Beowulf steps out of the bag with Lily shortly after they went in, both
of them looking considerably refreshed. They walk out to meet Kanna.
"Sorry if we kept you waiting."

Beowulf has a little inner glow that would be visible to those who know
him well, and seems to be related to Lily.

Kanna smiles slightly, waving to the two of them.  "'sno problem, Bey. I
know what it's like when you need some time alone with somebody special
to make sense of things."  She quirks a grin, blushing slightly.

Lily says, "I feel much more human now."

Beowulf smiles. "Yes. And, what's more, some completely innocent time
alone." He winks at Kanna.

Lily says, "Oh, innocence is oft overrated."

Beowulf says, "All right... safety from little girls who crawl out of
drawers?" He waggles his eyebrows at Lily.

Kanna says, "Of course, brother-dear. *pause* Oooohkay?  Nevermind...."
She chuckles, and hrms.  "Moriya dragged Mitsune off to get some support
undergarments for him... down thataway, in case your curious.  But I was
wondering if I could borrow your Bag for a bit, Beowulf... and perhaps
you too... so I can contact mom and bring her through into fast-time to
discuss things." She points to her (still deactivated) Gabrielle
Manifestation.

Beowulf takes a bit of a deep breath, then lets it out in a low whistle.
"Yes. I think that would be a very good idea."

Kanna nods. "Yeah.  To figure out what we CAN do about it, if nothing
else."  She quirks a slight smile, and squares her shoulders.  "So, lead
on, MacBeowulf?"

Beowulf looks back and forth between Kanna and Lily. "Mind if Lily comes
with us? I really don't like leaving her out of things down here..."

Lily says, "If you're going to be talking to the Queen about stuff, I am
going to go off and handle some of my work I ought, in theory, to be
doing back home."

She kisses Beowulf on the cheek.  "I'll see you later, honey."

Beowulf nods. "All right... I'll feel a little less guilty about keeping
you away, at least." He smiles, a bit unhappily.

Beowulf says, "Take care, Lily. See you in a bit."

Kanna hrms, and nods.  "Well, suit yourself, Lily... I don't mind if you
do join in, if you'd have any insights to the entire thing.  But hey,
whatever floats your hovercraft." She quirks a smile.

Beowulf sighs as he watches Lily walk off, then turns to Kanna. "All
right... ready for a chat?" He gestures her back inside the room, then
steps into the bag and beckons her after him.

Kanna nods, and hops into the Bag of Wonders!

Beowulf asks, "Well... trump your mother, then?"

And Lily, who still hasn't actually been told about the cage match,
walks off blissfully :)

Kanna starts shuffling through her Trump Deck as they enter.  "Got a
good place for us to chat?"  She nods, pulls out her mom's trump, and
tries it.

=====
=====

Kanna OOCly says, "I'm sure she'll find out eventually... one way or
another. :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC Oops, that's right, she was still up in Amber when
that all came down. o.o"

=====
=====

Beowulf leads her to a little nook in the library, in case they might
want reference material. He holds out a hand to share the trump contact
as the two of them sit down.

Kanna shifts Bey's hand to her shoulder, as she's hoping to pull her mom
through to chat about this, whenever they get connection.

Beowulf nods in understanding.

Corrine takes the trump.  "Good morning, daughter," she says.  "How are
things in Chaos?"

Kanna quirks a smile.  "Could be better, could be worse."  She pauses
for a second.  "Mom, do you have a moment up in Ember?  I'm in Beowulf's
bag in fast-time right now, and there's something -extremely- importaint
I think we need to talk about."  She takes a deep breath.  "Basically,
dealing with sis and the Logrus and a Steel Cage Match."

Kanna offers her hand to her mom. "And I'd feel a helluva lot better
talking face to face about it."

Kanna says, "Here in the bag, that is."

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC You might want to make it clear that you want her to
come down here. o.o"

Kanna OOCly says, "I thought I did, with the fast-time bit."

Kanna OOCly says, "There, happy? ^_^"

Beowulf OOCly grins.

=====
=====

Corrine says, "Oh yes, I already talked to Gabrielle about that.  She
brought me tickets."

Kanna says, "..."

Kanna says, "Urm."

Kanna uses her free hand to facepalm.

Corrine says, "Perhaps they'll finally get over this silly rivalry once
they do this.  A good wrestling match always did me a world of good." 
She holds outher hand, so you can pull her through if you like.

Kanna pulls her mother through.

Beowulf says, "I do have one or two things I'd like to talk to you about
as well, Aunt Corrine."

Kanna then hugs her mother.  "... Oh Good Pyri-- what's -dad- got to say
about all this?"

Corrine hugs you back.  "He's going to go down and referee, and make
sure it stays wrestling and not 'planet-tossing' or worse."

Kanna says, "I mean, they're planning to hold the thing near -Yig-, of
all places, and I would -like- to keep the collateral damage to sis and
you and dad a----"

Kanna just opens and closes her mouth several times.

Kanna lets go and sits down.

Corrine blinks.  "Is something wrong?"

Beowulf blinks, and lets out a breath -- "Just going to be wrestling?"

Kanna asks, "Isn't, um... Sign of Logrus and Pattern Construct
Manifestation whaling on each other a Bad Thing, mom?  Or am I missing
something here about sis's nature and that of the Logrus that I never
knew?"

Beowulf says, "I was visualizing them tossing around Primal Powers,
bringing down Yig, tearing the universe apart --" He takes a deep
breath. "I was hoping to talk 'em into using Rock-Em-Sock-Em Robots."

Beowulf smiles shakily.

Corrine says, "Would you rather encourage them to go run off and arrange
an all out battle somewhere we can't keep an eye on them?"

Kanna nods.  "I was having the 'Ember Gets Destroyed and You and Dad Get
Killed Off' nightmare after their confrontation, mom... and I don't
-get- that that often anymore..." She takes a breath.  "That's true."

Kanna rubs her eyes.  "It's been a long couple of days, mom.  It WOULD
be nice for them to get this entire damn thing out of their system, but
after being at ground zero of seeing Sis and the Sign of the Logrus
talking smack at each other in the middle of House Gainax... well.." She
smiles a bit, equally nervous.

Beowulf says, "As long as it's, well, safe... I was thinking along
Kanna's lines, that if they fight each other, even just wrestling, it
would involve lots of things like Pattern/Logrus explosions." He boggles
for a moment.

Kanna says, "Or horrendous feedback into sis's systems, leading to
damage to the Fire Pattern..."

Corrine says, "It's a wrestling match.  That shouldn't be a problem."

Corrine says, "Not an all out battle of power.  If they wre going to
just hurl raw power at each other, then we'd have a lot more problems to
deal with."

Kanna says, "Ah.  Ohhhkay."  She looks to be boggling a bit as well.
"Well... ah... at least Anno-sama knows about it.  And has Great-grandpa
been informed?  Juuuust in case?"

Beowulf says, "As long as they're not going to hurt anything..."

Corrine says, "I believe he's helping to build the Cage."

Kanna says, "Okay.  In -that- case, I think I can be more copacetic with
this."

Beowulf sighs a bit, nodding in relief. "Oh... and welcome to Annadil's
Library. The safe bits, anyway."

Kanna says, "Just as long as they're -some- distance from Yig, and then
I'll be able to breathe -really- easy."

Corrine says, "The Forestals would not be happy if they hung the cage
from Yig's branches, no."

Kanna nods.  "Oh yeah, it's really spiff.  Got 'The Peterson's Guide to
Worlds Beyong The Cave of Worlds', and everything..."

Beowulf takes out the appropriate volume and hands it to Corrine.

Corrine's eyes widen at that.  She takes the book, and begins to page
through it.

Kanna moves over, to glance over her mom's shoulder.  She has a very
good feeling she knows what entry mom may be turning to, in the 'A's....

Beowulf moves over and pulls the snack counter out, and puts a kettle
on. "Tea, anyone?"

Kanna nods.  "Yes please, Bey."

Corrine blushes a bit, and turns so that people can't read over her
shoulder.  She checks out several entries.  "Can I borrow this to make a
copy?"

Kanna chuckles a bit, and backs off.

Beowulf starts some Lemon Wintergreen brewing. Soon, the relaxing smell
of sweet mint steals through the room.

Beowulf asks, "Aeris can make a copy for you, if you like." He gives his
WAER badge a pat. "Right, honey?"

Kanna hrms.  "Hrm... what else.  Well, the scouting mission of Daffyl's
place went well... okay, so the place is foritfied to the max, and we
needed to use Logrus to -get- to it... that's part of why I had sis's
manifestation offline, in case she commented about it.  Didn't want
Daffyl to suss out other powers used there."

Aeris says,"Sure thing!  Just give me a little while."

Beowulf smiles. "Thanks, honey." He looks over at Corrine. "Some time,
I'd like to see if you could take a few fasttime minutes to see how
she's doing; you're the best, after all." He smiles again.

Kanna says, "I think I'm gonna keep it off while I'm in the Courts...
just so I don't get sis and the Sign of the Logrus popping up EVERYWHERE
I go." She eyerolls.  "I suppose if need be she can keep a line open to
Aeris and Morgy, as they're more active down there and -not- a focus of
the sign's Interest."

Kanna mumbles something about Yumi's theory about the Logrus being in
love with Gaby but in denial about it.

Corrine nods.  "That sounds like a good idea to me."

Beowulf says, "And... I learned something interesting about her font
that I thought you might want to look at. Apparently, it was
artificially created."

Corrine blinks.  "Really, Beowulf?  Hmm, yes, I'd be interested to take
a look."

Beowulf says, "Whenever it's convenient for you; I can fasttime us here
whenever you like."

Beowulf asks, "Miki noted that when we had another trump font to compare
with... the Outsider-tainted font Annadil had in his basement. Had you
heard about that yet?"

Corrine nods.  "Yes, I'm aware of the Castle of the Night's font.  Miki
consulted with me on that."

Beowulf sighs. "Good. I'd... thought about asking you to come in to help
when it started going out of control, but I was afraid we'd lose you if
things really went wrong."

Corrine nods. "I cannot afford to take those sorts of risks unless there
is no other choice.  The price of power is loss of freedom at times."

Kanna mms, nods, and squeezes her mom's hand.

Beowulf nods back. "Yes. I really appreciate the kind of burden you and
Uncle Tylor have to bear, and that you bear it for us all." He looks
around the library, and the rest of Fibber's Closet by extension. "It's
one reason why I don't take an active role in trying to run this place."

Kanna says, "Or I, Jade."  She hehs.  "Really, it's done fine enough on
its own, and doesn't need us to really meddle.  And this place is cool
as it is."

Corrine says, "Being a _good_ queen is far more work than pleasure.  Can
you make some coffee, Beowulf?"

Beowulf says, "Exactly. And that's the *other* reason I don't try to run
the place... they deserve a chance to do things on their own."

Beowulf says, "Coffee, coffee..." He begins digging through cabinets in
the snack nook. "Here we are... I think." He starts a pot brewing.

Kanna quirks a smile.  "Well, you do get -some- bennies, mom..." She
winks, and sips her tea.

Beowulf says, "How have things been going up in Ember and Amber, Aunt?
It seems like I didn't have more than a few minutes up there between the
Leng trip and coming down here to scout out Daffyl's shadow."

Corrine says, "Things are fine in Amber, as far as I know.  Up in Ember,
we're gearing up for a major trade market time and gearing up for the
coming war.  Nothing too major.  Some unrest in Arrakis."

She sniffs the smell of brewing coffee and smiles.  "Lucien has set out
to recruit more mages to help break through the dome around Rebma.  I
expect he'll be back soon."

Beowulf nods. "I talked to him after Kanna and I finished catching up on
things, and gave him the information I found in the Castle of Night on
the undersea battleship Annadil made... it sounded from Kanna's
description that it could be the same one they found the map to, and we
confirmed it when we talked."

Kanna nods.  "I know Lian was going to check up on her Borg thing,
before looking into the Red Death between Arden and the coast. 
Hopefully the unrest in Arrakis'll get settled, I doubt they were happy
about the Borg popping in there." She chuckles slightly, and drinks more
of her tea.  "Hm.  Anything you particluarly want me to do down in Chaos
now that I'm -here- for once, mom?" She looks rueful.  "Keep in mind I
prolly will be bailing out right after we settle this Serpent's Horn
business... maybe we'll get lucky and be able to capture the False Ewoyn
and get some answers."

Beowulf asks, "I admit, it was good to see him in much better shape than
at Marches; seems odd for him to be preparing to retake the Water
Pattern's home in the Fire Pattern's home, but odder things have
happened. Have folks up there been happy with him?"

Corrine says, "Nothing too urgent at the moment, especially if you're
going to be taking off soon, Kanna."  She turns to Beowulf.  "We haven't
had any trouble with Lucien.  He's been a gentleman."

Kanna hehs, softly.  "Well, hey, in the end, all the Patterns are in
this together."

Beowulf heh's. "True enough." He looks around. "Was there anything else
you'd be interested in looking at in here, while you're here, Aunt?"

Kanna nods.  "Figured as much, mom.  Though I did ask Uncle Miki if he
could get me in touch with Cousin Hiko and Morgan before I depart."

Corrine asks, "Hmm, anything particularly interesting you'd recommend,
Beowulf?"

She pokes around the books some.

Beowulf thinks. "Hmmm... interested in information on the Phoenix that
rescued Bessie and Aunt Juri?"

Corrine nods.  "Yes, I would be."  She looks around.  "Lead me on,
nephew."

Beowulf takes her over to the books on the War of the Gods that mention
the Phoenix.

Kanna nods.  "Oh!  That reminds me.  'pparently, SOMEHOW, Motoko and I
think Lord Anno rescued Gran-Aunt Anthy, King Dios, and Baby Nanami from
an Evil version of the Phoenix... but I don't have any details, since
last night was apparently very odd."

Kanna says, "That, and the fact I slept -through- the entire thing."

Beowulf nods. "Motoko and great-grandfather rescued grandmother
together, I think, along with the other two, from Hel's universe."

Corrine grabs several books, then says, sounding surprised, "They have a
baby Nanami with them?"

Beowulf nods. "From what I've heard, yes. None of them have been well
enough to really have visitors, yet; I'm hoping to see grandmother as
soon as she's rested."

Kanna says, "Apparently." She shrugs.  "Like I said, I don't have many
details, and no doubt they'll want to be incognito."

Kanna considers something, glancing at the copy of "Peterson's Guide to
the Worlds Beyond...", etc, hrms, and scratches her cheek.  "-Hrm-."

Corrine nods.  "I'll be interested to meet King Dios eventually."

She asks, "Is the coffee ready yet?"

====
====

Beowulf OOCly whoops, and thought he'd already poured her a cup.

John says, "OOC *I may be stupid and may have forgotten.  ^^;;;"

====
====

Beowulf pours Corrine a cup.

She takes it and takes a big chug, then begins paging through one of the
books.  "Annadil seems to have had quite a collection."

Kanna says, "Well, you live a long time, you collect a lot of stuff..."
She quirks a smile, glancing at herself in one of the decorative
mirrors.

Beowulf nods. "Yes. I went through it quickly with great-grandfather
Anno, and we hopefully weeded out all of the dangerous ones and
destroyed them."

Kanna says, "Anyway, I just had a thought..."

Beowulf hms. "Go on?"

Kanna says, "Well, looking at the Peterson's guide... and this recent
rescue attempt to get folks from Hel... well, it just occured to me,
given the paintings you saw Other-Corrine making, Bey... that Hel
-could- have placed agents in our universe."

Kanna says, "After all, if she controls Amber and Chaos and everything
in between... she'd have access to their opening of the Cave of Worlds."

Kanna says, "And I don't know what sort of access control that place
-usually- has." She shrugs.

Beowulf freezes for a moment. "That is a very ugly idea."

Corrine nods.  "Unfortunately, that's quite possible."

Kanna nods.  "Even without them having native pattern imprints... get
some shadow-walking devices made up, or Logrus users from their end, and
they could still get around."

Kanna says, "On the flip side, using the Pattern to try and -find- them,
if any exist in our universe now, shouldn't be impossible, either."

Beowulf says, "Their pattern imprints probably wouldn't help them in our
universe, if I understand correctly."

Kanna nods.

Beowulf says, "Except for things like Pattern Defence, anyway."

Kanna nods, and sighs.  "But, anyway, it's probably something that needs
to be put on the 'Check For Before High Summer' list, along with
spacking Herald Candidates, Outsider Constructs, Redrawing Water
Pattern, etc, etc."

Corrine nods. "I hope not, Beowulf.  They may have other means to
operate by, though.  Or Hel might be able to use her Jewel to alter
their imprints somehow to work on our side."

Beowulf says, "Either way... one more thing to check out."

Kanna nods.  "As much as I'd like to believe that things on the other
end might be recoverable..." She sighs again.  "... it may not be
practical from a tactical standpoing.  I don't know."  She shakes her
head.  "But I figure we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

Beowulf turns to Kanna. "Oh... speaking of other universes, did I
mention to you that I found a fair amount of information on the Gloom
Device? "

Corrine sighs.  "I do not relish the idea of having to kill versions of
my own sisters."

She continues, "If it is at all possible to redeem them, I want to."

Kanna says, "And I don't relish having to go up against my own aunts...
or you, mom," she says, quietly.

Beowulf blinks. "I may have found something that would help with that,
with Morrigan's help."

Kanna blinks.  "Oh?"

Beowulf says, "Apparently, Abyss creatures like Hel perform their
soul-stealing trick by putting an Abyssal Soul in the body of the person
they control, and using it to replace the victim's soul."

Corrine nods and listens.

Kanna arches an eyebrow at that.  "Ohhh-kay."

Beowulf says, "Morrigan said that a skilled enough Abyss expert can
normally remove the Abyssal Soul, though getting the original one back
in is a lot harder."

Kanna comments, dryly.  "Well, good thing we're currently down in Chaos,
now.  Though I don't know where the hell Abyss folks would post contact
information."

Corrine says, "Well, if we had some Abyss experts who weren't insane..."
She sighs.  "Most of them are deranged freaks, and those are the nicer
ones, although we might be able to find a few Abyss pirates.  I think I
still have one of them's business card somewhere."

Kanna blinks, and nods.  "Yeah... Dread Pirate Demetrius, wasn't it?
Though wasn't he based in Avalon?"

Beowulf says, "Annadil had a list of Abyss contacts, though I'm not sure
how... safe... they'd be to approach. I think I gave a list to Moriya or
Motoko to check out with Davros, but never heard back from them before
Davros was kidnapped."

Corrine says, "I seem to remember the way to contact him involved
throwing a brick in the Abyss,and we have the Abyss as well.  I'll have
to go check my diaries."

Kanna nods.  "Right.  Well, we still have a bit of a window on this...
maybe we can get a two-for-one deal, and get Uncle White out of there
too in the process." She grins slightly.

Beowulf NODS. "That would be a very good idea. And Grandmother Anthy's
here, and she's the expert on the Air pattern..."

Corrine's eyes widen.  "Good point.  Good idea.  Yes, the White Knight
has been in the Abyss for FAR too long."

Kanna says, "Well, then, you go check for that contact info, and relay
it, and we can handle the serpent's horn thing, and perhaps I'll get to
see how far I can toss a brick into the Abyss." She looks rueful about
that, and rubs her throat, idly.

Beowulf nods. "Right. And, um... could you let me know when you'll have
a moment to take a look at Aeris? Unless you'd like to do it now?"

Corrine says, "I can do it right now, since I'm here."

Kanna hehs.  "Well, I don't think you need me to give Aeris her
checkup... so I think I'll be bailing?"  She sets her tea aside, and
moves over to hug her mom.  "Thanks for coming... and I apologize for
being so panicky about sis and the Logrus earlier."

Beowulf smiles. "Thank you."

Beowulf says, "Um, yes, and thank you for easing our anxieties about
Gabrielle."

Corrine smiles.  "Glad to help."  She hugs Kanna tightly.  "See you
later, honey."

Kanna says, "Love you, mom."  She gives her mom a quick kiss on the
cheek before letting go.

Beowulf says, "Take care, Kanna... see you in a little bit."

Kanna drains the rest of her tea.  "Seeya in a bit, Bey?  Gotcha."  She
grins, bows to them both, and heads out.

Beowulf leads Corrine over to Aeris' font.

Kanna OOCly says, "and that's it for me, unless Motoko's looking for Bey
with Suu, and happens to come by the room as Kanna gets out of the Bag.
(and wouldn't mind a little Kanna/Suu interaction. *wl* )"

Corrine tags along, drinking coffee, following your lead.

=========
=========

Beowulf asks, "OOC Want to RP it out, or gloss over, John?"

John says, "OOC Hmm, it's late, so I'll give you the highlights."

Beowulf says, "OOC As while I wouldn't mind talking more with Corrine,
some folks seem to be champing at the bit. :)"

John says, "OOC Well, normally, I'd just make them wait. :)"

Beowulf OOCly grins. As you like it...

Kanna OOCly snrks. Or, I could just go andf bail and actually, you know,
get 6 hours of sleep or so. *wg*

John says, "OOC But a lot of this would be Corrine looking at things and
thinking about htings she can't discuss with you because you don't know
enough about trumps to understand :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC Ah. :) Right... well, if there's any *general*
information she could pass along? :)"

John says, "OOC I think you might want to get sleep, yes, Phil :)"

Kanna OOCly says, "righto... g'night, all. *wave*"

John pauses for a minute.

Beowulf says, "OOC Sleep well, Phil. :)"

Moriya-chan OOCly says, "Night."

Damasq says, "OOC:  NIght, Phil."

==========
==========

Corrine tells you, "Very interesting piece of work, this font.  Someone
put an awful lot of time and effort into it."

Corrine continues, "I think a Chaosian may have built this, as they have
more trump people than we do."

Beowulf nods. "Miki recognized it was artificial when we saw the
Castle's trump font, which was also artificial, but we didn't have much
time to talk about it."

Beowulf says, "A Chaosian?" He blinks. "Well, I suppose that makes
sense... Great-Grandfather Anno also suggested a Chaosian trump master
as the creator of my mystery trumps, and I'd been wondering if they
might have been the same person."

Beowulf says, "He gave me a list of people to check into... something I
want to do, but it's been a slightly lower priority until some of these
immediate messes get cleaned up."

Corrine looks thoughtful.  "Do you have them with you?  Let me check
them."

Beowulf nods, quickly accesses the bag's 'internal storage' area, and
hands the list to her.

It might be noted that you're inside the bag and would have a hard time
accessing storage... :)

Beowulf noted that, which is why 'quickly accessing' means sprinting for
the hangar area and back. ^_^

John says, "OOC Ahh :)"

You bring back the cards and she studies them.  "I think the same person
built both of these."

Beowulf says, "OOC Actually, I was sprinting over to get the list Anno
gave me... the cards I already had on me as part of my deck. o.o"

John says, "OOC Oh, right :)"

Beowulf says, "OOC thought 'them'=the names. Though it's good to know
about the cards. :)"

Well, you return with the list while she was studying the cards. :)

She checks the names.  "Lots of people I've never heard of," she says.
"Unfortunately.  If you can get cards by them, though, I can compare and
tell for you."

Beowulf hms and nods. "Right. I could always ask Miki... he's had the
chance to make a lot of contacts down here."

Beowulf thinks back to the time he spent returning the Master's stolen
artwork... did he make any contacts that might be able to get cards from
any of these artists?

Corrine nods.  "That might be a good idea.  Whoever did this was likely
pretty impressive."

Yes, some of them are connected to those houses.

Beowulf rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Yes... apparently so. And getting
them into my trump deck unseen --"

Corrine says, "Is a sign of a pretty spiffy trump master."

Beowulf thinks back. "Some of the folks I met returning artwork might
also have connections with these artists. One more thing to check on
while we're down here."

Corrine nods.

Beowulf squats down to Aeris' level. "And how do you feel now, after a
checkup by Dr. Corrine?" He smiles.

Aeris says, "I feel fine, Daddy."  She smiles.  "Here's your book,
Auntie Corrine."  She gives the copy she made to Corrine.

Beowulf smiles. "Thank you, Aeris." He picks her up and sets her on his
shoulder. "How'd you like to meet that young friend of Motoko's? I feel
kind of guilty that you haven't had a chance to meet many friends your
own age."

Corrine smiles.  "Thank you, Aeris."  She takes the book.  "I'd best be
heading back to Ember.'

Aeris says, "That would be nice, Daddy.  Althoguh there are some kids
here inside the bag for me to play with."

Beowulf nods to Corrine. "Right, Aunt; duty calls." He quirks a grin.
"Though if it calls much more before Lily and I take a vacation, she's
probably going to strangle me. I hope we can take a *little* fasttime to
rest after this rescue, before we go after Pharoah Mobius."

Beowulf smiles at Aeris. "That's good. Um... do any of them give you
trouble because your mommy and daddy aren't here with you?"

Aeris says, "Oh, they all know I'm special."  She frowns a little.
"Usually, anyway."

Beowulf says, "Well,if any of them give you trouble, let me know, OK?"
He looks sad for a moment. "When I was growing up, my mommy -- your
gramma Wakaba -- had to be away on trips a lot, and I'd sometimes get
trouble from the kids in the boarding school I was at."

Aeris asks, "Did you dump them in the river?"

Beowulf says, "Um... noooooo..."

Aeris says, "Dumping in the river helps cool their heads, you see."

Beowulf looks over at Corrine. "Did you ever go through this with
Gabrielle?"

Beowulf says, "I see. Well, I couldn't do that... for that matter, I
couldn't do that without your help even now."

Beowulf grins up at her, perched on her shoulder. "Which is one reason
why you're a special little girl."

Aeris says, "Oh, okay.  So what did you do?"

Beowulf shrugs. "Well, mostly I learned to put up with it. Though it
made me feel pretty lonely sometimes."

She asks, "So why did grandma leave you all alone?"

Beowulf says, "She had a lot of things to take care of, back in Amber...
I guess the old King, your great-grandpa Gendo, was getting close to
dying, and she wanted to keep me out of things there."

Beowulf says, "And I think she was a bit of a romantic, and wanted me to
grow up in a place that had lots of heroes and derring-do." He grins.
"And I suppose it worked, sort of."

Aeris nods.

Aeris says, "Where did you grow up?"

Beowulf says, "I grew up in a place called Lucas; it's full of
mysterious temples out in the jungle, and Brave Policemen trying to
catch Bad Robbers, and Daring Pirates out on the open sea..."

Beowulf says, "You've seen those movies with Errol Flynn, right? That
sort of place."

Aeris says, "Neat!  Did you rob any temples?"

Beowulf says, "Didn't really start with that until I graduated from
college... and then Mother picked me up when I was on my first
expedition, and took me to Amber for the first time."

Beowulf says, "I really started exploring temples when I went back to
school at Panopticon..." He smiles for a moment, lost in thought.

Aeris says, "Did you find any neat artifacts?"

Beowulf says, "Well, I found a really neat shadow of liquid metal, where
I made my whip..." He goes over some of the other things he picked up
out in various shadows. "Probably the last thing I found before you were
born was a trio of silver vases, with Sidar runes on them."

She says, "Did you find the Ark?"

Beowulf says, "The Ark? No..." He pauses in wistful thought. "I'm afraid
that's something that only the great Dr. Jones himself found."

She nods.  "Okay."

Beowulf tickles Aeris under the chin. "Anything else you've been up to
around here?"

Aeris says, "I've been watching lots of baseball, trying to see if the
White Sox will win the Pennant this year."

Beowulf asks, "Oh?" He smiles. "How's Shoeless Joe doing?"

Beowulf . o O (There Will Be No Black Sox here if I can help it.)

She says, "He fell down between second and third and blew the big run!"
She frowns.  "IT wasn't very cool."

Beowulf sighs. "Well, sometimes things like that happen, dear; you trip,
or come down on an ankle badly. Real life isn't always like the movies."
He paces a bit, tweaking things to make sure that's what *did* happen.

Beowulf begins humming 'Casey at the Bat.'

Beowulf asks, "Well, I suppose it's about time to go back out and join
the others..." He pauses. "Do any of the other folks who have one of
your badges talk to you that often? I know Lily and I are usually
together and can talk to you together... but do, say, Miki or Mutsumi
ever talk with you?"

Aeris nods.  "Mutsumi's very sweet."

Beowulf asks, "Or your grandma Wakaba, or Thoric?"

She says, "Grandma Wakaba's been pretty busy.  But Thoric likes to talk
to me."

Beowulf smiles. "That's good. I'm glad they all get a chance to talk to
you sometimes..."

Aeris says, "Me too."

Beowulf asks, "If any of them don't treat you right... well, I don't
think any of them would, really. I just worry about how you're doing
when I don't get to spend as much time with you." He smiles a bit, then
pats her shoulder. "Ready to go out and face the world again?"

She nods. "Yep!"

Beowulf climbs out of the bag with Aeris.