[haha! that's awesome! well, as long as you're not the person seeing tarantulas crawl all over yourself... otherwise, that'd be a little odd. but i'd love to watch someone who thought that was happening to themself. XDD my reaction was like: "O_O HAHA. AWESOME"]
"You don't seem to have alot of faith in this family," Ilo said before Stefan could escape the kitchen. "Which, I suppose, is well justified, but don't doubt what we'll do to protect eachother from Daruka. We even try to protect eachother from ourselves, but that's a little bit harder," Ilo told him gently, in a tone much more serious than he had ever used with Stefan, the natural harsher undertones, like vague growls and rumbling of an animal, displayed his demonic traits.
"We - me and Taima - were mostly raised here by Lexiss and Avarielle, and we see Liliha as our sister," he continued, not stopping, as if he had to explain something, because he knew how it must look to an outsider, because he knew that this family was not normal, nor were the individuals inside it, "We'd do anything to protect her and her little girl. Sure, at times we fear her, even though we were born in Tijur and are full-blooded Tijur'en, but you haven't even seen her bad side. All you've seen is Liliha trying to cover for grief by turning it into anger," he spoke matter-of-factly, "None of us have seen Liliha really snap, and with that seal undone, and Lexiss being her father, it'd probably be an amazing event." Ilo's hands griped together, almost in anticipation as he liked his lips - he could almost feel her power coursing in her blood now.
"But with some sleep, and being at home," here Ilo stood, turning to Stefan, "and some drink, a little prodding, and a little reminiscing, we'll patch her back up until she comes back, ready to break again." Ilo said, running a hand through his rough, shaggy and course strands.
And that was it. Ilo felt that he had finished his explaination - it probably wasn't necessary, but he felt that Stefan had only a bad opinion of them all; the impressions they had made weren't good and were probably lasting ones. Taima was timid, nosey, and a little interfering who pushed Lil a little to hard. Ilo was constantly changing gears, and intrusive, without any seeming purpose, and just a mess of limbs. Lexiss, at first, was friendly enough, kind even, but one to tease his family, but now he was on the edge of losing his mind. And Liliha... Well, Ilo couldn't be sure with Liliha anymore. She had changed alot - Ilo wanted to think that she was still the person he used to go drinking with, the same girl who would take all the blame whenever he messed up or broke something, and not the bitter, angry, and sad woman she had become. Unfortuantely, he could barely remember Sherene. He had just remembered she was normal, sweet, spoiled, and just like any cheerful little girl with a compassionate nature and just a little shy.
Soon, Ilo hoped, they'd all be fixed. Magic couldn't do it, but maybe if they just loved eachother enough, they'd get better. Maybe, all they needed was alot of time.
Taima had brought Sherene to the pool, holding the young girl's hand gently and pointing at the large fish [almost as big as Sherene sized fish] that swam lazily in the pond. They had long, flaring fins and they were all different colors; some were pale gold, others calico in color, some silver and blue - they were all varied, like some swimming rainbow.
Sherene wiped her faced and sat at the edge, staring into the pond that extended quite the distance to be home to all the fish. And those same fish swam to the surface, poking their mouths out of the water, perhaps hoping for some food as they clustered along the edge where Sherene was. Slowly, mystified, she stuck her hand into the pool, her fingers touching along smooth, wet scales, but the fish did not move away.
"The one fish in here is almost as old as your mom. She's all the way over there," Taima leaned down to Sherene, murmuring as she pointed to a large fish with scales that shimmered the different colors of the sunset. The fish was nearly six foot in length, swimming lazily towards them, as if it had all the time in the world. With ease and grace, it pushed between them and nuzzled into Sherene's hand.
"Your grandfather made the garden for Avarielle, but she shared it with me, Ilo, and Liliha when we were little and needed to be calmed down. She show us the fish, and Liliha decided that she wanted to have a specific fish friend. So your mom would come down here and feed her all the time," Taima said, hoping just to make the girl smile - or something. It broke her heart to see her so... sad.
"You know, everyone's here. They're always around. Your father, brothers, and your grandma, too. You just have to remember them. They'll protect you two," Taima added, kissing Sherene on the top of her head and leaning back into the lush grass of the garden, sticking her feet into the pond. Sherene mimicked Taima and giggled when the big, sunset fish swam between her legs, the other fish nibbling on her toes or sucking on her skin.
It was so peaceful, Sherene felt she could almost forget everything - but she didn't want to forget. She was still mulling over what Taima had said to her, still thinking about it. Was that true? Were they all there? She leaned forward and touched the fish again - were fish supposed to be this friendly? Like dogs, almost?
