Theo sighed and rubbed his head, trying to work the situation out in his mind.
He was getting overly stressed, it was time to calm down and deal the situation piece by piece. It wasn't that bad, everyone was alive and unharmed. Disaster had not befell his family despite Brianna's flirting with forces that should really not be messed with. It wouldn't do to take an excessively heavy handed approach to this situation and end up alienating his daughters. They were, hopefully, all adults, therefore he could explain why what they'd done was stupid, irresponsible and a whole load of other words that were much less flattering.
A strategy in mind he looked over to his two daughters both of whom looked anxious, nervous and very much... under dressed.
“Okay...” Theo stated to attract their attention “first, get some clothes on and then we will talk about this Jusenkyo mess.”
Brianna and Grave shared a silent glance as their father turned away to give them some privacy, it was a look that spoke of mutual commiseration. Brianna grabbed some nearby clothing, pulling the jeans and tank top on quickly.
Grave however hadn't found anything decent to wear yet so she merely decided to get something to help her keep her modesty. A quick wave of her hand and one of Brianna's bed sheets levitated to her and wrapped itself around her, proving that she was very much in control of her magic, limited as it maybe.
Grave watched as Brianna finished pulling her tank top over her head. “Okay, we're decent...” Grave announced, her arms holding the white bed sheet around her body.
Theo turned back to them and the pair of them could see the stern look on his face. Both girls simultaneously winced, that was a look they recognized.
“Your angry aren't you?” Brianna asked looking down.
Theo sighed. “Yes.. and disappointed too,” Theo answered back, “I had expected you to have a little more common sense, Jusenkyo is not a force to mess around with lightly and definitely not to be used as frivolously as you have. Your experiences with Ranma and Grave Digger should have taught you that curses are not something to be taken lightly.”
Theo coughed as something occurred to him and turned to Grave. “No offense,” he added.
“None taken...” Grave answered dryly, crossing her arms over her chest and the sheet.
“Brianna, you know I've studied Jusenkyo ever since I became aware of its existence, years of work and all I have to show for it is a handful of notes. Jusenkyo fundamentally is a creation of chaos magic and is for the most part extremely unpredictable. Worse yet, the predictable aspect of it is that anyone that stumbles into its domain is cursed, it wants to curse people. That alone should tell you not to mess around with it,” Theo lectured Brianna, who was looking quite down.
“I only used the instant packets, they are supposed to be temporary,” Brianna half heartedly defended herself, “everyone uses them for quick transformations and I know I was using it to skip punishment but I don't think I did anything really wrong.”
Theo sighed again. “That I would not have too much of an objection to, although in theory you as a magical creature should avoid all Jusenkyo products because Jusenkyo can twist the magic in their bodies. But it was your choice of the Jusenkyo instant packets, spring of the drowned twins, that.... frankly scares me,” Theo said, looking weary.
“Why?” Brianna asked confused.
“What he means to say is that it's probably not a good idea to use magic which divides a person into two separate parts when you yourself are composed of two separate people.” Grave explained, catching on to what had worried their father far sooner than Brianna, “he's afraid it could have split you into a copy of Gina and a copy of Britanny, no more Brianna, rather than what happened.”
“Indeed. Thank you Grave,” Theo agreed as he rubbed his eyes.
The pupils of Brianna's eyes narrowed and she got a cold shiver ran down her spine at the thought that her little 'nookie' quest could have erased her from existence, back to being just pieces of Britanny and Gina. No, hang on. That little adventure with Dr. Peachbody in the Chrono space provide that she was her own person, the laws of physics did not lie and then there was the fact that she had not split into Britanny and Gina but rather Brianna and Grave with the Jusenkyo water.
“But we didn't split into Britanny and Gina....” Grave spoke up again, this time with a determination in her voice, “we're more than the sum of our parts, we're our own persons.”
“I provide that back during the time warp,” Brianna added, her voice indicating her agreement with Grave, “best moment of my life...”
“Really?” Grave asked surprised and then her eyes narrowed deviously, “I would have thought it was when yo...”
“Heh hum ha he heh hum!” Brianna interrupted loudly whilst gesturing towards their father as she easily worked out what Grave was thinking about.
Grave smirked wickedly at her sister.
Theo smiled faintly at their interaction. “Perhaps your right and I'm worrying about nothing,” Theo stated bringing their attention back to him as he walked up to Brianna and laid a hand on her shoulders, “but I'm your father and I'm supposed to worry about theses things.”
Theo paused in thought before smiling down on Brianna. “I know I can't stop you girls from going out on crazy adventures or doing crazy things..... You'd probably ignore me.... I was like that when I was your age, but I wish you were more careful. I really don't know what I do if I lost you,” Theo spoke his voice sounding strained before pulling Brianna into a hug.
“Dad...” Brianna whispered, eyes shimmering as she returned the hug.
The pair stood there together as father and daughter, until Theo looked over Brianna's shoulders and saw Grave standing off to one side, looking at the pair longingly. He smiled again and shifted Brianna against him before opening his arms for her, Graves eyes light up and she snuggled into his arms alongside her sister.
Theo stroked the back of Graves head for a while. “I suppose things didn't turn out too bad,” he murmured, “now I've got four beautiful daughters.”
“Dad,” murmured a voice against his chest, that he recognized as Graves, “I was rambling before wasn't I?”
“More than a little, dear.” Theo answered wryly as he carried on holding the pair in a hug.
“I'm not in trouble for that am I?” She asked, sounding vulnerable and like a werekitten.
Theo sighed. “No. I'd rather you not say such things but after your grandmother....” Theo trailed off, “well lets just say I've had far worse remarks made about my manhood.”
Grave nuzzled his chest. “Good,” she murmured quietly and then flashed Brianna a quick victory smirk that was unseen by Theo.
Brianna rolled her eyes, realizing Grave had squirmed herself out of any potential punishment. Brianna shook her head and stepped back out of the hug.
“Thanks dad,” Brianna said, smiling at their father, “its kinda nice to know someone cares.”
“I'll always care,” Theo smiled back at her before turning his attention to Grave and casually scanning her aura out of interest again.
There was something very, very interesting about her aura that he just couldn't put his finger on it, Theo could feel Jusenkyo's influence and power within the girl but this felt different from Ranma and other Jusenkyo curse victims. Her aura kept flickering in strange patterns, barely perceivable, only his skill as an Arch-Aura-Mage allowed him to spot it but despite all his training in observing aura's he couldn't quite figure out what it meant. The patterns were odd actually, they kind of reminded him of a....spell.... oh.....
....oh.....
Hmmm....
That was interesting.
And perhaps more than a little disturbing...
“So….” Grave spoke nervously, stepping back from Theo. “What’s going to happen to me?”
“Hmmm?” Theo asked as her voice knocked him out of his concentration. His mind quickly caught up with her question though and he smiled reassuringly at her, “we didn’t hold the curse against Brianna so I see little reason to hold it against you seeing that it is no longer a factor. Assuming of course you promise not to harm anyone?”
“I've already promised Brianna,” Grave stated quickly, “but I'll promise again.”
Theo smiled, “That's quite alright. Well, we’ll have to introduce you to everyone but… welcome to the family.”
Grave sighed in relief, she knew she'd been accepted but it was so much better to hear someone say it. Brianna grabbed the smaller girl in a bone crushing hug.
“Air!” gasped Grave as she struggled out of Brianna’s grasp.
“I'm going to need to get everyone in the front room to explain this, could you two be down there in twenty minutes?” Theo asked
“Sure thing dad!” Brianna replied cheerfully whilst Grave was still struggling.
“Before I go...” Theo started as he reached for something in his pocket, “Grave?”
Grave paused her struggle from Brianna's grip and looked at him, “Yeah?”
“It's good to have you around,” Theo smiled before he headed towards the door, he needed to get everyone together in the front room to explain this whole situation. It would be a lot easier to only have to explain it the once, rather than over and over again for every person plus it would help prevent a situation breaking out if someone
“Dad!” Brianna shouted out.
Theo paused just in from of the door and he turned to face Brianna. “Yes?”
“You’re not going to ground me for this are you?” Brianna asked hesitantly.
“No, I’m not,” Theo stated as he opened the door.
Brianna sighed in relief, perhaps she wouldn't be grounded until her eighteenth birthday.
“I’m going to leave that up to your mother…” Theo finished before closing the door behind him.
Brianna slumped, practically collapsing in on herself whilst little Peeboo’s danced in her head chanting ‘dead, dead, dead…’
Grave walked up behind her and patted her on the back, “There, there…”
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(Posted Wed, 27 Sep 2006 15:46)
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