Naomi followed, a few steps behind. The faster they left, the faster they would be able to talk to the two demons, and that was something she really wanted to do.

Cal trailed along after them all. Great, a road trip. Well, it could always be worse.

Several hours later, Niko slowed and parked in front of a maple farm. There was no one else parked out front, since it wasn't tourist season, so he took his time looking around and making sure there were no imminent threats.

Osanna scrambled out of the car and stretched, very glad to be out. Then she looked around, blinking. Well, this was... interesting.

Cal was with his brother, glancing around and making sure there were no threats around. Something kept sending tingles up his spine, and he had no idea what it was. He couldn't find any sort of source, and it was making him a bit edgy.

Naomi, on the other hand, was glad to be out of the car, just like Osanna was. She glanced around, and grinned a bit.

"You feel that?" she asked Osanna. She gestured vaguely in the direction of what looked like the main building. "Someone's moving a lot of energy around. Feels just like home."

Osanna nodded, very pleased with that. She could tell there were two of them, and she took a brief detour to the nearest maple tree, checking on it. Very healthy. Oooo she liked these two already.

Niko glanced at Cal, able to tell he was uncomfortable with something.

"What is it?" he asked quietly, visually sweeping the place again.

"I'm not sure," Cal replied just as quietly. "It's... something. I don't know what. But it makes my skin crawl." He paused, breathing deeply. "And it smells like there's something on fire, but it's a ways off." He could also detect that same kind of sharp, almost crisp mineral water smell again, the one he was starting to associate with Naomi. It was mingled with a much smokier, spicy scent, which he figured was the fire-demon-whatever-it-was.

Naomi glanced at the two when she heard the quiet conversation.

"Something up?" she asked.

Niko glanced over at her and simply shook his head. He had a feeling he knew what was unsettling Cal, but he wasn't going to say anything yet.

Before anyone could say anything else, the front door opened and a man stepped out. His hair looked dyed black, and he wore sunglasses. He was well over six foot, with deeply tanned skin, wearing leather pants. And that was it.

"Told you someone was here," he called back inside. He looked at Naomi and Osanna, clearly assessing before summarily dismissing them and focusing on Cal and Niko.

"Well, who are they?" came the reply from inside.

Naomi blinked.

"I have never been so glad to see a Four in my life," she said. And that's what she had him pegged as in her mind, a higher-end Four.

Cal looked at the newcomer warily. There was something about this guy that set him on edge, much moreso than either of the girls did.

"Coupla kids," the man called. "A halfer and three others." He looked at them again.

"So. What brings you here?" He quirked an eyebrow at Naomi. He didn't disagree with her assessment, either.

Niko shifted closer to Cal almost imperceptibly. He couldn't feel the energy the way Cal could, but he could tell this one was more dangerous than either of the girls.

Well, Naomi couldn't protest being called a halfer. At least it was more polite than being called a half-breed, which is what she tended to call herself. She didn't get the chance to answer, though, because an oddly familiar-looking woman came to the door. She was a sharp contrast to the man: fair skin and hair that was the same shade of blue as the stripe in Naomi's hair, although cut stylishly short. Naomi blinked. The woman looked almost exactly like Naomi's oldest sister Andromeda, and also seemed to rank right around a Four.

"A halfer?" the woman asked. "That's interesting, I didn't think you could find halfers here."

Naomi was still a bit shocked, but she tried to shake it off.

"Yeah, I don't think you do," she replied. The woman looked at her, assessing her.

"Huh," she commented. "An ice halfer. Don't see many of you around."

Osanna's eyes narrowed just a little but she didn't say anything, just watching the others.

"And a fox," the fire demon pointed out. "Although I think she's less than half." At Osanna's curt nod, he grinned briefly. "Odd visitors. Need something?"

Osanna shifted her weight, clearly uncomfortable around the two demons.

Naomi moved closer to Osanna just slightly. She was a little less uneasy, but she was still trying to figure out exactly why the ice demoness looked so familiar.

"Well, it's kind of like this," she started. "About a week ago, something started bouncing us around different dimensions, and it hasn't stopped and we have no idea what's doing it in the first place."

The woman raised an eyebrow at them and glanced at her mate.

He shrugged. "They don't smell like they're lying. Kind of sounds like what Jack used to do, huh?" He shot her a grin.

Osanna blinked. Okie dokie then. Somewhat helpful not homocidal fire demon.

The woman grinned back.

"Sounds like," she agreed. She glanced at the girls again, and raised an eyebrow again when she saw Naomi scrutinizing her. "See something interesting?"

"This is going to sound a little crazy," Naomi said after a moment, "but... do we know each other?"

"I've never met any halfers," the woman replied. "You're too young, anyways."

"Then maybe you know my father, or my siblings," Naomi pressed. "They're old enough."

"Go on..." the woman said, waving a hand.

"My father, Corvus," Naomi started. She didn't get any further, because the woman's eyes widened slightly.

"Corvus?" she repeated. After a moment, she smirked just a bit. "Huh. Never thought my brother would end up with a halfer daughter."

Osanna looked between the two, shifting slightly. Definitely not comfortable.

The man snickered when he noticed, rolling his eyes before he walked over to the woman. "How about we have the family reunion inside? The kid's getting antsy."

Osanna stiffened at being called a kid, but she didn't actually protest.

The woman nodded and gestured to the door.

"You all may as well come inside, then," she said. She glanced at her mate. "I'm making the house comfortable," she commented to him. "You're outnumbered this time." She jerked her head towards Naomi in a 'see?' gesture.

"Yeah, but we've got humans this time too," he pointed out. "And a... what? Quarter?"

Osanna nodded.

"And a quarter. So the temperature stays." He smirked in victory.

She rolled her eyes at him, but didn't argue. It wasn't worth it at the moment. She would cool the house down later on. She just gestured for everyone to go inside. She wanted to talk to this new niece of hers.

Cal nudged his brother.

"You thinking this is as weird as I'm thinking?" he murmured.

Niko nodded, just a little, and went in last. He kept track of everyone else, just watching.

Osanna went in quietly, looking around. The amount of youki in the house was making her a little uneasy. But only a little.

"Go make yourselves comfortable," the man said, motioning for them to get comfortable in the living room. He himself flopped across a chair that was clearly his, with a few faint scorch marks in it.

The youki in the house didn't unsettle Naomi the way it did Osanna, but she was also used to higher levels of energy just from attending specialty school and interacting with her family a few times.

It was completely weirding out Cal, though. He had no idea what he was feeling, but it was there, and it unnerved him.

Naomi hesitantly sat on the edge of the couch. She wasn't entirely sure how to deal with suddenly having an aunt. And even better: an aunt who didn't seem to treat her like she should be ashamed of being a half-breed. It was strange.

"So," the woman said, sitting in her own chair. It didn't have any scorch marks, but there were definite signs of multiple freeze-thaw cycles. "You said you're Corvus's girl. Never thought I'd see the day, really. And you mentioned siblings. Halfers like you?"

"No," Naomi replied. "Andromeda, Cassiopeia, and Orion are all full-blood."

"Curiouser and curiouser," the woman said. "All named after constellations, too... What about you?"

"I'm Naomi," she replied. The woman grinned.

"Your mother must have named you that, then," she said. "Corvus wouldn't have chosen a name like that. Well, regardless, I'm Ione."

Osanna ended up sitting near Niko and Cal, just because they weren't quite involved in the family aspect of all this. Plus Osanna felt a little weirded out.

"Nice to meet you, Naomi. I'm Kaeler." He grinned briefly. "Never thought I'd see anyone else from Ione's family. I met your father, before we left. No offense, but he's sort of a prick."

"None taken," Naomi replied. "My brother and sisters aren't much different." She had no problems admitting that much. "To be honest, I didn't know there WAS other family." She looked at Ione. "Like you said... I'm too young. Not even out of the double-digits yet." She shook her head. "Anyways, we aren't here for an impromptu reunion... We're trying to get back home."

Kaeler blinked. "You mean you're not here intentionally?" He sounded rather confused about that. Yeah, they'd left on purpose, taking someone with them who could jump around.

"Alright. Better start explaining the whole thing to us."

"We haven't been anywhere intentionally for a week," Naomi replied. "Home was about... four worlds back? Five, maybe?" She shook her head. "Anyways, we don't know how we got here, what's been bouncing us around, or how to make it stop and take us home again." She was a little surprised that the pair were in this world intentionally, but she pushed that question to the back burner for the moment. More important things to worry about than the apparent black sheep of the family.

"Interesting." Kaeler frowned, drumming his fingers on the arm of his chair. "Well, unfortunately I don't know anyone who can jump like that in this world. Obviously someone's doing it. You don't have any idea why?" He figured there had to be a reason for it.

"No," Naomi replied. She thought for a moment. "It started when a pair of humans and a group of high-end Fives arrived where we lived, then we got dragged along with them for two worlds or so, and then we got separated again."

"Was one of the Fives responsible?" Ione asked. It was a fair question: anyone with that kind of power wouldn't have any trouble moving groups of people if they had the right talents. Naomi shook her head again.

"No," she replied. "None of them had that skill, I don't think."

Cal just blinked a bit as he listened, now completely lost. He glanced at his brother, to see if Niko seemed to understand.