Winter home. (Dar and Nornir)

Annie listened as Jemmy said that she had learned to perform a few simple magic spells.  That sounded pretty neat; maybe if Annie and Jemmy's magic worked in similar ways, they could perhaps teach each other spells.  Not that either of them knew very many.  She watched as Jemmy showed her something she called Cupid's Arrow, as well as what it did.  

Annie may have decided to trust the girl known as Shivering Jemmy, but Kasha was as skeptical as always.  Even now he had his head stuck out from Annie's pocket to watch the girl.  He knew Jemmy was dangerous, he knew that her decisions were shallow and that she could change her mind anytime she wanted.  That was the thing with chaos, it had no stability.  There was no way to predict Jemmy's behavior with any certainty.  She could love Annie one minute, and decide she was boring and kill her the next.  She could make promises, but there was no guarantee she would keep any of them.  He also hadn't forgotten Jemmy's threat to kill Annie when they first met, and he likely never would.  After hearing Jemmy describe her arrow, he instantly sent Annie a message to ask more about it.  Any power that Jemmy had, had room for abuse; and he wanted to know what to expect.  

Annie was mostly unaware of Kasha's distrust, as he was keeping those feelings from her.  She reacted to the message from him with a blink and a question; "Are...are you sure that's okay to use on people?"  She wasn't sure how to word it, but she was concerned about the possibility of Jemmy abusing that power too.  What if Jemmy made them do something they didn't want to do, like hurt someone?  

As Annie asked this, she was unaware of Kasha's glare at Jemmy; as well as the feeling in his mind.  Being a cute kitten made it hard to look serious, but she would feel in his mind that the cute personality he usually had in this form had taken a backseat.  The look and feeling in his mind would read something like, "If you ever use that arrow on my Annie, I will tear you and your little balloon to shreds."  Annie had no idea of this, as again, Kasha was manipulating what Annie felt from him.  As far as she could tell he was just silently observing like he always was.

Marleigh nearly chuckled and Jemmy's mention of love as a weapon. Love was indeed a powerful weapon in more ways than one. The spell the princess demonstrated and described however, sounded less like love and more like outright mind control. To be honest, Marleigh was not surprised at all that Jemmy had a shallow or even warped understanding of love. That was to be expected, coming from a lord of chaos. The little family setting they had here was more like playing house than an actual family, but Marleigh did not mind. She knew what she was getting into when she decided to work in Jemmy's employ. Still, deep down, she hoped the two would somehow be able to form a genuine friendship. The last thing she wanted was a lonely master.

"I would like to think that the Princess knows what she is doing Ms. Annie. The first requirement of a meaningful relationship is trust."

Annie may have been unaware of Kasha's thoughts, but Jemmy wasn't. She heard them loud and clear, including the bit about tearing her and the balloon to shreds. Jemmy sent a telepathic message to Kasha specifically. 'Oh yeah? You dare to touch me or my balloon and I will...END...ANNIE! You might defeat me once, but I will haunt your poor little girl for all of eternity.' Annie was Jemmy's friend, but she would not risk danger to herself from this aggressive familiar cat-dog-thing just to retain that friendship.

Annie asked if it was okay to use on people. Jemmy, who still looked completely calm on the outside, licked her ice cream as she thought of an answer. Marleigh came to Jemmy's defense, saying that Jemmy knew what she was doing, and that trust was important to relationships. Jemmy had to agree, and sent another telepathic message to Kasha alone. 'Yes, trust that I can and will destroy everything you hold dear if you cross me.'

Jemmy, still smiling, looked at Annie and gave her answer. "Well, it was either this or blow them up. It's not like it takes away their free will forever, just for a little bit." She pointed one finger at Annie and held her thumb up in the air, imitating a pistol. "You know, police officers have guns, that can kill people. Is it okay for them to use those on people?" Jemmy didn't like feeling like she was being judged, especially not by humans. "Police officers enforce Order, and I enforce Chaos."

It took every ounce for strength for Kasha to keep from slipping and allowing Annie to feel the intense aggression he held toward Jemmy right now...  Threatening Annie the way she had just did was the absolute quickest way to get on his bad side.  He wanted to kill her...but knowing he couldn't permanently do so took a different rout of though.  He took the time to calm himself and think through his response before replying.  

"Is that really how you feel about her?  Are your feelings for her really that shallow that you would turn on her in a heartbeat for something as simple as being protected by myself?  Did you yourself not say less than a month ago that you would protect her, saying you would kill anyone that hurt her?  Is it not my job to protect her, even more so being her familiar; just as it is your job to cause chaos?  What would Bow think if she found that you murdered or tormented a helpless and innocent child, much less one that she knew and loved?  You do want to keep your friends, don't you?  Do you not prefer to be loved rather than feared and hated?  I will not attack without reason.  I will not attempt to hurt you simply because you have made me angry.  That is not my duty, my duty is to protect my master.  Do not make trouble for me or her, and I will not make trouble for you.  I will allow you to keep this feeling of being loved, regardless of whether or not I believe you deserve to have it."  

After all that, Kasha grew relaxed and settled down.  Meanwhile Annie, who had been kept in the dark about all of this, thought about what Jemmy said outwardly.  Only takes their freedom for a little bit?  Well...maybe that was okay.  And Jemmy was right, it wouldn't necessarily hurt anyone.  Jemmy could probably use that power in a lot of ways.  She decided to trust her friend.  "Well...okay then.  But, please don't hurt anyone unless you have to?"  She wanted to think that Jemmy wouldn't hurt people without a reason, but she wanted to hear Jemmy say it for herself.  If she did, Annie would be satisfied with that.  If Jemmy promised she would do something, then Annie trusted that she would.

Perhaps one of the bigger flaws Marleigh possessed was that spending all those years in the realm of the gods toughened her mind and composure maybe too much. And so unlike her, Annie would probably find it more difficult to be at ease around someone like Jemmy. It was not as though Marleigh did not understand the feeling, but understanding alone did not make her any better at reassuring the little girl. In her opinion, it would be a bit of a hindrance to improving their relationship if Annie responded that way to every little thing Jemmy did.

Though, now that she thought about it, were those things really something a girl her age would know enough about to react to them that way? Was Annie not a little mature for her age to be able to understand the implications of some of Jemmy's actions? It was an interesting insight to her persona. Marleigh wondered if the two had more in common than she had thought. What if Annie was also a lot older than she looked? How ironic it would be if Marleigh turned out to be the youngest in their party of three.

"I would like to believe that no one here would hurt anyone unless they had to. Trust, Ms. Annie. In the Princess... and in myself."

Marleigh felt the need to reiterate those words and in addition asserting that she too was there to make sure things were alright. Marleigh did not know their circumstances, how they met, and how they ended up becoming friends. But her intuition as maid was telling her that she should do what she could to protect that fragile friendship.

Feeling that it might spoil the day if the talk got anymore serious, Marleigh lightly clapped her hands.

"So are we all feeling rested? It is probably about time we get going. It would not be safe to go skiing in the dark."

Jemmy listened to Kasha's thought, and started to get angry. The familiar had a lot of valid points, and that just made Jemmy more angry. She started breathing a little heavier, and her annoyance was visible on the surface as well as in her mind. Hopefully Annie wouldn't think Jemmy was angry at her.

She sent a telepathic message to Kasha. 'If you attacked me, then it would be the end of our friendship anyways. Annie would always take your side over mine. And yeah, I said I would protect her, so now I'm going to threaten you to protect her. If you are really her guardian, then know this. You will be the one directly responsible for her death if you attack me or my balloon, got it? I do value Annie as a friend, so I'm going to ask you to not make me kill her because you decided to 'protect' her. If you really want to protect her, then leave me alone, no matter what I do. I am not someone who can be threatened or controlled. Even if I make a promise, I have no way to make sure I keep it.' Jemmy's eyes started to tear up. 'So please, for Annie's sake, just leave me alone. I...I don't want to hurt her.'

Jemmy realized that she was showing her emotions on her face, and she wiped the tears out of her eyes and tried to compose herself. Annie had asked Jemmy not to hurt anyone that she didn't have to. Marleigh was saying that she was certain Jemmy would never harm anyone without just cause, and tried to end the conversation by bringing up skiing.

Neither one of them really knew who Jemmy was. For a moment, Jemmy felt all alone again.

"You're wrong, Marleigh." Jemmy looked at her two friends, clearly upset. "I can't make a promise like that. I am Chaos. It is my job to hurt people for no reason at all. Chaos isn't planned out, and it isn't based on whether someone deserves it. Chaos is uncontrolled, and cannot be bound by promises. In that way, Chaos is completely fair."

Jemmy started to cry again and she wiped the tears out of her eyes. Her eyes were now orange again, although Jemmy herself hadn't noticed. "I showed you the Cupid's Arrow because I thought you would like it, Annie. I thought it was a really good idea, but you hate it, don't you? You really hate me, and you're just pretending to be my friend. I guess I can't ever have a deep relationship with anybody, because I'm shallow. That's the only way I know how to exist. I destroy, and humans generally don't like destruction, do you?"

Jemmy asked this of both Annie and Marleigh. She wanted to know if her maid actually liked her, or if the woman was just pretending. Perhaps neither one of them had fully understood Jemmy at first, perhaps they still didn't, but that wasn't their fault. Jemmy would forgive them if they wanted to stop being her friends now.

Annie started to feel a mixture of emotions as Jemmy got increasingly upset. Fear, worry, concern, confusion. Annie realized that in her worry, she wasn't trusting Jemmy like a friend really aught to. As Jemmy got more upset she started feeling really bad about what she had said...

Meanwhile, Kasha listened to what Jemmy had to say, and responded; 'Very well then, I will keep to that. As long as you are not responsible for any harm that comes to her, I will not harm you. What you do elsewhere is your own business; it is not my job to tell you what to do.' Kasha actually felt relieved now and much better than before. 'I am glad that we had this talk, though the time and place could have been better. I will keep to what I have said regarding allowing you to keep your friends, and will now talk to Annie concerning the Cupid's Arrow issue.'

Kasha then relaxed by diving back into Annie's pocket and opened up his feelings to Annie again in a way that she never suspected anything. He told her that Jemmy really needed a friend to love her right now...not someone to keep her in line. If Annie really loved Jemmy, then she would love her no matter what. And if Jemmy really loved Annie, then she wouldn't do anything to make her upset or worried. He told her to trust Jemmy, and in addition...the girl probably needed a hug right about now.

This, combined with what Jemmy had said, made Annie start to tear up and cry too. This was supposed to be a happy and fun day, and Annie ruined it because Jemmy tried to show her something neat, and she got worried about how Jemmy would use it. Marleigh was right...why couldn't she just trust Jemmy? Kasha was limited in his ability to help Annie cope with the situation, except to help keep her somewhat calm. And even that had limits. Annie decided just to set her ice cream down and, trying not to knock Jemmy's out of her hand, reached over and gave her a tight hug. "I...I'm sorry Jemmy.. I'm sorry for what I said. Please don't think I hate you...please don't think that at all; it's not true. I'm not pretending...I'm really your friend." She realized she had been too skeptical about her friend. Wasn't that Kasha's job, to be skeptical? Right now he was saying that Jemmy just needed her to love and care. She realized the usefulness of Jemmy's arrow; she could use it however she wanted. She didn't have to hurt people with it. She wondered if it was too late to fix this and keep a day that was supposed to be happy from ending up miserable for everyone. As she wiped her eyes she said after a light prompt from Kasha, "It...it is a very nice arrow. I certainly can't do anything like that...and..I guess it is really useful.."

It might also be worth noting that in the moment, Annie neither noticed nor cared that Jemmy's eyes changed back.

That did not go well. Perhaps it was Marleigh's fault for overestimating Jemmy's capability of understanding and reading between the lines. Marleigh herself was no longer sure how direct or indirect she should act around the girls. Was this a sign that she should really just treat them as the little girls that they were? In any case, the situation at that moment definitely called for more forwardness and honesty. It seemed that Annie was not the only one with trust issues. And it was Marleigh's job to make sure her intentions were crystal clear.

Bowing her head, she spoke.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies Princess. It was a grave error of mine to presume that I had your complete trust especially in matters concerning your nature. Allow me to clear up the misunderstanding."

"I am fully aware of everything you had just said about yourself and maybe more. With that in mind, my previous statements were made with the full consideration of what being Chaos entails. That is to say, when I mentioned 'unless you had to', I did so on the basis of you being a Lord of Chaos and not on the standards of being human. And there are most definitely things that Chaos had to do that would not agree with human notions of ethics. I would not be here if I did not knowingly accept that."

She walked over to the two and joined in on the hug.

"Despite our short time together, you two are very important to me. We will have our differences. That cannot be avoided. But with some trust and understanding, there should be no reason why we cannot accept those differences and deepen our relationship."

Marleigh closed her eyes.

"I'm afraid I am not really very good at comforting and reassuring others and I am sorry for that. I cannot speak for Ms. Annie, Princess, but from my experience, it is very much possible to have a strong relationship even with shallow bonds. You should not worry about it too much. It is part of your nature after all and something one should learn to acknowledge."

Kasha relented, much to Jemmy's relief. She didn't want to fight anyone right now, telepathically or otherwise. She let Kasha's words be the end of the matter.

Annie apologized, and Jemmy started to feel better. She felt that Annie was being genuine. The little girl really did want to be her friend. Jemmy hugged her back, being careful not to get ice cream in Annie's hair. "I forgive you, Annie. I'm sorry too. I think I overreacted a bit." Annie had said that she liked the Cupid Arrow now. Jemmy didn't believe her on that, but it didn't matter. If Annie was fine with pretending she liked it, then that was fine with Jemmy.

Marleigh explained everything really well, and cleared up the misunderstanding. That's all it was, just a misunderstanding. Jemmy realized that Marleigh had actually been right. She wouldn't use force against someone unless she had to. But, being a Lord of Chaos, she had to do that a lot, at seemingly random times. By that logic, every time Jemmy did anything, it was because she had to.

There was that thought again. Total free will and the absence of any free will seemed like the same thing, even though they were complete opposites. Somehow, Jemmy thought she had solved the question of the universe, even if she didn't understand the answer herself.

Marleigh seemed to know Jemmy really well, which made Jemmy wonder why the maid had agreed to stay with and serve her. Maybe both Marleigh and Annie were like Bow, and simply held a power of love that Jemmy couldn't begin to understand.

Jemmy dried her tears one last time as her embrace with Annie came to an end. "You're right, Marleigh. We will get through our misunderstandings. They're just a part of life, after all. Now then, who wants to go skiing?"

After going into an argument like that and coming out of it with the relationship intact, Jemmy felt much closer to Annie and Marleigh both. Even if they disagreed or misunderstood her, they would keep being her friends.

Annie just held the hug, honestly and deeply sorry that she had upset her friend.  She listened as Marleigh said that she already knew about the kinds of things Jemmy did or would do; that she understood that Jemmy may have to do things that humans wouldn't consider okay to do.  Annie knew Jemmy had to create chaos..but she still hated to hear this.  As Marleigh joined the hug, she talked about accepting people's differences.  Annie realized there was little she could do about Jemmy's role as a creator of chaos.  All she could do was be Jemmy's friend, and see how things turned out.  

Annie didn't hear or feel much else of what went on.  Her mind was clouded with emotions and a bit of a mess.  She appreciated the hug from Jemmy and Marleigh both.  She had known Marliegh even less then she did Jemmy, but the fact that she felt she could open up and hug her like that made Annie feel more comfortable with her and like her more.  

Annie hadn't quite settled down when the hug ended, though she was starting to.  She still felt the need to hug something for comfort, and so pulled Kasha from her pocket and hugged him as she listened to that last bit from Jemmy.  To be perfectly honest, Annie didn't know how much she felt like skiing right now.  Her mind was, and had been, stuck on going back to the warm house, climbing into a nice soft bed with Kasha, and sleeping peacefully.  Though truthfully she did want to try skiing, she didn't really feel up to it at this time.  But she didn't want to say anything.  Jemmy got to do what she picked, and it was Marleigh's turn to get to do what she picked.  If Annie was too tired to ski, she could always sit out.  "I guess I'm ready to go.."  Kasha looked over at her ice cream that she had set on thou counter, and mowed to indicate that she hadn't eaten all of it and should probably do something with it.  She blinked, looking at it.  "...Oh.."  Eh...she could eat it on the way there, and set Kasha back in her pocket before she reached over to take it.  "Okay, now I'm ready."

Marleigh was relieved that the situation was resolved peacefully and that they were all back to being on good terms. It would have been ironic and would have defeated the purpose of celebrating Annie's moving in if they ended up going their separate ways from a little misunderstanding and misjudgment. She was glad they had made up and were now back to enjoying the rest of the day.

"I shall just tidy up really quick. You can go ahead and return the bowling shoes."

After Marleigh cleaned up and they returned the shoes, the three made their way back to the car and were on the road again. She looked up skiing on the GPS and was slightly surprised that the map pointed out a hilly region on the city outskirts instead of a mountain. She double-checked and made sure it was skiing. Trusting that technology won't fail them, she went ahead and followed the directions.

The drive was a little longer but was enjoyable enough as there was a pleasant scenery. When they finally arrived, what they saw were slopes covered with matting of some sort. There was not a single sign of snow anywhere. Before Marleigh could wonder how the setup had anything to do with skiing, her question was answered as they spotted a man skiing on the matted slopes. His movements and turns were undeniably the same as the ones Marleigh knew from skiing on snow.

As she parked the car, she spoke her initial thoughts. "This seems to be the right place, but it is a little different from what I expected."

"Well, it is California, after all," Jemmy said. It was amazing that humans had found a way to go skiing even without actual snow. Every once in a while something like that impressed Jemmy. "Don't worry, Marleigh. It will be fun."

As Marleigh opened the door for the two girls, Jemmy pulled on Annie's arm, excitedly. "Come on, let's go skiing. I've never done this before." Every new experience was exciting for Jemmy. She had seen so much, and you could only do something for the first time once.

Jemmy caught a reflection of herself in the car window and saw her orange eyes. She blinked, and they were blue again. Right now, she didn't want to be herself. She didn't want to be the orange eyed monster. Right now, she just wanted to be a little girl.

They went inside, paid, and received their equipment. Jemmy couldn't quite figure out how to get the skies on her feet. "Marleigh, could you help me?"

Annie sat pretty quietly on the car ride to the mountain, as did Kasha, who rode in her front pocket. looked out at it as they arrived. She also found it interesting that people had found a way to ski without snow. They stopped and Jemmy tugged on Annie's arm, to which she followed and responded; "I've never done this before either. I'll guess we'll just have to learn together." She trusted that Kasha would help her to learn pretty quickly.

As they went in and got their equipment, Kasha poked his head out and looked at Annie's boots. When they found a place to sit Annie did so, and with Kasha telling her what to do started putting them on. She had one boot started when Jemmy asked Marleigh to help her, and Kasha looked up. He looked over at Jemmy's ski boots, and after a moment started telepathically sending her detailed instructions about how the boots worked and how to put them on. After doing that he figured that Marleigh would help her 'princess' the rest of the way, and so looked back down at Annie's feet to guide her.

They soon all had their boots on, and Annie stood up in them. She took a few steps, getting used to the stiff boots. "It feels really funny walking in these boots..." Kasha looked down at them, then back up at her and mowed. ("They look really funny on you too." ) he said to her via telepath. Annie looked down at him and made a face before laughing and rubbing the top of his head. "Mahc ta sana, kstee!" ("Oh be quiet you silly cat, you!" )

While this was not the first time Marleigh had gone skiing, it was certainly the first time she would be doing so without snow. So in a way it was a new experience for all of them. After getting their gear, they went outside to get started, heading for the beginners' slope. The incline was barely noticeable when walking normally. Marleigh had no issue with starting there, not just for the sake of Jemmy and Annie learning, but also because she too wanted to get a feel for what skiing on these snow-less slopes was like.

Jemmy had asked for her help in putting on the skis, to which Marleigh gladly obliged. She set them down side by side, perpendicular to the slope. She then held Jemmy's hand to help her keep her balance as she slipped her boots into the skis.

"You have to put them on one at a time. Usually you check the boots for snow before doing so to ensure the binding fits well, but I guess it will not be necessary here. Start with sliding tip of your boots into the toe cup and then carefully lower your heel until it clicks with the ski."

Once Jemmy had gotten them on, Marleigh thought for a bit how they would go about skiing from there. She was an above average skier but she was not going to pretend she was a good teacher. It would be better to get a professional's help. As they were on the beginners' slope, it was not too hard to spot one such instructor who was also helping others skiing for the first time.

After putting on her own skis, she advised Jemmy and Annie to wait for a bit while she went to fetch the man. To her surprise, skiing on that artificial material almost felt like skiing on snow itself. It was quite amazing how easily the skis slid on the surface with just a small assistance from the ski poles. She quickly found the man she needed and brought him over. He looked experienced enough and was probably in his early 30s. He had an instructor's ID pinned to his jacket.

"Alright, who's ready to learn how to ski?" He grinned, showing his friendly demeanor.

Annie was right, it was really funny walking like this. Marleigh held her hand as she got into the skis. The way Marleigh explained it made it seem simple, and Jemmy didn't think she would have any more problems. The lack of real snow on the hill would keep things easy.

They made their way outside and over to the training hill. Jemmy felt like a duck with the skis on her feet, and started quacking in her head.

Someone in the distance went down the hill, going really fast. Jemmy's eyes widened in wonder. "Whoa." It was exciting to watch him ski so fast and skillfully. Jemmy wanted to be like that. She looked up at her balloon. It would probably look suspicious if it had to follow behind her at that speed. She decided to use a disguise for it. When nobody was looking, the red balloon shrunk and formed into a red winter cap on Jemmy's head. A perfect disguise! It was now made of cloth, and would help keep her head warm.

Marleigh got the ski instructor. Before the man arrived, Jemmy patted Annie on the shoulder. "This is going to be so much fun. We should race down that big hill later."

The instructor reached them and asked who was ready to learn how to ski. Jemmy had a big smile on her face. She raised her hand high. "Me!" The instructor laughed at her enthusiasm. He started showing them the basics: how to stand, how to turn, how to slow down. It took some practice, but Jemmy took it very seriously and it wasn't too hard.

Only one thing stood in her way: the final test. This was the end-boss of the bunny hill, Jemmy thought. She had to maneuver around a series of flags on one trip down the hill. She braced herself for the challenge and started down the hill. To Jemmy's delight, she was able to pass the test on her first try. She weaved around the flags with ease, and stopped in front of the instructor. "I did it!" She looked up the hill at Annie. "Come on, Annie. You can do it!"