Something Wicked This Way Comes (Kardus)

A few hours had passed since Jemmy's memories had been erased. Certain escapades at Dravocn's house had postponed the search for the little girl Jemmy was supposed to meet. With the cost of repairs on Dravocn's house meeting an unexpectedly high number of digits, Jemmy had decided her work there was done.

In her present state, Jemmy was unable to sense the location of anything through magical means. That would have to change. Until she could alter her magical abilities, Jemmy was reduced to teleporting through the woods, looking all over the place for some girl.

She didn't even know what the girl looked like, but then again, there probably weren't many people out here in the woods.

Kasha, of course, had no such limitation. The wolf would sense Jemmy's sporadic approach from a great distance. With enough power to be often called a god, a Lord of Chaos did not pass by unnoticed.

Finally, Jemmy teleported within sight of the little girl, Annie, and her wolf. Jemmy's balloon bounced along, tethered to Jemmy's hand, as the blonde girl skipped towards these strangers.

"Hello there. I am Shivering Jemmy. I was told that you're an important person, so who are you?"

By the time Jemmy had started looking for this strange girl, Annie was starting to compose herself.  I say starting to, but she would take a while to fully cope with what had just happened not moments ago.  That was a pretty big emotional bomb that had been dropped on her, but after finding a quiet place to reside and cry in Kasha's embrace, she was beginning to come to terms with Jemmy's memory reset.  

Jemmy would find Annie and Kasha huddled together under a tree.  Currently Kasha was in wolf form, seated with his back resting against a rather large oak.  Annie was still sniffling, wiping a few tears from her cheeks as she rested against Kasha's chest.  It was a comfortable place to be; clutching to Kasha's think fur as he held his enormous arms around her in a secure and comforting manner.  It was an embrace she hadn't felt in quite a while, actually; and it felt really nice.  Kasha glanced up at the sensation of feeling Jemmy teleporting left and right, and his eyes locked with hers when she finally found them.  Annie blinked and looked up as well, meeting the eyes that had changed from a familiar orange to a fresh new blue.  Annie remembered Jemmy talking about her eyes before; how they had used to be blue.  It seemed now she had gotten them back.  

In response to Jemmy's greeting, Annie wiped her eyes one last time.  "M-my name is Annie...  I-I don't think I'm very important...but I guess I am to you."  Another momentary pause followed before she added, "I'm your sister."  Those words came out of Annie mouth, feeling a little wrong.  But at this point, 'sister' seemed like the most fitting understanding of their relationship for them to have.

Kasha, though he did not speak, looked to Jemmy in order to address her. He watched her for a few moments, then looked back to Annie again before continuing to slowly lick the small child's head and face. Annie made little response to this, just watching and listening to Jemmy.

Jemmy took in this new girl with red hair and deep blue eyes. She was super cute! Jemmy was delighted to hear that they were actually sisters. A genuine smile spread over her face. "Sister? That's great!" Jemmy gave the girl a hug before comparing their heights. Annie was taller. "Hmmm, you must be my big sister, then. Hey, if you're my sister, then you must be a Lord of Chaos, too."

Jemmy put her hands on her hips, a playful pout on her face. "What's this about you not being an important person? You're a Lord of Chaos. You're super important. I know I am, and you're my big sister, so you're like twice as important."

The shadow wolf seemed to be focusing on Jemmy for a while. It's gaze was stern, but not unfriendly. Jemmy stared back into its eyes until it went back to licking Annie. "Your wolf is really cool. Is it a boy or a girl? Does it have a name?" Jemmy walked up and fearlessly started petting Kasha. She had a feeling the wolf was good, and even if it bit her...well, that's what the balloon was for.

Annie smiled at Jemmy's reaction, thn blinked as she listened to what Jemmy had to say, relaxing slowly as Kasha continued to groom her. "A-Am I a Lord of Chaos? I don't even hardly know what a Lord of Chaos is. I know that they have to make chaos...but I don't like making chaos..."

Annie watched and smiled again when Jemmy walked closer and began to pet her wolf. "His name is Kasha. He's not really a boy or a girl, so you can call him either one. I call him a boy, because that's what he seems to act like to me." Kasha paused from grooming Annie to look at Jemmy while he was being petted, and watched her as she continued. Unlike how he had viewed Jemmy previously, Kasha did not look quite as stern as he used to. The wolf seemed interested and open to her.

Jemmy tilted her head. Annie didn't know what a Lord of Chaos was? Maybe she was speaking figuratively, wondering what she was supposed to be doing. Yes, that must be it. Her statement that she didn't like making Chaos supported Jemmy's theory.

Jemmy pondered this for a moment. She was hoping that her big sister would be able to help her get back into the swing of things. Jemmy had just lost all her memories, after all. It would be nice to have a role model. Still, she had innately retained the information she would need to do her job. In fact, without any memories, Jemmy was currently the purest form of Chaos around.

"Maybe we can figure it out together, then. I'm a little out of practice myself." Jemmy grinned at her big sister. "What do you want to do? Whatever it is, just do it. That's what Chaos is: Freedom to chase after your desires." She laughed. "I don't want to sound like I know everything, because the opposite is kinda true. But whatever you do, Annie, will make the world a more interesting place. I think you'll do just fine."

Kasha seemed to really like Jemmy, and that made the Lord of Chaos happy. She giggled. "I think he likes me. Kasha, do you love me? Because I love you. You're so fluffy."

Jemmy buried her face in Kasha's shadowy fur for a moment before looking back at Annie. "So what do you want, Annie? Right now or just in general, it makes no difference."

Annie sat and watched as she observed Jemmy ponder and explain what chaos was. It kind of made sense; though Kasha knew there was much more to chaos then that.

Jemmy seemed to really like Kasha, saying that she loved him and setting her face against his soft fur. Kasha blinked and watched her do this, while the sight made Annie smile and giggle. Then what she saw next made her feel that Kasha and this new Jemmy would get along very well. She watched as Kasha began to sniff at Jemmy's face, then started to lick it over as if to clean her. His tongue was soft and felt moist, but it was only a feeling and in fact left her face dry; yet somehow a little bit cleaner.

The sight made Annie very happy, helping to wash away the sadness. She reached up and petted Kasha's scruff as he kept licking at Jemmy's face. "Right now, I don't want to do much of anything. Just sit here with Kasha...maybe take a nap.. You can stay here too for a while if you like. I think Kasha loves you too." ^^

Kasha started licking Jemmy's face. The little Lord of Chaos leaned back, halfheartedly trying to escape the shadow beast's tongue. Kasha was persistent, though, so Jemmy resigned to sit still and let him clean her face. It probably needed a lot of cleaning, anyways. Annie said that Kasha must love Jemmy back, and Jemmy had to agree with her.

Annie just wanted to stay here and take a nap. She invited Jemmy to stay as well. Jemmy laid down with her arms behind her head as a pillow. If Kasha chose to keep licking her face, Jemmy would not stop him. It tickled.

"I was thinking of exploring the nearby city. What's it called again? Jumping Town? But I better get to know my sister first." She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "It must have been awful, when everyone disappeared. We're the only Lords of Chaos left, aren't we? Do you still remember it? I'm glad I don't. I don't need sad memories hanging around. What about good memories? What were the funnest times we've had together?"

Kasha did indeed persistently lick at Jemmy's face, stopping only a little after she laid down. At that point he was satisfied and relaxed, deciding to lay down beside Jemmy with his head up by hers. Annie agreed that this seemed like a good idea and laid down as well, relaxing on the other side of Kasha with her hands rested on her stomach and her head lying in the grass. "Kasha says it's called Jump City. There's a lot of people there, and some people have powers too. They're called meta-humans." She paused to yawn, then continued; "I don't remember when the disappearing happened. I'm not like you, Jemmy; I'm mortal. I'm nine years old now, and back then I was too little to notice it."

At this time, Annie paused to think about the fun times they had together. "Well, this one time me and you went on a walk and ran into a shadow demon. He said his name was Nox. He was nice, and he could turn into a wolf just like Kasha. They looked a lot alike. Then we went to the beach and played and swam and got ice cream. That was a really fun day."

Jump City? Why did the city have to jump? It was interesting that there were people with powers here. Was this a special city in that manner? Jemmy was more surprised to learn that Annie, her "big" sister was actually mortal. She had a general idea of what it meant to be mortal. It meant that you hadn't existed forever, and that you would eventually die of old age. That seemed so strange. What was the point of being born if you were just going to die someday? It seemed counter-productive.

"I'm sorry," Jemmy said. "That's so sad that you are mortal. But you're still a Lord of Chaos, right? Maybe you can use your cosmic power to become immortal." Jemmy held out her hand, and a white flower magically appeared in it. She smelled its fragrance before passing it to Annie. "Like I said, Chaos is freedom to do what you want."

Jemmy listened to the fun day the two of them had enjoyed with a shadow demon named Nox. It certainly sounded like a fun day. A wide grin spread over Jemmy's face. "Maybe we'll have to do something like that again, then."

Something didn't seem to be adding up. "If we're sisters, then how can you be mortal? Did you actually have parents?"

Annie listened and smiled reassuringly at Jemmy, taking the flower she was offered. "It's okay. It's not sad that I'm mortal. Only my body is going to die. Kasha says that after it dies he's going to take care of me, and then I can live with him forever. So it's not sad." ^^ She sniffed the flower, looking at it as she continued. "But even if I wanted to...I don't know if I could make my body immortal. I don't know if I'm a Lord of Chaos, or if I can use cosmic power. I know I can use magic..."

Annie paused to think, now considering Jemmy's question of how they could be sisters if she was mortal. Annie hesitated to respond, not sure what she was going to say. She was not about to lie to Jemmy more, but wasn't sure how the truth would come out either. After a while of thought she spoke. "You...you're not..actually my sister..at least not in the normal way." She thought a little longer, and then sighed. Per Kasha's mental advice, she decided to come out and tell the full truth. "I don't really know anything about my parents. I'm an orphan. Kasha says that when I was a baby I was adopted by a pair of humans...but then they died when I was seven..." At this point Annie stopped, and Kasha lifted his head to look at her. He could see the look in her eyes and feel her feelings of grief and loss arise again, and he moved to comfort Annie by resting his head in her lap. She didn't look at him, but appreciated the gesture and wrapped her arms around his neck to hold him for comfort. Kasha had to take care of me by himself. He still does. I didn't have anyone else until you found me, alone, and decided to adopt me as your sister. You started helping take care of me..." Annie paused again, wiping away tears that started to form as she recalled the memories.

So, there was no reason to assume Annie was a Lord of Chaos at all. She had a bit of magic, but she had been born and raised among the mortal humans. They were sisters in name only. Had Jemmy taken pity on the poor orphan girl? Or had there been another reason to adopt this human as her sister?

And why did Kasha, a shadow demon (or something quite similar) protect and serve this little human girl? Usually, demons only served those who were more powerful than them. It was possible that Annie had made some sort of contract with the entity, but Jemmy's intuition told her that wasn't the case.

"I think Kasha has done a good job of taking care of you. Now that I know we're sisters, I'll be happy to help you if you are ever in need. Now that you're nine, you can probably take pretty good care of yourself, right?" Jemmy grinned mischievously at Annie. "One day soon, I think, you'll realize that you're even stronger than Kasha. There's something special about you, Annie. I can tell."

Jemmy stood up and started to dance with an imaginary partner. She had a lot of energy to expend, but she still wanted to talk to Annie. The girl was certainly interesting. "But tell me, what is it like to be human? I really have no idea."

Annie looked up when Jemmy began to speak, smiling when Jemmy said that she would offer to help if she ever needed it. It was a reassurance that Annie greatly appreciated.

Annie and Kasha then looked to each other after Jemmy started to dance and asked what it was like to be human. After a moment they looked at her again. "It's...kind of scary sometimes. Because I can die, I have to take care of myself. I have to eat, sleep, keep from getting too hot or cold, get inside if the weather is bad, stay away from people that are dangerous... If I don't take care of myself, I can die." She was speaking from experience, having lived pretty much on her own for two years with only Kasha to take care of her. "I don't really think I'm stronger than Kasha. He's not mortal, so he can be a lot braver and stronger than I can."

Annie thought for a moment, pondering mortals and immortals and the different mindsets they posses. Curiously she asked, "Jemmy? Are you ever afraid of anything?"

Being human sounded like a lot of work, just to stay alive. Jemmy was glad that she wasn't mortal, but at the same time, this form that she took was that of a human, wasn't it? She wondered why she had decided that. Was there some thrill in being, or at least pretending to be, human? Maybe all the other Lords had been doing it.

Annie said that Kasha wasn't mortal, and therefore was much braver than her. Jemmy chuckled. "Strong people don't need to be brave. Only weak ones do. I think, in that way, you're a lot braver than Kasha."

Was Jemmy afraid of anything? Well, she didn't exactly know herself the best. She could only remember a few hours. "I don't know," Jemmy said, honestly. "I haven't had much time to be scared. You would probably know better than I would if we spent so much time together. Do you remember any times when I was frightened?"

Annie listened to Jemmy's reply.  It made sense..actually..  She shook her head.  "I don't think I ever remember seeing you scared.  I guess you're not afraid of anything either.."  She looked down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers a bit.

Kasha was just sitting there, listening to their conversation.  He didn't really have anything to add, as usual; even though he could technically talk now(Hurray for telepathy!).  Annie didn't have much else to say at the moment either, and just sat there silently.  Both were unaware they were being watched.

This had been a good talk. Jemmy felt like she knew her friend a lot better now. But there was an entire world to explore and become re-familiar with. Jemmy cracked her knuckles. "Well, I better be going. There's a world that needs Chaos out there." She pulled a cell phone out of her pocket. "Do you have one of these? I think we can talk with them if you do. It's like a magic summoning stone, I think."

Jemmy turned to leave, but then she heard a twig snap. Was somebody else here? Jemmy started looking around. "Hello? You can come out. Don't worry, this wolf won't eat you. Probably not, anyway."