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[shadowchaser.livejournal.com]

Who: Amy and Ray
What: The Talk (no, not that one)
Where: Rainbow's End

Amy frowned, staring at the book she held in her hands, trying for the third time to make some sense of the page she was reading. After letting Ray know where she'd be, she'd grabbed one of her smuttier romance novels and curled up on a couch in the library. She was still incredibly pissed at Jalen for telling (although she understood why he had, it didn't mean she agreed with it), and had resolved to not speak to him beyond anything to do with Eli for at least a week. She was also intent on locking him out of the bedroom. She knew Awiergan found that part hilariously funny, though she was doing her best to ignore her.

"Dun wanna talk about this." She muttered to herself, turning the page. Maybe she could find a closet to hide in for a while. Or take Eli out to the park. Or-

"Or just suck it up and deal with it." Amy rolled her eyes and smacked the open book against her face.


"That would be a good idea," Ray informed her as she approached the cough from behind a nearby bookshelf. She stopped a few feet away from it, crossing her arms and fixing Amy with a stern stare. "I imagine I might get a little scary if you'd avoided me over something like this."


Startled, the book went flying. Amy put a hand to her chest for a second and frowned at her, then looked away.
“I was thinking you might be scary even if I didn't. So...have a seat.” She gestured absently at the couch, eyes intent on where the book had landed a couple feet away.


She paused just long enough to pick up the book, raising an eyebrow at Amy when she realized what it was, before taking a seat on the couch. She handed the book back to its rightful owner.
"Serious business or not," she began, "it's good to see you guys are safe. Jalen and I were really worried about you both in Alexandria, but..." Her voice trailed off, and she let the sentence hang unfinished. With a long-suffering sigh, she continued, "How long have you known?"


Taking the book back, she played with a corner of the cover, already worn and dog-eared. She really didn't like talking about Awiergan; she felt guilty, as if this never should have happened. She should've been stronger. She should've-

“Worried about you guys too, when I wasn't having to deal with Awiergan's gloating. Eli was fine, she loves him to death.”

She almost laughed, then cringed slightly at Ray's last question.

“Not too long. Since Jalen woke up from that coma. He told me.”


She nodded. That made it a little better, then. At least she hadn't known all along and just... kept it from them. Ray's voice turned soft, eyes wandering over the various books before turning back to try to catch Amy's. "Why didn't you tell me? Were you... scared to?"


“Terrified. I hate it when people don't trust me, and really, who's gonna after this?” Amy made herself look Ray in the eyes for a few seconds before turning away again. “Well, you and Song, anyway. I told her, right after- I had to. I mean, she's in the same boat, isn't she? So...”

Trailing off, she glanced back at Ray again. “I'm building a wall around her. It's not very strong yet, and she still breaks through, but it's something. At least until I think of a better idea.” Shrugging, she pulled at the book's cover again, frowning as a bit ripped off the corner.


She frowned. "You doubt me that much, huh? Amy, I still trust you. I never stopped. It's her I don't trust."

Her eyes trailed back to the bookshelves. "That's good. Maybe that Barrier thing you've been working on can help keep her in, somehow. The theory behind it, at least. I don't know. But that's a good start, until we can get rid of her completely." Another thought popped into her head - one that had been bothering her since Medrau's revelation. "Do you know what happened to you guys? To, y'know, make Awiergan and Medrau exist?"


Her head jerked up and she stared at Ray. “No! I don't- it's not-”

Why couldn't she say what she meant? Frustrated, she threw the book as hard as she could at a shelf. It bounced off harmlessly and lay on the floor, pages bent. I don't trust her either, she thought, but didn't say it. Because she didn't, at least for most things. But Eli...

“Probably not. She's been studying that spell herself, maybe for that same reason, I dunno.” Amy pushed her hair out of her eyes and turned to face Ray.

“Not exactly. I know she's been around at least since Ryune's wedding...she gloated to Jalen about that. I guess Maleficent just worked with what was already there.”


Her head snapped back around almost instantly. "What do you mean, what was already there?" she demanded.


"What, you don't think I was an angel before this, do you?" Amy couldn't help snapping a bit. Too many people that supposedly 'knew' her thought she had a good Heart. This was proof enough that she didn't, wasn't it?

“By the way, you can blame Awiergan (me) for Song being pregnant. It was a way for her to screw with Queen Suck Up Medrau.”

She sucked in her breath in surprise; she hadn't meant to say that, hadn't even known it until just now. In the back of her head, she could hear Awiergan giggling. Closing her eyes, she pictured the rough brick wall she'd been working on, and searched for the loose stone. Finding it, she shoved it back into place. The laughter stopped.


Ray seemed to sag further against the couch, eyes closing as she gave another sigh. "You know what I meant, Amy. And you know you'd have asked the same thing if our positions were reversed, here. And as interesting as that little tidbit is, you are not Awiergan. She's part of you, yes, all the worst parts exaggerated to the nth degree. I'm not gonna deny that. But she is not you, and if I have to literally beat that into your head with a nunchaku, I will do it." She paused, opening one eye to peer at Amy. A faint hint of her usual humor sparkled there, echoed by the slight curl of her lips. "Though I have to wonder how Song and Josiah would take that bit of news."


“Try not to give me a concussion, huh? Jalen would be upset.” Opening her eyes, she almost smiled, then shook her head. “I really don't have any intention of telling them, though who knows.”

She shifted a little, perching on the edge of the couch, before beginning to twist her wedding ring. “And Eli's taking after me already. He knew his father was standing behind me before he even heard him, or saw him. Back in Heatherfield. While you guys were fighting Jagannatha.”


"I won't make any promises, but I'll try."

The curl turn into a full smile. "Cool. I know it must have made you both really happy, seeing him again." Ray opened both eyes after a moment. A thoughtful look crossed her face as she stared up at the ceiling. "...We'll have to find a way so she can't hide Eli's compass again. Just in case and all that."


“I can't remember if I was doing it that young, obviously, so it's a little odd.” She grinned suddenly, her fingers dropping away from the ring. “Oh yes. Extremely happy. The brat was furious, but who cares? And Eli just kept toddling over to his father after dinner, tugging on his leg and handing him toys.”

Amy laughed, then sobered at the mention of the compass. “Wonder if there's a way to enchant it so it stings her if she tries to pick it up. But then the spell would have to be able to detect who's in charge...hm. Maybe we'll have to go bother Yen Sid about it.”


"Yeah, well, Awiergan doesn't really get an opinion on that." She chuckled. "Sounds cute. I still need to go see him, too. Buh, uh... I'm sure that can be done? We might have to go through Star Market, too, but we should definitely be able to make that happen." She nodded, almost as if she was trying to assure both Amy and herself of it.


“He was in the kitchen with his father, having a snack. Well, more like throwing it back at him, but.” Amy laughed. The last she'd seen of it before she'd come in here, Jalen had been trying to get Eli to sit still on a stool at the island and eat his carrot sticks. He was having some luck with one or the other to varying degrees, but not both.

“They're probably still in there...and yeah, the Star Market's a good idea too.” She threw herself on Ray in a sudden hug. “Sorry for trying to hide this crap from you. I still don't want to tell everybody else though.”


"Cool. I'll have to go in and survey the damage in a minute."
The hug startled her, so Ray was a bit stiff in Amy's arms, even when she started to return it. "That's okay. I wouldn't want to either. Your secret's safe."


“Thanks.” She pulled away and stood up, going over to pick up her much-abused book. She sighed as she smoothed out the pages.

“I asked Seph not to say anything either – the stupid brat dropped her glamour or whatever and showed him...she got around too much while you guys were away. But I'll have to just deal with it and say something soon, because really. Here I am, afraid of no one trusting me once they find out, but if I keep it to myself forever and then they find out, how's that gonna help?”

Amy hugged the book to herself as she gave Ray a faint smile. “Eli'll be glad to see you.”


"If you don't tell them, she probably will," Ray agreed. Whether anyone would actually believe Awiergan was another thing entirely, but after Medrau... it wasn't altogether unlikely. "And hey, maybe they won't like that you kept it to yourself, but at least it's better than pretending one of us is dead when she's not, right?"
...That was probably the wrong thing to say, huh? Practically anything was better than that.
Ray pushed herself to her feet, smiling at Amy. "I'll talk to Yen Sid when I go back. Ask him about the compass, and Awiergan, see if there's any way we can cut her off or get rid of her for you. But in the meantime, as long as she doesn't bring harm to the Grasshopper, it should be okay, right?"


“Gee, thanks for reminding me. I can bring that up if they flip out.” Amy gave Ray the Look, but it quickly melted into a grin.

“Great. He'll probably have some ideas that we wouldn't have thought of.” She glanced down at the book again, and for the first time seemed to realize what she'd been reading (or trying to) when Ray had come in. She blushed and hurriedly shelved it. She'd go hide it away in her room later.

“She doesn't even want to have him near Maleficent now, so I'd say he's pretty safe with her, as odd as that sounds.”


Ray cracked up. The look on Amy's face... slogging though all this serious stuff was so worth it for that. When she recovered her voice, she replied with a grin, "Good. That means I won't have to put you in the hospital next time she shows up!"


Blushing again, she hid her face in her hands while trying not to smear her glasses. It didn't really work.

“Oh, go see about your apprentice, Master Ray. I need to go do laundry, or something.”


"Or read more of that fascinating little book of yours?" she teased, taking a few steps backwards before turning around. "Fine, fine. I'm going."

Amy stuck her tongue out at her before going to collapse on the couch again. She really needed to stop dying of embarrassment over things like this.