Summer Magic

[Chris Strongheart]

OOC: happens when Christine's a child - it's that summer, so if Sky's up to it and Brandon if he wants to join in

Christine sighed as her mother fussed with her hair. "Mother," she whined. "I don't see why you have to make such a fuss. It's not like anyone important's coming." She made a face as her mother's brush found a knot.

: "Oh, little one," Melisande cooed. "I want you to look your best. You are a princess." Of course, she knew better - her daughter would be going off on some adventure and come home in such a state of disarray, but Christine would be happy, and that was the reason behind all the visits here.

Christine had to admit her mother was right. She was a princess... But this princess was not going to stay prim and proper. There were trees to climb, rivers to swim in, wildflowers to pick, all sorts of fun stuff that she could do while she was here that she couldn't do when she was at her father's or at home in Ireland.

: Melisande handed Christine a light rose colored sundress and helped her put it on. "Now, run along and play, but don't go too far," Melisande said. "And be back before dark. And, if you're good, I can see about having a bowl of cream and blueberries waiting for you for after dinner."

Christine leaned up and kissed her mother on the cheek before scampering off to go play.

-

: Melisande frowned when she saw something approaching the cottage. Who could be visiting them? Better yet, who knew that this realm existed? It was one of those long forgotten realms - a last outpost of magic on earth, if one must be realistic. She sighed quietly and walked slowly to the approaching group to greet them.

Her golden gown swished as she walked. Her blond hair glittered in the sun and gave her the appearence of a fairy princess. "Hello, I'm Melisande," she said politely. "May I be as so bold to inquire who you are? We don't normally get visitors here..."

Oh, and there were *children* in that group. How wonderful. Christine rarely had children her age to play with when she visited here.

[Sky]

I'm pretty sure that Sky's parents were never given names on the show, so I'm just going to take creative liberties and call them Aldrich and Riannon

Stepping forward, Demetrius, a young man garbed in a fashion that clearly suggested he was a bodyguard, glared at the lady before him. "Do you dare to speak directly to King Aldrich, you impudent woman?"

King Aldrich frowned slightly, causing several creases to mar his forehead. Waving his hand dismissively, he interjected, "Don't be foolish, Demetrius - this woman is obviously harmless." Inclining his head regally, he turned to the woman. "Good day, madam. I am King Aldrich of Eraklyon and this," he said as he gestured to the woman beside him, "is my wife, Queen Riannon."

Tilting her head gracefully, Queen Riannon stood with her arm tucked into the crook of her husband's, "Good day, madam."

"Forgive my bodyguard," Aldrich began, casting a humorous glance at Demetrius, "He can be overly cautious at times - but I suppose it's better to be that than unprepared, do you not agree, madam?" Not waiting for a reply, he continued, "In any event, my lovely wife and I, as well as our son, Prince Sky, will spend summer here in the Magic Realm - a vacation of sorts, I suppose one could call it." Clearing his throat, he added, "Our carriage will arrive shortly; you see, we were informed that the place we were supposed to stay in was only a short ways off. We decided then to walk the rest of the way and enjoy the scenery, but there seems to be some sort of mistake as it is obvious that our would be vacation home is nonexistent. We must have received incorrect directions." Turning to Demetrius he whispered quietly, "Whoever was in charge of planning this trip must be reprimanded. Severely."

[Chris Strongheart]

: Melisande was the very image of serenity on the outside, while in the inside she seethed. How dare that bodyguard treat her in such a manner. Oh, if she weren't a proper princess she would have had cross words. "It is an honor," she started, though her expression as she glanced at the bodyguard indicated it was anything but, "to meet you. My daughter and I are summering here as well. Of course, my daughter's off exploring at the moment - possibly visiting one of her godparents." She made no mention of her husband due to his current whereabouts being unknown.

: The Green Wizard emerged from his cottage that stood behind his daughter. "Melisande, is something the matter?" he asked her quietly as he came to stand next to her.

: "No, Father. We just have visitors, that's all," she said quietly to him. "This is my father, the Green Wizard Carolinus. It was through his power, and his brothers', that this realm is in existence." Hm.. maybe she should ask her father to deal with that odious bodyguard, Demetrius, perhaps merging him with a rabbit would make him pleasant, much more pleasant.

[Sky]

Aldrich stroked his chin thoughtfully, "Green Wizard Carolinus, you say? Yes, yes, of course, I know of you. You and your brothers were quite infamous for a while there before you all seemed to vanish. In fact, the Magic Realm, as I am certain you both already know, is quite forgotten. I never did understand why that happened . . ." Aldrich trailed off, lost in thought. After a few moments more, he started, "Ah, forgive me for drifting off; if you could not already tell, history fascinates me beyond belief-"

"Darling," Riannon interrupted, "forgive me, but do we intend to actually stay here? If we are delayed much longer we will not have adequate time to travel to another realm where we will actually have a place to stay, unlike in this desolate place-" Seeing her son start to scamper off, she sighed, "Aldrich, control your son."

Frowning, Aldrich imperceptibly tilted his head, causing Demetrius to bow and then go to fetch the prince.

"Prince Sky," Demetrius reprimanded, "Come here at once. Your parents are not pleased." Seeing that his words had no effect on the rambunctious boy, Demetrius jogged to catch up with him. Reaching out his arms, he could almost grab the boy by his shirt, "Got you-"

Sky turned around, stuck out his tongue and replied insolently, "Nuh uh!" And then, in a flash, he kicked out his leg, aiming at the bodyguard's knee, but missed, instead hitting Demetrius squarely in the crotch, sending Sky into a fit of laughter.

In the distance, Riannon stood with her forehead against her hand, clearly annoyed. The fact that her husband simply chuckled as though such behavior was perfectly acceptable didn't help matters.

[Chris Strongheart]

: Melisande brought her hand up to her mouth to hide a smile behind it. It was for reasons such as this that she was glad she had a daughter. She had a feeling that she and Riannon would be butting heads quite often in the near future, especially in matters of raising children. Though her own child was spirited, Melisande was quite pleased to note that her daughter had been raised properly and was well mannered.

: 'And to think I was irritated with my granddaughter's behavior. She's a virtual saint compared to that little hellion,' he thought. He could tell his daughter was amused by this, even though she kept said reaction well hidden.

Christine was hiding behind a tree, trying to keep from being spotted by the others, those who weren't her family. She hadn't really interacted with children her own age before, and as a result, was rather shy. She peered out, half hidden by the tree. She made a small face, wrinkling her nose in disgust. It was a boy. He looked rather spoiled and wasn't very well behaved from what she could tell. She immediately felt sorry for the older man.

She slipped out from behind the tree and approached the pair. "You should be careful," she said quietly. "You don't know what's out there. Not everything is friendly." Her blue eyes held the boy's for a long moment. She didn't care how he'd take that - but at least he was warned.

[Sky]

Sky stared at the girl for a moment before bursting out into laughter. "Not friendly? What a typical thing for a girl to say - not that I blame you, of course. You can't help it that you say such silly things; you're just a little girl! Besides, danger has nothing on me. I live for danger. I," Sky replied, his chest puffed up audaciously, "am a man." Giving Christine a pointed look, he elaborated, "That means I have no fear."

Demetrius chuckled and rumpled Sky's hair affectionately. "That's my boy - go on and tell her how it is."

[Chris Strongheart]

Christine simply gave him a superior look. "You're an outsider," she said simply. "You don't know what the Magic Realm is like. I do. This is my home so I know just about everything," she continued. "I doubt that you or that guard of yours could handle a sand merk if you came across it." She decided that she didn't like him at all. "You should go back to your mother, princeling. You just aren't cut out for this world."

[Sky]

Sky laughed as though Christine's words were the most outrageous ones he had ever heard. "What's a fairy princess got on me, hmm? Nothing, that's what! Now, you just look at yourself and then you look at me. It is obvious that I am the stronger one. So whatever your sand merks are, I can kill them with just a few strokes of my sword." Pretending to pull out an imaginary sword, Sky crouched, bending his knees slightly and then, without warning, he let out a ferocious yell and sprang to life, his arms flailing as though he were really slaying a beast.

Resuming his former position, Sky brushed back his blond hair with a flick of his wrist. "So, as you can see, outsider or not, I've got the advantage. What do you say to that, little girl?"

[Chris Strongheart]

It was Christine's turn to laugh. "You *are* an idiot. You can't get close enough to a sand merk to do your fancy sword work. *You'd* be defeated the minute you see one. You see, the sand merks have this ability to drive men insane with their chattering. They can burn your mind. So, Princeling, what say you now? Could you handle fighting a sand merk while battling to keep your wits about you?"

[Sky]

"You just think you're so clever, don't you? Well, I'd like to see how you'd fare fighting. I bet you'd lose in a minute. Say what you want about sword fighting, but it's not for sissies. As for your sand merks, the way to defeat them is obvious." Sky smiled smugly. "One must simply plug his ears - I believe beeswax would work quite nicely - before approaching such a beast. And then you could slay it with a sword. Unless of course this beast happens to fly - then one must simple shoot it down with a bow and arrow. Simple."

Grinning from ear to ear, Sky added with a exaggerated bow, "Think what you wish about me, my fairy princess, but know this: I may be spoiled but I'm no fool."

[Chris Strongheart]

"I use a bow and arrow. My aunt taught me. And my uncle, Sir Orin Neville-Smythe, is teaching me to do fencing," she said proudly. "So I'm not entirely helpless." And she snorted. "Clever. I applaud your attempts at being witty. And long did it take you to come up with that retort, Blondie?"

She had to admit to herself that he was quite intelligent, but horribly spoiled, and smug, too. She still didn't like him. And she wasn't going to like him.

Something appeared in her mind's eye, causing her to go quite pale and she crumpled to the ground, her legs giving out from under her. Christine's eyes closed tight and a look of pain danced across her features. "No, please, no," she breathed. "Don't make me see. I don't want to see." She groaned softly, trying to break free of the vision.

: Melisande saw her daughter crumple and immediately ran in her daughter's direction. "Christine!" she called.

[Sky]

Sky's eyes widened at the sight before him. Not sure what had happened, he tentatively asked, "Was it something I said?"

Seeing the commotion, Riannon brought her hand to her chest, her mouth parting slightly. "Goodness," she muttered disdainfully under her breath, "what kind of place have we stumbled upon, Aldrich? There is something strange with this realm and I don't like it. Not one bit."

"Relax, darling," Aldrich soothed, "I am certain that the girl is simply tired or famished. There is nothing strange about that . . ." Trailing off, Aldrich shifted his gaze around him. He did not wish to cause a disturbance or to worry his wife, but he also felt that there was something different about this realm. Glancing over at Demetrius, Aldrich tightened his cloak around himself protectively. Something about the look on the guard's face told him that all wasn't quite right.

Demetrius stared at the girl on the ground, automatically pulling Sky back. "Stay away from her, " he hissed, "God only knows what is wrong with her. For all we know she could be diseased. Go back to your mother, Prince Sky. Now."

As he was pushed along by Demetrius, Sky kept peering over his shoulder, wondering what possibly could have happened - and what the girl had meant by 'don't make me see'.

[Chris Strongheart]

: Melisande gave both prince and guard a dark look as she past them and wordlessly scooped up her daughter. "Shh... It's okay, my angel," she cooed softly, stroking her daughter's hair.

: Carolinus was silent for a long moment. "She has my daughter's gift. I had hoped she would be free of it. She's a seer. And she has seen something that has frightened her. Not a good thing to happen when this is the first time your gift emerges," he said quietly, more to himself then to Sky's parents.

[Sky]

"Darling," Riannon whispered insistently, "we should leave at once. I do not like it here; and even more, I do not feel that it is safe for us to be here. Could you imagine if something were to happen to Sky? Aldrich, let us go home, to Eraklyon. We can spend our vacation there -"

"Nonsense, woman," Aldrich replied, mildly irritated with his wife's nagging. "No harm will befall Sky whether we are in this realm or in Eraklyon, so please, be silent."

[Chris Strongheart]

: There was a dull ache - Melisande's own gift was just starting to become aware of what was in the air. But as she was more experienced, she simply blocked it out. All she cared about was her only child. She had hoped and prayed that her daughter would never get her gift - and now, she found out the hard way that her daughter did.