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Abel's Cliff... the name invokes thoughts of the Bible, though I'm not sure I want to go there, mentally OR in reality. Still, wherever it is, there's something important there, and I feel this...tugging, this yearning curiosity. I guess I'm going to have to just start looking.

Well, I've done some research, and there's certainly nothing on Google to indicate that there's a place called Abel's Cliff. At least, not anymore. I'll have to think on this. There's got to be some clue as to its whereabouts...

I'm writing this in a small enclosed space, without much light, so my apologies if things are a little weird.

After writing that little entry about Horus, I was working in my shed, putting together another doll house for San. I was thinking that hers was getting a little cluttered with stuff, and that too many of my pets were trying to live INSIDE, so maybe she needed a bigger one.

Anyway...

All of a sudden, I heard Satoshi calling me from outside. Confused, and a little worried (since he's not the type to be just yelling for no reason), I dropped my tools and headed outside.

There's this little hillock outside the menagerie. We hadn't really thought anything of it, and had just started building a deck out there, so there was a lot of construction and landscaping work going on. I'd actually considered bulldozing it several times, but I was hoping not to have to.

It turns out, there was the entrance to a CAVE inside that hillock. The vibrations from the post-hole digger must have set off a collapse, and a small hole was now visible in the front of the hillock, a tunnel heading down into the ground at an angle.

Satoshi had his lights shining and was peering into the hole, but even his light had a hard time cutting the darkness. Touya was also there, sniffing around the entrance, and San was fluttering nearby.

I happened to have my Grimorum with me - since I heard what happened to Shinobu, I hardly let it out of my sight anymore, hoping that I'd receive some kind of clue about what I was supposed to do next. And the book started tugging at me, clearly wanting me to go through the hole.

"Damn..." I said. "It would have to be a tiny, dark, tunnel."

Luckily, I have wonderful pets. Touya (one of my Zurui), Satoshi (my light Juusanshi) and San, who's an earth Feien, all volunteered to help me. I grabbed a flashlight, just in case, and a few other supplies, and headed into the tunnel.

Touya went first. He's the size of a cat, so he had no trouble navigating the twists and turns as the light of day fell behind us. His nose is incredible, and so is his night vision, so I'm hoping he'll find any trouble before it finds us, you know?

After him, came me, laden down with our supplies and the Grimorum shoved in my backpack along with the food and such. It'd be nice not to have to carry it all, but if I end up suddenly disappearing, as tends to happen when the Grimorum get involved, it would be kinda important to have my survival gear with me.

San rode my shoulder, using her magical detection magic and her natural affinity with the earth to help Touya look for trouble.

Satoshi came last, his sash shining as brightly as he could make it. Great thing, that sash. It's not working as well, though - at least, it's working just FINE, but as we head down the tunnel, it's becoming less and less effective. It's like the darkness is swallowing the light, so it shines to a smaller and smaller radius.

Pretty soon, I guess we'll REALLY be in the dark, and at that point I don't know what I'm going to do with Satoshi. He's afraid of the dark.

We crawled for a good few hours before the first thing happened - I was suddenly transported to the library, where this relic had been stolen. Suffice it to say, the other Keepers and I managed to figure out who it was, and for some reason I got this weird scroll now, with my name on it as a reward.

When I returned, Touya, San and Satoshi were really worried, and about to head back, but I'm glad they waited for me. I tucked the scroll in the cover of my Grimorum, and we decided to take a break for the night.

I hope we find something soon. This darkness and the narrow tunnel is starting to GET to me.

I'm sensing a strange sort of time compression here that is difficult to explain. I don't know if it can be the book's doing, or if it's just this place, but while it's seemed like more weeks since the last time I posted, Schuldig is again insisting that it's been perhaps a day.

I sure hope he's right. I shudder to think of what Aileron and Trio are doing without us for so long.

"Touya, are you getting anything at ALL?" Schuldig called, his voice echoing off of the walls. Earlier that...day? week? month? the loose dirt had changed to stone, with the far-off sound of dripping water echoing incessently in their ears.

The Zurui glanced back, shaking his head and nosing about again before moving uncertainly to the right. Schuldig could only see him by dint of the book he was holding in his hand, and the view was an odd purple glow, showing more outlines than details.

"Just stop for a minute," he growled frustratedly as he dropped down to sit. San immediately began scratching in the dirt, relieving her own frustrations and fear in a diary entry as Schuldig pored over the contents of the Tome.

Finally, he shut the Grimorum and sighed. "All this says is that we keep going DOWN. But we haven't been going down for a long time, right San?"

"That's right," the feien replied quietly, settling on his shoulder as Touya curled up on the floor in a miserable heap. "We're still just as far from the surface as we were las-- yesterday. No deeper, and no closer to the surface either."

Schuldig sighed and petted Touya for a moment. "Well... that's got to change eventually, right? It's not like we missed a turn." He got to his feet again, lifting Touya into his arms and cradling him. "We'll just have to keep going. There's no point in turning back now, after all. We must be getting close."

"But what if we're NOT getting close?" San whispered, barely loud enough for Schuldig to hear. "What if this is all just one big mistake?"

"I don't know, San, but I'm NOT going to give up," Schuldig replied firmly. No sooner did he take a step forward but there was a grating sound of crumbling stone and Schuldig's feet slid out from under him.

San let out a loud scream and Touya dug his claws into Schuldig's shirt as the threesome careened down into the darkness.

"AILERON!!" The sound of San's call was immediately followed by a "Watch out!" and a muted thudding sound as San careened off of a corner she didn't quite see in time before entering the hallway. "Aileron!?"

Aileron glanced up, freezing for a moment as his brain tried to convince him he was really hearing what he thought he was. A second later, he was up and darting toward the hall faster than he'd moved in his entire life. "San?!" he called out, then saw her, and adjusted his course to catch her.

"Aileron?" San asked, peering at him and blinking rapidly.

Wrapped tightly around her, Aileron let himself float to the ground, keeping her close and almost clinging. "Where have you BEEN?" he demanded, his voice a rough whisper against her ear.

San flinched at his tone, clinging to him tightly and burying her face in his hair. "I'm sorry! Schuldig took me on this....this quest, and it took so much longer than we ever expected."

"I've missed you so much," Aileron whispered, nuzzling her and holding her tightly. "Don't leave me again."

"I won't, I promise," San whispered back, tightening her grip on him. "I've missed you, too."

Aileron finally loosened his grip, lifting his head to search her eyes for a moment before catching her in a kiss that had very little to do with actual passion. He tucked her closer, then relaxed, pressing another, softer kiss to her forehead. "You're really back..."

"I can't believe it's finally over," San replied. "How long was I gone?"

"Months," Aileron said, stroking his fingers through her hair as he searched her gaze. "Two, at least."

"That's what I thought," San said, sighing heavily. "That book was exerting some sort of spell on Schuldig. He insisted we were only gone a few days, maybe a week."

"You're kidding," Aileron stared at her for a moment, then frowned quietly, shaking his head. "Trio won't be happy to hear that."

"What do you mean?"

"She's missed him," Aileron said softly, slowly unwinding from her to rise and help her up. "We've both felt a little lost, I think."

San squeezed his hand. "I'm sure Schuldig's missed her, too. It wasn't his fault that he was under a spell..."

Aileron hesitated, then drew her back into the air with him. "I have someone for you to meet, love," he murmured, beginning to almost glow with pride.

San glanced at him, her eyebrows climbing into her curly hair. "What is it?"

"I spoke to Corvus while you were gone," he said, still glowing as they approached the plant room where he lived. "About the bloom we'd discussed."

"You...talked to Corvus?" San asked in shock.

Aileron nodded, turning to stroke her cheek. "He's a little different now. Yeande is, too, actually. They merged with gemstones."

"He must be pretty different if he..." San's eyes widened. "Wait, you talked to him about BLOOMS? He's going to get us blooms?!"

"One bloom," Aileron said softly. "She arrived while you were gone. I've been caring for her."

The smile faded slightly. "So...she's not our bloom, then. But we're taking care of her?"

Seeing her smile fade, Aileron drew back, his brows furrowing. "That's what we'd discussed... remember?" he murmured, searching San's eyes.

San nodded, the smile beginning to return. "Of course," she said. "I was just surprised, and I thought you meant something ELSE, but this is wonderful enough, believe me."

Aileron didn't offer the smile back, hesitant to trust her seeming change. "She... emerged yesterday. I thought the two of you might like to meet." He turned toward the plant room again, not sure quite how to feel.

"Aileron, I'm sorry," San said, tugging on his arm to hold him back. "I was disappointed for a moment, that's all."

"I thought you'd be happy with the news," he murmured, stilling, though he didn't look back at her. His fingers tightened on her hand, clinging almost desperately as he tried to figure out what to say. "I thought you wanted a family."

"I AM," San said. "I'm so happy, and I DO want a family."

He shook his head, turning to peer at her in confusion. "Then why were you disappointed?"

"Because for a moment I thought you meant that Corvus was going to summon blooms using both of us as parents," San said. "That's the only thing that would be better than this, so for a moment I was disappointed. But that's OK, she's still OURS."

"We agreed it wasn't feasible... didn't we?" Aileron asked, not sounding particularly confident or certain. In the short time she'd been there, Ysanne had already rattled him deeply. The thought that he might also have disappointed San... "Because Corvus would have to be there."

"That's right," San said, nearly ready to cry by this point and trying valiently to keep it out of her voice and manner. "But when you said you'd talked to Corvus, and that he'd changed, I thought--oh Hell, Aileron, this is ridiculous. I misunderstood you, and I'm happy at the way it turned out. Doesn't that mean everything is all right?"

Gathering her close, his eyes worried and face strained, he stroked her hair and nuzzled one ear. "You want the blooms?" he asked, keeping tight hold of her even as two grey eyes, crowned with a head of pale hair, peered out from the base of the door to the plant room.

"I want YOU, and a family, and we have that," San said, burying her face against his neck and unaware of the observer. "And I definitely don't want to fight with you."

"But you don't want me? Is that what he's worried about?" came a new voice, quiet and cool, from near them. Aileron's head jerked up, his eyes startled as he stared at Ysanne in silence for several seconds. The tiny girl padded forward, peering up at him before looking at San solemnly.

San blinked at her for a moment, then smiled widely. "But I DO want you. We just had a bit of a misunderstanding, that's all." Hesitantly, she held out a hand. "My name is San..."

Ysanne regarded the hand for several moments, her eyes narrowed, then peered up at San. "What element are you?" she asked bluntly, without taking the hand.

San pulled her hand back slightly, her smile faltering. "I'm...an earth feien," she said hesitantly. "Why?"

"Earth isn't cold like ice, is it?" Ysanne asked, and Aileron let out a not-quite amused choke of laughter at that.

"Ysanne met Shalafi yesterday," he explained, sounding as though that should explain everything to San.

"Um, no, Earth isn't that cold," San said, then turned to Aileron. "Who is Shalafi?"

Before Aileron could answer, Ysanne spoke up. "He's the blind ice feien. Yeande's child." Ysanne regarded the still slightly-outstretched hand a moment longer, then fitted her smaller one into it carefully.

"Oh... I didn't know Yeande had a child," San said, discomfited. She shook Ysanne's hand. "What's your name?"

"I'm Ysanne," the girl said, stepping back a little and drawing her wings carefully around herself, in an almost protective shield. She'd done her hair, getting Aileron's help that morning with a braid, and the little activity she'd managed before exhaustion sent her to her shelf to rest had done almost nothing to disturb the half-knot braid.

"Shalafi's adopted, just like Ysanne," Aileron said softly, watching San's face.

San nodded to Aileron, her smile returning softly. Turning to Ysanne, she spoke. "It's really nice to meet you, Ysanne. I'm afraid I've been gone for a while, so I didn't see you arrive. It also seems I've missed a lot of news."

"He told me about you," Ysanne said simply, raising an eyebrow at Aileron. Aileron flushed faintly, drawing San against him again, while Ysanne watched them. "I'm sure he'll explain everything to you."

"I'm sure he will," San said, still smiling softly as she nestled against him. "I was sort of hoping to get to know you a little first, though. If that's OK."

"I'm going back to my shelf," Ysanne noted, watching them through considering eyes before shrugging. "You're welcome to come sit with me, I suppose." She turned, concentrating for a moment before lifting about an inch into the air. Her wings flapped once, powerfully, and then she was aloft, moving toward the plant room slowly.

"Um...see you later, Ysanne..." San said, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Aileron flinched slightly, watching her go with a frown. "She's not... very approachable. I'm hoping to draw her out a bit more," he explained softly, turning her to search her eyes. "But she invited you to sit with her. She hasn't done that for me yet."

San blinked. "Really? I thought she didn't like me."

"I'm... not entirely sure she likes much of anyone," Aileron murmured, looking down. "She seems to have taken to Yeande a bit. Maybe Shalafi. I'm not sure."

"Hmm," San said, winding a finger around Aileron's hair. "I can't decide if I want to go talk to her, or be selfish and stay here with you," she admitted sheepishly.

Aileron hesitated, clearly not quite able to decide himself before saying, "Go talk to her. And then... you and I will have the rest of today and tonight together. Just the two of us," he promised huskily.

San hesitated, then nodded, leaning up to give him a soft kiss. "Okay," she said, beginning to disentangle herself.

Aileron drew her back for a deeper kiss, finally releasing her only when she was nearly breathless. "While the two of you talk, I'll take care of Pot and Bean."

"Okay," San said again, smiling as she caught her breath. "I missed you, Aileron."

"I missed you, too, love," he assured her, eyes warm and surprisingly content.

Beaming, San beat her own wings and flew up into the air, heading into the room where Ysanne had gone and looking around for her shelf.

Her shelf proved to be a foot under Aileron's, stretching as long as the room and decorated sparingly. She was tucked into a corner, away from the window but able to stare out of it pensively.

San flew over to the shelf. "Hello," she said, a touch of her shy nature showing in her voice. "Is it still OK if I sit with you?"

Ysanne peered at her for a moment, then nodded, turning her eyes back to the window, though the tense lines of her body told San that she was still paying attention to where the Earth feien was. "I said it was."

San settled on the shelf, a good few inches from Ysanne. "Are you all right?" she asked softly.

"Of course," Ysanne murmured, relaxing slightly when San made no effort to move closer. "Why?"

"You just seem a little tense, that's all," San replied.

"What do you want to know about me?" Ysanne asked, drawing a lock of hair around into her hand and toying with it thoughtfully.

"I don't know," San said with a soft chuckle. "How about, what you like to do for fun?"

"I'm not sure yet," Ysanne admitted, glancing at San before peering down at her hands. "I like reading best, but I haven't been around long yet."

"Reading is nice," San said. "It can be hard to turn the pages sometimes, though, don't you find?" she added with a laugh.

"Aileron found me some small books. He said they were supposed to be tree ornaments, though I don't understand. But they're not nearly as oversized." A heartbeat, then, "What do you do?"

"Um... I like practicing my magic, and playing with the animals," San said. "I also do sculptures."

Ysanne suddenly turned piercing eyes on San, her brows raised. "You do magic, too?"

"Sure," San said with a smile. "I'm pretty good at it. You're interested in magic?"

Ysanne nodded, relaxing a bit more. "Yeande agreed to teach me. I want to learn whatever I can," she informed San, clearly sizing San up again.

"Well, I'd love to help you, too, if there's some kind of magic you'd like to learn that I know," San said with a warm smile. "Corvus taught me a good technique that helped me to learn new spells more quickly than just using trial and error. What element are you attuned with?"

At that, Ysanne looked a little less certain, her eyes shuttering again. "I don't know yet," she said, emphasizing the yet softly.

"Oh," San replied, a little surprised. "Well, I'm sure we'll figure it out."

"How? I know I'm not ice." She glanced at the fan clipped to the shelf, which was turned off, and had been since she'd first turned it off. "I'm fairly certain I'm not air."

San eyed the feien. "Well... you're an unusual colour, so you could be one of the rare elements, like 'life'. Maybe Corvus or one of the other ancients would know?"

"You and Aileron were talking about Corvus earlier," Ysanne pointed out softly, an eyebrow raised. "It didn't sound much like Aileron liked him." Rather than sounding wary, she sounded intrigued.

"Well, no...Corvus doesn't really get along with us very well," San admitted. "But he's a very good source of information, regardless."

"Very well," Ysanne nodded, turning back to the window. "I'll seek him out." She leaned her head against the wall, wings ruffling slightly as she adjusted them.

"Good," San said. "Just be prepared for him to...not be as nice as you might hope he'd be. Especially since he'll associate you with us."

"As long as he's willing to tell me what I need to know, I don't care how nice he is," Ysanne said softly.

"What DO you need to know?" San asked curiously.

"What my element is," Ysanne said. "What magic I can learn." She turned to peer at San once more. "What else do I need to know?"

San shrugged slightly, smiling. "I don't know," she said. "But I'm sure if you need to know it, you'll find out that you need to eventually."

Ysanne nodded. "I'd like to know sooner than later, though, if possible. Why were you gone so long? Did Aileron make you angry?"

"Oh! No, no, of course not," San said, her eyes widening. "I was with my bonded, helping him with a quest. He was under a spell, so it was difficult for him to figure out how much time had passed, and we didn't realize it was so long."

Ysanne nodded, leaning against the wall. "Are you happy to be back?"

"Very," San said fervently. "I've missed Aileron so much..."

Ysanne nodded. "I'm surprised you're here with me, rather than with him, like you were when I met you," she said bluntly. "If you really missed him so much."

"I'll have lots of time with him later," San said with a shrug. "I wanted to talk to you, first."

"Because he adopted me," Ysanne said, her voice soft and neutral.

"WE adopted you, actually," San said. "And yes, sort of. You're a part of my family now, and that's important to me."

"So you're planning to take care of me, like Aileron does?" Ysanne asked softly.

"I'd like to help...if you'll let me," San replied, just as softly.

"Then teach me what I need to know," Ysanne directed. "That's what I need most."

"I'll do what I can," San said. "I promise."

"I'll hold you to that," Ysanne said softly, slanting a sharp gaze at San.

"You won't need to," San said with a smile. "I'd be glad to help."

Ysanne nodded, examining one purple hand again thoughtfully. "When I've spoken to this Corvus, I'll tell you what I know."

"All right," San said, nodding. "And then we'll take it from there." Slowly, she got to her feet. "Perhaps...you'd like me to leave you be for a little while? Or do you have any other questions for me?"

"Go ahead," Ysanne whispered, not looking at San. "He'll be expecting you, I'm sure." She looked at the window, carefully watching it instead of the earth feien.

"...are you sure? I'm quite happy to sit and chat with you, Ysanne," San asked hesitantly.

"Go ahead," Ysanne prompted again, waving a wing dismissively.

"All right," San said. Smiling brightly, she added. "It was very nice to meet you, Ysanne," before flitting off in search of Aileron.

I'm slowly getting back on my feet after moving across the country and then moving again into a more permanent housing situation. I'm doing my best to keep track, but we have very limited Net access. That should hopefully change soon.

Things have been very busy lately, I hardly have time to write in this diary anymore! The holidays are coming up quickly, and Schuldig is planning starting a new shop. Between that and moving... I'm just glad that Aileron and I still get to see each other often.

Overall, I'm happy, though. I miss the Menagerie, but I also visit there a lot. And I like our new house. Sometimes change is hard, but it's a good thing, too.

Visiting his friend Shiromaru for the day, ChibiSchuldig stuck his head into the room, eyeing the lust demon Abishai with a bit of curiosity and trepidation. "Say...maybe I can get your help with something, Abishai."

Abishai peered at him curiously. "Mm?"

"See... I have this Spiritual Grimorum quest I have to finish," Schuldig said uncertainly. Seeing that Abishai was listening intently, he entered the room and sat down before continuing. "I have the egg, and I've gathered most of the ingredients I need, and most of the rest of them are a cinch. But one of them is a "stillborn"." Despite himself, he whimpered slightly at the word.

Abishai blinked. "A 'stillborn'? As in, stillborn kitten or puppy?"

Schudig shrugged helplessly. "All I know is 'stillborn'. It's a Grimorum of darkness. Another of the items was a skull fragment - which I've obtained. All of my demonic pets seem...drawn to it...you see where this is going..."

"...Oh," said Abishai. "That's... rather morbid."

"...I know," Schuldig replied, wincing.

"So what are you needing my help with?" Abishai asked.

Schuldig sighed, glancing down. "I hoped since you were...you know, a DEMON, you might be able to help me figure out how to get a stillborn without KILLING something. My other resources are all...rather furry, or don't talk."

"Well..." Abishai thought for a moment. "There's always the option of snagging a baby before the soul enters it..."

Schuldig looked horrified. "How do you SNAG a baby before the soul enters it?"

"If you can grab it and keep it from taking its first breath..." Abishai explained. "It works for kittens and puppies, too."

Schuldig sweatdropped. "Not really the sort of advice I was looking for, but thanks, Abishai."

Abishai shrugged helplessly. "That's all I know, I'm sorry. Not my area of expertise. I'm more accustomed to helping make babies, not finding stillborns..."

Schuldig chuckled ruefully. "That's OK. It may help anyway. Thanks."