Ernestine was a busy little slug-girl, filled with determination and interest in the world around her, despite her young age of five years old.
Her mother was cooking, and her father was reading in the living room. This was a perfect chance to look at all the magical things! She crawled up the stairs, showing a dexterity of one who was born in her form. She heard that some people had trouble crawling like a slug, but she never did. It was natural and very normal for her. The only trouble being that she did excrete a lot of mucus on the floor. However she had long since learned to follow in the 'trail' of her mother, so that it was less messy.
She crawled up the stairs, and carefully opened the door to her parent's room. She was so close to finding it! Ever since she had heard of the magic stone, she had wanted to try making a few wishes...
...then the doorbell rang.
There was movement and she knew her parents would be wondering what she was doing. Ernestine quickly crawled back downstairs, the absolute picture of innocence with her hands clasped behind her back.
It looked like the Gordon family were visiting, and from what she could tell Lilly Gordon was looking quite sad. She didn't really care too much about the older ones though, she was more interested in Gwydion. "Where's Gwdy?" she asked hopefully.
"Oh... he couldn't come," said Lilly with a faint smile.
"Oh..." Ernestine looked crestfallen.
Suddenly a young human boy jumped out, hiding behind her elder sister's two busy tails. "Hello!" he grinned.
"Gwydy!" grinned Ernestine as the two hugged. "Yay! Let's play!"
Jen smiled down at the two of them. She had an apron on her and a spatula, from scrambling some eggs. She was certainly not just a house wife, her husband and her shared chores quite equally...but Jen did enjoy cooking. Lilly was taken aback by how 'motherly' Jen had become. She had known her for so long, learning all the secrets and trying her best to please her... that kind of 'motherly' feeling, was something Lilly had felt in Jen since she was a little girl too. (Well... when she became one and studied under her tutelage.)
Jen was very proud of Lilly. The girl... was certainly not the best at magic, but her heart was always at the right place. In the end, that counted for more then raw talent. Her dedication and persistence often meant she broke new ground quickly too.
"Miss Jen... my father was on that missing plane," said Lilly quietly as her little brother and Jen's daughter ran off to play and the two could talk.
"I'm sorry Lilly..." Jen said giving the furry young teenager a gentle hug of her own. Jen... paused a moment as she felt... oh my. In all the years, she had never noticed Lilly having four... well... now was hardly the time to really comment on that. "Would you like to sit down?" she asked quickly.
Lilly looked a little embarrassed of the hug, but welcomed it despite the unexpected contact. She went into the living room and was acknowledged by Jen's husband, A drow named Tim. He gave a gentle look of concern to her having heard the news. Not exactly a condolence, as it hasn't been asserted her father 'died'... but God, it did look bleak.
"They haven't been able to find the plane... and I don't think it crashed. I think its gone... somewhere else."
Jen glanced to Tim. Both shared the same look. Lilly was still young and hopeful... but still... what if it was the worst possible thing? What if she will never see her father again? Jen knew she had to be careful with the young child. "What does your mother think?" asked the slug woman.
"She's sad... an' trying to say we s-should- s-should... be... brave," swollowed the girl. "But Lucas said she doesn't think he's dead either!"
Jen frowned a bit grimly "I think your mother is right. Be brave... but we'll do what we can to find him- all of them."
Ernestine and Gwydion were rascals if truth were told- especially when together. Gwydion quickly jumped onto Erenestine's slug-body, as she ran up and down the stairs. They liked doing this game a lot.
Gwyd loved it especially. He loved playing with the changed. He didn't mind getting covered in Erenestine's mucus either. his sister knew a spell to clean it off after they played together, and he was still trying to learn it too.
The two children ran up to the landing, with Ernestine covered in a little slug-mucus after a few minutes. The two panted exhausted after their round of playing.
"a' heard that the others were mean to you in school" said Ernestine. "I'm gonna crawl all over em!"
Gydion blushed. "No! I'm gonna put magic on em! I got lots of things on the internet an I'm gonna use on em. Maybe turn em all human like me! Oh.. an maybe one that will bring daddy back."
Ernestine giggled. "Yay! What spells you got? Let me see."
Gydion showed a few printed pages from the internet, translated for immediate use. Ernestine looked at the spell that interested her the most... an open-lock spell. "Oh! I know what we can do! Mommy has lots of magic stuff. I'll bet we can wish him back!"
"Really?!" Asked Gwydion excited. "Show me!"
Ernestine giggled as she took Gwydion into her mother's room. They went into a draw, where there was a locked box. "It's in here. But I can't open it. You can use that spell right? Let's open the box and wish for what we want."
Gwydion looked at the box. "But wont you get into trouble?"
"It's for your daddy an' the kids was mean to you. I'm sure my mommy would be okay with it."
Gwydion looked a bit worried. Magic was only for good... maybe he couldn't use it to do anything to those that made fun of him but... certainly, he could wish for his father back. "Okay... let's try it."
He recited the words on the paper, to open the lock.
