Lilli was about to break tradition and call Venice when the house phone began ringing. Lil slipped her phone back into her pocket and quickly crossed the kitchen to answer the landline. "Jettstar residence, A lady of the house speaking!", chirped Lilli cheerfully, expecting the caller to be Venice. The Fairy's cheerfulness quickly subsided, "What happened... Where?".
Lilliana yelled for Marcus and Casey to come quickly, Lilli trembled as she explained that Venice had struck a deer that had run out in front of the car, careered off the road over a steep embankment and had ended upside down, wedged between a group of trees. The hospital had suggested that her family come immediately.
Marcus drove, his advanced driving lessons allowing him to make the seven hour trip in five and a half. The surgeon tapped a group of x-ray images with a pointer, pointing out multiple fractures in Venice' back and legs, "The legs themselves are of no major concern, its these here, here, here, and here in the spine that concern me." The surgeon lit up another set of images, showing a skull and several images of a brain.
"What are the chances of full recovery?", asked Lilli, exasperated at the surgeons apparent lack of compassion. "None, absolutely none, Venice will partially recover, but it will not be a full recovery." The surgeon continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "Mrs. Jettstar, when your.. wife came into the trauma room, I was honestly surprised that she was still breathing, she died five times on the table during surgery. Venice challenged my abilities to keep her alive, and I madam, am among the top five trauma surgeons in Simnation!"
"Twin River City Hospital has some of the finest surgeons, and medical fairies and witches in the country, the only thing we can't heal is her mind." The surgeon explained, knowing that his chances of playing golf today were shot. "From the damage we can see on these charts, I expect her memories to be intact, however her abilities to recall those memories will be damaged."
Marcus and Casey drove home the next day, Lilli rented a hotel room in Twin Rivers and remained by Venice side for every possible moment.
Two weeks later, Lilli returned to Elba with Venice. "We are home Venice!", Lilli announced enthusiastically, "I thought Venice was all artsy buildings and canals....", Venice replied slowly in a far away, dreamy voice. Lilliana and Venice had arrived in Elba via a medical transport, while far more comfortable than a car trip, Venice had to have her maximum allowable dose of pain killers for the journey. The medications numbed her brain as well as her body.
Lilli shooed the dogs away, when they attempted to greet their long lost mistresses, even going so far as to bare her teeth and growl at them to 'sit'. Lilli gently eased her beloved into the double bed in the guest room, and placed the large bag of medicines and rehabilitation instructions on the wheelchair.
Lilli spend the night in the rocking chair. The following morning, Marcus and Casey made breakfast for Lilli, who hadn't left Venice side all night.
Lilli, Marcus, and Casey discussed the house hunting situation while Venice slept peacefully. "With mum's health, I feel that even if we bought a house at the other end of the street, it would e too far away.", stated Marcus. Casey nodded in agreement, she honestly didn't care if she lived in a house made of discarded cardboard boxes, as long as she was with her man, she was happy.
Lilli brought up the fact that the monster house was no longer suitable for Venice with all the living area being upstairs. Marcus suggested remodeling the entire house with ramps and elevators. Lilli confessed that she and Venice had built the house not just for themselves, but with future generations in mind.
Lilli decided it would be best if she and Venice moved into a granny flat or bungalow in the back yard. Marcus and Casey should move into the master bedroom, if that was what they wanted. Lilli made a call to Bob the builder, who removed the old playground equipment in no time, and had a shiny new place for Venice and Lilli to retire assembled just as quick. Lilli had Bob's team strip the master bedroom and move most of the items into the new flat, hoping that surrounding V with her favorite things would help improve her memory recall.
Marcus and Casey looked around the master bedroom, imagining how they would fill it out. They'd had Bob replace the old carpet that Lilli had chosen with a darker color, after Marcus and Casey both shared the color black as their favorite, the walls stayed the same. The bathroom would need a makeover as well, Venice had black and red as favorite colors, and of course Lil's was green.
Casey and Marcus had a lot on their minds at the moment, and couldn't agree on bathroom choices, and so agreed to leave it until later.
"Do you realize its been two whole days since you made love to me?", Casey asked. Marcus grinned, "Well, technically, It's been forty four and a half hours.." Casey gave her husband the evil eye, while trying very hard not to grin.
"Even so, that's simply not good enough! I demand you take me away and ravish me! as is your husbandly duty!", Casey demanded. "Well.. as a newly wed wife, I expect you might expect frequent ravishing, and I expect as a newly wed husband, it is my duty to frequently ravish you!".
"Just shut up and ravish me!", Casey demanded. Marcus grinned like a schoolboy, "One ravishing coming up, Madam!
Marcus and Casey slipped down to the now vacant guest room for multiple ravishings. Clearly their enjoyment and enthusiasm meant they couldn't stop at just one.
Time crawled slowly in Elba, Marcus had decided that although his family was by far the wealthiest in the area that he and his wife should add to that wealth, rather than leach from it. He decided that he needed a work from home job, that wouldn't take him away from his family. Marcus thought about the skills he had developed during his lifetime, and which of those would allow him to work from home. Eventually he decided on painter or writer.
His art teachers in school were always impressed with his artistic talent, and in school he had played 'Dungeons and Dragons' with Lawrence and some friends, Lawrence had started the role playing group and originally had been the 'Dungeon Master'. However, with Marcus ability to create long detailed and entertaining stories, Lawrence soon handed the reins over to Marcus. Marcus thought if he wrote children's books, he could do his own illustrations. He went looking for Casey to tell her his thoughts.
After searching the entire house, he finally found her in her old bedroom. "You know, I could stand here and watch you dance naked for hours, or we could just squeeze onto your old single bed?", Marcus asked. "My boobs are sore!", Casey growled softly. Marcus replied "Or.. I could just stand here and watch you dance naked.", not really understanding the significance of her breasts hurting.
"Last night was a full moon, I didn't change, my boobs hurt, I woke up with a blocked nose, Ive been craving food I wouldn't normally touch, I have been feeling dizzy and nauseous every time I move, don't you understand?" Marcus finally twigged "Oh by the maker! We're pregnant!"
"I suspected a few days ago, but not changing under the full moon confirmed it, oh my gods, what if the baby turns out like me?", Casey cried. Marcus sighed, he had been helping Casey work through her low self esteem issues for a while, and finally thought she was in a good place. "If the baby is anything like you, both the city of Elba, and ourselves, will be blessed with a beautiful, charismatic, intelligent child, who will grow to achieve many great things", Marcus said firmly. "Not that, what if the baby is a werewolf!", Casey snapped back.
"And what if the baby is fae, or a vamp, or a witch? Will you love it any less than a mortal child?", Marcus demanded impatiently, he knew he needed to be gentle with Casey, but right now, it wasn't easy. "Do you think I would love it any less? do you think my mothers, or yours would?".
Marcus stepped closer, wrapping her in his arms and sliding his hands around her still flat belly, "Casey, I love you, all of you, even the werewolf bits, I wish you could see that!", Casey's panic attack quickly subsided under Marcus touch. Casey slowly got dressed, impeded by Marcus kissing her neck and stomach at every opportunity. After hearing the good news, Lilli raced down to the basement, searching the large and mostly empty area attached to the pool viewing area. There was a crib upstairs in the guests room, and most of Marcus things had been stored here after he gad outgrown them. Still, there was shopping to be done!
Venice physical recovery progressed at an amazing rate, but her access to memories was still very random, she had the cast removed and was walking without a support frame much sooner than the medical staff had expected. The continuous pain Venice experienced caused her to rely heavily on the pain medications, which had the unfortunate side effect of making the memories she did have access to blurry and hard for her to interpret.
She remembered her guitars, but not how to play them, most days she remembered Gypsy, but was too fragile to play with her, and she remembered her lover, her wife loved her garden. Where was her wife? Venice looked out the window at the garden, and began the long painful journey from the flat to the garden. By the time she had made it to the garden gate, she had forgotten why she was here. She looked at the random collection before her, hoping to be reminded. 'That needs weeding!' she thought.
Whenever Venice woke and Lilli was not by her side, Venice would make her way to the garden and search for weeds, she would occasionally harvest some of the lower hanging fruits, but mostly gently teased weeds from the soil. Venice knew that she had memory problems, and it annoyed her to no end that she couldn't always remember her lovers name.Venice knew that if she sat in the garden long enough, her special person would come and remind her.
Life went on in Elba, Lawrence and Ernest's step father passed away, Ernest insisted that the twins sell the house and go their separate ways. Casey And Marcus looked after Venice on Fridays, while Lil opened the junkyard, Marcus planned his first book, and Casey's stomach began to grow. Casey had stopped eating grilled salmon, which had always been her favorite, and began eating everything but. Marcus had to make regular trips to the supermarket to stock up on Mac'n'Cheese, which Casey had previously refused to eat.
Lilli was sitting in the rocking chair, reading the local paper and watching Venice sleep. Marcus and Casey were having dinner at a restaurant in town. The necklace charm that Morgana had made for Lilli begun buzzing softly against her skin. Lilli scowled as she crept outside to check the perimeter, she soon spotted the intruder, who had tried to land on the balcony outside the kitchen. The invader appeared frozen mid landing and looked terribly uncomfortable.
Lilli glared at the Black Valkyrie, she knew that the protection spell would capture any fairy that entered the property intending harm to her family, but since the trap was laid, Lilli had never considered once, what she might do, if the trap was sprung. Lilli was struggling to contain her fury.
"Do you know, as a small child, I thought of the Valkyrie as boogeymen?", Lil asked through clenched teeth, "My mother used to threaten me, if I didn't go to bed, or I didn't wear the clothes she chose, that she would have the Blacks take me away, and swap me for a child that would do as they were told!".
"When I was older, I learned that the Black Valkyries were loyal royal guards, saved from death with an ancient dark magic, yet bound to protect the throne and kingdom. As a teen I wished for one of you to come and rescue me?", Lilli continued, "Trade me to a less insane family." The more she talked, the calmer she would become, and Morgana had told her she would have power over the invader for forty eight hours.
Lilli glared at the Black Valkyrie, she knew that the protection spell would capture any fairy that entered the property intending harm to her family, but since the trap was laid, Lilli had never considered once, what she might do, if the trap was sprung. Lilli was struggling to contain her fury.
"Do you know, as a small child, I thought of the Valkyrie as boogeymen?", Lil asked through clenched teeth, "My mother used to threaten me, if I didn't go to bed, or I didn't wear the clothes she chose, that she would have the Blacks take me away, and swap me for a child that would do as they were told!".
"When I was older, I learned that the Black Valkyries were loyal royal guards, saved from death with an ancient dark magic, yet bound to protect the throne and kingdom. As a teen I wished for one of you to come and rescue me?", Lilli continued, "Trade me to a less insane family." The more she talked, the calmer she would become, and Morgana had told her she would have power over the invader for forty eight hours.
Lilly gripped the charm, and willed the Intruder to morph to her true form. She plucked the black fae from the magic web. the Valkyrie, bound by magical Geas sat silently in Lilli's palm, unable to move.
Lilli opened the double doors and stepped into the kitchen, trying to formulate a plan. "I could drop you into the toaster, or maybe a few minutes in the microwave until you melt!", Lilli said, a sudden nasty streak appeared. "Maybe I should just flush you away down the toilet, or feed you to the dogs."
Lilli held the Valkyrie close to her face, when she looked at the black fairy, her face was expressionless, but her eyes begged for mercy. Lilliana, took the invader down into the basement, passed the storage room, past the pool windows, to the dark corner at the end, she selected a book, and instead of pulling the book from the shelf, she firmly pushed it. Part of the book case moved, revealing a secret room, Lil stepped inside.
Lilliana and Venice had Bob add this secret room during one of the many expansion phases, after Lilli had received a visit from one of her brothers. Since then it had mostly been used to store Lil's junk and part collections. More recently Lilli had added an alchemy bench, and some other oddities. Lilliana secretly hoped that Alchemy might provide a cure for Venice where everything else had failed.
Lilli placed the dark Fae on the floor against the wall, and gripping the talisman in her fist, willed the intruder to resume human form. "You will answer my questions truthfully!" Lilli growled, willing that to be, through the spells ensorcelling the talisman as well.
"Who are you?", Lilli demanded.
"I am Black Valkyrie", the Black Valkyrie replied in a voice that sounded like it was coming from all directions.
"Well, duh! What is your name?"
"I am Black Valkyrie, we have no names."
"Who were you before you changed?", Lilly asked.
"My name was Dahlia Camellia Zinnia Bluebell, A member of the Elite Royal Guard."
"And now you are a damned assassin! How many more of you are there?", demanded Lil, needing to know how much of a threat her mental mother was to her family.
"There are currently four of us, and we are not assassins!", replied the Valkyrie, a hint of pain in her voice.
Lilli thought for a moment, this line of questioning wasn't helping her to find a solution. "If the Black Valkyrie are not assassins, then why are you here?"
"I am here to assassinate you, this is the first time a Valkyrie has been ordered to do such a thing!", said the black fae, the disgust plain in her voice. Her face twisted as if she had more to say, but the Geas prevented her from adding anything that was not directly related to a question.
Lilli thoughtfully asked the fae if she had something else she would like to say. They Black Valkyrie opened up gratefully, "In all the history of our kind, we have loyally served to protect the kingdom and throne, never before have any of us been ordered to commit such a heinous, despicable act for the throne, and like the temporary geas you have placed on me, the Black Valkyrie are compelled to obey orders from the throne, no matter how vile! Your mother's insanity has surpassed her will to suppress it, and she fears treachery everywhere. She needs to be removed for the good of the kingdom, but we are helpless to act, without a command!"
"Who is most likely to succeed the throne now?", Lilli asked carefully. The Black Fae explained that her several of her siblings had passed on in her absence, and that Jasper, although technically sixth in the rapidly dwindling line, was currently listed as his mothers favorite primary heir. Lilli quickly put together a dangerous plan.
"My Geas overrides your compulsion to the throne, correct?" asked Lil. "Correct.", confirmed the Valkyrie. "My plan is in the best interest of the throne and kingdom, correct?", prompted Lil. "Correct.", confirmed the Valkyrie again. "Given your own free will, you would follow this path of action?", Lil added. "Correct.", reaffirmed the Valkyrie smiling.
"I never wanted my mother's throne, I still don't, but it is clear she is no longer capable of it, Jasper, of all my siblings is the least unsuited to rule a kingdom, you have forty six and a bit hours.", stated Lilliana, releasing the dark fae from her invisible bindings.
Chapter Notes:
Firstly, the usual rant about how my mad laptop has random fits, with keyboard spamming of iiiiiiiiii and *******, as well as wifi-on, wifi-off, wifi-on, wifi-off. Yep, that's done.
Lil, and V ... Around the time of the hand over, I decided I didn't want to move anyone out of the house, Lilli has a long life span ahead of her, V not so much. Marcus generation has a helper, and I decided that because Lilli is mid YA, and V had reached E, that Lilly could stay to help, I needed a story line that allowed for Venice to not contribute anything further to the household, as such, the only useful function I allow her is to weed the garden. Also, as Lilli is technically no longer a collector, anything that the pets bring home, not relating to Lil's newly rolled career is dumped for no profit or displayed. I wanted to get Casey a kitten, but I couldn't obtain a cute fluffy one with suitable screen presence, the search goes on.
SP forced the twins Lawrence and Ernest to go their separate ways. I'm just annoyed the game thought of it before I did. For those of you hoping that Lawrence Wong-Lum hooks up with Eva Wong, his second step cousin by marriage, I assure you I've done just about everything I can think of short of cheating, to no avail. Our boy Law. may be destined to live his entire life dateless. I'm sad about this as Eva is the only girl who has shown the slightest interest in him.
(Edit)
Also, after posting this, I just spent my entire life savings (Au$70) to buy Fast Lane, and Ambitions, more embarrassing than the fact I will be flat broke for the next week and a half is the fact I bought the EP & SP solely for the chopper and sportsbike... and OFC I had no money for the 3 days of Halloween when every EP/SP was 75% on steam.... I am not accepting responsibility for my actions, instead I will firmly place the blame on Aikea Guinea, Astraea Nevermore, and any other CC makers of fine boots and motorcycle clothing :)
This means re-rolling employment for the rest of the generations to include 'Ambitions' careers.
