big of a deal, but Ana doesn‟t know how lucky she has it.” “You didn‟t get in a big fight with her again, did you?” “Well, if she keeps it up, I probably will. Having separate bedrooms is the only thing that‟s keeping me from dunking her in some good cold common sense.”
  • 37. “Aranel Elvensong, a campaign slogan every minute.” “And don‟t you forget it. Though really, we should have one discussion at a time, and trust me, you do not want me to get started on the Llama party today. Or the Status Quo‟s.” “I actually do read the newspaper now.” “They‟re acting like morons! Religion should not be a political platform, it‟s like grabbing a time machine and throwing everyone back into the middle ages! They don‟t need a bucket of good cold common sense, they need a lake!” “Keep extending that metaphor and you could write an opinion column.”
  • 38. “Yeah, well, I might. The only good thing the Changeists are doing right now is keeping their heads down among all this silliness. It‟s not even election year yet!” There was a moment‟s silence as Aranel changed gears. “Anyhow, you never told me what that thing with your sister was about last week.” Rean brushed some nonexistent dust off his knee. “Oh, Ida just wanted -” “I meant, she of the ridiculously large rumor mill, not she of the really strange circle of friends.”
  • 39. “Oh,” Rean‟s face fell, “That.” “Yeah, „that.‟ Don‟t think I didn‟t notice that your own sister stole your lunch money.” “Eh… it was more of blackmail than theft, really.” “What could she possibly have to blackmail you about?” Rean smiled sheepishly. “Well… I mean, it‟s not like the whole school doesn‟t already know. So it shouldn‟t be a really big deal, except… well, my parents are pretty old fashioned. And what am I supposed to do, announce at dinner „hey, the family name isn‟t going to get carried on, because I‟m your only son and I just don‟t like girls that way?‟ That‟ll go over well.”
  • 40. “All right,” Aranel said, “let me get this straight: you haven‟t told your parents yet, so your own sister is blackmailing you in installments of about seven simoleons apiece.” “… More or less.” “She really does need a good punch to the face, you know.” “My dear Aranel, I happen to be a pacifist, and even if you aren‟t I‟d hate to explain that one.” “Last time I checked, the dictionary definition of „pacifist‟ wasn‟t „doormat.‟ And all you really need to do is tell her to take a hike. Actually -” a sudden idea came to Aranel, and she couldn‟t help but grin, “I know what‟ll take the wind out of her sails. You tell them first.”
  • 41. “Yeah. Ara? Bad plan.” “Why? Once they know – and Rean, I‟m not entirely certain they‟ll be surprised – you can stop worrying about it, your sister won‟t have a chance to spin it, and even if she tries they‟ll believe you because you told them the truth first. So, once the initial shock is over, everyone goes back to their lives, and I no longer bring two sandwiches in my bag. Everybody wins, except Nymea.” “You don‟t know my parents,” Rean began. “Ara, they‟re not really like your mom and dad at all. I mean, your mom‟s strict and all, and it‟s not like she‟s going to let any of you run wild in the streets, but she at least respects your views.”
  • 42. “Every time the news is on the radio or my parents read the newspaper, I‟m supposed to agree with them whether or not I really think that way. They keep talking about sometime way back in Elphemerea, when our family was rich and important and all that – maybe my dad was head dog catcher, I don‟t know. The important thing is, even though we‟re doing decently now, my parents don‟t see it that way. They think that all this „modern thinking‟ is holding us back from everything we could have, and that the world is falling apart because so many people don‟t follow their „traditional values.‟” Rean took a breath, and Aranel nodded.
  • 43. “Anyway, ever since I could remember – keep in mind that I‟m the only son – my dad has been really fond of pointing things out in the newspaper to us, and giving us his opinion, and expecting us to agree. Mom‟s more or less the same, because anyone who was „raised right‟ should have the same values as her and anyone else was „raised wrong,‟ and that‟s really all there is to it. Religion, political views, whatever – you‟re in the wrong, but it‟s not your fault, because your parents were in the wrong and they taught you the wrong things.” Aranel snorted.
  • 44. “Yeah, I know, it‟s crazy,” Rean replied, “but that‟s how it is. You know the whole marriage debate that‟s going on?” “Which is ridiculous, because denying a person the right is just discrimination and prejudice dressed up as religion – as if one person‟s religion were any excuse to discriminate against someone else or deny them equal rights --” “Yes, that one. It was a rhetorical question, Ara.” “Don‟t ask if you don‟t want an answer.” Rean rolled eyes. “Anyway, long story short, the reason that I know my parents will have an issue with this is because that came up in the editorial section.”
  • 45. “Ah. I think I know where this is going.” “You‟d be correct. I had to sit through breakfast one day a few weeks ago with my dad holding court on „deranged perverts,‟ and „against the natural order,‟ and „ought not to be in decent society.‟ Of course, I‟ve known for a long time that he wouldn‟t be exactly pleased with… well…” “The fact that you have no interest in boobs?” “You‟re extremely crude, Ara. But accurate, yes.” “Hey, at least I didn‟t say „prefer –‟” “Anyway,” Rean interrupted. “Alliteration will not be necessary, thank you.”
  • 46. “For a dude, you‟re an awful prude.” “And for a girl, you‟re very rude. You‟re not the only one who can rhyme amusingly.” “Fair enough. Anyway, your dad and probably your mom won‟t be too pleased with that fact, even though it‟s hard to think of something more natural than hormones, except maybe manure.” “And people would prefer not to deal with manure either. That was actually the day that Nymea threatened to tell them – I should have known, the way mom went around that morning saying „absolutely right dear,‟ and „listen to your father, children, this is important,‟ while Nymea just sat there smirking.”
  • 47. “Nymea smirking is never good.” “Yeah, well, you try living with her.” “No thanks. Though I might trade you Ana for Idalese, if only for some peace and quiet.” “Thanks, but no. So, fifty something simoleons later, I‟ve figured out that sooner or later, not ratting me out is going to stop being worth the money for Nymea, or I‟m going to run out of cash.” Rean shrugged. “With all of us going off to college in a few months, I‟m hoping that I can outlast the summer, but…”
  • 48. “But if she does tell, your parents will have a cow, not least that you‟ve been keeping a secret from them this long.” Aranel summarized. “Dude – you have to tell them sometime.” “No, I really don‟t,” Rean replied, “for one thing, I‟d rather keep the freedom to actually go out and do things, without them being frantic about who I‟m doing them with, even if it‟s something as simple as coming up here to hang out with you.” “They‟ll get over it,” Aranel told him wisely, “I mean, how could they not? You‟re their kid.” Rean sighed. “I hope you‟re right, Ara,” he said, as they headed back to the party.
  • 49. “Don‟t tip, don‟t tip, don‟t tip… hey, I made it!” “Yay!” Delphina clapped enthusiastically from the far end of the table, and the three near-teens shared an eye roll. Still, she was only just in kindergarten, and all games fascinated her. “It isn‟t nearly as difficult as you think,” Lydia told Ana, adjusting her new glasses self-consciously. “I know how to play don‟t wake the Llama, Lydia,” Ana replied. “It just looked chancy for a minute, that‟s all.” “I wasn‟t talking about the game.”
  • 50. “Then what were you talking about?” “Waiting.” Lydia selected her straw with care. “I mean, we‟re not little kids any more, a couple of days aren‟t exactly the end of the world -” “It‟s just not fair, that‟s all,” Ana grumbled, “you get to go off to high school without me and I‟m stuck in middle school for another whole rotation.” “Yes, but it‟s not like we even go to the same school to begin with,” Lydia replied patiently, “I mean, you‟ll see me every day, or at least as much as we see each other now, and it‟s only a little while that we won‟t be in the same age group.”
  • 51. “Darn it,” Lydia said, as her inattention to the actual game caused half the tower to fall. “Smooth, Lydia,” said Orion, and she shot her little brother a look of annoyance. “Don‟t go teaching the kindergartner sarcasm.” “What‟s sarcasm?” asked Delphina, almost immediately. “Ask your brother.” The youngest of the group shrugged. She would put up with a lot in order to play with the big kids. “Come on, Orion, they‟ve got a tower on their playground!”
  • 52. “Fine,” he said, and followed his little sister out the doors, leaving Ana and Lydia at the table. “So,” said Lydia when the others were safely gone and Ana was staring up into space, “What‟s really the problem?” Ana heaved a huge sigh. “Well, apart from the fact that you‟re going to be a teenager and be having fun for a whole rotation without me…” “And the fact that it‟s not really that long, and that you‟re going to be having way more fun in private school than I am in the public high school…”
  • 53. “But it‟s not the same, Lydia! What if you suddenly make new friends, and what if you start hanging out with them because they can do teenager stuff with you and I can‟t? What if we end up with completely different aspirations?” Lydia tried very hard not to roll her eyes. “It‟s not like becoming a teenager changes everything about you,” she said, “I mean, we‟ll still be interested in the same stuff as we are now, just be able to do more things and we‟ll be figuring out what we want to do with our whole lives. And I‟ve never heard of aspiration stopping anyone from staying friends.”
  • 54. “You‟re always so reasonable, Lyds.” “And you say that like it‟s a bad thing? One of us has to be, at any rate.” Lydia picked up a straw and absently put it back on top of the pile. “Ha ha. Lydia, I‟m serious. You‟ll be exploring new places, learning to drive, allowed to go out on your own… and it‟s not going to be the same without you.” “Well,” Lydia replied with a smile, “I promise that I‟ll tell you all about it. And besides, I‟m not going to be too free to wander around – my mom and Makir are finally getting married, more or less immediately after my birthday.”
  • 55. “Besides, have you seen the list of subjects for high school? I guarantee you I‟ll be too busy finding my locker and trying to finish my homework to do too much before you grow up.” “Yeah, but that‟s school stuff. You‟re going to get to do everything before me – drive, go out -” “Get babysitting duty when my parents want to go out…” “Oh come on, at least there‟s no toddler in your house any more. All you have to do is give „Phina a box of crayons and make sure that Orion doesn‟t fry any circuts.”
  • 56. “I‟m just saying, it‟s not all fun and games, Ana.” “And I‟m just saying, I wish our birthdays were closer together.” “We‟ll be able to see even more of each other once we‟re both teens and can drive and don‟t have such early curfews – It‟ll be worth the wait.” “Yeah. Ever thought about getting into private school, Lydia?” “Well, yes, but my mom and Makir probably -” “Can‟t afford it for all three of you, I know.”
  • 57. “Nothing wrong with public school.” “I never said there was. I‟d leave private school to be with you, Lyd, you know I would.” “Well,” Lydia paused for a moment, flicking back one of her thick braids. Everything about her was different – the new glasses, growing out her bangs, the braids – and Ana knew that it was about to get even more different, while she‟d be stuck as a freckle-faced little girl. “What do you say to enjoying the days we have, then? I asked for chocolate cake at my party – you know that one‟s your favorite, and you don‟t exactly have to wait long to eat it.” * * *
  • 58. It was impossible to have a small party, not with the sheer amount of people who were in some way connected to Lydia, her mother, and Makir, but it was, at least, a quick gathering. Most of the people invited were actually either the adults, or friends of Orion and Delphina. She and Anariel were stranded between the teenagers and the little kids. Lydia didn‟t really care. She was all for a good party, but the fact that this one was swarming with everyone else‟s friends wasn‟t a problem with her either. There was really only one person whose presence mattered at this party.
  • 59. “See,” she told Anariel, “I told you it would be quick.” It felt strange to be this tall. It especially felt strange to be looking so far down at Anariel – Ana had always been shorter than her, but she‟d never been this much shorter. But Ana wouldn‟t be that much smaller than her for very long, and it was better not to say anything about how strange this felt. “Are you going to hug me or not?” Yep. Growing up didn‟t seem to change much. She leaned down and gave Anariel a quick hug.
  • 60. “Tomorrow,” she promised, “we are definitely going to talk.” Then she pushed back her falling sleeves. “First, though, I have to get changed.”
  • 61. * * *
  • 62. “I already told you, Gabriella,” Ginger said tiredly, “The answer is no.” “But I‟d be perfectly safe with friends -” “That doesn‟t change the fact that we need you here after school,” Ginger told her. A late dinner, now long cold, sat on the table, but none of the three teenagers was really hungry anymore. It had been a long day, and Ginger and Gavin still had homework waiting for them, long after the kids had gone to bed. “There‟s two whole hours between when my school lets out and when they do,” Gabriella protested, “That‟s plenty of time, and I promise I‟ll get back.”
  • 63. Ginger wanted to say yes. In any other family, an afternoon at the roller skating rink would have been a perfectly harmless request, one that any parent would have been happy to grant. Of course, those were families with parents, not with just her and Gavin trying to muddle through. “Gabby, now that you‟re a teen, I have to start looking for a job,” she said. “We‟re already dipping into mom‟s trust fund far too much, and until Gavin turns eighteen and can get a full time job, we‟re going to need to stretch every last simoleon. I‟m not saying you can‟t ever go out -” “Oh really?” Gabriella muttered. “That‟s not what it sounds like.”
  • 64. Ginger sighed. “Gavin, it wouldn‟t hurt for you to back me up, you know.” “Yeah,” Gabriella piped up, “Tell her that she‟s not being reasonable – I‟ll be home at two thirty, max.” Gavin looked from one sister to the other. “Gabby,” he said, slowly, “money‟s tight. What are you going to use to rent your skates?” “The extra couple of simoleons that I‟ve saved from my lunch money,” Gabriella replied promptly. “That money is for feeding you,” Ginger cut in quickly, “You need the nutrition far more than you need an extra couple of bucks for fun.”
  • 65. “Everyone‟s got to have a little fun sometimes,” Gabriella protested, “You‟re only stopping me because you‟re jealous. I have the money, I have the time, and I‟ll be perfectly safe, so there‟s no possible reason that you can justify saying no.” “That doesn‟t make the answer yes. Those two hours between when high school lets out and when you have to get the kids from the bus are for studying. While I‟m looking for a job and Gavin‟s at work, you‟re not going to have time for homework when the kids are home, because we‟ll be relying on you to pick up the slack around the apartment.”
  • 66. “Look,” said Gavin, who couldn‟t bear the look on his younger sister‟s face, “I promise that you‟ll get to go bowling sometime -” “It‟s roller blading.” “Roller blading, then. Just not tomorrow. You‟ll have to wait a bit, until either we have some extra money or I have a day off work.” Ginger glared at her brother out from under her bangs. “Gavin, you shouldn‟t promise her things that we might not be able to do,” she said reproachfully. “Promises are hope, Ginge,” he said as he rose from the table and headed in to the boy‟s room. “I think we all need some right now.”
  • 67. There was momentary silence when the door shut behind him. “Now, Gabriella -” “He only said no because you told him to,” Gabriella accused her sister. “My reasons are as good as yours. You‟re just jealous of me.” “He said no because he knows that we just can‟t afford to let you do that right now, regardless of whether we want to say yes or not,” Ginger replied sharply. “You do not want to say yes. You say you do, but you really just want me to be stuck here with no friends!” Gabriella didn‟t raise her voice – she would have woke the whole family – but that didn‟t reduce the amount of venom in her words.
  • 68. “Oh, now I’m the villain here,” Ginger hissed back, “Just because you didn‟t get what you wanted. How dare I tell a fourteen year old that the security of this family is more important than her social life?” “You‟re barely seventeen. What gives you the right to decide things for me?” “A court ruling.” “Well, screw the court!” “Do you want to go back to foster care? Because that‟s the alternative to having me in charge.”
  • 69. “Maybe I do! It‟ll get me away from you!” “Of all the ungrateful -!” “Grateful? I‟m supposed to be grateful that we live stacked up on top of each other in an apartment where there‟s barely enough space to turn around? I‟m supposed to be grateful to come home to burned dinners and permanent babysitting duty?” “You‟re supposed to be grateful to have a family and a home!” “Family? Family? You‟re not mom! And you‟re doing a pretty piss-poor job of replacing her!”
  • 70. The apartment door rebounded off the wall, leaving a dent in the ancient brown and tan wallpaper, but Gabriella didn‟t care. She stormed out of the apartment and down the steps, her bony arms folded tight across her ribs. She was every bit as grown up as Ginger was, so why was Ginger still treating her like a child? She‟d always been bossy, even when mom had been alive, but it wasn‟t until Gabriella had become a teenager that she realized that Ginger was mean as well. And she always had to be right – oh no, god forbid anyone else ever be right, because she‟d just keep ignoring it and insisting that she was the one who was really right – which meant, of course, that Gabriella always had to be wrong.
  • 71. “Gabby!” Gabriella ignored it. It was a stupid nickname. How had she gotten it? Because her own family had insisted that she talked too much. Clearly they‟d all rather that she‟d just shut up so that they wouldn‟t have to spend their days pointing out that she was wrong even when she was clearly right. She continued marching down the steps as fast as possible, still stewing. Her teenage years stretched out in front of her like an inescapable tunnel, one where she would never have the kind of life that her friends and her classmates took for granted.
  • 72. The reality was that Ginger was never going to let her do anything, because it was her turn to suffer or something like that. It wasn‟t like she‟d been a difficult kid. She hadn‟t asked for any of this – none of them had, so why did Ginger have to punish her for the fact that none of them got to have a normal childhood anymore? The idea of being protected, of being provided for, of being safe and loved had been dangled in front of them all just for a few brief years before being cruelly snatched away. If Gabriella had her way she‟d lock all drunk drivers up for a thousand years – what gave them the right to take away the only mother she‟d ever known?
  • 73. The world was always taking, never giving, only that once which had lasted for such a short time. The others might be young enough not to remember orphanages and foster care, but Gabriella knew. She knew that there was a big dark ugly pit in the center of the world where people got thrown away as easily as candy wrappers, as easily as dead squirrels on the side of the road. That was where her life had been, not because of anything she‟d done but because she hadn‟t been wanted. Nobody really wanted her or ever would, no one except mom, and let‟s face it, Mom was dead, run down like a squirrel on the side of the road by an asshole too drunk to remember to dial for an ambulance until it was too late. To Ginger and Gavin she was a responsibility, part and parcel of the elusive dream of family that they were trying so hard to grasp.
  • 74. Anyone who loved you, anyone who was decent – they ended up in a box, leaving you behind. Everybody else just kept throwing you out, while you sank from dumpster to dumpster, unwanted like a pair of ugly socks. You just kept losing – and though Gavin and Ginger might be trying to put a brave face on it for the kids, the reality was that they were still losing. And safe behind their cozy little windows, the lucky ones who never had to lose mocked her with their saccharine dreams.
  • 77. * * *
  • 79. Lydia was woken in the morning by the distant ringing of a telephone. She rolled out of bed, yawning. Judging by the scattering of Delphina‟s toys on the floor, and her sister‟s unmade bed, she was probably the last one in the house to wake up. Sure enough, she heard Delphina‟s voice floating in the windows just a second later. The telephone rang again. With another yawn, she opened up the door, stepped over the large pile of magazines that had somehow drifted away from their proper basket, and crossed the room, picking up the telephone.
  • 80. “Hello.” “Good morning,” said an unfamiliar voice on the other end of the line, “Is this the Fairmaiden residence?” “Shadeson residence,” Lydia said automatically. Years of being reminded by her mother never to give her real last name when she answered the phone kicked in before she could even think about it. Then, the gears clicked over in her sleepy brain.
  • 81. “Oh. Well, I‟m calling for a Lydia Fairmaiden -” “That‟s me,” Lydia blurted out quickly, her heart beating fast. Looking for her – her mind leapt immediately to the only conclusion that she could possibly reach. This phone call had to have some connection to all the things that her mother would never tell her about. And it was a man‟s voice too – what if…?
  • 82. “In that case, I am pleased to announce that you have been accepted as a finalist in the Landgrabb memorial scholarship competition,” the man on the other end of the line continued, and Lydia had time to feel a crushing sense of disappointment before the real meaning of his words caught up to her brain. She had a chance to go to private school. For free. There was only one problem with that, though: she‟d never entered the competition.
  • 83. She chewed on her lip for a moment, gazing around the room as she thought about it. How many times in her life was an opportunity going to drop into her lap like this? Private school meant scholarships, scholarships meant college would be easier, not just for her but for Orion and Delphina too – and there was, of course, the fact that the school she had a chance to go to was the one that would, in a few short rotations, contain Ana as well. But… she hadn‟t earned it. She hadn‟t entered the competition, and maybe it was some other Lydia Fairmaiden, or maybe they had the wrong list, or…
  • 84. Knowing that she was going to regret it, but knowing that she‟d also regret it if she didn‟t say it, she forced her mouth open. “I don‟t think I ever entered the scholarship competition,” she said in a quiet voice. “Well, your name is on the list,” the man on the other end of the line said, “and some students were submitted by their teachers for their achievements. If you‟ll hand the phone to one of your parents, I‟ll make an appointment for your home visit with the deputy headmaster.”
  • 85. All right,” Lydia said, then, remembering her manners, “Thank you very much, please hold for a moment.” She lasted until she‟d hit the hold button and very carefully hung the phone up before she couldn‟t contain herself anymore.
  • 87. “… so after that, the plumber says „no, impossible. That would be too much of a coincidence!‟” There was laughter all the way around the table after Rean finished his joke, and he took a long moment to bask in the warm glow of the Elvensong family. He‟d been having dinner with them a couple of times a week for months now, and apart from a brief, but intensely uncomfortable first dinner where Aranel‟s mother had assumed that he was going out with Ara, he‟d never felt more at ease anywhere than he had in their kitchen, new or old. “Thank you for dinner, by the way, Mrs. Elvensong. It was delicious.”
  • 88. “Oh, no need to thank me dear, all my recipes feed six. It‟s just nice to have you over. It‟s been so hard to get the whole family to one meal in the last few months.” She sighed, looking more than a little lost. Rean really liked Ara‟s mother: she was nothing like Ara, which was probably a good thing, as he couldn‟t see Ara cooking spaghetti, but she was warm and welcoming, and as sharp as her daughter was, though less prickly around the edges. “It‟s good to have everyone home,” she said. “Well, they‟re here now,” Rean said brightly. He felt a short, sharp pain in his shin. “Ow, Ara,” he said, reaching down to rub the spot.
  • 89. “What my mom‟s too polite to say is that you were included in that statement,” Ara said, looking entirely unrepentant for having kicked him. “And you‟re invited to dinner again, you know, whenever.” Coming from Ara, who tossed invitations about and generally never made a big deal about anything like this, it was one thing. Coming from her mother… Rean had often felt guilty for wishing that Ara‟s mom was his mom, even before Ara had set her straight about his sexuality in her usual, tactless fashion. But Viridia had been nothing but supportive to him, ever.
  • 90. Not like his own mother, who was sure to have a cow if – when, he reminded himself, he was going to have to tell them sometime – she found out that the precious male heir of the family had no interest in girls except as friends. Ara‟s dad had taken some convincing that Rean and Ara were just friends, but sometime between his third and fourth dinner at the Elvensong house, Viridia had clearly sat him down and explained things to him. By now, both Ara‟s parents were a comfortable spot in Rean‟s routine, and so were her brother and sister. Anariel was currently rolling her eyes at Ara.
  • 91. “Ara, you make everything so plain,” she complained. Then she turned to Rean with a sunny smile on her face. “Everyone talked about it, and you‟re welcome here any time,” she said, putting on a voice that was clearly an imitation of her mother for the last part. Haldir, sitting in between his daughters, nodded. “We like having you around the house,” he said. “Yep!” Ana said, “and you‟ve gotta come to my birthday party next week, got it? You‟re like an extra big brother.”
  • 92. “Hey, I thought I was your only big brother,” Achenar objected, mock- insulted. “I thought you liked me best.” “You‟re always out with Elirand and Calla,” Ana replied, sticking her tongue out at him. “Rean‟s my extra for when you‟re not home.” Aranel quietly snorted into her plate. “And everyone says I’m tactless.” Rean and Achenar turned to look at her. “What?” she asked, “Just wait until her teen birthday, she‟ll stop being cute enough to get away with it.” Talk turned to Anariel‟s upcoming birthday party as everyone finished up the last few bites on their plate and Rean and Aranel stacked dishes.
  • 93. As Rean left, Aranel followed him to the door. “See you at school, then.” “Yeah, you too. Hey, by the way, is everybody going to prom?” Aranel shrugged. “I honestly haven‟t been paying attention. Why, is there some big group going or something?” “Well, a few people. But it will be a big enough group that we won‟t be smushed by all the couples, since nobody‟s really taking anyone to prom – officially, that is.” “All right, cool. I‟ll make sure to get some tickets.” * * *
  • 94. Lydia picked at the sash of her dress. It was very warm and sunny, with only a bit of breeze. Typical late spring weather, really – when a cloud passed over the sun you were cold, and when it left you were hot. She tapped her foot impatiently, shifting her bouquet. It was probably the roses that were making her itch, not the dress. The children were in the front row and kicking their feet – Ana looked torn between the indignity of still sitting with the kids and the responsibility of minding Delphina, which she shared with Orion.
  • 99. The ceremony itself was quick and simple. The important thing, as Midina had said, was to have friends there. Lydia couldn‟t stop her mind from churning, however, in the short time it took her to watch her mother get married. Makir was now officially her stepfather. She didn‟t have a problem with that, exactly. It still seemed odd that she called him Makir while Orion and Delphina called him “Dad,” but even as a little kid learning to talk she must have known that he wasn‟t actually her father. Now she was the only person at the wedding without two parents who were married to each other. On the surface, it changed nothing, but way down deep, what did that really mean?
  • 100. Lydia wondered if she‟d feel any different at the wedding if her mother had been marrying her father. Not that she wasn‟t happy for them, but maybe, just maybe, she‟d have been as enthusiastic about the wedding as her “aunts” Eluisa and Chalimyra were. She just felt that the wedding was simply a show to confirm something that everyone knew anyways, and she felt terrible for thinking it. Shouldn‟t she be deliriously happy for her mom, finally marrying the man that she loved?
  • 101. Shouldn‟t she be prouder to be a part of the ceremony? Shouldn‟t she be thinking only of her mother and stepfather‟s happiness, not how wrong it was that she was using the moment to analyze her own feelings, comparing Makir to a father that she had never known? Shouldn‟t it all just mean more, after how important everyone else seemed to think a wedding was? The way Ana‟s mother had talked, it was the single most important moment in her mom‟s life, and she hadn‟t paid attention to the whole first part, because they were almost done with the vows now.
  • 102. Maybe, she suspected as Makir slipped the ring onto her mother‟s finger, she was simply too practical and not romantic enough to fully appreciate the moment. The flowers were lovely, even if their smell was very slightly damp and earthy, the air was only chilly when the breeze picked up, and everyone around her was watching the wedding. Her eyes treacherously sought out Ana, to share a conspiratory glance – even if she didn‟t know what the glance really said, Ana would – but Ana was watching the wedding with rapt attention. Well, it was nice to know that someone found the ceremony absorbing.
  • 106. After the cake, Lydia was just thinking that she should rescue the camera from Orion so that someone could take decent pictures when Ana yelled for her to come over for the bouquet toss.
  • 107. It wasn‟t as if Lydia was going to argue with tradition. Nobody really believed girl to catch the bouquet would be the next to get married. She already had flowers, and anyway she wasn‟t getting married any time soon. But she didn‟t try very hard to catch the bouquet, all the same. The other girls, with the possible exception of Ana‟s sister Aranel, were all eager to try.
  • 110. And with the boquet toss, the wedding was almost over. Some chipper dance song came on the CD player as Calla‟s mom started to congratulate her on having caught the bouquet. Lydia felt Ana tug her wrist. “Dance with me, Lydia? Pleeeease? Nobody else will.” “Nobody‟s dancing except for your parents being sappy,” Lydia replied. “But I like this song. Pleeeeeeease?” “All right,” Lydia said, and she took Ana‟s hands – it still bothered her how much shorter Ana was than her now, but it wouldn‟t be for much longer – and they started to sway more or less to the music.
  • 111. “Your brother said I had cooties when I wanted to dance,” Ana informed Lydia, who laughed. “Clearly, he still has the mind of a six-year old even if he is twelve. Just wait until you‟re a teenager, you won‟t be able to get rid of him then. He pesters me every day about high school, at least when he‟s not busy trying to get himself killed on Gallagher Newson‟s skateboard.” “When we‟re grown up and get married, I want you to be part of my wedding too,” Ana said, out of the blue. “We can dance too.”
  • 112. “Don‟t be silly, you‟ll be dancing with your husband,” Lydia replied. “But yes, I‟ll be maid of honor or something if you want.” “Good,” said Ana, “And I‟ll be your maid of honor at your wedding, right?” “Of course.” “That way even when we get married we can always be together.” “Pfft. As if I‟d let marriage stop us from being friends. Don‟t be such a pessimist, Ana.”
  • 113. “I didn‟t mean it like that. I‟m happy that you‟re going to start private school with me as soon as I grow up – it‟s only a couple of days now. But I just want you to know that you‟ll always be my most important person before we‟re both teenagers and all sorts of things start happening.” “What about your family?” Lydia asked practically, even though she could feel a smile unrolling inside her. Ana thought for a moment.
  • 114. “They‟re important too, obviously,” she said, “Family has to be, just because. But you I got to pick.” * * *
  • 115. “Calla, I need your help,” Achenar said, having found her in the back room, “And you can‟t tell Elirand – he‟ll laught at me. Plus, it‟s about girl stuff – I mean, stuff related to girls - so I need your honest opinion and advice as, you know, a girl who knows what a girl might -” “Achenar,” she interrupted, “You know I‟ll help you with whatever it is.” “Right,” he said, running his hand through his hair nervously, “Well, there‟s the dance coming up – Prom – and there‟s this girl.”
  • 116. “Thank you, captain obvious.” “Calla.” “Just get on with it, would you? I can‟t help you if you don‟t explain the problem.” “Okay. Well, anyhow, I like this girl. A lot.” Achenar started to gesture with his arms, pacing back and forth a little. “She‟s smart and she‟s funny, and she‟s got these eyes, just – wow – and all this thick black hair that smells amazing, and legs…”
  • 117. Suspicion dawned on Calla. “Are you saying what I think you‟re saying?” Achenar stopped waving his arms abruptly. “It‟s that obvious, huh?” Calla smiled. “A little.” “Do you think she knows?”
  • 118. “Oh, I‟m sure she knows.” “Ah. Well, that‟s good then. So…” “She might,” Calla suggested, “even say yes.” Achenar made up his mind, darting forward to seize Calla by the hand. “Calla,” he said, “would you please get Arcadia Ebadi to say if she‟ll go to the dance with me?”
  • 120. * * *
  • 121. “Yeah, so then the bottle rocket blew up, and Mr. Pfeiffel dove behind the dumpster, while everybody was running around like chickens, screaming their lungs off. It was great.” Calla just shook her head, “Junior year Geology hasn‟t had an explosion yet.” “That‟s because physics is awesome. Not some of my classmates, though. Two of them were complaining the whole time about getting water and plastic in their hair. Most of the other girls spent the whole time talking about prom. Oh, and getting fake nails, which is kind of disgusting to listen to.”
  • 122. “So, you‟re not going to prom?” “Well, yeah, but not with a date or anything, just with a bunch of people, Rean and a lot of seniors. We‟re going to eat ourselves silly at the pancake house and dance badly until somebody pukes on the DJ. Nobody in the group‟s really with anyone, so we‟re basically going to swarm the dance floor and annoy the couples.” “Sounds like fun. I kind of wish all of our friends would do that, but everybody‟s just pairing up, even though we‟re all going together.” “Yeah, but you‟re not dating anyone and neither are your brother or Achenar.”
  • 123. Calla let out an irritated sigh. “Yeah, but Elirand‟s spending all his time trying to pick up Meadow Thayer – don‟t ask me why, he‟s a moron – and so he‟s either going to be a total moron about her, or pick up some other girl in time for the dance. Oh, yeah, and Achenar is asking Arcadia Ebadi, so the whole night‟s going to be a disaster.” “Wait, what‟s wrong with Arcadia? She‟s not a giggling moron, or wasn‟t last time I talked to her. I thought you liked her.” “I liked her better a couple months ago,” Calla said, making a disgusted face.
  • 124. Calla wasn‟t the only one to be irritated with her brother. “And now Orion doesn‟t wanna play with me because he‟s too big,” Delphina finished complaining to Ariadne, “But you‟re still little, and you‟ll be my new friend when you grow big, won‟t you?” “Wanna play peek-boo!” Delphina sighed, but covered her face with her hands anyway. There was something less than ideal about having a playmate who was only a year old. Ariadne giggled, and Delphina got up. “I‟m gonna go find my sister.”
  • 125. Anariel opened the door to the extra room, having looked everywhere else for her best friend. “Hey Lydia, I‟ve been looking for you, I want your opinion on whether I should give this bear to Ariadne…”
  • 126. “That is so stupid,” Lydia was saying, “and he really said that?” “Yup. Apparently, I‟m a different species.” “More like he‟s a sasquatch.” “Yeah, that‟s what Aranel said, but hey, technically none of us are human. Anyway, he apologized for it later, but that was my first day of private school. Yours will be fine.” “I really hope so, it‟s kind of odd growing up during such a long break and not knowing what to expect.” Lydia finally turned around and noticed Ana standing there. “Oh, is it time for the cake, Ana?”
  • 127. Getting everyone into the kitchen for the cake turned out to take a ridiculous amount of time. In fact, despite the kitchen being much bigger than before the house was remodeled, it seemed like there was even less room for the guests. Nevertheless, everyone was squeezed into the kitchen behind the counter, waiting for her to blow out the candles and become a teen.
  • 128. Except for Aranel. “Hurry up Ana, I want caaaake.” “It‟s your sister‟s birthday, Aranel,” Viridia scolded her oldest daughter, “Don‟t rush her.” Ana found that she didn‟t actually mind so much. “It‟s okay mom, I‟m just waiting for everybody to get in here.” She took a look around the room, and found that one of the guests was staring at the sink, but decided not to comment on it. She must be someone that one of her parents knew.
  • 129. There was no delaying any longer, everyone was in the kitchen, shifting about and wielding their noisemakers. It seemed kind of childish to Ana, but as she was only going to be a child for a couple more seconds… Lydia‟s party horn sounded, sharp and tinny, in her ear as she stared into the candle flames. She had thought that she had a wish, but she‟d forgotten it. The only one she could think of was extremely childish.
  • 130. What did she want more than anything? To be braver? It seemed somehow small and hollow, now. She knew that she could speak up, even in front of strangers, and she knew now that Aranel‟s teasing didn‟t mean that her sister hated her, just that she didn‟t know what would upset her. She wasn‟t bothered by the large crowd in the room and saw no reason to be, since it was full of people she knew and who liked her. Trying to carry her childish concerns into her teenage years suddenly didn‟t strike her as a very good idea. She wouldn‟t wish for bravery. She wouldn‟t wish to change herself.
  • 133. As soon as cake had been eaten, Anariel dragged Lydia up to her room to talk. Lydia perched on Ana‟s pillow, swinging her feet and looking around the room. It was a little bare still, but Ana knew that Lydia would be helping her to collect more posters soon enough. “So,” Ana said as soon as she had shut the door, behind her, “how do you tell what your aspiration is?” Lydia shrugged. “I don‟t know. I think you just… know.”
  • 134. “Well, how did you know that you were a knowledge sim?” Ana demanded. “I don‟t really know, I just… I guess I went with what felt right,” Lydia confessed, “What mattered to me was, well, knowing that things would turn out, knowing why things happen… maybe I just want to be certain about everything.” “It figures that I would get you telling me that you just „knew‟ what to do.” “Hey, what do you want? I don‟t live between your pointy ears, Ana, I can‟t tell you what to do.”
  • 135. “You could, there‟s just no guarantee I‟d do it,” Anariel said, “And your ears are pointy too.” “Not as pointy as yours, though,” Lydia‟s irritation never lasted long. “You‟re just jealous of the ears,” Ana smirked a little. “Feeling better about joining the world of the near-adults, then?” Lydia asked, leaning back against the headboard, “sit down, it‟s your bed, not mine.”
  • 136. “A bit,” Ana confessed, taking the other end of the bed, “Mostly, I‟m glad it‟s all over and I don‟t have to wait any more. I‟ll deal with school when it happens, but anything‟s better than just waiting to change.” “Mmm,” Lydia replied as she swung her feet up onto the bed, “High school will be fine. We managed elementary, didn‟t we? And we‟ll be in the same place for the first time. It‟ll be good. Don‟t worry about it.”
  • 137. “I‟m not worried, really. Just kind of curious. I mean, both my brother and my sister go to the school, but I still don‟t have a very good idea of what it‟s like.” “Elementary school, sized extra large, with people sized extra large and legally allowed to drive.” “Lyds, you know what I mean.” “If you‟re relying on my ESP, the only channel I‟m picking up is the one that declares that your mom makes one great cake.” “I mean, I don‟t think I know what it‟s like to be a teenager yet.”
  • 138. “Mmm, cake. Though, I suppose that‟s very reasonable of you, considering you‟ve been one for less than half an hour.” “Lyds, I‟m not sure that I‟m ready.” Lydia cracked open an eye. “Of course you‟re ready. Don‟t go doubting yourself everywhere, Ana. And even if you‟re not, life happens, you‟ll be fine. It‟s not as if you can go back. Just because you haven‟t decided your goals and aspirations yet doesn‟t mean that you‟re not ready, it means that you want to think about things instead of just jumping into them.”
  • 139. “Well, like I said, I‟m not worried, because I‟ve got you and we‟re finally going to be in the same school and the same classes.” Ana bounced a little on the bed, “Also, did you know that prom‟s in three weeks? We should go.” “I don‟t know if freshmen are allowed.” “Now who‟s negative? I‟m pretty sure we are, though, and I want to go, so will you come with me?” “All right, I‟ll go if you can get tickets,” Lydia said, “but let‟s not start buying dresses until we‟re absolutely certain. We‟ve got all of school to get through tomorrow.”
  • 140. “So, do you guys want to hear some good news? Arcadia said yes.”
  • 141. “Pass me some mojo then,” Elirand replied distractedly, though Achenar was too excited to notice his friend‟s lack of attention. “And remember to get her ticket, they go on sale soon. Hey Calla,” he said a little louder, calling up to the top of the play structure, “Do you remember when they‟re selling the tickets?”
  • 142. “Next week on Thursday,” Calla replied distantly. She didn‟t even turn around. “Is that for us or the Seniors?” Elirand asked. “Both.” “Good, that way we‟ll be sure of getting tickets,” Achenar said, “I mean, the underclassmen will have another chance to go to prom, but we won‟t, so I guess selling tickets like this makes sense.” The only response he got out of Calla was a shrug.
  • 143. “What‟s up with her?” he asked Elirand in an undertone. Elirand shushed him. “Hey Calla,” he called, “You wanna come down and fish in the pond?” “Not particularly.” “Or we could see if we could bring Don‟t Wake the Llama out of the basement.” “That game‟s for kids, Elirand.” “All the more reason to enjoy it now.”
  • 144. “I‟m good up here, thanks.” * * *
  • 146. “That sucks, that we don‟t have advisory together,” Ana said as she stared at the selection on the snack machine. It was the first day for both of them: Lydia‟s transfer had only just been completed. Unfortunately, being finally in the same school did not necessarily mean that they had compatible schedules. In fact, it was sort of the opposite. “We‟ve got lunch… and trig.” Lydia wasn‟t entirely happy with the new arrangement either. “We‟ll probably have better luck next semester.”
  • 147. “Yeah, probably.” Ana didn‟t sound too convinced. Somewhere off in the distance, the warning bell rang. “I guess I‟ll see you at lunch, then.” “Yeah, see you,” said Ana, waving cheerily as she walked away. Lydia started on down the long hall alone, stopping only when she was confronted with a door. Room 108. Her first day of private high school.
  • 148. Lydia plastered a smile on over her nervousness and chose a seat in the back, next to a guy who was busily drawing in his notebook. She couldn‟t resist just a peek at the sketch. “Captain Hero, huh?” she asked. He looked up and snapped the notebook shut. “Yeah,” he replied, looking a little embarrassed. “It‟s a pretty cool sketch,” Lydia said, not knowing what else to say. “He doesn‟t fly exactly like that, though, his ankle bends a little…”
  • 149. * * *
  • 150. The first day, and then the first week, slipped past in a tumult of laughter before they knew it. * * *
  • 152. “So,” said Elirand as he hit his seat, looking very pleased with himself, “She said yes.” “Who said yes?” Achenar asked, while Calla stabbed carrots with her fork. “Elizabeth. She‟s going to prom with me now.” Elirand puffed out his chest a little as he spoke. “Well good job then,” Calla said, a little more forcefully than she needed to.
  • 153. “Uh, Calla? You‟re kind of making carrot sauce there,” Achenar said, taking the fork out of her hands. She‟d been acting weird the past few days and eating smashed carrots couldn‟t be helping. Instead of speaking or even looking at him, she crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. It was at that moment that Vince Jalowitz came to breathe some life into the dying conversation.
  • 154. “Calla,” he said with a smile and a very British accent, “Would you mind talking to me in private for a moment?” “Got something to say to her that we can‟t hear, Jalowitz?” Elirand asked. “As a matter of fact, yes.” “Shut up, Elir. Yes, of course, Vince.” She got up without sparing the boys a backward glance.
  • 155. “Wonder what that‟s all about?” Elirand asked, but since Calla‟s bad mood was infectious, Achenar didn‟t answer except in a shrug. He didn‟t much care, really, what it was about – probably some notes or something. He took Calla‟s fork and started murdering more carrots, but couldn‟t focus on them. He looked up. There was a long moment where he watched Calla through the glass of the door.
  • 160. “So, what was that about?” Elirand asked immediately as she returned to the table and Vince strutted off into the cafeteria like some sort of peacock.
  • 161. “Oh, nothing,” Calla replied arily, “Vince just asked me to prom, that‟s all.”
  • 162. * * *
  • 163. Lydia made a beeline for the usual table, getting there long before any of the other girls, and dropped her tray with a sigh. It was strange that no one else was there yet, but then, she‟d been at the front of the lunch line. She waved at Briar, who was passing by with his own tray. When he caught sight of her, he swerved over towards her table.
  • 164. “Hey, Lydia,” he said as he approached, “I was wondering something.” He didn‟t say what he‟d been wondering, however, just left it hanging there. “Well?” Lydia prompted, “What were you wondering?” “I… Well I was wondering if…” Lydia stared at him, unblinking, waiting for him to finish, while he shifted from foot to foot. “I was wondering if you thought that the biology test was easy,” he finally blurted out. Lydia shrugged, “Well, as long as you remembered which ones the Eukaryotes were, I dunno, it should be okay…”
  • 165. “Yeah, Eukaryotes,” Briar replied with a forced laugh, “It‟s actually the prophase and anaphase that always confuses me, really.” He spotted the girls arriving out of the corner of his eye, and he changed tracks abruptly. “Well, I should get going, I guess. Are you doing anything next weekend?” “Probably studying for the memorization test in English,” Lydia replied absently. “Why? Is there something going on?”
  • 166. “Oh, nothing, nothing…” Briar disappeared across the lunchroom as Lydia‟s usual table mates closed in. As usual, Christy came flying in first, already talking, but in this case, she was leading a pleased-looking but very red Anariel and talking full speed. “Lyds! You‟ll never guess what happened in the lunch line!” Christycrowed, turning Ana an even brighter shade.
  • 167. “Dinosaurs attacked,” Lydia replied, “And you stoned them to death with the hamburgers.” “No! Not that! Tell her, Ana!”
  • 168. Ana shrugged a bit, very pink in the face. “I just got asked to prom,” she said, unable to wipe the stupid grin off of her face.
  • 169. * * *
  • 170. Viridia looked into the bedroom and saw, much to her surprise, that Haldir was already asleep, though it was less than an hour after dinner. She would have had to be blind to not have seen how tired he was during the last few weeks, as things at the hospital finally settled down and returned to normal, but she had never thought that he would still be this exhausted. Fervently, she hoped that he hadn‟t caught anything. Although, if he had, or even if he hadn‟t, taking some time off of work would be good for him. He didn‟t get to spend as much time with Ariadne as he ought to, and Aranel would be off to college before long.
  • 171. They hadn‟t spent much time together since the earthquake – he had been at the clinic night and day at first, and she had been busy enough with everything, including the building of the new house and fulfilling her duties as Dean of Students at SSU. So many people had been afraid of the aurora storm, and the damage that both it and the tremors had caused, that she‟d hardly had time to worry about her own concerns. Then there had been Midina‟s wedding, which had been put off by the earthquake after being delayed so many years.
  • 172. Everyone, it seemed, was moving on or growing up, and all of the constant things in her life were settling quietly into their age, like rocks sinking into the mud of a riverbed. She wondered if she too, had settled, become a part of the scenery that pushed quietly on from day to day. If she was starting to fade into memories, or maybe just into her husband‟s well-deserved dreams. With a smile, she turned and shut the door behind her.
  • 211. Author‟s Note Yeah, so everything looks different now. For those of you who don‟t know, I had a pretty massive rebuild – extracting lots, installing a clean version of Riverblossom, the whole nine yards – and I got some new CC while, in the process, dumping some really old stuff, mostly stuff I found on the exchange. You may have noticed: - Shiny new Enalya skins that I really ought to geneticize soon on the elves. - Hairstyles. I need to fix for recessives, but people at least got their right visible color genes this time around. Of course, I had a lot of hairstyles that went because of mesh issues or colors (xmsims colors, anyone? The only thing worse is helga‟s poster paint red.) - New plantsim default! Gorgeous, no? „tis from Garden of Shadows (specifically, Almighty Hat) and it‟s my new favorite. Well, that and having plantsims with real hair. Now they look a little more dryad-ish. - People grew up while you weren‟t looking. This is because they needed to be exported (Ariadne) or were close enough to their next age that it didn‟t matter (Delphina, the Greenmans) Oh, yeah, and because I am thoroughly sick of going into extensive detail about birthdays, because there are too friggin many of them. - I got Pets and M&G. Now the only remotely useful things I don‟t have are three or so stuff packs. Okay, technically I bought Pets in September, but I figured if I was already rebuilding, why not just mix everything up?
  • 212. Oh yeah, and the house. I hated the old Elvensong house very, very much. It once took Aranel 45 sim minutes to get from the dining room to the bus, because routing was a spaghetti mess and the bridge… oh, the bridge. People did laps around the house to get into the next room. The moral of the story is to never make a house around a lake, or one with two or more staircases. Ever. The router immediately drops 40 IQ points. Anyhow, a much more modern, rather better looking house, which will get a lot more interior paint eventually, but for now doesn‟t look too bad, especially the kitchen. And everyone has their own bedroom, for which I‟m sure all the kids will thank me. Also, does anyone know how to stop the ceiling tiles being blue? It‟s annoying the heck out of me. I‟ve replaced them 20+ times.
  • 213. Oh yeah, Ariadne‟s age is something that‟s going to require constant fudging from here on in. She gets to stay a tot for a little longer than usual because of the rebuild shennanigans. Canonically, the ages of the Elvensong kids are as follows right now: Aranel : just turned 18 (Rean‟s seventeen but a senior.) Achenar: 16 (something like a year and a half in between the oldest two) Anariel: 14 Ariadne: About 18 months. Fortunately, I learned to tweak an aging hack, so game ages will line up better with canon, and my version gives seniors a hugely variable age range, with deaths between 60 and 90. It hits everyone at their next age transition, so it won‟t be very visible for a while.
  • 214. And thank you to the makers of GIMP, which is free and pretty much my best friend right now. Broken glass was easy in concept, but required a lot of tweaking in the end. The version to your left came out too chalky with lighting that was too bright. Not making a tutorial right now, but anyone who likes can pick my brain on the process for any of the chapter‟s broken glass if they PM me, or on the (almost invisible) tears from Gabriella‟s scene, or the lightning/sparks, which was also really fun to draw. Heck, I just like to draw, but anyone with a fairly steady hand and a wireless mouse can manage the lightning and glass. Actually, I did it with an attached mouse. There‟s more I could say, given that it‟s been months since my last update, but I‟ll save it for the spam, yes? No, I‟m not going to tell you what‟s going on in the end yet. Figure it out yourselves. 