Charlie shrugged and sat at the table. "And yet you brought a doctor in for ' snap of the fingers." She told him pointedly. "You think innoculations are hard once you know what it is you're innoculating against?" She looked away from him and began eating. "Magic or not, this queen's still only human right? Humans are vaulnerable creatures, that's why we have cevlar vests and bullt proof glass." She shrugged, not really looking forewards to a long stay in a world where she was not welcome and being hunted for by the local guards.

The beauty of the world around her was now lost on her as she gazed glumly at her plate. Eating in silence as her mind worked on the possabilities. A way to get home. What could they possably want with her? Surely anything she could do with technology, they could do with magic? None of this made sense.

"I didn't, supposedly that was the Time Keeper." Sirus said, "And half the terms you're using don't make any sense."

"I thought you were going to worry about it in the morning." Kindle yawned. "It's really late, we should get some sleep."

Sirus gave a sigh, "Right, I'll go set up a place for you to sleep Charlie. Put your dishes in the sink when you're finished. Would you like to borrow something to sleep in?"

((ew, short... kinda brain dead thanks to college entrance application things for my honors class))

Charlie sighed "I didn't mean you specifically." She muttered under her breath. Then shrugged "Sure." She answered him in a more audible voice. She didn't actually want anything here other than to leave, but she wasn't about to say that. Again she bit her bottom lip, and wondered why she was here. What they expected her to do and if there was any other way she could return home.

(Uhg, I've been so swamped with things, I just haven't felt like roleplaying. ;-; Can we put this on hold for a few days? n.n; )

((My apologies for the double post, it was intentional however in hopes that it would send you the email where as editing my previous post would not. IF A MOD DECIDES TO DELETE A POST, PLEASE BE RID OF MY PREVIOUS ONE! ;-; ))

About an hour later Sirus shad cleaned up th mess from dinner, put together a bed in a spare room, cleared enough of the clutter now that there was room enough for her to sleep.

"Will this do for now?" He asked her, referring to the room. The bed had been cleared and made, and there was a clear walkway from the bed to the door. The desk and dresser were both buried so deeply in books and papers it was hard to tell what sort of furniture the room held. The free floor space was covered it strange objects, books, garments, shoes, and various pieces of furniture that didn't have anyplace better to be.

"My room's to the right, and Kindle sleeps in the living room on the occasions that he actually sleeps. The restroom's on the first floor, and if you need anything else don't be afraid to wake me up. If you can get to the closet there, you're welcome to wear whatever's in there. There should be some nightshirts and some robes, although they'll be a bit big on you."

((It's true. This one sent me an email to get my ass here and post ^_^))

She nodded "Thank you. This will be fine." She told him with somewhat of a forced smile. The room itself kind of reminded her of her room mates half of the bedroom and lifted her spirits somewhat, but she was tired and this whole situation was slowly starting to sink in.

She brushed her hair to one side of her head, and out of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure so long as the necks aren't bigger than my entire body I'll be fine with them. Thank you again." This time the smile was less forced.

"Of course." Sirus said with a small bow of his head. "Good night then." He slipped into his ow room, closing the door. As it shut, the knob vanished, preventing entrance.

Once inside he changed into a pair of loose fitting pajama pants and glanced around his room. It was surprisingly clean compared to the rest of the house. a neat desk sat in one corner, a few bookshelves in the next, and a hammock filled the top far corner of the room. Woven in red, the hammock was three or four times the size of any one might have seen, and a thick black comforter kept the woven rope from being uncomfortable. The comforter was covered by another blanket or two, and a dozen pillows of various shapes and sizes. Sirus pulled himself up the rope ladder and buried himself in the bedding, worn out from the day.

Kidle slunk into Charlie's room, sniffing around. "I'd be careful not to mess with any of this stuff, some of it's enchanted. People actually sell highly magical items, and Sirus usually buys them so he doesn't have to use up his own life to make them. Anything he wants or needs is paid for by the queen. Of course, he's got thousands and thousands of treasures hidden away in case the queen suddenly revokes her offer. It's almost funny, he's the highest ranking religious leader of our country, and he isn't religious at all. At least, not following the dear queen's religion. He sort of follows the idea of magic's roots and the time keeper, but he's not very certain about it all. What do you believe?" Kindle asked curiously.

Charlie nodded and made her way cautiously to the wardrobe, pulling out a shirt and heading back to the bed with it, listening to Kindle. "Me?" She mused "I don't really know. I know evolution occured and am pretty certain of the validity of the big bang theory but beyond that? I don't know. I know science, I know how science works and I know the theories behind how things should work, but religion? I haven't got a clue. I'd like to believe that there's something there but I've never seen something that I can't explain with science." She shrugged.

"What is the Religion here then? What's he supposed to believe?"

"Well..." Kindle took a seat on the bed, facing away from her so she could change. "Supposedly the royal leader was chosen by god, and speaks only to her and her priest. The people are required to wear some sort of purple garment to show their loyalty to the lord, but that's really just another way to control the public. The cards an arrest someone just for not having something visibly purple on. However, anyone outside the castle, with the exception of Sirus, is not permitted to wear any shade that could be considered 'dark' purple because it's the royal color. Lavender neck ribbons have become popular with the women, and purple leather wrist bands with the men. There are all kinds of rule that make little sense. Such as you have to donate a certain amount to the church every week in order to atone for your 'sins', you can't eat meat more then three times a week, you must sell twice what you consume... just all sorts of things that benefit the Queen more then anything. After you die, if you've been good, you enter a world where women angels will fall at your feet to do your bidding, or you, food is plentiful, and everything is perfect. But if you're bad you go to hell and you're tortured for eternity. Thirst, hunger, lust, pain, all without relief, ect. If you donate enough money to the church you're forgiven for your sins, be it forgetting to wear purple for a day or killing a man." Kindle fell back on the bed. "I'm lucky I'm a cat, the rules don't apply to me. Sirus made my collar purple anyway though, just in case. He'll probably give you a ribbon tomorrow, before you leave the house, if you leave the house. I'm surprised the Queen hasn't sent the Cards here yet."

Taking the opportunity of Kindle turning his back to her she quickly changed her tops, then standing up took off her skirt, tights and shoes. The shirt was, as predicted, too big for her. It's length covering part of her legs nicely. Sitting back down she shook her head "That's crazy." She looked in her bag and pulled out a small black hair tie, placing it on her wrist, then scooping her hair up and braiding it.

"Why haven't you like...de-throned her?" She asked curiously. "We would have if someone like that was ever in power." The braid finished Charlie tied it off with the band on her wrist.

"Maybe the queen just doesn't care?" She suggested "By the sound of things I've already broken plenty of rules. Last I checked I wasn't wearing purple and I am wearing black."

"There's nothing the people can do. Those with the power to make a difference or to project a voice are paid to keep quiet or given advantages to make them support the queen. Any one that rises against her is silenced." Kindle yawned, "The queen's a mentally unstable power hungry bitch." He said with a disgusted tone. "And Sirus, despite what he'll admit to, is actually quite afraid of her. They've got a long history together sadly. The king brought him into the palace when he was a kid to at as a servant, since he was the son of the king's favored chamber maid. There were even rumors that Sirus was the result of a fling between the two, but since they couldn't prove it either way, they stood by that it was just a rumor. The queen took advantage of the ignorance that comes at that age and decided he should become the next bishop or whatever religious term she uses." Kindle stopped, certain he shouldn't go on. After all, Sirus had never told anyone any more then that about his past. Kindle himself only knew because he'd been in the castle at the time. "I should let you sleep, Sirus will be angry if I keep you up all night." Kindle shrank into his tabby cat form, curled up on the foot of the bed, and seemed to be sound asleep in seconds.

She nodded "Things are pretty strange here eh?" She yawned. Then nodded "Alright, I'll help you if I can." She breathed as she slipped beneath the covers and curled up herself. She guessed that there was more to the story, but she also guessed that it was a bad story so she didn't object to him not telling her.

The next morning Kindle woke first to the heavy pounding at the would be door of the house. He hissed and gave a hellish 'meow' and dashed out of the room, down the stairs, and froze in the living room. Now in human form his tail was bushed out and his ears were back flat against his head as he continued to hiss at the wall.

Sirus stumbled out of his room sleepily, the silver pendant resting against his bare chest. His long hair had been clipped up, but in the night most of it had come loose to hang around his face. He knocked on her open door, "Charlie, I need you to wake up. NOW." he said as loudly a his sleepiness would allow. "Come on, wake up, I'm pretty sure that's unwanted company."

He ducked down the hall and down the steps, removing the pendant and allowing it to change into his staff. He pulled on the purple robes and slid out of the pajama pants, then pulled the clip out of his hair and combed it out with his fingers. He tapped the wall with his staff and a thick window appeared, allowing him a clear veiw of the half dozen or so Cards that were standing in his front lawn. "Oh dear..." He muttered as he tapped the glass again, making it visible through both sides. "What is it you want at such an early hour?" He grumbled.

"By order of the queen you are required to forfeit the demon you took into your home yesterday evening." the card said firmly.

"Ah... is that so..." Sirus' voice had taken a dream like quality and his expression sly smile. "Tell me, sir Card, that order is indeed from the queen, is it not?"

"Yes sir, your holiness, it is."

"And that would mean..." Sirus said, pausing to yawn. "...That according to the third clause, the fifth clause, and the twelfth clause in our deal which she is ethically, morally, legally, and religiously bound to, does not apply to me. So I'll forgive you for wasting my time, ad ask you to please take your bloody violent selves off of this otherwise holey land."

the Cards stared blankly, uncertain of what arguments they could come up with. "I mean now, please. You know quite well my opinions of Cards, and my capabilities in magic, should I need to... ah, defend my home." The cards turned and left, grumbling amongst themselves.

Sirus turned to Kindle. "Looks like we'll need to leave for the summer home soon. They'll be back within an hour I'm sure, the queen won't be happy with this."

Charlie woke up rather suddenly to the sound of Kindles meow. Groaning she had closed her eyes against the light, only to hear Sirus shout at her. With a sigh she forced her eyes back open and yawned. Raising to her feet Charlie tugged her skirt back on, not that it was much longer than the shirt she was wearing.

Making her way slowly dowstairs she hesitated on the bottom step, just out of sight of the window she was convinced hadn't been there last night.

Her fingers tugged at the bottom of her shirt as she silently gazed at Sirus and Kindle through the small ringlets that had come loose during the night. After the Cards had left she chose to speak "What are those clauses?" She breathed, her voice still heavy with sleep and just as dreamy as his had become. "And why do they think I'm a demon?"

"Probably some crap the Queen's spewing to put the public against you." Sirus said through a yawn as he began to pull off the robe, freezing as he remembered he was in the presence of a lady. He let the robe fall, still tied at his waist, so it fit more like a skirt then anything. He scooped up the pajama pants and headed back towards the stairs. "The clauses are part of a deal between myself and the queen. Basically she has no power over me, her laws do not effect me, and essentially, I'm 'free'. Please don't ask any more about it." He said stiffly as he passed her as he headed up the stairs.

A while later he returned, smiling brightly and dressed in a flowing black shirt and a pair of black slacks. The staff had returned to it's place as a pendant, and Sirus seemed to have forgotten the events of the morning. "Breakfast then, eggs and toast are alright?" He asked as he entered the kitchen and began to rummage through piles of stuff. He pulled out a length of purple fabric, a pale lavender in color, and handed it to her. "Tie this around your wrist or neck, it's part of the law that you have to wear purple. After breakfast I'll get you something to wear that might actually fit."

She folded her arms over her chest and tossed the curls from her eyes. Not impressed at being referred to as a demon. Caught unawares by his stiff explaination of the clauses she stared blankly at him, then turned and headed back to the bedroom he had allotted for her that night. Realizing that she didn't really have any clothes she just grabbed her bag and came back downstaires, and sat down on the sofa. "Talk about having a chip on your shoulder." She muttered as she rumaged through her bag and pulled out her compact mirror.

Her fingers released her hair from the black band and she fluffed it around her face before flicking her mirror open and inspecting her appearance. She sighed and ran her finger through the mass of curls, sorting the ringlets into place and wishing her comb could fit into the bag. A brush would just send her curls into frizz so she never used them.

She was still playing with the curls when Sirus came back. She didn't look up though until he spoke to her. "That would be fine." She replied snapping the mirror closed. She took the ribbon he handed her and sighed, "Stupid rules." She muttered beneath her breath and tied it around her wrist.

Sirus paused and moved to stand in front of her. He grabbed one of the curls lightly and gently pulled it, then let it go, watching it bounce back into place. He laughed, "How pretty..." He said with a soft smile.

He moved back to the stove and began to cook, handing them each a plate a few minutes later. He took a seat at the table, "I think you'll like the summer house Charlie. It's way out where we won't be bothered by the Cards or the queen for a while. I can show you how to use basic magic, you can show my how to use technology, and we can come up with some idea of how we're going to manage this. It's beautiful out there. We're right next to a lake."

((going to bed, night night!))

She looked up as he touched her hair and looked at him with curiosity. "Thank you..." She said, slightly taken aback by the action. Not offended, she just hadn't expected it at all.

She smiled and nodded "This whole world is beautiful." She told him quietly "But how can you teach me majic? Last time I read a fairy tale you had to be born with magic to use it, and I'm not."

((Night))

"'Magic' is a loose term. What you're actually using is your, if you;ll forgive the cliche, life force, or life energy. It's the ammount of energy your body creates over it's life time. That's why the more you use, the sooner you pass away. It's called 'equal exchange'." Sirus explained. "You're alive, therefore you have the magic. The question is whether or not you'll be able to channel and make use of it."



((It only took me a month! XD Sorry about that~! I hope you're still interested. o.o;; ))

She raised her eyebrows. "So essentially you're killing yourself to use it?" She asked in disbelief as she tilted her head slightly to one side. "Why would you do such a thing?" Her eyes fixed on him, almost demanding an answer.

((Woot, welcome back))

"Sort of. It doesn't take much to use it, and our life spans are incredibly long. The variation is great, there are some people born with excess amounts, meaning our bodies will break down before we're actually supposed to die. I'm one of these people, meaning I can use it quite a bit before it starts to eat away at my life time. I'm not much interested in living past fifty though, so it doesn't matter much to me. Being old's got to be pretty boring. Little tasks are almost infinately able. For example..." He made a small motion with a finger and a book opened. "That cost me some minute faction fo a second, and I could spend days doing that before it will have taken up a second. Where as something like creating material from nothing would cost me a great deal more. So say I wanted a glass of pure water. Instead of creating it, I would summon it from the air around me, the sky, and the ground. See?" A small ball of water was forming in his hand.

She continued to look dubious throughout his explaination, then nodded slowly. "I suppose it has it's uses then..." She said slowly "It still seems dangerous to me though." She told him "But how do you know how much you can use?" She asked with a smile as she found herself silently agreeing that after 50 life did seem dull. But that was better left unexpressed for now.

"You don't really... you fellolder and weaker as you use it up, but it's hard to gauge. Do you want to try?" He asked, "It's not hard really, you just concentrate on what you want to happen and will it to. Try something simple, like moving the book from one side of the desk to the other."

She raised and eyebrow skeptically "That doesn't work." She told him "Believe me, I tried it as a kid." She sighed, then shrugged. "Alright." She agreed, looking at the book, trying to ignore the scientific part of her head which was screaming how insane this was and she'd find herself in a padded coat if she didn't get a grip, she focused on willing the book to move.

The book gave a small twitch, but nothing more. "Hnn, loks like you'll need a bit more pract.... AHH! No!" Sirus panicked as the book caught fire and he beat at it until the fire was out. "That's... strange..." He said, as he eyed the singed edges of the books cover. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way..."