#1_02_02 - Dark

[Erustis]

Erustis
the Monologue

~Table of Contents~

Stage 1
&&&&Entry 1 on 01.23.06
&&&&&&&Erustis gets a Switch!
&&&&&&&The Switch can't stand sunlight!
&&&&Entry 2 on 02.08.06
&&&&&&&His name is Fenris!
&&&&&&&Fenris likes Black, Blue, Sliver!
&&&&Entry 3 on 02.27.06
&&&&&&&Fenris likes Werewolves and Ravens!
&&&&&&&Fenris doesn't like people!
&&&&Entry 4 on 03.14.06
&&&&&&&Here comes Sakura!
&&&&&&&Fenris still doesn't like others!
&&&&Entry 5 on 03.21.06
&&&&&&&Sakura speaks and Erustis mourns her loss of quiet!
&&&&&&&Fenris and Sakura discover TV!
&&&&&&&Erustis takes Fenris and Sakura to the zoo!
&&&&&&&Fenris likes Jackals and Ethiopian Wolves while Sakura likes flowers!
&&&&Entry 6 on 04.15.06
&&&&&&&Fenris finds a new passion!
&&&&Entry 7 on 04.17.06
&&&&&&&Erustis takes Fenris and Sakura to the library!
&&&&&&&Fenris gets some cultural background and a big ego!
Stage 2  

[Erustis]

Stage 01

Entry 1 - 01.23.06

I don't believe it! I just don't believe it! What in the name of Kami-sama did Chims get me? What exactly am I supposed to do with a Switch of all things? Furthermore what exactly is a Switch anyway?

Here I was just minding my own business in my own cave when somebody rings my doorbell for my aboveground flat. You see I happen to actually live under the house I purchased rather than in it. What can I say? I can't stand the sun, or any bright light for that matter. It hurts the eyes and burns the skin. Anyway, the truth is that I live under the building and converted the aboveground space into a greenhouse. I like plants. Lots of plants. Plants don't like living in sunless spaces, unless they are mushrooms; in which case they wouldn't even be a plant at all. Never mind. Long story.

Anyway, by the time I put on enough protective gear to keep me from burning up in my own greenhouse whoever it was had given up on my door and left. Unfortunately they forgot something. Whoever it was left this undescript medium sized brown box on my doorstep with only my name on it and no return address. It looked harmless, it smelled harmless, and being that my birthday was only a day away and it was addressed to me, I took it. By the time I had descended the stairs into my sub ground entryway I was dying to find out what was in the box. Like a giddy school girl I darted to my living room and carefully sliced the top open with an extended claw. Before I could pull the box flaps open something burst out of the box and hit me dead on in the face. A small fast black ball with bat wings that is. And the best part was that it broke my nose.

Here I am howling and hopping about trying to stop the bloody waterfall that was my nose and through it all the ruddy little blighter that hit me was lying there, in a puddle of my blood, completely stunned. And it was glowing as well. So here I have this black ball emitting a silver light in a puddle of my blood on my granite floor and the only thing I could think was 'at least I don't have carpet otherwise I would never be able to get the stain out.' Go me. Around the exploded box was a collection of pamphlets, brochures and what turned out to be a letter addressed to me. It was from Chims. I stuffed a couple tissues up my nose and dumped a handful of them on the glowing mess in the floor.

It turned out that Chims thought that I wasn't getting enough social interaction so she adopted a 'Switch' in my name and sent it to me. Perfect, a highly malleable intelligent life from to mold into my own image. Oh, joy. Children. I eat children, I don't raise children. Apparently my flighty sister forgot this. To add to my happiness was the descriptive death threat she left in the postscript. Essentially she demanded that I raise the little cue ball or face her fury, wrath, and the rest of my life and unlife watching Barney episodes. Once more...oh joy.

Well as I was deciphering my sister's colorful scribbling said cue ball had awakened from whatever impact derived coma it was in and was flapping drunkenly through my entryway towards the stairs with bloody tissues attached to it. As I watched it flew into a beam of sunlight in the stairwell and froze midair. Apparently paralyzed it dropped to the ground and bounced back into the darkness of the entryway. It seems that the cue ball couldn't handle sunlight either. Oh, joy.

*~*~*

Entry 2 - 02.08.06

About a half month has passed since the little cue ball erupted into my life. I can't believe it has been so long or that time has passed so fast. Thankfully, things have finally begun to settle down once more, since the Switch's arrival did a lot more than simply break my nose. Now if only Ryoko would cease with her pissy territorial shenanigans, things might just become down right peaceful once more.

I finally got around to reading all of the gaudy pamphlets Chims included in the Switch's box. I just know that she used that particular format just to piss me off. However, those things were actually quite informative, despite their gods awful presentation. It seems that the little cue ball will develop into a highly intelligent magical being. Oh joy, children. Mmmm sarcasm. Apparently, according to the pamphlets, a new Switch has the same intelligence as a human child around the age of 10. It seems that a Switch's age is determined not by the number of years per say but rather by a series of developmental 'stages'. Thankfully, the little cue ball won't be able to talk until the third stage at the earliest. I must enjoy my silence while I still can.

I found that after I finished reading all of Chim's proffered information there was one important fact missing. She neglected to tell me what the Switch's sex was. I am pretty sure that the answer was not 'yes please'. Since a little flapping ball is entirely devoid of genitalia, I decided to put Chim's pamphlets to use. I assumed that the cue ball would be able to understand what I was saying, since it was able to understand simple instructions after only a day in my company. I also assumed that the Switch would know what sex it was. Therefore, I decided that it was time to play a little game. I told the cue ball that I was going to list off a series of names and that it was to bob up and down to the ones it liked. I know, I could have simply asked the Switch if it was male or female, but this method seemed to be more entertaining, that and all of the bobbing drove the cats nuts.

I started with some very gender specific names until I was certain the cue ball was definitely male. His reaction to the name Buffy was quite hilarious. His expressed disgust actually brought him close enough to the ground for Kagome to nail him. As I moved away from common names I began adding little tidbits like meaning or history to each name. When I hit Norse mythology the Switch went wild. I honestly thought that I would end up with a Thor or Odin. Surprisingly the Switch liked the name Fenris so much that he actually bounced off the ceiling and cracked Kagome right in the head. I hope he becomes a little more coordinated as he gets older. I don�t think his environment could take the damage if he got any bigger.

On a side note, I began to notice a change in Fenris' appearance. I clearly remember him being a solid black when I first received him, only to have him change to a burgundy hue not long after he recovered from his sunshock. Lately I have noticed how he seems to prefer the colors black and blue over all other colors, save for the silver of my hair. Fenris will spend hours trying to wrap himself up in these colors while emitting a faint silver glow the entire time. Thankfully, I happened to have old clothes in those shades, since it couldn't be healthy for him to fling himself at my painted blue walls and black slate floors repeatedly. Most recently I have begun to notice the presence of dark jagged lightening bolts that appear to run along the left side of his body. These markings were quite faint at first but have grown bolder by the day. I haven't found anything like this mentioned in Chim's crayon drawn pamphlets.

I knew I should have gotten a degree in supernatural biology.

*~*~*

Entry 3 - 02.27.06

A month truly has passed now since Chims FedExed my Switch to me. You know, when I stop and think about it I really should inform child services about Chim's tendency to ship, what are technically infants, to people in cardboard boxes. Ehh, maybe later.

You know, I honestly thought that I would have had a harder time adapting to Fenris. I mean, children and I do not get along...at all. Thankfully for both parties involved, Fenris starting mimicking my behavior from the get go. Yes, he followed me everywhere, but he was unobtrusive and seemed to prefer to watch my actions instead. I don't know what I would have done if he had decided to copy one of my cats instead. Well, that is not entirely true, but I'm not sure if I could have found a fly swatter strong enough to stop a flying Switch version of Kagome.

It wasn't long after I named him that I decided to allow him to accompany me on one of my nightly excursions. I may behave like a hermit, but that does not mean that I totally dislike the presence of other people. Anyway, I had decided to take Fenris with me on my romp through the woods just after sunset. I do believe that this was the first time that he had ever seen me in my true form. He always seemed fascinated by my manipulation of my mortal form and when I finally stood before him as a large werewolf...well...lets just say that I've never seen him so excited. I swear he flapped madly around the room and hurtled himself into my mane, where he clung to me like a sliver glowing tick.

I think I tried for nearly half an hour to remove him by hand. Nothing I tried worked. I finally figured that the shock of actually being outside after spending a month underground would be enough to knock him loose. I was right of course. The moment I launched myself out of my greenhouse and into the darkened woods, Fenris lost his grip from shock and fell to the ground. I was almost worried that the shock was too much, until he dazedly rose from the ground and weaved his way towards me. I took pity on him and let him ride on my head for the rest of the excursion.

We raced trough the trees spooking the night creatures until we came across a roosting flock of ravens. Despite all of the other creatures we came across that night, ravens seemed to be Fenris' favorite. He liked them so much, in fact, that he actually launched himself from me and knocked the biggest one out of the tree. While the rest of the birds awoke and were making an ungodly amount of ruckus, Fenris and the raven were lying in a heap at the base of the tree stunned. And, might I add, glowing silver. I have come to the conclusion that when he glows in this particular manner he is assimilating something, be it a color or a creature.

In the consecutive outings I have taken him on I have noticed that Fenris does not seem to care for other people. It does not matter if we are watching them from the woods as a furry beast or walking through the evening crowds in Durem. Fenris just does not care for the company of others. I am not sure if he simply dislikes all other intelligent creatures or simply humans in general. I will have to examine this situation. It will be interesting to see how he reacts to intelligent non-humans or other Switches.

*~*~*

Entry 4 - 03.14.06

You know, I really need to stop opening my entries with the elapsed time since my birthday. One would think that I was counting the days like I was in prison or something. Right, moving on. Well, several things have happened since I last wrote, although their degree of severity depends on the beholder. I'm pretty sure Ryoko will recover from the shock eventually...well that or go bald from the stress shedding.

The largest change is, surprisingly, not Switch related at all. By picking up on one of Chim's leads, I was able to get my dirty claws on a tiny Triune pup. I guess according to the literature provided by the breeders, a Triune is a sort of sentient magical being with close ties to nature. That and they look like furry lizard tailed fennec foxes with two unique sets of wings. Let me rephrase that. They look like quad winged fennec foxes that are as tall as you are if not taller. And they can speak with you even as infants. Yay for magical beings. Now returning from the explanation detour, when I said that I had gotten my hands on a tiny Triune I meant a baby that was the size of Kagome. Actually, for a Triune that is small. I think Ryoko about died from the shock of it. I know I found large puffs of white fur strewn about in her wake.

This particular Triune was somehow infused with the essence of Haruno Sakura from the anime Naruto. Just how the breeders did it I�ll never know. Anyway, although she spends much of her time asleep, Sakura is quite timid and shy when she is awake. So far all she has really done is squeak at me a little and hide in my bed. In a way this is a good thing, since her size and present nature make her a prime target for the tender mercies of the cats, who take great delights in their many forms of sadism. Thankfully, she was already litter trained when I received her; otherwise she and I would be having just a little bit of a conflict. On a plus note, Fenris has taken quite a liking to her. As a result he now spends all of his time either following me or curled up in the bed with Sakura.

In a way it is odd that he appears to be attached to the timid Sakura when he ignores just about all other creatures save for me. Mind you, he does associate with the cats, but only to harass them or return fire. His behavior makes me wonder if it is possible for a Switch to be autistic. At first I thought that he could have 'inherited' it from me, but even I interact with others more than him. Perhaps it is only a stage that he is going through. He appears to be friendly enough when he is in the Switch nursery. Well at least that is from what I can tell anyway. All I can do is read whatever body language the little balls give off. Which is not all that much, let me tell you.

You know, there are some times that I wish that I was endowed with super psychic powers and such but I honestly don�t think I could live with the resulting name, Mary Sue.

*~*~*

Entry 5 - 03.21.06

Another day, another dollar. You know, I'm not quite sure why I said that. Although in today's capitalistic society it does make sense. I mean look at me. I mass produce plasmid for a living. Do you know how hard it was to find buyers for the few genes I had created�well actually it only took a day or so, but never mind. That is another story for another time.

Any who, I have finally introduced both Fenris and Sakura to the educational wonder that is the TV. Well it was either that or explain the plot arcs of my Come, Come Paradise series to them. Needless to say, I've created a monster'well technically two. I used the Discovery Channel to distract them from my literary collection, which resulted in them harassing me to take them to the zoo.

I should back up a second. I know full well that Fenris can't talk or use TV remotes, but Sakura can. In fact, she is showing amazing progress in the former. When I first got her, all she did was hide in my bed with Fenris and cower. I swear that she is growing bolder and more vocal by the day. Now with Fenris in tow, the two of them scramble all over the place following me with her acting as the voice of the duo. It looks like I am going to have to start teaching her verbal grammar. At least that way when he talks my ears off she will at least be fully understandable. Damn pink chatter box. And she started out so quiet too.

I guess that the combination of several days straight of Discovery Channel marathons and continuous ads for the new Gambino Zoo in Durem proved to be too much temptation for them. It took the two of them almost a week to coerce me into taking them to Durem. Thankfully the trip there was uneventful. For an added bonus, the two of them slept the entire time as well. We left at midday so we could be at the Zoo by sundown, which worked out quite well with their sleep patterns, although Sakura tends to be more of a day person.

Frankly I wasn't too impressed with the Gambino Zoo of Durem. It was full of glim and glam with an occasional animal squirreled away in elaborately named corners of the park. It seemed as if the main attraction was Gambino themed merchandise rather than any of the animals. In conclusion, it was the perfect attraction for the naïve and gullible. Fenris and Sakura loved it. Thank the gods that the two of them aren't real big on possessions yet. By Odin's spangled n****e tassels that place was expensive. Thankfully I only needed to pay for myself, since I had the little midgets stuffed in my inner coat pockets. Don't ask me how I was able to convincingly conceal something the size of a large cat in my coat...it's a secret.

Both of the wee ones were insistent upon seeing the African Exhibit that was so highly advertised on TV. The three of us received quite a few odd looks from the park staff, but none of them wanted to approach an irate 6 foot werewolf. Never mind the fact that said werewolf had a gallivanting pink Triune and a flying bat winged ball in tow. When we finally reached the exhibit the evening crowd had thinned out considerably, leaving only a few stragglers who fled as we approached.

The exhibit consisted of a collection of open air pens with large elaborately written species' names upon them for the animals within. When Fenris got a good look at the jackal pen I swear it was a repeat of the raven incident. He shot off into the pen and dive bombed the largest male jackal, knocking both of them for a loop. It was quite fortuitous that I had frightened away any spectators. People would have had a fit at the sight of the glowing Switch and twitching scavenger. However, I think that they would have had a bigger fit when I hurtled the fence and its moat to retrieve the Switch, before one of the jackals got it in their heads to either eat or bury my glowing menace.

It seemed that it took him less time to recover this time around. When he assimilated both the raven and me it took him roughly 10 minutes to recoup. This time it only took half of that time before he was up and flapping again. Of course, by that time we had moved onto the next exhibit, the Zoo's pride and joy: a small breeding pack of endangered Ethiopian Wolves. When we reached the pen fence it was like the Jackal pens all over again. I swear, one would think that I had never taken him out in public before...which if you think about it is more or less correct...never mind.

After I retrieved him from his fourth assaulting assimilation adventure, he was banished to one of my inner coat pockets for the remainder of the trip. I don't think I could afford to cover the damages if he accidentally gave one of the animals brain damage. Of course, while he was banished to the pocket, Sakura scolded him nearly nonstop the entire time. I say nearly because she stopped her scolding and started squealing with delight when I took her through the botanical displays. Huh, the little pink Triune has a flower and foliage fetish. I wonder what her reaction will be when she sees my gardens come spring.

Well according to the crayon literature Chims gave me, Fenris has assimilated the maximum number of animals he can. Thank the gods.

*~*~*

Entry 6 - 04.15.06

I have created a pair of monsters. They are highly cultured monsters, mind you, but monsters none the less. How was I to know what evils the TV would embed in their absorbent young minds? I never really watch the damn thing, plus I figured that I couldn’t go wrong by keeping them on the educational channels. I guess I underestimated the power of the media. Sigh… Well at least I don’t have to sit through an onslaught of Sesame Street and Barney. I shudder at the thought.

Well, I thought that it was time to broaden their horizons some. Now instead of only having access to the Discovery Channel, which as become a mess of reruns, they also have the History Channel. You see the new addition came about when the midgets became bored with their reruns and began encroaching upon my Come, Come Collection, Fenris in particular. The boy just does not know to leave certain things well enough alone. He can be an aggressively persistent little bugger when he wants to be.

Well anyway, I figured that in addition to discovering the wonders of the animal kingdom it was time to include the human one as well. Initially it worked like a charm. Sakura and Fenris were so enthralled with the new channel that it became their entire life for three days straight. However it opened a new door for Fenris. It seems that he had discovered a new passion: mythology.

After having the T.V. sparks his interest Fenris has been an absolute pest. Thanks to that Viking marathon he saw he has been harassing Sakura and me to dig my library for books on Old Norse lore. Well mostly it has been me, since the two of them are barely literate. I am confident that I don’t have anything even remotely related to Norse culture in my possession, however Fenris wouldn’t believe me until he had checked it all himself. He was not happy with the results of our search.

Well, I have never seen Fenris to act so mopey. After searching my library all he has done for the past few days is lurk in my bed avoiding all of the other residents, even Sakura and myself. Sakura did not take to this new behavior very well and instead would spend her day curled dejectedly around my feet. Even the cats are leaving him alone, that alone says something.

This really has to end.

*~*~*

Entry 7 - 04.17.06

That’s it! This misery has gone on long enough!

I figured that since my library just wasn’t extensive enough that I’ll just take him to a larger one. Correction, I’ll take him to the largest library in Gaia, the Greater Gaian Library of Barton. There is no such thing as overkill.

I had intended the entire trip to be a surprise. I had to be in Barton for a delivery so a viable excuse was already present. As far as I was concerned it would be a perfect way to jolt the wee ones out of the slump they were presently in. I hate to say it but youth should be a happy time and such and so forth. Great, now I sound like Maito Gai. Shoot me.

I simply gathered up Sakura and Fenris, who protested greatly, packed up several of my new plasmid strains and departed for Barton. This had to have been the quietist I have ever seen them while they are awake. The peace would have been wonderful if it hadn’t of been for the miserable air surrounding the two of them. I did get some weird looks going through Barton, but nobody dared to say anything. I think people have heard about what I did to that moron in Durem…

Things finally began to take a turn for the better when, instead of promptly leaving the city as I am apt to do, I entered a large old looking building instead. This change alone was enough to revitalize Sakura, who finally jutted her head out and began peppering me with questions. I ignored her queries, of course, and it drove her right up the wall.

What jump started Fenris was the fact that I pulled him out of my coat pocket the second we were safely inside the building and released him as soon as we had entered the library proper. He went absolutely crazy the second he caught sight of the endless rows of reference books found on the main floor. Sakura and I kept on having to tell him to remain close to us and the librarian kept giving the three of us really dirty looks. It was due to the death glares and the fact that all of the cultural books are located on the second floor that I had decided to herd Fenris to the stairwell.

As we climbed the stairs to the second level we were confronted by a small display of Norse history. There really wasn’t much to this particular display, since it served as a teaser for the main display in the anthropology wing. I am pretty sure that Fenris couldn’t make out most of the information in it but what he did understand seemed to drive his excitement to new heights.

He shot up the remaining stairs and zoomed like a possessed bumblebee through the aisles looking for the main display and of course not finding it. Thankfully it was evening and the only people present were either diehard bibliophiles or college students. They were so absorbed in their books and studies that they never noticed the three of us making our way around the wing. That speaks a lot to their dedication and or desperation. I mean just how often does one see a werewolf in a black great coat with a pink Triune head coming out of their stomach following a cue ball with bat wings...

When we finally did find the display Fenris flapped madly about it, too excited to pay proper attention to the plethora of information beneath him. He eventually calmed down when he overheard Sakura and I discussing the left most item of the display: Norse gods and monsters. As soon as he heard names like Loki, Thor and Odin, he abandoned the rest of the display and his ridiculous behavior.

It was actually Sakura who found the expo on Fenris the wolf. Being that the monster just happened to be her brother’s namesake, Sakura became a bottomless pit of questions. Fenris, the Switch, was absolutely enthralled by a particular woodcut depicting the monstrous wolf being bound by Gleipnir with Tyr’s hand in his maw. Personally, I found the piece to be an excellent example of 13th century artistry, although I must admit that the older simplistic pictograph next to it was truer to the myth.

Truth be told, Fenris is a very strong name for a werewolf. The wolf of myth was said to have been so great that his gaping jaws gouged the earth as they parted the heavens and so strong that only the magical Gleipnir was able to restrain him. In fact, there are some myth offshoots that claim werewolves are the descendents of the Norse wolf. Offshoots, mind you, nothing more.

Needless to say that after I had explained all of this to Sakura, we were witness to a display of the likes that has never been seen before: Fenris strutting about like a proud rooster. I didn’t think a Switch could puff himself up that much while in ball form. Our laughter had practically no effect on him and his astronomical ego. I must admit that this recent turn of events has been far more favorable than those of the past few days.

One question remains: how am I supposed to fit Fenris and his gargantuan ego into our train booth?

 

[Erustis]

Stage 02

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 03

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 04

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 05

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 06

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 07

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 08

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 09

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Stage 10

Entry 1 - Date

[here]

Entry 2 - Date

[here]

 

[Erustis]

Reserve Post